Looking Back at 2023

I trust the Grace of Christmas has found you all;

As I look back over 2023 I cannot help but be surprised at how fast the year went with all life's triumphs and tragedies. The depth of emptiness left when we loose someone and the brilliant joy of new life that has joined our families; it all seems a bit of a blur.?

The year began with the creation of a new Economic Development Commission as a County Department headed by a new Director Ashley Bolick. Multiple Boards of nearly 40 people were dissolved and recreated into a single board of 17 members. The Commerce building was remodeled in partnership with CCC&TI and the members of the Chamber of Commerce to reflect the rebranding of the County.? We celebrated the career of Mr. Bobby White with the Long Leaf Pine Award, and the last grant he worked on awarded the county $500,000 for the County's first ever industrial park; Ever Greene in partnership with the Town of Sawmills.

Our Health Department has expanded services to aid in Women's Behavioral Health Counseling, and partnered with Human Resources to provide onsite counseling to all employees. Health Clinic patient load has more than doubled during the year. Our Health Department also partnered to house RESTART, the post overdose response team. The size of the RESTART team has doubled this year with the first round of Opioid Settlement funds aiding more than 400 persons seeking help with addiction.?Health Department, Emergency Services, and RESTART pressured VAYA Health to add a new provider with Integrated Care of Greater Hickory (ICGH) to provide onsite addiction treatment, with behavioral health therapy so our residents do not have to travel out of county.? ?

Building Inspections issued 2,600 permits including; electrical, plumbing, heating and air with 325 of those for new home construction. Our Sheriff's Department, in conjunction with our partner law enforcement agencies, removed more than more than $3.5 million in drugs from our community.??Animal Care responded to more than 2,500 calls for service. and adopted out more than 500 animals.?Our 911 center has received nearly 120,000 calls for service this year, and EMS has responded to more than 20,000 calls.

Our tenured DSS Director Will Wakefield retired after preparing the department for a major reorganization, including work from home opportunities, and readying for Medicaid Expansion. Kim Arnett was selected as our new DSS Director and has hit the ground running. Caldwell was noted as being?the most prepared of the counties?for Medicaid Expansion.?

Caldwell County Commissioners worked hard to establish a balanced budget and fund the needs of our departments. Our annual audit reported an unencumbered fund balance of 20%. A significant increase over the prior year. After the beginning of the fiscal year the Commissioners requested a review of pay and benefits for all employees. Merit Pay was doubled for the fiscal year, and benefits expanded significantly. Vacation accrual increased by 25%, and Commissioners added 4 weeks paid parental leave pay for the birth or adoption of a new child. A $2,500 per semester Tuition Reimbursement program was created to encourage professional development.? Commissioners also added 8 hours of paid school involvement leave, an additional holiday for "a Day of Personal Observance", and flex time.?

The County's focus is to reward our long term employees while being an employer of choice for new hires and preparing the next generation for public service.?The County began its first in house training program for new and future supervisors. LaMA, or Leadership and Management Academy, is 22 courses taken throughout the year to develop future leaders and managers from within the organization.? Our IT Department has been hard at work securing our network and rebuilding systems in the Sheriff's office that were nearly 20 years old. A complete new phone system was deployed in the majority of departments and a new dedicated fiber network called eLAN was implemented reducing our risk of loosing communications during storm events.?

As we look forward to the new year, the County will begin many capital projects in earnest. The construction of the Collettesville Water Tank, the remodel of Hudson EMS Base, construction of the Cajah's Mountain EMS Base/training?facility and?satellite?Sheriff's office. We have begun preliminary design on the new Courthouse and moving into plan drafting stage for what is now labeled?as a Fusion Center. This is a Joint Regional Communications?and Emergency Management?Center to serve all of Western North Carolina. It will house elements of North?Carolina Emergency Management, NC-VIPER, Office of State Fire Marshall, the Department of Insurance, our Emergency services Division of EMS, Fire Marshall and Emergency Management.?

I wish Health and Happiness to you and yours in the New Year.

Donald E. Duncan Jr. ICMA-CM