Darryl Brown hired as county attorney
Business, News April 4, 2018[Featured image: Judge Tessa Sellers congratulates Murphy attorney Darryl Brown after being sworn in as the new Cherokee County attorney Tuesday, April 3. (Photo courtesy of Maria Hass)]
MURPHY, N.C. – After an extended executive session at Monday night’s meeting, the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners reconvened to hire Darryl Brown as county attorney.
County Finance Director Candy Anderson explained the parameters of the hire would be for the remainder of the 2017-2018 fiscal year, which ends June 30, and the amount paid to Brown for that period would not exceed $12,500.
The board unanimously approved the parameters of the contract and then unanimously approved the hiring of Brown.
During the executive session, the board met and interviewed both Brown and attorney David Sawyer, who were the two candidates for the open position.
Cherokee County has been without a county attorney since the Feb. 5 commissioners meeting when the Board of Commissioners voted to dismiss former county attorney Scott Lindsay. In that decision, commissioners Dr. Dan Eichenbaum, C.B. McKinnon and Gary Westmoreland voted in favor of Lindsay’s removal while commissioners Roy Dickey and Cal Stiles voted against the move.
According to the terms of Brown’s appointment, he will receive a $5000 annual retainer fee, due upon hiring and again at the beginning of each fiscal year (July 1). Brown’s monthly fee is $2,500 a month, which is $250 an hour for a guaranteed minimum of 10 hours per month. Any time over 10 hours in a month will be charged a $175 hourly fee. Brown will also receive a $500 allocation for books relevant to county representation and a $12,000 annual fee for on-call counsel for the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, half of which is to be paid at the beginning of the fiscal year (July 1) and the other half to be paid at the beginning of the calendar year. Also, the county will cover the cost of travel and training for the annual county attorney conference and annual sheriff’s conference.
According his website, Brown is criminal defense attorney and native of Cherokee County. Brown received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina at Asheville in 1989. In 1992, Brown received his Juris Doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was admitted to practice law by the North Carolina state bar.
From 1993 to 1996, Brown served as assistant district attorney for the 29th Prosecutorial District of North Carolina, which encompasses Henderson, McDowell, Polk, Rutherford and Transylvania counties, and from 1996 to 2004, he served as assistant district attorney for the 30th Prosecutorial District of Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Jackson, Macon and Swain counties. In 2004, Brown transitioned into private practice criminal defense in Murphy where he continues his practice to this day.
Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that attracts more than 300,000 page views and 3.5 million impressions per month in Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. FYNTV attracts approximately 15,000 viewers per week and reaches between 15,000 to 60,000 per week on our Facebook page. For the most effective, least expensive local advertising, call 706-276-6397 or email us at [email protected]
Board approves temporary off-site fitness plan for Station 1 first responders
News June 5, 2018MURPHY, N.C. – The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners approved a temporary off-site fitness plan for on-duty emergency personnel at Station 1 at the board’s June 4 meeting.
The plan will now allow only Station 1 personnel to use nearby fitness centers at their own expense while on duty in an effort to improve health and strength of the emergency personnel and provide the best service to citizens, according to information provided by the Cherokee County Emergency Services.
As Chairman Dr. Dan Eichenbaum explained, “(The agreement) is only until they get a new facility. It has been shown this will not cause a delay in response time. Both truck workers must agree and only one truck at a time (may leave Station 1). This is to allow them because they do not have adequate space to work out in (at the station).”
Brian King, of the Cherokee County Emergency Medical Services (EMS), explained to commissioners there has been a “movement” within the department to work out and exercise to increase physical strength and improve job performance over the past five years, but limited space at Station 1 has disallowed its personnel from doing so.
According to information presented to the commissioners from EMS concerning response times for personnel at a fitness center, “Crews are very adept at being able to meet our required chute times during all situations. Any delay would no different than eating showering, using the restroom, being at the hospital, or sleeping.”
Commenting on the benefits of the plan, Commissioner Gary Westmoreland stated, “Personally, I would rather somebody healthy pick me up than somebody out of shape. And I think it’s good for them. It’s good for their morale.”
Commissioner C.B. McKinnon stated while he himself can see the benefits of the plan to the county’s emergency personnel, he is also concerned about public perception.
“I understand that we’ve been in this location for a lot of years and I don’t know what’s been done in the past … but the optics of it – the public just doesn’t understand it. We’ll have the other facility up soon, and for that reason, I’m just not willing to support it,” McKinnon explained.
