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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 20090217 1 APPROVED 4/7/2009 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING February 17, 2009 7:30 p.m. The Orange County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, February 17, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, NC. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Valerie P. Foushee, and Commissioners Alice M. Gordon, Barry Jacobs, Pam Hemminger, Mike Nelson, Bernadette Pelissier, and Steve Yuhasz COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Laura Blackmon, Assistant County Managers Willie Best and Gwen Harvey, and Clerk to the Board Donna S. Baker (All other staff members will be identified appropriately below) NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE. 1. Additions or Changes to the Agenda The magenta sheet was for item 4-m, Resolution Honoring Central High School. Item 4-b has been revised and is now 4-b-2, Orange-Person-Chatham Area Programs Board— Reappointments. The canary colored sheet refers to item 6-c, Federal Stimulus Package. There was also an updated BOCC Meeting Calendar. Clerk to the Board Donna Baker said that the differences are related to the closed sessions added this week. Commissioner Jacobs suggested considering 6-e, Alamance County/Orange County Boundary Line NCGS Survey, up on the decision items list because this item has been deferred before. He asked that it be made item 6-c and all agreed. PUBLIC CHARGE The Chair dispensed with the reading of the public charge. 2. Public Comments a. Matters not on the Printed Agenda Richard Ellington lives in Chapel Hill and has been a lifelong resident of Orange County. He said that his family connections go back to 1752 and he is concerned about the preservation of history of Orange County. He said that Orange County does not get enough good press about its history and that the beginning of the nation began in Orange County and the Battle of the Regulators. This was the first farm conflict in Colonial United States. He said that the real end of the Civil War ended in Durham at Bennett Place, which used to be in Orange County. His biggest concern is that Orange County is not protecting its heritage, 2 specifically with the loss of the Orange County Heritage Room in the new library. He asked only that this room be kept. Joyce Hall is a volunteer at the Orange County Senior Center in Hillsborough. Her concern is that the center is not closed on President's Day, Veteran's Day, and Columbus Day. She would like the County Commissioners to review the closing schedules. Carol Boggs spoke in support of keeping the Heritage Room in the new library, specifically for genealogy. She asked the Board to consider this and make wise decisions. b. Matters on the Printed Agenda (These matters were considered when the Board addressed that item on the agenda below.) 3. Proclamations/ Resolutions/ Special Presentations County Geof Gledhill made reports on two settlements. Geof Gledhill said that the settlements were approved in October 2008. The Open Meetings Law requires that after the cases are settled that the results be reported to the Board and placed in the minutes. The first settlement is Orange County vs. Juan Carlos and Diana Garcia Huerta. This was a zoning violation case rising out of Huerta's use of a mobile food vending unit in the Buckhorn area of Orange County. Following the action to stop that zoning violation, a settlement was reached whereby the Huerta's paid $4,500 in civil penalties. This couple has removed the mobile vending unit and will cease all commercial use of what is a residentially zoned piece of property. Counterclaims filed by the Huerta's were dismissed as a result of the settlement. The court retains jurisdiction of the case in order to enforce the terms. The second case is Galleria of North Carolina, LLC vs. Orange County. The County leased for a number of years a portion of the Galleria shopping center for their senior center. A dispute arose over the amount of money owed prior to dismantling of the facility after the senior center moved out. The allegations on the County were $123,000. The County counterclaimed for$17,000 in rent that was paid for the month after the lease expired. The net impact on Orange County was $107,000. The case was settled for$35,000. The County Attorney gave the information to the Clerk to the Board for inclusion into the minutes. 4. Consent Agenda A motion was made by Commissioner Hemminger, seconded by Commissioner Pelissier to approve those items on the consent agenda as stated below: a. Minutes The Board approved the minutes from January 22 and 27, 2009 as submitted by the Clerk to the Board. b. Appointments (1) Commission for the Environment— Reappointments The Board reappointed Michelle Kempinski and Bryn Smith to second full terms ending December 31, 2011. (2) Orange-Person-Chatham Area Programs Board — Reappointments The Board reappointed Dr. Lynn Ikenberry to a first full term ending December 31, 2011; and Sandra Herring to a third full term ending December 31, 2011. c. Motor Vehicle Property Tax Release/Refunds 3 The Board adopted a refund resolution, which is incorporated by reference, related to 58 requests for motor vehicle property tax releases or refunds in accordance with North Carolina General Statutes. d. Applications for Property Tax Exemption/Exclusion The Board approved three (3) untimely applications for exemption/exclusion from ad valorem taxation for the 2008 tax year. e. Advertisement of Tax Liens on Real Property The Board accepted a report on the amount of unpaid taxes for the current year that are liens on real property as required by North Carolina General Statute 105-369 and set March 18, 2009 as the date for the tax lien advertisement. f. Central Orange Senior Center Custodial Contract The Board approved the proposed custodial service contract with OE Enterprises, Inc. from March 1, 2009 through June 30, 2009 and authorized the Manager to sign the contract. Sales Contract Between the Visitors Bureau and the Hyland Group The Board approved a contract between the Visitors Bureau and the Hyland Group, subject to final review by staff and the County Attorney. h. Bid Award: Phase 2 Justice Facility Renovation Asbestos Abatement The Board awarded a bid to Environmental Holding Group of Morrisville, North Carolina in the amount of $39,900 for asbestos removal and disposal from specific areas within the Courthouse renovation area; and authorized the Director of Purchasing to execute the necessary paperwork. i. Orange County Landfill Sewer Dedication to OWASA The Board approved dedicating a sewer utility line to the Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA) constructed to serve the Orange County Landfill and Animal Services Facility, contingent upon final Attorney review; and authorized the Chair to sign. L Resolution Declaring February 24 as Spay Neuter Day USA The Board approved a resolution declaring February 24, 2009 as "Spay Neuter Day USA" in Orange County and authorized the Chair to sign. k. Schools Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (Schools APFO) —Approval of Corrected Membership and Capacity Numbers for Orange County Schools The Board approved revised November 14, 2008 membership and capacity numbers for Orange County Schools (OCS) which will be used in developing 10-year student membership projections and the 2009 SAPFO Technical Advisory Committee Report. I. UNC/Orange County Landfill Gas Agreement The Board approved the final agreement establishing the Orange County/University of North Carolina (UNC) Landfill Gas Recovery Project and authorized the Chair to sign. VOTE ON CONSENT AGENDA: UNANIMOUS 5. Public Hearings-NONE 6. Regular Agenda a. Acceptance of County Master Aging Report for 2007-2008 and Approve Priorities for 2009 The Board considered reviewing and accepting the Orange County Master Aging Plan Annual Report covering an eighteen-month period from July 2007 through 2008 and approving priorities for calendar year 2009. Department on Aging Director Jerry Passmore introduced the Advisory Board on Aging Chair, Steve Lackey. 