Assistant county manager to be introduced Tuesday
By Steve Herring
Published in News on November 29, 2014 11:05 PM
Wayne County's first assistant county manager and the new president of the Wayne County Development Alliance will be introduced when Wayne County commissioners meet Tuesday.
Assistant County Manager Tommy Burns will begin his new duties on Tuesday while Crystal Gettys will start Monday as Development Alliance president.
Tuesday's meeting will begin with an agenda briefing at 8 a.m., followed by the formal session at 9 a.m. Both will be held in the commissioners' meeting room on the fourth floor of the county courthouse annex.
Commissioners created the assistant manager position in August by expanding the duties of the Office of Emergency Services director. That job was left vacant in late May after longtime county employee Joe Gurley retired and was appointed to a vacant seat on the commission.
Burns will supervise the emergency services office and human resources as well as other departments that have yet to be determined. He will be paid $100,000 annually plus a $400 monthly car allowance.
Burns had most recently served as Harnett County manager since April 2013. Prior to that he spent seven years as a city manager, having worked in Coats, Lillington, the Harnett County seat, and Spring Lake.
Mrs. Gettys most recently served for seven years with the Lincoln Economic Development Association.
County Manager George Wood worked with Mrs. Gettys while he served as Lincoln county manager.
The Alliance president is considered a county employee, but who is "leased" to the Alliance. The agreement between the county and Alliance is that the president is hired by the Alliance board with concurrence of the county manager.
The county pays the salary of $92,500 per year.
In other business Tuesday, commissioners will hold two public hearings. The hearings will begin at 9:15 a.m.
The first is on the proposed rezoning of two tracts at 163 Long's Plant Farm Road from Light Industry Zone to Airport Zone to allow the operation of a cemetery. The property is part of the site where a new state veterans cemetery will be built.
The second is on a proposed Emergency Services Cost Recovery Ordinance for the county.
The ordinance would provide a way for the county to recover the costs associated with responding to and controlling incidents including, but not limited to hazardous materials release, long-term emergency operations, special or unusual incidents, identified types of motor vehicle collisions and man-made disasters.
Commissioners also will consider motions to approve:
* Gracyns Creek-Section One final subdivision plat.
* Invocation and pledge of allegiance resolution for commissioners' meetings.
* Purchasing a road tractor and dump trailer from sale of Solid Waste surplus equipment.
* Resolution declaring the commissioners' intent to reimburse expenditures by the county for a new misdemeanant jail from the proceeds of a tax-exempt financing.
Items on the consent agenda are: Health Department patient fees, eligibility and bad debt write-off policy revisions; Wayne Pregnancy Care Center lease; award bid for demolition and clearance of the Peggy G. Harvey house under the county's 2011 Community Development Block Grant-Catalyst project, and awarding a bid for singlewide manufactured home for Ms. Harvey under the same project; establishing a public hearing on Dec.. 16 at 9: 15 a.m. to receive public comments on levying an assessment for street lights in Street Light District No. 5, Ashby Hills.
Public comments will be taken at 10 a.m. People will have four minutes to speak on their topic of choice.