Ultimately, the board approved the temporary plan 4-1, with McKinnon voting against.
The board also approved a contract with Turner & Company CPAs (certified public accountant) to conduct the county’s fiscal year 2017-18 audit in the amount of $44,900.
County Finance Officer Candy Anderson explained to the commissioners the cost of the audit is the second lowest among seven counties in western North Carolina.
“I checked with surrounding counties … and a lot of them are seeing 12 to 41 percent increases in their audit fees,” Anderson stated.
The contract was approved by the board unanimously.
A capital project ordinance for the phase 5 construction project at the Cherokee County Solid Waste facility in Marble was approved by the commissioners. The ordinance appropriates $2.5 million to the project for permitting, construction, engineering, and contingency funds. According to the ordinance, revenues from the general fund are anticipated to be available to complete the project.
The board approved a number of 2017-18 budget revisions including a revision in the total amount of $31,043 to allow the use of the restricted/designated school sales tax fund balance for various projects. The amount will cover the purchases of a generator replacement at Ranger Elementary School ($19,207), bus cameras and camera systems for five new buses ($4,925), fertilizer for Bermuda turf for the football fields at Andrews and Murphy high schools ($2,653), approximately 225 lbs. of refrigerant for a compressor at Hiwassee Dam School ($2,517), and diagnostic services from Trane ($1,741).
A budget revision in the amount of $800 was approved to transfer funds from the fund balance to the detention center trust account for legal settlements.
A budget revision in the amount of $94.14 was approved to cover half the cost of new carpeting at the Martins Creek Community Center. Previously, the board approved an amount of $261; however, actual costs for the carpeting came to $710.27, which increased the county’s half share to $355.14.
In other business, commissioners also voted to allow Lewis and Clark Circus to again use Heritage Park Sept. 22 and 23 of this year.
The board also voted to allow North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission law enforcement officers to enforce laws concerning spotlighting wildlife from the right-of-way of any public road, street, or highway.
A number of upcoming Board of Commissioners are slated for June. On June 21 and 25, the board will hold fiscal year 2018-19 budget work sessions in the boardroom of the Cherokee County Courthouse at 6:30 p.m. The Board of Commissioners next regularly scheduled meeting is set for June 18 at 6:30 p.m. In addition, the board will have a special called meeting June 28 at 6:30 p.m. to officially adopt the new county budget. All meetings are open to the public.
Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that attracts more than 300,000 page views and 3.5 million impressions per month in Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. FYNTV attracts approximately 15,000 viewers per week and reaches between 15,000 to 60,000 per week on our Facebook page. For the most effective, least expensive local advertising, call 706-276-6397 or email us at [email protected]
Andrews soccer field discussed by commissioners, Mayor Reid
News April 27, 2018MURPHY, N.C. – Grant money for a new soccer field located at Heritage Park in Andrews was discussed by the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners along with Andrews Mayor James Reid at the April 23 county commissioners meeting.
“Previously, the board had approved the soccer club to use and construct a field at Heritage Park,” Commissioner C.B. McKinnon explained. “In conversation, maybe … Andrews is willing to take the lead of that because there’s some possibility of applying for some grant money to help with that. It looks like we got about $30,000 now roughly to work with and so if we could compound that with a grant, it would mean a lot.”
Reid stated the goal of the proposed soccer field is for it to be open for use not only for the local soccer league but also for the entire community.
“We do have someone that’s ready to break ground on it pretty quick,” Reid said. “We also have that PARTF (Parks and Recreation Trust Fund) grant that we could go after. If the county decided to do something with that, we could do it in (the county’s) name or (the town of Andrews’) name … but we’d just like to go ahead and try to move forward to try to get that grant money secured if at all possible.”
Also, Reid added the town’s long-term goal is to eventually construct three soccer fields but for now, the initial plan is to construct one field. Concerning the potential PARTF grant, Reid stated the application deadline was May 1. To this, Commissioner Cal Stiles suggested to Reid to consult with Russ Harris, a grant writer with Southwestern Commission, for assistance with the grant application process.
After further discussion, commissioners approved for the town of Andrews to take the lead in planning and in the construction for the soccer field.
“So between now and maybe even the next meeting, let’s see if we can develop that plan and be ready and we’ll present it and we’ll all be on board with the same process so there’s no confusion,” McKinnon told Reid.