4 Steve Lackey said that the review before them was reviewed by the Advisory Board on Aging and approved. He was available to answer any questions from the Board of County Commissioners. Commissioner Nelson asked about a statement that one of the priorities would require redeployment of existing JOCCA nutrition funds. Jerry Passmore said that a decision was made to move forward with the Department on Aging working with a Food Services Advisory Committee to change the nutrition paradigm. He said that the goal is to buy local and go green, and JOCCA has bought into this and is interested. There have been meetings for awhile on this transition. This transition will be done in-house. The same people will be served. Gwen Harvey provided further clarification on how this operation will be done internally. Several County Commissioners asked about the fiscal impacts of this. Jerry Passmore said that no additional County funds would be needed. Commissioner Pelissier asked about a risk that some services relying on UNC staff will be cut and Jerry Passmore said that he has not received any word on any cuts from UNC. Chair Foushee asked about the residents in Efland and Cedar Grove and the concerns about transportation. She asked about the status of transportation from those centers to the Central Orange location. Jerry Passmore said that this transportation is available. Commissioner Jacobs referred to page 8, Housing and Shelter, Objective B-1: Expand assistance in the retrofitting, repair, and maintenance of existing older adult homes. He said that the County Commissioners had a conversation with the Social Services Board about this issue and working together better to proportion resources with the urgent home repair program. He wants to flag this. Laura Blackmon said that staff is proceeding and the management team discussed it this morning. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to page 10 (top), Objective C-2: Improve Orange Public Transportation (OPT) transit services and the County's emergency disaster transit provision for older adults. He asked about the status of having emergency shelters that will accept pets. Staff will provide an update at a later time for this. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to page 13 (top), Objective E-1: Provide preventive community-based services which assist older adults in maintaining good health and to age in place. He asked about the fees for the Sportsplex and if this was not already underway. Jerry Passmore said that this was done at the Seymour Center and has been expanded to the new center in Hillsborough in conjunction with the Sportsplex. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to page 17 (top), Goal H regarding a legislative agenda. He said that this is a good idea, but he would like to do it in an expedited manner. He asked the Manager to coordinate with advisory groups that have legislative issues and bring them all to the Board, since the deadline for bills is fast approaching. He asked the Manager to send a directive to the department heads about these deadlines. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the consolidation of services from Efland and Cedar Grove and said that he believes that people are moving amicably together, but he would like to reach out to these communities and make sure that this program is a success. He suggested reaching out to some of the ministers and civic organizations and inquiring. Jerry Passmore said that he would do this. Commissioner Gordon made reference to page 10 (top) and the transportation issue, and suggested referencing the new route, which will be expanded in the Rogers Road area. A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Hemminger to accept the Master Aging Plan Annual report (mid-2007 through 2008) and approve the priorities for calendar year 2009. VOTE: UNANIMOUS 5 b. Memorandum of Understanding - Jordan Lake Partnership The Board considered adopting a memorandum of understanding to join a partnership of area local governments and water providers in a Jordan Lake water supply initiative, including water supply planning, potential joint future allocation requests and a possible future water intake and treatment facility and authorizing the Manager to sign. Dave Stancil recognized some representatives of this partnership. He said that the purpose of the partnership is all about collaboration and partnership. He said that the MOU is about building on these regional approaches and the hope is that this will be a model. He said that a lot of discussion came out of the drought of 2007-08. He said that the North Carolina Division of Water Resources is very intrigued and encouraged about the possibility of local governments and water providers in the region working together in a partnership to address long-term needs and planning. Orange County currently holds an allocation from Jordan Lake of one million gallons per day. He went through the MOU. The MOU creates a partnership management team but not a policy team and the City of Durham has agreed to take the lead for a fiscal contracting agent responsibility. The primary anticipated functions of the Partnership are to engage in three activities or Additional Projects (Item 5 of the MOU). It is notable that each of the three activities is at the discretion of the partner and is optional. These are: 1. Regional Water Supply Planning Project — To develop a regional water supply plan for Jordan Lake, including the gathering of information from Jordan Lake water allocation holders on subjects such as water demand, conservation, supply sources and future needs. 2. Jordan Lake Allocation Requests — Jointly prepared and coordinated allocation requests to the NC Environmental Management Commission for allocations (or increased allocations) from Jordan Lake's water supply. This may involve a common letter request and/or specifically tailored requests from each partner related to their needs. However, the requests would need to be consistent with the Water Supply Plan. 3. Jordan Lake Western Intake Preliminary Planning Project — Study of the potential capacity and associated intake and water supply facilities needed to access increased water supply. This will include the preliminary engineering and cost information to support allocation increases, and would be limited to members of the Partnership interested in the joint capital project investment. Engineering and work beyond the preliminary stage would require a separate agreement. The MOU is a five-year agreement and may be terminated or extended by mutual consent. Any jurisdiction may withdraw by written letter, as long as residual financial commitments are satisfied. Jordan Lake Partnership January 27 Comments and Questions January 27 Comment or Question Information from Staff Process needs an elected official structure Comment transmitted to Partnership 6 for policy issues —too staff-driven facilitator and lead staff— potential addition to MOU? Spell out more explicit role for elected boards. May also be addressed by interlocal agreement or other existing joint committee mechanism (please see below) Need to address growth management and The proposed MOU is a technical planning /water policy issues document built around water supply and infrastructure planning, and may not be the most practical place to address these important issues. Several options to address this topic may exist, including 1) Create separate interlocal agreement with appropriate jurisdictions as needed; and/or 2) work through existing TJCOG development and Infrastructure Committee for policy dialogue; or others as the Board identifies. Inter-basin transfers (IBT) should be One option to avoid the potential for IBT's addressed and avoided if possible. is to indicate future service areas that are within the Cape Fear (Jordan Lake basin) and/or discharge wastewater within the basin to avoid IBT. Staff will prepare an issue paper on this topic for subsequent discussion. Role of City of Durham as lead entity Durham has indicated that it sees its role as administrative lead and contracting agent, and would not undertake Partnership tasks or duties without the consent of the signatories (and their policy-making bodies). This could be made explicit in the MOU through an additional sentence? David Stancil reiterated that the partnership was about the future and collaborative relationships among the jurisdictions and water providers. Commissioner Yuhasz asked about the City of Durham's lead role and its authority to act. He is concerned that the City might get advice from the partnership that may be in contrast to what the City wants. Assistant Manager of Durham Ted Voorhees said that the City of Durham would view its role as a fiscal and administrative agent. The thinking was primarily executing contracts and making payments for the independent facilitator. There has been no thought about any activities that would commit anyone in the group. Commissioner Yuhasz said that he wants to make sure that whatever Durham is saying on behalf of the partnership has in fact been agreed to by all members of the partnership. He thinks that the wording allows that not to happen. 