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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 20090604 APPROVED 8/18/2009 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS WORK SESSION June 4, 2009 7:00 p.m. The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a Work Session on Thursday, June 4, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. at the Link Government Services Center in Hillsborough, NC. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Valerie P. Foushee, Vice-Chair Mike Nelson and Commissioners Alice Gordon, Pam Hemminger, Barry Jacobs, Bernadette Pelissier, and Steve Yuhasz COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: 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. • Review of County Department Budgets ➢ Including County Operational Impacts of Reducing Tax Rate Below Revenue Neutral • Aging Commissioner Jacobs said that he would like the differentiation for personal mileage, motor pool, and travel. He said that this is a huge amount of money for personal mileage. Budget Director Donna Coffey said that in a package of materials the County Commissioners received last week, there was a summary section that identified travel and training. It's on page 2-42. She said that this might give some insight on the detail for travel and training. Department on Aging Director Jerry Passmore said that a lot of this personal mileage includes reimbursements for home visits. County vehicles are not used for this purpose. Commissioner Jacobs asked if the $25,600 for printing includes the Senior Times and Jerry Passmore said yes. Donna Coffey said that page 3-7 has the details on printing. Commissioner Nelson arrived at 7:13 pm. Jerry Passmore said that when the department was moved, there were more envelopes to be printed, but the Senior Times is the majority of the cost. Commissioner Jacobs asked if anyone had looked to see if there was an overlap of services with Aging and Social Services and Laura Blackmon said that there is some overlap. There is coordination with grants and contracts, but some functions cannot be combined because of the grant funding requirements. Commissioner Jacobs said to the County Commissioners that as they go through the budget, they should highlight topics for future conversation. He would like to propose Transportation as one of those topics, as separate from the Aging Department. • Board of County Commissioners Commissioner Pelissier made reference to the Travel and Training budget, which budgets everyone to go to conferences. She thinks that everyone does not have to go to these conferences and she suggested taking some money out of this. Commissioner Gordon agreed and said that the County Commissioners need a policy on travel. The County Commissioners should apply to go to conferences and meetings and then come back with a report after they have attended. The Board agreed to reduce this allocation by 50%. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the videostreaming and Donna Coffey said that this is on page 26-1. Commissioner Jacobs said that it would be nice to cross-reference expenses. • Cooperative Extension Cooperative Extension Director Dr. Fletcher Barber thanked the Board of County Commissioners for the support it has given to his department over the years. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the breast feeding program and Fletcher Barber said that there is only one staff person she is serving both English and Spanish clientele. This program has helped over 1,400 individuals since it started. Because of this program, it has been documented that two lives have been saved because of someone being in the home and seeing a problem in helping the clients. • County Engineer None • County Manager including Human Rights & Relations None • Economic Development including Arts Commission and Visitors Bureau Commissioner Hemminger asked if enough money was being put toward jumpstarting economic development. Economic Development Director Brad Broadwell said that it is hard to say at this time. He said that he does not know what the priorities of the Board of County Commissioners are at this time. He welcomes this discussion. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the reduced grant distribution and it was answered that it was for the Arts Commission. Commissioner Jacobs pointed out that the Local Arts Grant is the same this year as last. Laura Blackmon said that the County is getting less from the State in these grants this year. This is on page 13-4. Donna Coffey will look at this and see what the reduction is. • Efland Sewer Commissioner Hemminger asked why people are saying that rates are going up 300% and Laura Blackmon said that this is word of mouth. This is one of the reasons they want to do community meetings to explain this to the citizens. These meetings are being scheduled now. Commissioner Gordon suggested doing a newsletter. Laura Blackmon said that this is also being done and it will be translated into Spanish. Commissioner Nelson said to make sure that the letter is clear and concise. Commissioner Jacobs said that the Board needs to have a discussion about whether it wants more water and sewer customers and how this relates to the land use plan and the vision of US 70. • ERCD Environment and Resource Conservation Director Dave Stancil said that one of the service delivery reductions is printing and they are posting materials electronically. Also, the Commission for the Environment has agreed to produce its State of the Environment Report in 2009 largely electronically. He noted the operating line on the first page and said that the department requested amount is much higher than previous years because it reflects $75,000 for Priority P10 Master Energy Plan. This might be accomplished through the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Stimulus, so this amount is no longer in the request. