1. No category

Office of Franklin County Clerk to the Board
113 Market Street
Louisburg, NC 27549
Telephone: 919-496-5994
Fax: 919-496-2683
MEMORANDUM
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
Board of Commissioners
Kristen G. King, Clerk to the Board
April 2, 2015
Departmental Quarterly Reports
Aging
No report submitted.
Airport
No report submitted.
Board of Elections
Successes
- Director, Deputy Director and all board members attended NC State Board of Elections training
in Winston Salem, NC on March 29-31, 2015..
- Director and Deputy Director attended District meeting at Durham County on March 4, 2015.
- Preparing for 2015 November Municipal Election.
- Ordering new office forms to comply with new VIVA law.
- Completed 2015-2016 budget and will meet with County Manager and County Finance Officer
regarding it on April 6, 2015.
- Processed voter registration forms.
 Processed forms received from DSS, VR, DSDHH (Deaf & Hard of Hearing) and the Health
Department.
 Staff processed voters on DHHS list from State Board of Elections and County Registrar of Deeds.
 Staff processed voters on duplicate list from State Board of Elections.
 Staff processed voters on Department of Motor Vehicles list from State Board of Elections.
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 Staff processed voters on Felony lists from State Board of Elections and Clerk of Court.
Challenges
 Continual changes in elections laws (especially VIVA)
 Budget
Cooperative Extension
Successes
 A successful 10th Annual “Successful Small Farms Opportunities Conference” was held on
Saturday, February 28th with over 100 farmers from the region attending and participating.
Several new farm clientele have been established since the conference. The Cooperative
Extension networked with Vance-Granville Community College, Bunn High FFA instructor and
students, along with area businesses to conduct the conference.
 The Annual Arbor Day Tree Give Away was held in March at the Franklin County Farmers’
Market. There were over 1,200 bare-root seedlings given away to citizens.
 The Franklin County 4-H FUN Livestock Show is scheduled for Friday, April 24th at Double D
Equestrian Center.
Challenges
 NC Cooperative Extension and the Franklin County Cooperative Extension Center are facing a
new staffing plan over the next 20 months. This new plan has the potential to decrease local
staffing numbers.
 We are currently facing vacancies in the area of Horticulture and Family & Consumer Sciences.
Agricultural - Field Crops/Pesticides - Charles Mitchell (CED)
 Area Tobacco Good Agricultural Practices Meeting was held in January with over 160
participants.
 Area Grain Production Meeting was held the first of March with 96 participants.
 Two Private Pesticide Applicator Meetings were held in March.
 Numerous phone calls, emails and farm visits were made to help answer questions about
tobacco greenhouses and wheat production.
Horticulture
 Assisted strawberry producers with fertility management questions.
 Assisted many landscapers and homeowners with gardening questions by phone, email, office
visits and on-site visits.
Agriculture/Small Farms
 Assisted small farmers with crop production questions by phone, email and field visits.
4-H & Youth Development - Meg Wyatt, 4-H Youth Development Agent
 4-H Clubs: Franklin County continues to have 9 active clubs. Clubs are doing wonderful things
and are planning for a new year. The 4-H Dirt Club is going to take a strong approach to healthy
lifestyles in 2015.
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 4-H Special Interest: The Poultry Chain hopes to bring in an estimated 20-25 Franklin County 4H’ers and a total of 50 youth between the four counties for our Four County 4-H Poultry Show
and Sale. Youth receive 10 chicks and raise them for 5 months. District Activity Day will be
hosted in Franklin County and youth are gearing up to do their presentations. Event will be held
May 30th at Franklinton High School.
 4-H School Enrichment: Snap-Ed (a nutrition education program) will be reaching 120 3rd and
4th graders during a 9-week session at Laurel Mill Elementary School and Franklinton
Elementary School. Embryology has started as well and is expected to reach 150 youth. Summer
programs are beginning to be scheduled and planned. This will begin the first of June.
 4-H Volunteers: Franklin County has a total of 174 volunteers that help in clubs, events,
programs, and marketing efforts. We look forward to adding more volunteers to our slate in
2015.