7 David Stancil said that the next step, the allocation request, is contingent on doing the water supply plan. If a jurisdiction is interested in moving to the next level and they have not participated in the water supply plan, it will be difficult to make a case. Commissioner Nelson asked if there was some language that could be added to ensure that the service area is included. Laura Blackmon said that her suggestion is to direct staff, and this MOU is to set up the collaborative effort. The issues of each jurisdiction are not addressed in the MOU. Chair Foushee asked if the staff should bring back to the Board the possibilities of how to avoid undesirable things in the inter-basin transfers. The Board agreed. A motion was made by Commissioner Nelson to direct staff to bring back language for the MOA that addresses the issue of how to avoid the issue of containment. The motion failed for lack of a second. Commissioner Jacobs said that Commissioner Nelson raises a good point and on page 11, the analysis from staff about what was discussed should be a focus of another effort and not included in the MOU that addresses the issues and brings them back with more staff analysis and recommendations. He said that he might be disinclined to support inter-basin transfer, but he would rather not have a motion that pre-judges, but that staff should come back with the pros and cons. The recommendation from the Manager is to approve the MOU and direct staff to bring back more analysis on the other points. Commissioner Gordon supports what has been said, but she is struggling with what it means to sign the agreement at this point. She said that, in reading the agreement and then in reading what the Orange County staff has said, it sounds like it would be better if some of the additional language were in there, especially about the watershed planning. There is a disconnect between statements concerning what would be acceptable and what is in the agreement. Laura Blackmon said that the intent of this agreement is for all of the entities to agree to participate in some discussions with the three tasks. Commissioner Gordon said that she would like to know what the Towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro are thinking. Mr. Voorhees said that he supported the County Manager's description of how the City of Durham thinks it would operate —that the MOU would create a space for the regional partners to discuss technical issues about how water supply planning can go forward. If governments want to participate, then they can join in through this instrument. He would expect all of the participants to get their guidance from their home governments. Commissioner Pelissier said that part of the problem is that the MOU says so many things. She read from the second page, "Actions on project activities by the elected bodies of each jurisdiction.." She said that it clearly says that there are no actions that would be taken unless the elected bodies actually directed it. This makes her comfortable in that respect. She is uncomfortable about the oddity of Orange County in that OWASA is the technical partner here, but it serves mostly Chapel Hill and Carrboro, yet Orange County is discussing and signing it as an elected body. She would like to focus first on having some sort of coordinated group between all of the towns and the County. Commissioner Nelson said that the issue of land use is a very important consideration and the politics of water are intense. He said that he is having a hard time agreeing to separate the land use from the water supply. Laura Blackmon said that these are not necessarily on different tracks. Orange County has no leverage unless it is part of the group. Commissioner Jacobs agreed with Commissioner Nelson and said that the two issues cannot be separated. He thinks that there is a parallel effort to create a different MOU that encompasses the issues. 8 Commissioner Pelissier agreed with Commissioner Nelson's concerns and said that the problem they face by doing it altogether is the fact that staff can only do technical things and cannot deal with land use. The elected officials must deal with land use. If the County is going to sign the MOU, she thinks that the elected officials must start the political part and the land use part right away. Commissioner Gordon asked about the urgency of this and if it would be problematic for the MOU to be crafted differently. Dave Stancil said that Orange County has a lot of issues to consider. He does not know whether all of the other partnership members are going to be as interested in this topic as Orange County is. If more language is added, then there is a risk that it will not be acceptable to some of the partners. There are some jurisdictions within this region that are ready to pursue allocations now. Commissioner Yuhasz said that it is important that Orange County has a seat at the table. He said that Orange County staff is involved in these discussions and is aware of the County Commissioners' concerns. He said that the County could sign the agreement and then look at language modifications afterwards. He does not want to see the participation delayed as a result of the concerns. Chair Foushee agreed and said that there is no way that Orange County can influence the decisions made unless it has a seat at the table. A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Hemminger to authorize the Manager to sign the Memorandum of Understanding and direct the Manager and staff to pursue any needed interlocal discussions or agreements on growth management and elected official policy oversight; with the stipulation that the additional interlocal discussions or agreements on growth management and elected official policy oversight reflect points 1, 2, and 3 on page 11; and include immediately engaging the municipalities of Orange County; mainly Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Hillsborough in discussing water resource planning. VOTE: Ayes, 6; No, 1 (Commissioner Nelson) Commissioner Jacobs asked about the leadership role the State is playing and Dave Stancil said that there have not been recent conversations with the Division of Water Resources. There has been a change in leadership, but they have been very supportive of this idea of a regional partnership. c. (formerly 6e). Alamance County/Orange County Boundary Line NCGS Survey The Board considered a report on the results of the North Carolina Geodetic Survey (NCGS) and the public outreach and discussed strategies to resolve Alamance/Orange Boundary line issues. Laura Blackmon said that this item was deferred at the last work session. Willie Best made a PowerPoint presentation. ALAMANCE COUNTY— ORANGE COUNTY BOUNDARY LINE ISSUES February 17, 2009 9 Outline of Discussion •How did we get here? •What are we doing about it? Outreach and Issues •Next Steps/Proposals 1849 Line Description vs. Operational Zig-Zag Line Implementation for Tax Purposes NCGS Survey Southwest Orange County South of NC 54 Northwest Orange County Eliza Lane Area REASON FOR MEETING •History —1849 —1970s —1990s —2008 •Preliminary Stage —Why now? —Letter and map to property owner —FAQ —Website —Outreach meetings/Questions/Answers/Research SEPTEMBER 3, 2008 - Hebron United Methodist Church SEPTEMBER 4, 2008 - Mebane Arts Center PROCESS USED TO RECONFIRM LINE •Alamance County and Orange County —Asked, by resolution, State NCGS to field locate 1849 line State NCGS (North Carolina Geodetic Survey) —Used new technology and old reference points to field locate —Formal Survey WHAT COULD BE EFFECTS OF PROCESS 10 TO CONFIRM AND STRAIGHTEN OUT LINE •Possible Changes —Orange to Alamance —Alamance to Orange WHAT COULD BE EFFECTS OF PROCESS •Services —Schools —Taxes — Police — Fire — Emergency Services —Voting — etc. NEXT STEPS •Review and Discussion by Counties —Joint Meeting February, March 2009 —With Commission discussion before public input? •Legal Issues •Formal Public Hearings to Determine Agreement •Implementation Program * •See specifics •Effective Date Implementation Program Option 1 a •Use NCGS Survey —Accept NCGS field confirmation of 1849 line —Notify all parties of forthcoming changes with specific effective date Implementation Program Option 1 b -Accept NCGS field confirmation of 1849 line - Notify all parties of changes with a. undeveloped properties with specific date b. developed properties change at time of real estate transfer for certain service delivery 11 Implementation Program Option 2 •Gerrymander line to reflect past taxing boundaries •Resurvey line to create new boundary Contact Persons Orange County —Willie Best, Orange County Assistant Manager —Craig Benedict, Orange County Planning Director —Steve Averett, Orange County Information Technology/GIS Alamance