MELVIN JERALDS
Chairman
CLAYTON D. RIGGS
Vice-Chairman
JEFFREY B. JENNINGS
CAROLYN RIGGS
MIKE ANDREWS

AVA MURGIA
Clerk of the Board/
Assistant to the Manager

Camden County Board of Commissioners

Special Meeting – Unified Government
June 8, 2006
7:00 p.m.
Upstairs Courtroom, Courthouse Complex
Camden, North Carolina

MINUTES

A special meeting of the Camden County Board of Commissioners was held on Thursday, June 8, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. in the upstairs courtroom, Courthouse Complex, Camden, North Carolina. The following members were present:

Chairman Melvin J. Jeralds
Vice Chairman Clayton D. Riggs
Commissioners Jeffrey B. Jennings, Carolyn O. Riggs, and Mike Andrews

Also attending was County Manager Randell Woodruff, Deputy Clerk to the Board Lori Tuss, and Attorney John Morrison.

The special meeting was held with staff members for the purpose of discussing a unified form of government in Camden County.

Chairman Melvin Jeralds called upon Attorney John S. Morrison for his presentation to the staff regarding a unified form of government.

Attorney John S. Morrison stated effective July 1, 2006, Camden County will be functioning as a unified government. There should not be any noticeable changes except for more money. The county is eligible for additional revenue services; one of which is the utility franchise tax. Attorney Morrison stated the Board should consider a new logo incorporating “Unified Government” in the Camden County official seal.

Attorney Morrison reviewed G.S. 153A-471(c) and (d):

Article 24.

Unified Government.

§ 153A 471. Unified government.
(a) Except as provided in this section, the powers, duties, functions, rights, privileges, and immunities of a city are vested with any county that has either:
	(1)	No portion of an incorporated municipality located within its boundaries; or
	(2)	One incorporated municipality located within the county, but the land area of that municipality is located primarily in another county and consists of less than 100 acres within the county exercising powers under this Article.
(b) All of the following shall apply to any county exercising the powers, duties, functions, rights, privileges, and immunities of a city under this Article:
	(1)	It may not exercise any such powers, duties, functions, rights, privileges, and immunities outside the boundaries of the county.
	(2)	Article 4A of Chapter 160A of the General Statutes (Extension of Corporate Limits) does not apply.
	(3)	Article 5 of Chapter 160A of the General Statutes (Form of Government) does not apply.
	(4)	Article 7 of Chapter 160A of the General Statutes (Administrative Offices) does not apply.
	(5)	Article 13 of Chapter 160A of the General Statutes (Law Enforcement) does not apply.
	(6)	G.S. 153A 340(b) (Zoning of Bona Fide Farms) shall apply to all areas within the county boundaries.
	(7)	The provisions of Chapter 163 of the General Statutes relating to municipal elections do not apply except to the extent they applied to the county absent this Article.
	(8)	If the county is subject to this Article under subdivision (a)(2) of this section, it may not exercise any such powers, duties, functions, rights, privileges, and immunities within the corporate limits of the municipality located partly within the county.
(c) The board of commissioners may by ordinance provide that this Article does not confer the power, duty, function, right, privilege, or immunity of a city upon the county as to a specific power, duty, function, right, privilege, or immunity, and as to such specified power, duty, function, right, privilege, or immunity it shall not be considered as a city.
(d) If the board of commissioners exercises any power, duty, function, right, privilege, or immunity authorized under both Chapter 153A and Chapter 160A of the General Statutes, and those statutes conflict, the board of commissioners shall state in their minutes under which Chapter the power, duty, function, right, privilege, or immunity is being exercised. (2005 35, s. 1; 2005 433, s. 10(a).)

Attorney Morrison stated Camden will remain a County. Camden is not a city. Camden will have all the powers of a city, with the following exceptions:

§ 153A 471. Unified government.
(a) Except as provided in this section, the powers, duties, functions, rights, privileges, and immunities of a city are vested with any county that has either:
	(1)	No portion of an incorporated municipality located within its boundaries; or
	(2)	One incorporated municipality located within the county, but the land area of that municipality is located primarily in another county and consists of less than 100 acres within the county exercising powers under this Article.
(b) All of the following shall apply to any county exercising the powers, duties, functions, rights, privileges, and immunities of a city under this Article:
	(1)	It may not exercise any such powers, duties, functions, rights, privileges, and immunities outside the boundaries of the county.
	(2)	Article 4A of Chapter 160A of the General Statutes (Extension of Corporate Limits) does not apply.
	(3)	Article 5 of Chapter 160A of the General Statutes (Form of Government) does not apply.
	(4)	Article 7 of Chapter 160A of the General Statutes (Administrative Offices) does not apply.
	(5)	Article 13 of Chapter 160A of the General Statutes (Law Enforcement) does not apply.
	(6)	G.S. 153A 340(b) (Zoning of Bona Fide Farms) shall apply to all areas within the county boundaries.
	(7)	The provisions of Chapter 163 of the General Statutes relating to municipal elections do not apply except to the extent they applied to the county absent this Article.
	(8)	If the county is subject to this Article under subdivision (a)(2) of this section, it may not exercise any such powers, duties, functions, rights, privileges, and immunities within the corporate limits of the municipality located partly within the county.