Agricultural – Livestock/Local Foods - Martha L. Mobley, Agriculture Agent
 The Equine educational mini-series continued throughout the winter and spring: January 22nd
on “Pasture Management”; March 19th on “Trail Riding 101”, and April 9th on “Care of the
Older Horse.” Continuing for the horse community, the annual EIA & Vaccination Clinic was held
on Saturday, February 21st with 28 horses and their owners participating, saving over $3,000 in
reduced veterinary fees.
 For the cattle producer, a “Grazier Record Keeping Workshop” was held on January 20th with 15
producers in attendance learning about a new USDA forage program as well as detailed record
keeping for their farms.
 Numerous farm visits, phone calls, office visits, news releases and articles, etc. were made.
Served on numerous new local and statewide committee during this time: SARE agent advisory
committee, North Central District Ag. Agents Assn. meetings, area Pork Conference, United Way
of Franklin County Board, CFSA farmer advisory committee, and more. Agent serves as the agent
liaison for the FC Beekeepers Association
 Agent continued working aggressively with the Local Foods program and on January 20th
participated in an interest meeting to learn about a new market opportunity for local produce
farmers: to determine and develop a new market of fresh, local, healthy produce for area day
care center owners. As a result, on April 9th, county daycare owners have been invited to meet
our local produce farmers face-to-face and try to develop another viable market for them while
meeting a need for the day care center owners.
 EFNEP (Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program) - Arnetta Wilson, Program Assistant
Currently working in partnership with Cross-Creek Charter School 4th grade teacher to teach six
nutrition classes from March 11, 2015 thru April 29, 2015.
 Partnering with Terrell Lane Middle School to teach nutrition to 150 eighth grade students
weekly from March 25 until May 20, 2015.
Economic Development
Successes
- Represented Franklin County at introductory meeting for Chris Chung, CEO of Economic
Development Partnership of NC.
- Received approval from County Commissioners for TDA to fund Franklin County historical
architectural survey, in cooperation with the Tar River Center for History and Culture, TDA,
Planning & Inspections and EDC.
- Represented Franklin County at event for the new NC Commerce Secretary, John Skvarla.
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- Participated in annual Emerging Issues conference.
- Testified before Workforce & Economic Development Committee, which was chaired by Senator
Barefoot. Purpose was to give a success story from the Kerr-Tar Workforce Development
region. Example given was the “Summer Cruising” program.
- Testified before NC House economic development subcommittee about HB 108, which would
provide loans to local governments and nonprofit economic development corporations for the
purchase and improvement of business facilities. Received unanimous approval to go before full
House.
- Hosted two “Lunch and Learns” sessions. Topics discussed were: Direct Mail and Business
Essentials.
- Attended NCEDA mid-winter conference.
- Received approval from County Commissioners to move forward with the planning and
development of a Franklin County Historic Commission, in cooperation with Franklin County
Planning & Inspections and Tar River Center for History and Culture.
- Received grant from NC Rural Development-Dept. of Commerce for the Youngsville Animal
Hospital.
- Worked with Greater Franklin County Chamber of Commerce on annual Franklin County
Leadership program, which included a tour of Triangle North Franklin and Triangle North
Executive Airport.
- Continuing plans for development of regional STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering &
Mathematics) summit at VGCC in Henderson, in cooperation with the Kerr-Tar Council of
Governments.
Challenges
- Continue to examine ways of providing sufficient water pressure for the Youngsville industrial
parks.
- Seeking funding for sewer line to Triangle North Franklin.
- Seeking funding sources for US 401 widening and four-laning.
Emergency Communications
No report submitted.
