Cumberland County residents will soon be getting an app where they can pay bills, apply for county jobs and learn about county services, County Manager Clarence Grier told county commissioners Thursday.
Grier said he expects the app will roll out no later than mid-June in tandem with a budget initiative “that will also provide greater flexibility for citizens to engage with the county.”
Here’s everything you need to know about Thursday’s Cumberland County Board of Commissioners agenda session:
Fiscal year 2025 strategies
Grier gave a brief presentation on the county’s budgetary strategic initiatives for fiscal year 2024-25, which begins July 1 and ends June 30 of next year. A budgetary strategic plan is a requirement of the Government Finance Officers Association award program, which the county is applying for, he said.
Cumberland County received the association’s Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for its fiscal year 2023-24 budget for the first time in over two decades last year.
The strategic plan was broken up into five categories:
Grier emphasized these goals are not new to the county, with ongoing projects like the Homeless Support Center and improvements to the Ann Street Landfill already addressing many of the needs outlined in the strategic plan.
“The only reason why we put it in this format is because, like I said, it was required for the budget award,” Grier said. “They’re looking at that very stringently this upcoming year, and after we got that award last year, we don’t want to submit it again and have them say, ‘No, you can’t.’”
The only improvement commissioners suggested came from Commissioner Jimmy Keefe, who asked whether the county could find a way to prioritize technological improvements. Grier then announced the new county app, which Keefe said he was surprised but excited about.
The board unanimously approved placing the strategic plan on the consent agenda for its Monday meeting.
Doubts on gas
General Manager for Natural Resources Amanda Bader asked the board to consider approving an increased contract amount to make improvements to the county landfill’s gas collection and control system.
The issue centered on the county’s contract with Cargill, the company that buys the methane naturally produced by the landfill. With Bader requesting an extra $324,198 for a total price tag of $940,683.37, Keefe expressed concerns about how much money the county was spending for seemingly little benefit.
“We’re asking for almost $1 million to capture methane to sell to them,” he said. “Are they paying us over $1 million?”
Bader said Cargill wasn’t due to gas price fluctuations, noting that the county has not generated as much revenue from the sales this year as it budgeted for. The price has recently fluctuated anywhere from $9 to $2 per unit, she said.
“You have asked about gas value over and over, and we hear you,” Bader said. “We have been talking about options to present to you later about gas values.”
Chairman Glenn Adams said any contract with Cargill should address the volatility of the market. According to Bader, the county’s current contract expires in October 2026, and the county must notify Cargill six months before that if it intends to renew.
“There’s a lot of things kind of coming together at this time,” she said. “One of those things is the bipartisan infrastructure law. That brings in some funding for gas systems, which would allow the county to be able to develop some of their own capital cost with grant dollars, potentially, rather than us having to go to a third-party developer.”
Keefe told Bader he simply wants to ensure the county maximizes its return on investment.
“You have to get rid of your methane gas somehow,” he said. “But hopefully, if there is a market out there, and if the market goes up and down, then we should be compensated as the market goes. Our contract now says they get everything and we don’t have any option to sell any of our stuff anywhere else. That was my only concern.”
The board ultimately unanimously approved placing the contract increase on the consent agenda for Monday’s meeting.
ARPA updates
The board unanimously approved placing a staff request to provide $435,665 in ARPA funds to 17 local nonprofits on the consent agenda for Monday’s meeting.
If approved, those nonprofits would include:
In other business:
Commissioners Marshall Faircloth and Jeannette Council were not present at Thursday’s meeting.
The board next meets Monday at 6:45 p.m. at the Cumberland County courthouse.
Reporter Lexi Solomon can be reached at lsolomon@cityviewnc.com or 910-423-6500.
This story was made possible by contributions to CityView News Fund, a 501c3 charitable organization committed to an informed democracy.