Gary Chamberlain, of the North Carolina Litter Free Coalition, proposed a proclamation to the board to declare May 19 an America the Beautiful Event Day in Cherokee County during which residents are encouraged to pick up litter along roadways of their choosing within the county. Of the event, Chamberlain spoke of the importance of leaving the orange bags of trash collected from county roadways for three days as a reminder to citizens of the impact of littering. After three days, participating residents are encouraged to call the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) at 828-837-2742 to have the NCDOT pick up the collected bags of trash.
Commissioner McKinnon stated while he supported the proclamation, he was concerned about the prospect of leaving bags on the side of roadways for three days.
“The three-day deal, with the garbage on the road, I know its purpose is to show people that you’re out there picking the garbage up,” McKinnon said, “but they (NCDOT) like to get that as quick as they can and they really don’t like leaving it three days for a number of reasons. One being is they get a little criticism over that … That’s the only part of (the proclamation) I’d like to leave out, so they can go ahead and pick it up when they can or as soon as they can.”
To this, Chamberlain told McKinnon leaving the bags on the side of roads for three days has a “very positive value” and “sends a message.” After some further discussion, commissioners passed the proclamation as presented 4-1 with McKinnon voting against.
“Mr. Chamberlain, I can agree with you that it does make an impact when you drive down the road and you see those bags out there,” Commissioner Stiles said of the event.
The board approved a number of budget revisions during the meeting. A $5,000 budget increase was approved for the Emergency Management department to purchase an accountability system to use to track personnel of the county’s volunteer fire departments. According to the revision, Emergency Management received $17,722 in additional grant money from an Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) and the funds for the purchase were approved to be taken from this grant money.
A budget revision to repair a Jeep Cherokee used by the Department of Social Services (DSS) in the amount of $2,844 was approved. The vehicle, according to Finance Director Candy Anderson, had been in two accidents and the county received insurance proceeds in the amount $1,879.
Commissioners also approved Cherokee County Schools to use $44,658 from the half-cent school sales tax to cover replacements of two fire alarm systems at the Andrews High School band building and shop building in the amount of $11,540 each, a $20,939 expenditure for Microsoft Office upgrades and licensing expenses for the school system, and a $639 match with the county to replace bleachers at Peachtree Elementary School.
A $25,000 revision for a school system match to expand the Murphy River Walk Trail near Konahetta Park was tabled after County Manager Randy Wiggins told the board issues involving the flood plain of Valley River were still be researched.
Oscar Valdes, an 86-year-old Korean War veteran, spoke to commissioners about changing the sign at Konahetta Park to read “Konahetta Veterans Park” and to add a patriotic red, white and blue color scheme to the proposed new sign. Valdes stated the new sign would cost $898.80 to erect, of which $58.80 of the estimate from Curtis Sign Shop is sales tax and would not not be charged to the county. Valdes said he would like to see the sign installed sometime before Memorial Day. Because the park lies within the city limits of Murphy, the board tabled its decision to allow more time to consult with the city of Murphy about a joint venture regarding the sign and to review draft of the sign’s design.
The board set 4:30 p.m. as a daily deadline for all land recordings submitted to the register of deeds office. Last month, Daphne Dockery, register of deeds, petitioned to the board to set an earlier time for a deadline for recordings in an effort to manage overtime for employees within the county register of deeds office.
Southwestern Commission was approved by the commissioners to continue as lead agency to coordinate the preparation of the county Home and Community Care Block Grant (HCCBG) program for Aging Services for fiscal year 2018-19. The board also approved the committee structure for the HCCBG five-member committee to be the Cherokee County Senior Center director, the county transit director, the director of DSS, the county manager and county finance director, or designees of the aforementioned positions.
Also, commissioners set a budget work session for May 30 at 5 p.m.
Following an executive session, two decisions were approved by the board. Commissioners unanimously approved a grant resolution for The Mining Store, a cryptocurrency mining data storage center that will be occupying the former Emerson building in Peachtree, North Carolina, and will create 25 jobs with an average pay of $40,000 annually. According to the resolution, the county Board of Commissioners is providing $30,000 in Incentive Funding to the project to be paid over a three-year period and $15,000 for a 5 percent match for a Building Reuse Grant. The county is expected to be reimbursed by the North Carolina Department of Commerce.