Emergency Services
Successes
-
Attended Fire and Rescue Association meetings
Meetings with Child Fatalities Task force
Attended EMS Regional Luncheon in Wilson
Hosted EMSAC and Peer Review meetings
Attended Security meeting at Courthouse
Attend ED physician staff meetings
911 Advisory Board Meetings
Reposition Ambulances throughout County which has improved response times
Attended NCEM Spring Conference
Monthly WEBEOC Exercises for EM
Participated in Central Branch Hurricane Exercise
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Introduced new policies on Spinal Immobilization
Activated EOC for both Winter Storms
Introduced Pit Crew CPR resulting in a 52% resuscitation rate with 10%
Hospital discharge rate
Conduct Fire Investigation
Developed and EBOLA strike team and provided training on Donning and Doffing
Hosted an in house training exercise on EBOLA
Work with Health Department and CAP- RAC on an EBOLA response
Purchased equipment for EBOLA response
Conducted training on EBOLA with Health Department
Received a Home Safety Grant in which we will be putting Smoke Alarms and CO2 Detector in
homes
Upgraded EOC with a Smart board
Work with committee from Fire Association to assist departments with Fire Reports
Currently doing training with Fire Department on Rehabilitation and RIT
Working with Central Branch on Mobile Interoperability unit
Debt set off for EMS Management
Recertified LEPC Committee with NCEM
Introduced Fit Responder training to all volunteers
Attended County Commissioners meeting
Attended EM Forum
Assist Nashville Fire with Assessment Centers for new hires
Spoke at Louisburg High School Public safety program regarding EM opportunities
Attended RAC meetings for Franklin County
Developed training attachment and videos on ESO
In the process of purchasing new ambulance
Filled position in Compliance Division
Introducing the MRX monitors
Placed GPS Mobile Solution on each ambulance in order to work toward closes unit dispatch.
Started Budget process
Working toward setting up Health Data exchange with area hospitals
Interviewing physicians for our Medical Directors position.
Participating with Career Days at local schools
Working on Employee Recognition Ceremony to be held in May.
Held numerous Rescue Chiefs meeting
Training Division:
- Started Paramedic class
- Conducted numerous CPR/First Aid courses for Franklin County School employees
- Conducted training for Full-Time, Part-time, and volunteer personnel on the ESO charting
system
- Participated in Quality Assurance meetings with the Medical Director
- Conducted Oral Board evaluations with the Medical Director
- Assisted with interviews for new paramedic positions
- The Advanced Education Institute completed the Paramedic program and all students have
taken the state exam. All students passed the state exam on the first attempt with a 100% pass
rate.
- Spoke to the Public Safety class at Louisburg High School about Emergency Services.
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Held classes on AEDs with local schools
Assisted with Interviews/Assessment evaluations for Full/Part time employees
Attended Peer Review meetings
Attended EMSAC meetings
Assisted with the cadet program at Youngsville Rescue
Conducted Continuing Education courses for Full time and Volunteer rescue members
Handled numerous recertification of EMS/Rescue personnel
Challenges
- Staying on top of changes with the Mobile Integrated Health Care System
- Determining status of Volunteer Rescue Station reference Vehicle Extrication
Finance
Monthly financial reports are posted online at the following address:
http://www.franklincountync.us/services/finance/monthly-reports.
Health Department
Successes
 Have been certified as a Medicare reimburseable ambulatory care provider; currently running
test payments processing.
 Application submitted to participate in the Community Care of the Northern Piedmont
Accountable Care Organization (possible new revenue source).
 Application submitted to be recognized as a North Carolina certified Rural Health Practice
(possible new revenue source).
 Continuing to negotiate with ECU for Franklin County to become an ECU practice site
(collaborative opportunity).
 FCHD invited to participate in the CDC’s “National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey” due to
FCHD’s being recognized as a critical access to care center.
 Nursing Supervisor Kristy Brantley is to be inducted in the International Nursing Honor Society:
Sigma Theta Tau
 The Health Department has just received its first Medicare Payments, ever, for clinical services
 The Health Department is looking to collaborate with Vision Behavioral Health to provide
Behavioral Health Services integral with our primary care clinics. (Launch is imminent.)
Challenges
 Local providers are exiting Franklin County.
 No local providers are seeing any new patients without the ability to pay for services, or any
type of health insurance, including Medicare & Medicaid.
 We are seeing and increase (anecdotally) in patients needing services and are unable to access
care for financial and lack of availability of care.
 FCHD is the only provider of free ambulatory care in Franklin County (for those who qualify).
 FCHD does not get monies from The State or Federal Governments to offset the cost of patients
on our sliding fee scale/free care provision.