County —Clyde Albright, County Attorney —Bruce Walker, GIS Manager Commissioner Jacobs pointed out that this issue has been ongoing for years. Geof Gledhill said that this predates any litigation and it originally arose when the mapping staff and mapping systems realized there were problems with the line. Commissioner Jacobs said that he has heard from people in Mebane about the costs of moving the line. He would like some additional information on the costs of keeping the line the same in the 9th Street area. Willie Best made reference to the southeastern end and said that these residents receive Orange County services, and if they are not allowed to stay in Orange County, then it would be difficult to receive services from Alamance because of the creek that separates them from that part of Alamance County. Commissioner Yuhasz asked about the process for making that kind of shift in the line. Geof Gledhill said that locating a disputed boundary would be done by the two Boards of County Commissioners adopting resolutions recording the maps. There would be no difficulty in changing the line if both boards agreed. Willie Best said that the staff has had some outreach meetings and there are a small number of people affected. There is also a website with information for the public. Commissioner Gordon asked if the Manager's Office has talked with Alamance County and Laura Blackmon said that she has met with Alamance County officials several times. The outreach meetings have been held jointly. Each of the County Commissioners needs to decide how to proceed at this point. Commissioner Gordon asked for a list of points of negotiation with the pros and cons. Willie Best said that there are a number of issues - schools, taxes, emergency services, voting, etc. Chair Foushee asked that the County Commissioners get the information from Willie Best on hardcopy so it will be easier to follow. Commissioner Jacobs said that supporting material is needed, especially about school systems and interlocal agreements. He asked that this be articulated in a few bullet points under each of the items. Chair Foushee said that it is almost impossible to move forward with just this information. 12 Laura Blackmon said that this was supposed to be a discussion at a work session to begin with. She will provide this information to the Board of County Commissioners and will confer with Alamance County in the meantime. Commissioner Yuhasz said that he would like to see all of the slides in the packets for next time. He would also like to see the data report listing and what was found. Commissioner Pelissier said that she has no idea how the services are different in Alamance County. She would like to know who would lose services, who would gain services, how many children are in the school systems, and clarification on the pie charts in the abstract. This item will come back with more complete information. d. Federal Stimulus Package The Board considered approving a list of projects for the Federal Stimulus Appropriation Package and the resubmission of two projects for the Trans-HUD Subcommittee to Congressman David Price's office. Laura Blackmon said that it is not known how the money is coming down. The purpose in providing the list was to show which projects were "shovel ready" for the stimulus money. Items in the CIP were used. She thinks it is important for the Board to talk about the list and prioritize the items. Commissioner Gordon made reference to the transportation projects from DOT and asked about the status of Orange County projects. She asked what Orange County could do to put its own list into consideration. The Orange Grove pedestrian bridge should be on the list. Commissioner Jacobs agreed with Commissioner Gordon about the pedestrian bridge. He does not know what happened to the request to DOT about funds allocated for planning for Buckhorn Road improvements. This was the highest priority in the RPO. The State will ask for money for 1-85, but he thinks Orange County should be asking for money for projects that it has identified as highest priorities. Regarding the Efland sewer project, he thinks it would be important to add that what Orange County is asking for, "expands and completes a project begun with local and federal funds to address economic development and the needs of predominantly low-income neighborhoods." Commissioner Jacobs said that he remembers hearing for years about the lack of labs at middle schools and he does not see science labs on the list. Commissioner Hemminger said that the science lab project is very expensive and would not be "shovel ready." Commissioner Jacobs said that he sent around an email today of a New York Times story about education funding, which indicated that there is flexibility for Governors to use some of the money for school construction. Maybe the school boards could lobby for this. Laura Blackmon said that she could keep a running list, and she will put the pedestrian bridge on the list. She just wants to be ready. Commissioner Gordon said that the TAC approved the priority list for Division 7, which has specific projects. She suggested putting these on the list also. Commissioner Jacobs said that he is comfortable with a rolling list. He asked that the Manager email the list before it goes out. A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Yuhasz to accept the attached list of projects and the resubmission of the Orange County Value-Added Agriculture Processing Center and the US Highway 70/Cornelius Street Incubator; along with other projects that may be subsequently added for submission for the Federal Stimulus 13 Package funding, and that the County Commissioners be notified via email prior to the submission of the list. VOTE: UNANIMOUS e. Information Technology Strategic Plan The Board considered approving the Strategic Technology Plan as developed by County staff and the Information Technologies Advisory Committee. Chief Information Officer Todd Jones said that this plan is evolutionary and is formally reviewed every two years. The document has a heavy emphasis on infrastructure to make sure that there are stable servers, a stable network, stable PCs, procedures, and policies to ensure the availability of these resources. He reviewed this document, which is incorporated by reference. Orange County Information Technologies Strategic Technology Plan November 2008 Todd E. Jones Chief Information Officer Orange County Information Technologies With consultation from the Orange County Information Technologies Advisory Committee Revision History Original version —August 2004 Established basic strategic direction for County. Approved by ITAC 1St major update — March 2006 Updated to remove accomplished goals and to include new web goals, new networking goals and security initiatives. Approved by ITAC 2nd major update —April 2008 Updated to remove accomplished goals and to include new networking goals and application initiatives. 3rd update — November 2008 Updated to include GIS strategic plans 14 GOALS AND OBJECTIVES Orange County Information Technologies (OCIT)'s Mission Statement: To serve Orange County citizens by creating, configuring and maintaining reliable and cost- effective technical solutions for the provision of public service and the protection of County information. Public benefits Public benefit is ultimately our only goal. OCIT must be able to justify all IT efforts and expenditures in terms of advancing public benefit. This element of the strategic plan must serve as the core of the plan, upon which all other efforts are based. Customer service While our immediate customers are the Orange County government departments' staffs, the citizens of Orange County are our ultimate customers. By providing direct and efficient service to the various County departments, we serve the public's interest. In addition to quick and thorough response to departmental staff needs, we want to ensure that customers receive timely feedback on our progress and have a firm idea of what they can expect from IT. Cost containment A critical element in ensuring public benefits is our containment of cost and leveraging benefits of technologies. This includes the following points: • All major applications should be chosen through a formal, yet scaleable selection process. This process includes formal proposals and thoroughly vetted requirements analysis of proposed technologies. • OCIT must adhere to prevailing technology architecture standards from which efficiencies of scale for support and maintenance can be realized. • OCIT must reduce opportunities for malicious intrusion (viruses, worms, spyware, hackers) to adversely affect operations and threaten the integrity of County