The Alamance County Board of Commissioners approved five applications for needs-based grants to the Alamance-Burlington School System and decided to move forward with a plan to consolidate the county’s health department in their meeting Sept. 15.
Vice Chair Steve Carter began the meeting by addressing the death of Charlie Kirk and commemorated the conservative political activist. Carter said that Kirk’s murder was an “attack on us all.”
“Our country was founded on principles, one of which was freedom of speech. Charlie's right was taken away by someone who simply disagreed with him,” Carter said. “If we allow that approach to free speech to continue, we're doomed, I believe, as a republic.”
Chairman John Paisley later addressed Carter’s comments in his closing remarks and said that they are blessed to not have that sort of violence in Alamance County. Paisley said there are disagreements but no threats over the work they do as commissioners.
ABSS needs-based grants and fund requests
ABSS Assistant Superintendent for Operations Greg Hook presented five needs-based grant applications for various ABSS schools to the board.
The grants, which ask for funding from the state, include one for a roofing project at Southern Alamance Middle School that would cost the county $700,000 because the county must match 25% in funding of the total project cost. The four other grants were for heating, ventilation and air conditioning repairs at Southern Alamance High School, Western Alamance High School, Graham Middle School and Eastern Alamance High School.
If all four HVAC grants were approved from the state — which Hook indicated was unlikely — it would cost the county $3 million. All five of the grant applications were unanimously approved by the board.
Hook also requested that the board approve the release of funds from the public school building repair and renovation fund for the demolition and replacement of Graham High School’s covered walkway system, also known as the “canopy system.”
The canopy system provides a roof above a series of sidewalks that connects the school’s various buildings. Hook said the covered walkway system, which was constructed in 1962, is crumbling to some degree. Hook said this request was time sensitive.
“We would have to send the application to the state to access the funds, if you'll approve it, and once the funds were approved, they would allocate only the money for the design portion of the project. Once it's designed then the state has to approve that design, and then they would raise the remainder of the money,” Hook said. “This kind of project has to be done immediately when the kids leave the campus, because it has to be complete by the time they come back.”
The request was unanimously approved by the board.
Human Services Consolidation
County Manager Heidi York and Director of the Alamance County Health Department Tony Lo Giudice presented to the board about the potential creation of a consolidated human services agency in Alamance County. This would combine health and human services under a single governing board.
York recommended consolidating the county’s health department with the Family Justice Center and Veterans Services. Of the 100 counties in North Carolina, 34 utilize a consolidation approach with human services. York said it would allow the county to provide more services.
“We just thought that there was an alignment there with the type of services that we saw being offered to veterans and to FJC,” York said. “We think that there's some opportunity to provide more services by this alignment with the health department and some of the new services that they've been offering.”
The agency would consist of a board made up of one county commissioner, physicians, professionals in categories such as pharmacy and psychiatry, and consumers of human services like Veterans Services.
The board would be made up of no more than 25 people, and York recommended 15. Lo Giudice said this puts the county under a single set of policies. Paisley said during the meeting that he liked the idea and that it would give the board more control over health policies.
Carter emphasized the importance of placing veterans on the board, and said that he doesn’t want this to lead to a loss of input from the veteran community. Carter suggested having more than 15 people on the board in order to accommodate his request for having veterans. Commissioner Ed Priola liked the plan of consolidating and said it provides more oversight. Priola asked York to provide examples of how it would increase efficiency in a later meeting.
The board did not approve a resolution declaring this consolidation, but agreed to move forward with the plan. Lo Giudice suggested voting on a resolution during the board’s meeting on Oct. 22.
Next County Commissioner meeting
The board will meet next at 9:30 a.m. on the second floor of the County Office Building in Graham on Oct. 6.