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 Referrals are increasingly having to be made to the Novant Emergency Department as the
provider of last resort in Franklin County.
 Hospitals are diverting discharged patients away from homecare agencies to their own rehab
centers (patients not, technically, discharged) out of the fear of re-admission penalties.
Human Resources
 The following personnel changes took place from January – March 2015:
January 2015
o New Hires –
3
o Separations – 16
February 2015
o New Hires –
4
o Separations –
6
March 2015
o New Hires –
14
o Separations –
4
Successes
 The NACO Prescription Drug Discount Card program had the following utilization:
Month
December 2014
January 2015
February 2015
Total Utilizers
16
17
17
Price Savings
$1,466.09
$914.38
$1,084.42
Total Prescriptions
57
63
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 During the months of January – March 2015 a total of 154 applications was received in the
Human Resources Department for the positions of Assistant County Manager of Financial
Services, EMT – Intermediate (part time), EMT – Paramedic (part time), EMT – Paramedic (full
time), EMT – basic (part time), Veterans Services Officer, Custodian, GIS Technician,
Telecommunicator, Administrative Assistant (part time), Utilities Maintenance Worker, Utilities
Maintenance Technician and Solid Waste Site Attendant.
 Met with several employees regarding potential retirement.
 Attended several webinars on various training topics.
 Met with BCBS regarding 2015-16 plan renewal, wellness and health care reform.
 Attending annual CAI Leadership conference.
 Prepared HR budget request.
 Participated in a brainstorming session to begin the planning process for County Government
Month.
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 Hosted three (3) employee customer service training sessions and two (2) supervisor training
sessions.
 Assisted with Veterans Services Officer, Custodian and Assistant County Manager of Financial
Services interview.
 Hosted the first bi-monthly safety meeting for 2015.
 Attended the National Safety Council Safety 101 training.
 Met with BCBS about 2014-15 plan utilization and wellness.
Challenges
- Plan and prepare for the Affordable Care Act 2015 reporting requirements and measurement
requirements.
- Enhance the County’s performance appraisal tool.
- Re-energize the wellness committee.
- Implement ways to minimize health care cost.
- Finalize proposed changes to the Franklin County Administrative Manual.
Wellness Program
- A total of 350 visits made to the Wellness Center from January – March 2015.
-
Wellness Activity
Basketball
Stress, Lunch & Learn
Physical Activity, Lunch & Learn
The Beverage Dilemma Lunch & Learn
Fast Food Dilemma Lunch & Learn
Sleep Lunch & Learn
Sleep to Good Health Challenge
#
of Participants
5
31
15
24
23
9
27
# of Sessions
Offered
15
2
1
1
1
1
1
- Continue working with the Wellness Committee to continue to enhance the program and
increase participation.
- Begin preparation for the 2015 Health Fair.
- Reviewed the current wellness guideline program for potential enhancements.
Information Technology
No report submitted.
Library
Successes
- We spread the word about RootsMOCC through the Heritage Society of Franklin County and we
support genealogy research with our North Carolina collection and online resources-the best
known being African American Ancestry.com and Ancestry.com. Both of those resources are
available in house at each of our locations.
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RootsMOOC: A Free Online Course in Genealogy
Friendly intro to family history research in the United States using commonly available sources.
The Government & Heritage Library and the Z. Smith Reynolds Library at Wake Forest University
collaboration.
Accommodate up to 5,000 participants online.
http://www.canvas.net/courses/intro-to-genealogy-and-family-history-research
Course runs March 23-May31, 2015.
- Now patrons can enjoy all of the current and archival editions of Wildlife in North Carolina
Magazine.
http://digital.ncdcr.gov/cdm/home/collections/wildlife
- E-Rate News in brief:
o Franklin County Library application for discounts applicable to telecommunications and
Internet connectivity have been completed and submitted. E-rate enables an 80%
discount for our Internet connectivity expenses and currently a 60% discount for
telephone (voice) applications. The discount for voice products will be reduced by 20%
each year until that programs sunset on June 30, 2018. No discount for voice services
(including VOIP; voice over internet protocol,) will be available after the sunset date.