information. Concomitant with this cost containment for OCIT resources is the need to ensure constituent departments are not also adversely affected by these threats. • OCIT must adopt Total Cost of Ownership as a critical part of the cost/benefit analysis for all expenditures Inter-departmental synergies By maintaining a broad view of Orange County technology interests, OCIT can identify: • Technology redundancies between departments • Opportunities for data sharing to enrich public service • Areas of diverging technical architectures that would be costly to integrate 15 OCIT should work with the County Manager and BOCC to formalize technology roles within departments and adopt a "dotted-line" or secondary reporting relationship for these roles in the OCIT department Data retention The OCIT organization plays an essential role in ensuring County information is preserved and accessible. The OCIT organization must standardize on the following practices: • Well managed data backup procedures • Off-site storage of data • Regular data restore audits to measure effectiveness of data retention • Align retention schedules with public needs and prevailing records retention laws Business continuity OCIT has a significant role in preventing disasters, and in helping Orange County recover from disasters as quickly and efficiently as possible. Components of this role include: • Network security from intruders • Disaster planning in coordination with EMS and other departments • Identifying, cost-justifying and eliminating single points of failure in critical systems and articulating needs to decision makers • Exploring arrangements with peer governments and private sector vendors for restoring essential services and data on temporary equipment The OCIT organization will work with the Emergency Management organization to develop a Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Plan. This plan must cover short term crises that temporarily interrupt the County's access to computing resources, as well as long-term interruptions to County facilities requiring relocation of County operations. CURRENT STATE Network Approximately two thirds of our network is high speed fiber (100Mb) while the remaining third is a combination of Frame Relay, DSL, Cable and some dialup. The high speed portions of our network enable centralization of servers, which in turn provides economies of scale for environmental protection, centralized backups, security and maintenance. There is a clear trend of reliability where we have been able to take advantage of centralization. 16 Servers Our servers are a combination of Dell, IBM and Compaq hardware, depending on the vintage of procurement. These servers are configured to a variety of operating systems, including Windows, a legacy AIX server and two Linux servers. The average age of servers is approximately 3 years, with a few critical servers working beyond their expected lifespan, posing a risk to customer services. Desktops Desktops are predominantly P4 or better computers running Win2000 and WinXP. They range in age from 6 years to new. Older computers are beyond their expected lifespan and are no longer vendor supported. Further, these older computers are often incapable of supporting newer security software and additional enterprise applications. Operations Support The OCIT Operations staff provides the following services: • Server maintenance, troubleshooting, upgrading and replacement • Network maintenance, troubleshooting, upgrading and replacement • Email system maintenance, troubleshooting, upgrading and replacement • Desktop maintenance, troubleshooting, upgrading and replacement • Help Desk function Geographic Information Systems Now a part of Information Technologies, the Geographic Information Systems component of Orange County needs to be evolved to meet the analytical needs of our constituents, our fellow departments and our elected officials. Long term needs for GIS are to develop a richly detailed address-driven information center on the website. This tool could provide myriad data points in response to a single address. Crime statistics, school and political districts, recreational proximities and many other data points could be provided. Other capabilities to be developed include: • Ability to search by sales specified by amounts, dates, and locations (subdivision, etc.) • Parcel linkages to a property record card • Parcel selection based on a manually defined buffer with the capability to export the selected attributes to an Excel spreadsheet • Integrated multiple year orthophotography • Selectable GIS view scale • Oblique imagery integration • Integration with NCOneMap (http://www.nconemap.com/) 17 • Full integration with Register of Deeds and Tax Collections • Query, view, and get directions to Elections polling sites • Correlate description of confiscated animals with location • Crime reporting graphics (date, location, and types of offenses) • Zoning information • Custom queries to locate desirable properties for economic development. Applications Development The OCIT organization is also responsible for providing applications for all Orange County departments. Historically, this has emphasized in-house development of applications to meet specific needs of Orange County departments. However, the recent industry trend is toward implementing commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software. This direction is predicated on greater efficiencies and more powerful capabilities derived from COTS software. Currently, the specific duties of the applications analysts include: • In house application development, support and enhancement • Integration of commercial off the shelf products within current business processes and technology architecture • Assisting operations staff with nettlesome troubleshooting issues. Some departments outside of IT have staff that program applications or customize COTS applications to meet business needs. These development activities typically do not follow standard development methodologies and are highly dependent on the ongoing availability of the specific individual resource who performs the coding. Efforts to provide technical backup to these individuals are not always practical due to the lack of formal development practices. Business Analysis In 2004, OCIT hired a system analyst to advance the business analysis capability in OCIT. The duties of the business analyst role includes: • Applying formal project management disciplines to major system implementations and large-scale enhancement requests, focusing on requirements management and scheduling. • Consulting with departments to properly align their business practices with available and potential technology solutions. • Contract consulting with purchasing and legal departments, to ensure vendor performance is measurable and contractually enforceable. • Oversight of vendor and consultant activities 18 County Website Orange County's current website is currently undergoing a major transition. The original mid 90's design originally intended to accommodate a modest amount of content. Over time, the amount of web content increased dramatically, now including over 17,000 files and 2.2 Gigabytes of data. With this increase in content and services, the design not evolved. The site is in the final stages of providing some level of accessibility to non-English speakers or the disabled. Additionally, changes have been made to provide powerful search mechanisms for helping the public locate information easily and find related services. The site has been updated to largely eliminate individual departmental webpage design, which had historically confounded attempt to portray Orange County as a holistic set of public services. As the web information has grown in volume and sophistication, Orange County Information Technologies has worked with departments to evolve the website to accommodate this growth, resulting in significant opportunities for advancing customer satisfaction. OCIT STRATEGIC REQUIREMENTS Operations Support In order to increase overall system reliability, OCIT should strengthen the operations area, in the following areas: • Continued improvements to detailed metrics of support activities, including tracking of uptime for critical services • Continuously improved resolution times to issues • Evolving controls on the use of desktop computers, so as to prevent security exploits. These controls include the demotion of user accounts from admin privileges, periodic audits of desktop-resident applications and global patch management. • Continued use of email filters for reduction of spam without eliminating legitimate public inquiry • Tracking the results of initiatives designed to prevent maintenance issues, to gauge their effectiveness. Application Development The IT organization should continue its evolution from in-house application development to managing the evaluation and implementation of third party solutions. These commercial offerings, sometimes known as Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) programs are mature, fully featured and offer strong vendor support. 