The board unanimously approved revisions to a five-year airport ground lease with MedTrans. County Manager Wiggins read the changes to the contract to include a $30 per month fair-market lease price, to eliminate one clause concerning the lessee’s right to erect, maintain and alter buildings or structures upon the premises, to change the wording in the arbitration clause to read “Cherokee County, North Carolina” instead of “American Arbitration Association”, and “for (the county attorney) to add language to (the lease) that should at any time the FFA (Federal Aviation Administration) find the agreement to be incompatible with their rules and regulations that the lease would be terminated at that time and a new lease would be developed.”
Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that attracts more than 300,000 page views and 3.5 million impressions per month in Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. FYNTV attracts approximately 15,000 viewers per week and reaches between 15,000 to 60,000 per week on our Facebook page. For the most effective, least expensive local advertising, call 706-276-6397 or email us at [email protected]
State recommends three additional positions for child welfare services
News April 24, 2018MURPHY, N.C. – At the April 23 Cherokee County Board of Commissioners (BOC) meeting, Michael Becketts, assistant secretary for North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), updated the board on the status of the Department of Social Services (DSS), and specifically child welfare services, in Cherokee.
Becketts told commissioners the DHHS had conducted on-site reviews of all programs from April 2 through 6, including child welfare services, at DSS.
“I’m happy to report that, by policy, the other parts of social services appear to be in substantial compliance,” Becketts stated. “I think that’s really good news for Cherokee County, and I do appreciate the effort and that was done not alone – the department (DHHS) doesn’t have the authority to just really come in and do that – but in consultation with Mr. (Randy) Wiggins, county manager, we did that review.”
Becketts explained to the board that Cindy Palmer, director of DSS, had submitted a budget request to the BOC to expand the child welfare staff of the DSS by three positions during the 2018-19 fiscal year. According to Becketts, Palmer proposed one program manager and two child welfare social workers.
While DHHS agreed with the need for three additional positions, Becketts stated after a recent examination of the organizational structure of the child welfare department of DSS in regard to the current workload, DHHS recommended a slight modification to the job specifications of the positions.
Instead of one program manager and two social workers, DHHS recommends one assistant director for child welfare services, one child welfare quality assurance specialist, and one foster care social worker.
“Your child welfare services has grown and needs more executive leadership within the department,” Becketts said of the assistant director and quality assurance specialist positions. “There are a number of federal changes that are happening to child welfare.”
According to information from DHHS, the annual salaries for the three proposed positions are $48,842 for the assistant director, $36,776 for the quality assurance specialist and $31,811 for the foster care social worker. Becketts recommended to the commissioners to approve a budget amendment for the 2017-18 fiscal year to allow DSS to begin recruiting qualified candidates instead of waiting until the beginning of the fiscal year, which begins July 1, to fill these positions.
“These three positions are critical to the continued success of child welfare in Cherokee County,” Becketts stated.
County Finance Director Candy Anderson explained that a pro-rated amount of $18,447 would cover the salaries for the three positions for the six weeks leading up to the beginning of the 2018-19 fiscal year. She also added $3,422 would account for office supplies and technology costs for the additional positions. The county would later receive an approximate 60 percent reimbursement from the state for salaries, which would leave county’s pro-rated cost at $8,748 for salaries.
For the 2018-19 fiscal year, the county could expect to pay $65,935 in salaries and benefits for the three positions after the state reimbursement, according to Anderson.
“I understand what you’re saying,” Commissioner C.B. McKinnon told Becketts. “In considering a budget, there’s lots of things to consider, so until we know what we’re doing with our complete budget it’s hard to make a decision on an individual position and going ahead and bumping that into this year.”
McKinnon also stated he was uncomfortable with modification of the positions from DHHS. “I’d like more input from Director Palmer before we consider that,” McKinnon stated. “We normally will go through and the director will give us the need for these positions and justify these positions.”
Later, when McKinnon reiterated his opposition to the modifications, Becketts explained the quality assurance specialist is the only position seeing any major change to that initially requested by Palmer.
Commissioner Cal Stiles endorsed the positions and the recommendations from the state saying, “I’d like to see us move forward with it. I know Director Palmer has mentioned several times about the staff shortage … With that $8,700 to finish out this year, I think for that amount of money it’d be a good investment to go ahead and try to work with you (Becketts) and then work with Director Palmer to get what she needs out there to get it back up to the level of service that we need for our children here in the county. So, I’d recommend it.”
After further discussion, the proposal to add the three DSS positions and the budget revision was approved 4-1 with McKinnon voting against.
Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that attracts more than 300,000 page views and 3.5 million impressions per month in Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. FYNTV attracts approximately 15,000 viewers per week and reaches between 15,000 to 60,000 per week on our Facebook page. For the most effective, least expensive local advertising, call 706-276-6397 or email us at [email protected]
Commissioners’ budget talks lead to discussion over county trash sites
News June 4, 2018MURPHY, N.C. – Cherokee County Board of Commissioners met Wednesday, May 30, for a budget work session to review and discuss the proposed budget for fiscal year 2018-19.
The budget, as recommended by County Manager Randy Wiggins, calls for a total of $44,212,558 with $38,083,967 designated for the general fund and $6,128,591 in special revenue funds.
On Wednesday, commissioners suggested further allotments to Wiggins to be added into the proposed budget. Commissioner Gary Westmoreland suggested adding $20,000 to purchase property across from the county senior center for a public-use dumpster site. This opened a discussion concerning the misuse of existing sites across the county.
Commissioner C.B. McKinnon suggested installing cameras at the Peachtree site and the Whitener Bend site in an effort to help enforce regulations at the sites and also to provide more 24-hour sites for county residents to use.
“I dare say nine of 10 times I’ve passed there (Peachtree site), there’s somebody there placing items … that’s not supposed to be there,” McKinnon said.
To this, Wiggins cautioned that opening more 24-hour sites across the county with no attendees and only security cameras to monitor activity could also encourage residents of surrounding counties to use the sites, which are supposed to be available only to Cherokee County residents. Wiggins specifically noted the Peachtree and Hiwassee Dam sites as two sites that are being misused heavily by residents from Clay County, North Carolina, and Polk County, Tennessee.
Referring to the Peachtree site, McKinnon asked, “How much garbage from Clay County is hitting the dumpsters that makes it worth inconveniencing the rest of the whole community in Cherokee County?”
Commissioner Cal Stiles stated that while he felt security cameras could help, monitoring of the footage would also be necessary to eliminate misuse at the sites. “Unless we have someone who has the time or we hire someone to actually view all this stuff to see … We really don’t know what’s going on there at two, three, four o’clock (in the morning),” Stiles said.
“I’ve never seen a group of people that fault a success so much,” McKinnon responded, referring to the existing 24-hour sites. “Usually when you have a success, you want to duplicate that success. I’ve never seen such a pushback from a success. ‘Oh, that was a success. Let’s not do another one.’ That is about a frustrating a thing that’s ever been.”
Wiggins clarified to McKinnon he was only sharing the complaints he had received concerning the sites. McKinnon suggested increasing the number of fines issued and also rotating attendants at sites.
“These are common sense things,” McKinnon added.
Additionally, Westmoreland suggested adding $80,000 to the budget for a new playground at Konahetta Park. Because the park is within the city limits of Murphy, McKinnon recommended meeting with the mayor and/or members of the city council about funding half of the cost for this.
“It’s time for the town of Murphy to step up in recreation and take the heat from the public like we take the heat from the public,” McKinnon stated.
Later, it was agreed that commissioners McKinnon and Westmoreland would meet at a future date with Mayor Rick Ramsey, of Murphy, about the town possibly funding half of a new playground at Konahetta Park.
The board also discussed the possibility of repairing the tennis and pickleball courts during the next fiscal year. According to Wiggins, the last time the courts had been resurfaced was over 20 years ago. He also stated several of the courts had received patching in August 2016, which cost the county approximately $27,000, and that the county has already received a quote in the amount of $114,825 to completely resurface the courts.
To this, McKinnon and Commissioner Roy Dickey agreed the town of Murphy should also assist with the financing of this potential project.
After Commissioner Stiles asked whether the needed repairs were a result of cosmetic issues or potential safety hazards, Wiggins stated further deterioration of the courts could pose safety hazards in the near future.
The board also discussed the budget line item for Tri-State Community College and addressed concerns over Cherokee County paying more than its fair share to the college than the counties of Clay and Graham.
The commissioners discussed the possibility of “holding the line” by not giving the college any additional funding than what the county has given in prior years.
“There’s got to be a point where you do hold your line and say, ‘Here’s what we’re going to do,'” McKinnon stated and then asked rhetorically, “Are you going to step up and do a tax increase? Are you okay with the other counties not paying their share and going ahead and increasing the tax on your citizens because the other counties aren’t paying their share?”
After further discussion, the board agreed to review the Tri-County line item again at its next budget workshop to be held June 21 at 6:30 p.m. In addition to this meeting, the county budget is expected to be adopted at the June 28 regular meeting of the Board of Commissioners.