Discounts are determined relative to the number of students enrolled in local school
districts and the number of students that qualify for the National Free Lunch Program in
the district.
- Centerville Library Interest Survey:
o After extensive de-duplication 2,056 surveys were mailed to households in the Gold
Sand, Centerville and White Level fire districts. With a roughly 11% return rate of 225
surveys indicating by response:
 Does your household have reasonable access to Library services in Franklin
County?
 54.30% left blank
 40.72% indicated “yes,”
 4.98% said no
 Bookmobile service is available to your area and now has an extended stop at
Laurel Mill Elementary School on Tuesday afternoon from 4 – 7 p.m. How
valuable is the availability of the service to you?
 22% no reply
 42% no value
 18%very valuable
 18% somewhat valuable
 Should the County invest in a library in Centerville?
 Definitely yes, 32.13%
 Not sure, 15.78%
 No, 30.82%
 No reply, 21.27%
 Comments? Comments run form support for the underserved, concern
for the expense especially in light of maintenance and improvements
needed in Louisburg, concerns about tax increases to establish a new
library and concern that there are not enough potential users to justify
the operation.
 Internet access was the highest ranked service relative to perceived use.
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
Due to low usage of our program stop at Laurel Mill and the con current
tutoring program, both programs have been cancelled.
Challenges
- Attend Fund-raising Summit for Public Libraries: Full-day session on May 15th in Charlotte;
several partners are involved in planning this event including State Library of NC and SC,
Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation, and fundraising professionals from Durham County,
Richland County and Spartanburg County public libraries.
- Work with County Finance, Management and Commissioners to maintain quality of service and
product for library patrons through the development of the 2015-2016 fiscal year budget.
Maintenance
No report submitted.
Parks and Recreation
Successes
-
Winter Youth Volleyball league ended. We had over 150+ kids participated
Father/Daughter Dance
Worked for the Franklin Co. School Nutrition Fair
Annual Easter Egg Hunt
Had tanks removed at Owens’ Park
Owens Park Club house, maintenance shop, and cart shop cleaned out.
Challenges
-
Constructing the Owens Park
Budget
Adult Volleyball Registration
Summer Program Flyer
4th of July
Planning Department
Successes
Challenges
Plans Reviewed:
Commercial
Residential
15
105
Individual trade inspections performed:
Commercial
53
Residential
1677
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Plan review fees:
Commercial plan review fees
Residential Plan review fees
15 plans $3605.00
95 plans $4575.00
Total fees Collected
January
Inspections
$29955.84
Planning
$4064.00
Water Acreage
$20387.50
Misc fee
$41.25
Total
$86469.59
(includes fees we collect for other departments)
February
Inspections
$32958.04
Planning
$3860.00
Total
$76448.04
(includes fees we collect for other departments)
March
Inspections
$63588.76
Planning
$6574.00
Total
$166328.60
(includes fees we collect for other departments)
Public Utilities
No report submitted.
Register of Deeds
No report submitted.
Sheriff Department
No report submitted.
Social Services
Successes
 Care & Share received a donation of $1,000 from the local DaVita Dialysis.
 The agency has submitted grants for Care & Share with Wal-Mart Foundation and Food Lion.
 306 Low Income and Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP) applications were approved in January
and 319 were approved in February.
 Happy Camper will have their third joint fund raiser with Louisburg Lions Club at Louisburg
College on April 10th at 7 pm. This event will feature The Embers. Happy Camper will receive
half the proceeds. Happy Camper will hold a golf tournament on May 1st (rain date May 8th) at
Green Hill Club.
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 All Medicaid programs have completed full conversion into NC Fast. There are no overdue
recertifications in Medicaid.
 Two agency adoptions were completed in January.
 All Food and Nutrition Applications and recertifications are current.
 The agency will host a site visit for NC Division of Social Services in preparation for the roll out of
NC FAST in Child Welfare.
Soil Conservation
Successes
 NRCS and the District still seeing a large number of customers who wish to update Conservation
Plans.
 District staff completed contract reviews on 16 active USDA contracts.
 District held the Poster, Essay & Computer Designed Power Point contest. Students in grades 36 participated. Prizes will be awarded at the 19th Annual District Awards Program on April 30 at
Terrell Lane Middle School.