19 In order to address this shift, OCIT needs to continue to evolve its expertise for project management, including requirements analysis, contract evaluation, and vendor management. Some remaining enhancement and small-scale development will persist. These enhancement activities should focus on current technologies, such as the MicroSoft .net environment, java and Python. Orange County needs to address application development that is performed by departments outside of IT. The current lack of formal development methodology creates a significant exposure for the County. This ad hoc approach to software development produces application code that is difficult to maintain and troubleshoot by persons other than the original developer. Should that singular resource become unavailable, departmental processes could be adversely affected, recovery time lengthy and cost of recovery significant. Orange County must ensure that all development activities are conducted within a framework of proven formal software development methodologies, including full design documentation, regression testing, code review, release management and a full life cycle support plan. With such a development context in place, Orange County can ensure these business critical applications are supportable beyond the availability of a single resource. Business Analysis Because of the recommended emphasis on implementing COTS applications, there is a need for business analysis within OCIT. This business analysis requires the adoption of new skillsets, which will become the underlying methodology by which new technologies are researched and deployed. Business Analysis methodologies should be formally established for major system implementations and large-scale enhancement requests. Business consultation skills should be developed within the applications team so that departments' business practices can be properly aligned with available and potential technology solutions. Formal partnerships should be developed between IT, purchasing and legal departments, to ensure vendor performance is measurable and contractually enforceable. CUSTOMER/CONSTITUENT SERVICES Website Redevelopment There is a strong need to redevelop the site to address the issues outlined in the section entitled, County Website. Orange County IT is leading the effort to perform a comprehensive redevelopment of the site. This effort must include creating a new site which is more efficient for the public to find services, more efficient for departments to manage their information, and should include instituting mechanisms, such as Content Management Systems, to ensure ongoing information growth is managed gracefully. 20 E-Government Initiatives Along with the overall redevelopment of the Orange County website, new public services should be made available on-line. There is a notable demographic trend of Orange County as a computer-literate and computer accessible community. Additionally there is a unique geographic separation between the County seat and major population centers. This has meant a historical frustration for the majority of Orange County citizens in conducting County business. Web technologies present an opportunity to address this long unmet need of the citizenry. Web-based services enable the public to transact with Orange County government at their convenience. It allows citizens to choose when and where they conduct business with Orange County. At the same time, it reduces staff time normally dedicated to directly interacting with the public. In turn, this gives the staff more time to address complex issues in response to citizen needs. Credit Card Transactions There is a growing need to accept credit card payments for Orange County services. Given the prevalence of fee-based services, many requests for governmental services could be completed on-line. One critical dependency for all such fee-based services is the acceptance of credit cards. It is strongly recommended that OC implement a generic mechanism for processing credit card payments through the web. The generic aspect is critical so that new services can be brought on-line quickly and so that processing through the finance department is efficient. Rec and Parks Registration According to industry research, on-line registration for rec and parks classes and leagues provides a significant boost in enrollment. It is strongly recommended that OC implement on-line registration for rec and parks programming. As with other e-Democracy services, it should rely on the generic credit card processing services. Integrated Address Based Information Center On-line land records functions have expanded significantly over the past few years. The public can now obtain a wide variety of information directly associated with land parcels. Still, there remain additional opportunities for citizen information that can ultimately be tied to an address. For example 1. School districts 2. voting precincts 3. crime statistics 4. recycling service days 5. nearby parks 21 6. nearby public transportation Subscription Services Rather than rely solely on the public coming to our website for information, Orange County IT wants to look at mechanisms for targeting audiences and pushing information out as a service. Specifically, members of the public may wish to have the County contact them with new developments in their areas of interest, through a self-enrolling subscription service. For example, realtors could subscribe to updates on zoning and land use planning; contractors could subscribe to updates on inspection information; physicians could subscribe to information on breaking health department issues. Orange County IT recommends developing subscription service technologies to enhance citizen services. To control costs of producing content, ongoing web content updates could be categorized and delivered to the public via email. INFRASTRUCTURE APPLICATIONS There are important upgrades that must be made to Orange County's technical infrastructure in order to ensure customer needs are consistently met. Network Modernization Project The high speed fiber that interconnects all of the major downtown Hillsborough facilities, as outlined in the section titled "Network" on page 15, Network, has enabled significant efficiencies of operation and flexibility in serving the public. The benefits accrued by these initiatives include: • Ability to serve public needs from a variety of locations, each interconnected to a common database through high-speed fiber networking • Flexibility to move County operations to and from various locations in the event of an emergency • Ability to share data across departments and locations, previously only supported through cumbersome and time-consuming manual data transfer • Overall increase in internet access, access to state systems and other systems beyond the user's current physical location • Ability to centralize server equipment, thus increasing our ability to protect equipment from intrusion, disaster and environmental hazards • Ability to leverage centralized data backup methods, thus increasing data retention for archival information Orange County has pressing needs for further network upgrades. Specifically: 22 Public Works the current network connection to the Public Works facility is Frame Relay. Support of their equipment is problematic due to environmental conditions. Their servers are susceptible to lightening strikes and power outages far more often than the more vigilantly protected central server facility Also, without high speed fiber, we cannot deploy an enterprise SQL server to run their applications with other SQL applications, thus saving costs, increasing reliability and freeing up IT resources to reduce the need for additional positions in IT Wireless Access Points The increased use of mobile technology has provided significant efficiencies for many Orange County departments. However, the lack of reliable network connectivity from the field finds the County not fully able to realize the benefits of this technology. Many field workers currently gather information in the field and upload back into County servers when they return to the office, creating time lags in the information's accuracy. Some field workers use mobile data technology that interfaces with County