HomeMy WebLinkAboutLaw Enforcement Activities at Jordan lake
COUNTY OF CHATHAM
COMMISSIONERS
HENRY DUNLAP, JR., Chairman
EARL D. THOMPSON
GUS MURCHISON, JR.
CARL THOMPSON
MARY HAYES HOLMES
P. O. BOX 87
PITTSBORO, N. C. 27312
ORGANIZED 1770 707 SQUARE MILES
MARVIN K. HOFFMAN
County Administrator
ROBERT L. GUNN
County Attorney
November 12, 1987
Honorable Robert B. Jordan, Lieutenant Governor
Honorable Liston B. Ramsey, Speaker of the House
Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental
Operations
North Carolina General Assembly
Raleigh, N C. 27611
Dear Governor Jordan and Speaker Ramsey:
I am responding to the General Assembly's request for a
report on Chatham County's use of an allocation of
$25,000.00 to partially offset the county's expenses
associated with law enforcement activities at the Jordan
Lake.
Chatham County has used these funds to provide Sheriff
Department patrol personnel at the Lake. The Department
provides a uniformed sergeant who is assigned full time (40
hours/week) at the Lake from July 1 through Labor Day and
from May 1 to June 30. Additionally, other paid personnel
are assigned to work at the Lake from Labor Day until the
following May on a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday basis (24
hours/week) until next May when a total of 64 man hours per
week will be provided when the lake activities pick up. For
this fiscal year the personnel costs associated with this
assignment are estimated to be $23,427. Additionally it is
estimated that approximately 12,000 vehicle miles will be
logged on patrol activities associated with the Jordan Lake.
Attached to this letter are several computer print-outs
which record the activities at the lake for the period of
time from January 1 through November 10, 1987. The Sheriff
Department recorded 649 incidents of various types in the
patrol areas at the Jordan Lake These incidents range from
quite serious to minor in nature. However, since the State
Division of Parks personnel do not presently have the power
of arrest all these incidents involved the Sheriff
Department.
Please let me also direct your attention to the fact that
area rescue squads responded to the lake area 102 times.
Some of these calls involved life threatening situations and
others were of a less critical nature. All required the
investment of a substantial amount of manpower. When
drownings were involved the commitment of personnel and
equipment extended over several days.
The Rescue Squads in Chatham County have advised us that
they do not feel that their boats which were sized for
river and pond type operations, are entirely suitable for
use on the Jordan Lake. They advise that operations on the
Lake have threatened their own safety because of the
choppiness of the water and because of having personnel
working off their smaller boats. They point out that
adequate equipment for the Lake would be too large for them
to use in their normal response areas and would drain needed
financial resources from their primary needs. They have
asked the County to attempt to secure state assistance in
purchasing the specialized rescue boats needed at the Lake.
A final print out involves the fire department responses to
the lake area. The North Chatham and Moncure Fire
Departments responded 125 times in 1987 and half of these
calls were emergency medical service first responder calls
for sick or injured persons Neither fire department
receives assistance from the state for the lake related
calls and since the lake property is exempt from taxation
the departments do not receive fire taxes or any payment in
lieu of taxes The fire departments respond but it is an
expense to them.
The Chatham County Commissioners appreciate the support
which it has received from the General Assembly in
recognizing that the County has incurred costs associated
with having the Lake facilities in this county. Recognizing
that 27,000 visitors per day will come to the lake and that
a total of 3,000,000 visitors per year are to be using the
facilities, we feel that the workload for the county in
terms for law enforcement, fire, rescue, landfill and other
services will continue to expand in the future. We
therefore hope that you will continue to allocate funds for
the current and expanding demands for services.
If I may furnish any other information that will be of use
to the General Assembly, I will be happy to do so.
Sincerely yours,
Marvin K. Hoffman
County Manager
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Sheriff
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Rescue
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Fire
Use of $25,1.1 I Appropriation for Law Enforcement at Jordan and Kerr
Section 19, Chapter 830, Laws of 1987
Sec. 19. Of the funds appropriated to the Department of
Justice in Section 2 of this act, the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars
($25,000) shall be used by Chatham County during fiscal year 1987-88
and the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) shall be used by
Vance County during fiscal year 1987-88 for law enforcement at the
public access and camping areas during peak use times at Jordan Lake
and Kerr Lake. Chatham and Vance Counties shall report, before
December 1, 1987 on expenditures of these funds to the Joint Legislative
Commission on Governmental Operations and to the Fiscal Research
Division.