 District staff participated in an environmental education event at Youngsville Elementary School.
Third grade students learned about soils, erosion and the importance of protecting our natural
resources – SWAPA (Soil, Water, Air, Plants & Animals)
 District staff still working on a backlog of conservation compliance plans. Seventy-six plans are
still waiting for revisions.
 Budget was submitted to Franklin County Manager. Very few line items were increased; most
remained the same as 2014-15 and some were reduced.
 Staff made several field visits with local urban homeowners who were experiencing problems
with storm water control.
 The District Board elected new officers at the January 2015 Board meeting. Tom Gulley was
named Chairman, Ricky May – Vice-chair, Carvel Cheves – Treasurer. Other Board members are
Charles Mitchell and Shirley Pendergrass.
 Three staff attended the Area IV Spring Meeting in Wilson. Regular Area business was
conducted and attendees heard presentations about Soil health and tillage, the National
Association of Conservation Districts (NACD), and NRCS conservation programs.
Solid Waste
No report submitted.
Tax Assessors
Successes
- Processing of real estate records for tax year 2015 are essentially complete with only the
appeals and exemptions to be reviewed. The county has experienced a 1.4% increase in real
estate values.
- Personal Property program customizations have been completed with current year processing
proceeding slightly ahead of last year’s pace.
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- Three members attended the Tyler User Meeting in Onslow County’s new facility. Franklin
County has been selected to beta test a new audit utility between the CAMA and Collection’s
systems.
- Processes have been incorporated into the review of the NCVTS values on a monthly basis.
Average value corrections are $370K per month for the first five months since implementation.
Challenges
- House Bill 168 has now been joined by Senate Bill 321 at the state legislature. The way they are
currently worded could have major impacts on the valuation for the county for the current tax
year. These bills have the capability to erase most, if not all of the real estate value growth in
the county for the tax year 2015.
- Tax Situs continues to be an issue with the NCVTS system. The problems stem from the NCDMV
system allowing free text entry when it comes to entering the vehicle location in their system.
The only solution to this issue is to force selection from a pre-populated list on the NCDMV for
addresses. This does not appear to be on the roadmap. A known flaw that we will need to
continue to work around.
Tax Collections
Successes
- Current collection rate sits at 96.38% for tax year 2014, which is above last year’s 95.50% for the
same period.
- Annual posting of delinquent taxpayers is set for publication in the March 26 th edition of The
Franklin Times. While this year’s number has increased from 3,148 to 3,274, the amount of
revenue has decreased.
- The department has been successful in adjusting to the reduced staffing by the elimination of a
single position effective the first of this year.
Challenges
- Foreclosure procedures urgently need to be addressed. When reviewing our historical
collection rates, the highest rate occurred when the county had an active foreclosure process in
place during the late ‘90s. I have contacted Kania Law Group (contracted with multiple NC
counties) to review and coordinate moving our open properties subject to foreclosure into their
process.
- Revenue from Debt Set-Off is down this year, reflecting the changes in the income tax
withholding percentages for individuals and couples.
- Tonya Smith will be leaving the department at the end of the month as she starts employment
with the Orange County Tax Office.
GIS
Successes
- The review process continues for the retirement of the legacy GISMO (internal use only)
product. The legacy product has difficulty operating in the newer Windows operating systems.
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Additionally, to maintain accurate data in the legacy product requires additional time and effort
by staff.
- Completed the operating procedures for maintaining accurate road names across the county
with the Planning Department. During the establishment of the process, it was determined that
we needed to include the NCVTS Situs Repository. This has been added to the procedures.
Challenges
- There has been no movement in regards to the parcels along the Granville County line identified
last year with the Board of Elections with regards to setting the correct tax jurisdiction for them.
I will contact the Granville County administrator to determine what process will work best for
both parties.
- The candidate selected to fill the open position in GIS decided at the last minute not to make the
move to Franklin County. We have reposted and hired a new person for the position (currently
employed with Hertford County). Linda Rideout will start with the department on March 31 st.
Veterans Services
No report submitted.
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