Attorney Morrison explained the use of service districts and G.S.153A-301:

§ 153A 301. Purposes for which districts may be established.
(a) The board of commissioners of any county may define any number of service districts in order to finance, provide, or maintain for the districts one or more of the following services, facilities and functions in addition to or to a greater extent than those financed, provided or maintained for the entire county:
	(1)	Beach erosion control and flood and hurricane protection works.
	(2)	Fire protection.
	(3)	Recreation.
	(4)	Sewage collection and disposal systems of all types, including septic tank systems or other on site collection or disposal facilities or systems.
	(5)	Solid waste collection and disposal systems.
	(6)	Water supply and distribution systems.
	(7)	Ambulance and rescue.
	(8)	Watershed improvement projects, including but not limited to watershed improvement projects as defined in Chapter 139 of the General Statutes; drainage projects, including but not limited to the drainage projects provided for by Chapter 156 of the General Statutes; and water resources development projects, including but not limited to the federal water resources development projects provided for by Article 21 of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes.
	(9)	Cemeteries.
	(10)	Law enforcement if all of the following apply:
			a.	The population of the county is over 500,000 according to the most recent federal decennial census.
			b.	The county has an interlocal agreement with a city in the county under which the city provides law enforcement services in the entire unincorporated area of the county.
			c.	The county will pay to the city the following percentages of the city county police department budget if there are no significant changes to the city's statutory annexation authority:
				1.	9.60% for fiscal years 1995 96 and 1996 97.
				2.	7.60% for fiscal years 1997 98 and 1998 99.
				3.	5.60% for fiscal years 1999 2000 and 2000 2001.
				4.	3.60% for fiscal years 2001 02 and 2002 03.
				5.	1.60% for fiscal years 2003 04 and 2004 05.
				Provided, if the difference between the ratio of the population in the unincorporated area to the total population served by the city county police department and the rate for the current year as stated above is greater than fifteen percent (15%), the county's agreement to pay such percentages can be amended to reflect that difference.
	(11)	Services permitted under Article 24 of this Chapter if the district is subject to G.S. 153A 472.1.
(b) The General Assembly finds that coastal area counties have a special problem with lack of maintenance of platted rights of way, resulting in ungraded sand travelways deviating from the original rights of way and encroaching on private property, and such cartways exhibit poor drainage and are blocked by junk automobiles.
(c) To address the problem described in subsection (b), the board of commissioners of any coastal area county as defined by G.S. 113A 103(2) may define any number of service districts in order to finance, provide, or maintain for the districts one or more of the following services, facilities and functions in addition to or to a greater extent than those financed, provided or maintained for the entire county:
	(1)	Removal of junk automobiles; and
	(2)	Street maintenance.
(d) The board of commissioners of a county that contains a protected mountain ridge, as defined by G.S. 113A 206(6), may define any number of service districts, composed of subdivision lots within one or more contiguous subdivisions that are served by common public roads, to finance for the district the maintenance of such public roads that are either located in the district or provide access to some or all lots in the district from a State road, where some portion of those roads is not subject to compliance with the minimum standards of the Board of Transportation set forth in G.S. 136 102.6. The service district or districts created shall include only subdivision lots within the subdivision, and one or more additional contiguous subdivisions, where the property owners' association, whose purpose is to represent these subdivision lots, agrees to be included in the service district. For subdivision lots in an additional contiguous subdivision or for other adjacent or contiguous property to be annexed according to G.S. 153A 303, the property owners' association representing the subdivision or property to be annexed must approve the annexation. For the purposes of this subsection: (i) "subdivision lots" are defined as either separate tracts appearing of record upon a recorded plat, or other lots, building sites, or divisions of land for sale or building development for residential purposes; and (ii) "public roads" are defined as roads that are in actual open use as public vehicular areas, or dedicated or offered for dedication to the public use as a road, highway, street, or avenue, by a deed, grant, map, or plat, and that have been constructed and are in use by the public, but that are not currently being maintained by any public authority.
(e) The board of commissioners of a county that adjoins or contains a lake, river, or tributary of a river or lake that has an identified noxious aquatic weed problem may define any number of noxious aquatic weed control service districts composed of property that is contiguous to the water or that provides direct access to the water through a shared, certified access site to the water. As used in this subsection, the term "noxious aquatic weed" is any plant organism identified by the Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources under G.S. 113A 222 or regulated as a plant pest by the Commissioner of Agriculture under Article 36 of Chapter 106 of the General Statutes. (1973, c. 489, s. 1; c. 822, s. 2; c. 1375; 1979, c. 595, s. 1; c. 619, s. 6; 1983 (Reg. Sess., 1984), c. 1078, s. 1; 1989, c. 620; 1993, c. 378, s. 1; 1995, c. 354, s. 1; c. 434, s. 1; 1997 456, s. 24; 2005 433, s. 10(b); 2005 440, s. 1.)

Adjournment

Commissioner Jeffrey Jennings made a motion to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed with Commissioners Jeffrey Jennings, Carolyn Riggs, Clayton Riggs, Mike Andrews and Chairman Melvin Jeralds voting aye; no Commissioner voting no; no Commissioner absent; and no Commissioner not voting.

The meeting adjourned at 7:47 p.m.

_________________________________________
Melvin J. Jeralds, Chairman
Camden County Board of Commissioners

ATTEST:

__________________________________
Ava Murgia
Clerk to the Board