servers through cell phone circuits, but these solutions are costly, slow and impractical for many critical County applications. Information Technologies needs to investigate the deployment of Wireless Access Points in the County. These points would allow mobile workers to reconnect with the County servers to upload and download data throughout their work day without having to come back into the office. These Wireless Access Points would be in specific geographic locations, requiring mobile workers to come into a designated parking areas for this synchronization. Desktop Replacement Project This program has been very well received by the Orange County staff, and it has enabled OCIT to standardize on desktop computing environments. The oldest machines in service are approximately 5.5 year old Pentium IV machines. They are capable of running most County applications, however their vintage prevents them from running the latest security programs, thus exposing the entire Orange County network to malicious attacks. In some cases, they can run security programs, but at the expense of slowing the computer down for other work. Additionally, the older machines are beyond their life expectancy. As such, we will see a marked increase in equipment failures, some of which can be addressed only through the purchase of used spare parts available on auction sites on the internet. It is important that Orange County adhere to the 4 year PC Replacement cycle that has been suspended for two out of the past five years. 23 Server Replacement Projects Significant strides have been made in addressing the County's server equipment. The average age of our servers is now 3 years. This upgrade of our server equipment has resulted in more reliable infrastructure, increased availability of critical programs and better performance of server programs. Recommendations for servers include: • Server replacement It is critical that Orange County continue to follow its server replacement program, for reasons similar to the PC replacement program. Server replacements are perhaps even more critical than for desktops, as server outages can have profound adverse affects that would be largely avoided by a regular schedule of retirement. • Server consolidation Some of the newer releases of software allow for greater consolidation of users onto a single server. In the case of email, past restrictions on the numbers of supported users per server no longer exist. It is imperative that OCIT pursue server consolidations. These provide for greater efficiency of support as well as freeing up useful server hardware that can be used to replace aging equipment • SAN expansion • The County's implementation of a Storage Area Network has yielded significant benefits in managing the County's growning data needs. The SAN is an enterprise level data respository that many of the County operations use to store and maintain data. The SAN allows the County to respond to storage needs on a more timely basis, while reducing costs of server implementation. The County should continue to expand the SAN as storage needs warrant. Data Retention See "Data retention" for information on data backup and recovery. Security Initiatives Orange County IT needs to develop a comprehensive network security plan. While critical components are already in place, including: • Firewall protection against intruders and inappropriate use • Secure login policies with enforcement • Spam filtering • Email filtering of viruses • Desktop virus protection • Desktop controls and monitoring 24 • Secure off-site storage of backup media • Server-level virus protection These components have been developed in ad hoc response to various emerging threats. The need for an overarching security plan is acute. Orange County IT must evolve its security policy which accommodates growth of applications, access and user needs, while anticipating the growing sophistication of threats. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity While several initiatives have been undertaken to react to a variety of disasters (see section titled, Business continuity on page 15), there is no comprehensive plan for ensuring critical technology systems are available during and after disasters. The IT organization must continue work with the Emergency Services department to: • conduct an audit of critical systems • determine current exposure for ensuring availability of critical systems during: o short and long-term electrical failure o short and long-term interruptions in internet availability o relocation of services to emergency facilities • determine plan for remote storage and retrieval of critical County information • evaluate methods for addressing the above findings, including: o cost information o partnerships with peer governments for support during localized emergencies o partnerships with vendors capable of providing interim solutions during emergencies Information Technologies should bring in an external security auditing firm, as well as security consultants to enact network changes and policies to ensure the evolution of security in proportion to growing security threats. Enterprise Wide OCIT Standards With the exception of the PC Replacement Program, Orange County's historical approach to upgrading technology has been largely reactive. In addition, application selections have involved IT as a final step in the purchasing process, providing little influence other than an approval/disapproval for even large scale applications. 25 This has resulted in a de facto architecture which has confounded efforts to standardize on specific technologies, which in turn results in: o A wide range of technologies for which OCIT must support, thus expanding the scope of expertise (consequently diluting the depth of expertise) to be covered by a size-constrained organization o Few economies of scale in purchasing, maintenance and shared componentry o Few opportunities to architect cross-departmental data solutions o Inability to pro-actively develop an over-arching technology plan Orange County IT has effectively adopted a partner relationship with Purchasing and Budget departments to develop a technology approval process that requires forethought, planning and comprehensive analysis in order to most efficiently manage County computing budgets and most effectively meet public needs. This has required significant changes in the way departments investigate technology solutions to their business challenges. It has also required that departments change the way they plan for evolving business needs. The results of this partnership have been technology purchases which are consistent, more supportable, more aligned to enterprise needs and ultimately less costly to the County. Enterprise E-mail Email has evolved from a useful communication option to the single most critical technology to County operations. As such, its continuous availability is a top priority for OCIT The County's transition from Novell Groupwise to Microsoft Exchange/Outlook now finds us in a more supportable, fully functioning environment. Information Technologies will continue to manage and evolve the email system as a top priority application. FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING AND REPORTING MUMS System Update The Munis system has been successfully implemented within the Finance, Budgeting, Payroll and Purchasing processes. The implementation into the Personnel department continues, with future enhancements underway to address functional gaps. Munis also has proven to be easily integrated into other processes. For example, financial transactions from various departmental applications can be fed into Munis for fully automated financial processing. We are currently using a 5 year old server for Munis that is running the Informix database system. That server and database are in need of upgrading in order for 26 the County to be able to implement the newer versions of Munis and take advantage of important new functionalities. Information Technologies must upgrade the Munis environment to SQL and install it on a newer faster server. Property Information Management System The County has relied on an internally developed software system for tracking and managing land records, property valuation and payment data for 29 years. This system has been modified and enhanced over the years to meet the County's needs and has played an important role in ensuring the Assessor's office maintains accurate valuations while helping the Revenue office maintain a high collection rate. The legacy system, however, has been developed on what has become, over time, a fundamentally antiquated computing platform. The underlying architecture makes it difficult to integrate with more modern software, an increasingly important requirement as the County moves toward enterprise systems for greater efficiencies. Further, the expertise for maintaining the legacy system is increasingly difficult to find and develop. In order to prevent critical and revenue affecting disruptions to the County's taxation system, the County must implement a modern tax assessment and collections system. Work between the tax offices, Land Records, GIS, Planning and IT is underway. It is critical the County complete this work and implement a new system in 2010. Central Permitting The OCIT department is working with Planning/Inspections, Environmental Health and the Fire Marshal to develop requirements for a system in which all permits relating to a single development activities would be centrally reported and managed. This initiative has potential to greatly streamline the myriad permitting steps that builders currently have to go through. New software would also give the County the opportunity to migrate from a version of permitting software that is no longer current, but highly customized. New software would be able to adhere to our model of application support and sustainability from which the current system is out of alignment. Cost/Benefit analysis of OCIT The OCIT organization has begun developing processes with Purchasing and Budget departments to establish a broader and consequently, more accurate view of technology expenditures. 27 We will evaluate the costs of technologies in terms of: i. hardware costs ii. software costs iii. maintenance costs iv. training costs v. support costs vi. training costs for users vii. training costs for IT support viii. supplies ix. data storage and management costs x. conversion costs xi. downtime costs xii. security costs xiii. data retention and backup costs xiv. network costs xv. costs of generating and analyzing reports We also work more closely with departments requesting funding to ensure they can clearly articulate benefits for technologies. These benefits should be verifiable costs and should be validated after the technology is in production. These benefits can include: i. Personnel savings — how many fewer human resources can be dedicated to the same tasks ii. New service offerings —what kind of new public services are available with technology? iii. Cost avoidance —what inevitable costs will be borne by not implementing technologies? iv. Public transparency—what kind of public access to public records is promoted with technology? v. Customer service volume — how many more citizens can be served? vi. Customer service responsiveness - how much quicker can we respond to citizen needs? vii. Customer service breadth — how can we provide new ways to provide customers service? viii. Statutory compliance —what legal parameters can now be satisfied with the use of the technology? ix. Information synergies —what public benefits can be gained through information sharing across departments? 28 Budget methodologies for IT project justification The IT organization should work closely with the Budget department to ensure IT Projects are properly scoped from a financial viewpoint. Further, follow-up audits should be performed to ensure perceived costs and benefits are reviewed against actual data. This will ensure the process is working correctly. CRITICAL FUTURE USER APPLICATIONS Constituent Request Tracking System Orange County has no procedural mechanisms for tracking public requests for services or information. Orange County's growth has outpaced our ability to serve the public on an informal basis. OCIT will work with the County Managers' office to implement a formal request tracking system. Applicant Tracking System Upgrade The Personnel department still relies heavily on page based (some paper, some electronic) methods for advertising job openings and processing applications. OCIT will work closely with the Personnel office to integrate a new system into existing processes and technologies EMS Communication System As the EMS organization moves forward with its pursuit of a holistic communications system, OCIT will work closely to ensure electronic data sharing is a strong consideration for any system. The County has historically viewed such communication systems as voiced-based. However, with voice moving toward a data model, the distinctions between voice and data have become irrelevant. OCIT will work to ensure the investigation evaluates the broad spectrum of communication needs. Commissioner Pelissier made reference to software in some departments that are not well supported, and said that the last two pages describe automation of the departments where there will be lots of paperwork. She asked if there are departments that need software replaced that are not on the list. Todd Jones said that some of them are there but not directly stated. Commissioner Nelson asked for information on priorities and categorizing them in a three- or five-year plan. Laura Blackmon pointed out that the last two pages have a priority list. She said that there has been difficulty in adding new technology because there is no staff to support it. The goal has been to move toward a more automated system. Commissioner Nelson agreed about upgrading the website because nothing can be done online on the Orange County website at this time. He thinks that this makes Orange County look bad. Commissioner Gordon said that she saw a list of needs but did not get a sense of what the plan and the overall costs were. Commissioner Jacobs said that this is more like a laundry list than a strategic plan. He said that the list of expenditures for ten years is almost $7 million. He also sees no fiscal constraint in this plan. 29 Commissioner Pelissier suggested a mechanism for feedback from the Board of Commissioners. 7. Reports-NONE 8. Board Comments 9. County Manager's Report 10. Appointments a. Commission for Women — New Appointment The Board considered making one new appointment to the Commission for Women. A motion was made by Commissioner Nelson, seconded by Commissioner Pellisier to appoint Stephanie Poole, Sharon McDaniel, and Patricia Muhammad. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Commissioner Jacobs asked the Clerk to advertise because there are almost no people from outside Chapel Hill. 11. Information Items-NONE 12. Closed Session-NONE 13. Adjournment A motion was made by Commissioner Hemminger, seconded by Commissioner Pelissier to adjourn the meeting at 10:35 pm. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Valerie Foushee, Chair Donna S. Baker, CMC Clerk to the Board 30 Orange County water supply reservoir water levels Available information as of 3:00 PM, Thursday, February 12, 2009 Lake Orange • Water level is full and spilling. Eno River Capacity Use restrictions have been lifted since midnight on December 61h. Reinstatement of restrictions in not anticipated until the beginning of the 2009 dry season. • Water storage capacity is at 100% (475 million gallons) • Approximately 141 days of water supply remaining (at Capacity Use specified release rate). • The Hillsborough gage indicates that the latest Eno River flows are at approximately 17 cfs (11.0 mgd). This flow represents a level that is approximately 24% of the historical median flow level (70 cfs) for this day of the year. • Orange Alamance has been operating its water plant five days a week (Monday-Friday) with average withdrawals of 300,000 gallons per day. West Fork Reservoir • Water level is full and spilling • Water storage capacity remaining is 100 % • Approximately 368 days of water supply remaining (assuming Town's current 30 day average water consumption rate (1.15 mgd). • The Town of Hillsborough Town Board currently has no water use restrictions on its customers in effect. OWASA Reservoirs Water level at Cane Creek Reservoir is full. • Water level at University Lake is 0.5" below full. • Total remaining water storage capacity is approximately 99% • Approximately 496 days of water supply remain with no additional rainfall (at the current 30-day average daily demand [7.2 million gallons per day]) • OWASA's year-round water conservation requirements are in effect National Weather Service/NOAA Regional Precipitation data (through 1/28/2009) (inches above [+] or below [-] normal) RDU Piedmont-Triad -2.55" since January 1, 2009 -1.86" since January 1, 2009 -1.06" since February 1, 2009 -0.90" since February 1, 2009 Miscellaneous notes The NC Drought Management Advisory Council drought map, last updated January 27, 2009, indicates that all of Orange County lies within the area of the state characterized as experiencing "abnormally dry" conditions, the least severe drought category.