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the $20,000 in "other" and Dave Stancil said that this was a stipend for Triangle Land Conservancy. Commissioner Jacobs asked that this be flagged. • Financial Services Commissioner Gordon asked about the $1 million for the phone system and renovations to the Link Government Services Center that the Board just decided to issue in debt and she asked if this was more expensive as a standalone issuance. Financial Services Director Gary Humphreys said that it is more expensive because there are no fixed costs in borrowing. Commissioner Gordon asked about combining general obligation bonds with alternative financing and if this would be advantageous. Gary Humphreys said that general obligation bonds are getting better, but the County could use alternative financing. Issuing as standalone might have to be done when issuing general obligation bonds. Chair Foushee asked Commissioner Gordon to stick with the subject of the operations budget because that is the purpose of this work session agenda. Commissioner Gordon indicated that she was interested in knowing the operational costs for debt service and asked how much it would cost to issue the debt and service it. Gary Humphreys said if the County issued $1 million after January 2010, it would not cost any debt service in the 2009-10 budget. • Housing & Community Development Commissioner Pelissier asked Housing and Community Development Director Tara Fikes about the possibility for stimulus money and Tara Fikes said that they are thinking about applying for$1 million for homeless prevention and rapid re-housing. The State has received $22 million to distribute. It is a competitive process. The application will be done by early August and the funds will be available by October. • Human Resources Commissioner Jacobs asked about non-permanent employees and Human Resources Director Michael McGinnis said that this is the new terminology for a temporary employee. Commissioner Jacobs asked if the same language was used throughout the budget and Donna Coffey said that she would provide a list of the categories and their definitions. • Orange Public Transportation (OPT) Jerry Passmore said that there has been a 10% growth in ridership during this economic recession. Commissioner Jacobs applauded Jerry Passmore for the nutrition program in Department on Aging. • Parks & Recreation Commissioner Jacobs made reference to page 30-1 and the three areas that Parks and Recreation would be responsible for this year— River Park, Twin Creeks, and Hollow Rock. Also, somewhere else it mentions Fairview Park. He said that the Board has not approved any plan for Hollow Rock and he asked if Fairview should be in the place of Hollow Rock. Parks and Recreation Director Lori Taft said that she meant to include Hollow Rock and trails are being developed there and are in use. The master plan is in its last stages of completion and should come to the Board in the early fall. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the opening of Fairview, and Lori Taft said that it is uncertain right now. She estimates that it will be done at the end of the fiscal year. There are other responsibilities that are off-contract such as trails and connector trails. Commissioner Gordon asked about the responsibilities for the River Park and Lori Taft said that the County would manage the Public Market House and the restrooms. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to River Park and asked if people would be able to use the part of the park where the geothermal wells are in the future for events like Hog Day. Lori Taft said that Hog Day would not be eligible to come back to River Park for the most part, due to the policies that have been in place all along regarding charging admission, carnival rides, etc. • Planning & Inspections Craig Benedict said that there are some signs of economic recovery in the real estate market with commercial and residential building. • Purchasing & Central Services Commissioner Gordon asked for a timeline and procedures for renovations to the Link Government Services Center before the summer break. Purchasing and Central Services Director Pam Jones said that she could give a timeline, but it will not have an impact on the Central Services budget. The timeline will be tight in order to accommodate November. The offices will be upfitted first. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the full funding of the Sustainability Coordinator. Pam Jones said that it was tied with the reorganization and this is not happening yet. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the proposal by the Health Director about a dental clinic. Laura Blackmon said that the discussion was moving the clinic out of Carr Mill to Hillsborough. Donna Coffey said that, after further analysis, it was determined that it would not be cost-effective for the County to buy itself out of the lease. The lease is up in June 2011. Commissioner Jacobs would like to revisit this. Laura Blackmon said that this would be part of the CIP discussion in the fall. Commissioner Pelissier asked about the increase in Worker's Comp this year. She wants to know if there are safety issues. Pam Jones said that Worker's Comp rates are figured over a period of three years. There was a bad year about three years ago and there have been increasing costs over the last two years because of that bad year. It is based on payroll too. Commissioner Jacobs said that he remembered there was a difference in opinion about who a Sustainability Coordinator should report to—the Manager or department head. Laura Blackmon said that this was put in the Purchasing and Central Services department because it is an internal support department. Her opinion is that the department heads have enough to keep track of. The new Manager might have a different opinion. Commissioner Jacobs said that he would like to discuss this in the fall. Commissioner Gordon said that her recollection was similar to Commissioner Jacobs'. She said that the Commissioners have not addressed this yet. Commissioner Pelissier said that she has heard that some entities are hiring a coordinator through stimulus funds. She would like to see the feasibility of this. Commissioner Gordon supported this suggestion. • Social Services Social Services Director Nancy Coston said that economic recovery is not happening with their department yet. She said that until the State finishes its budget, the DSS budget is up in the air. On a good note, the At-Risk Case Management program, the Social Workers of the Orange County Schools, survived the federal changes. This can still be supported without County costs. Commissioner Jacobs asked if there would be consequences for DSS if the State keeps inmates in the County jail for longer periods. Nancy Coston said that Medicaid does not pay for those that are incarcerated anyway. • Soil &Water Gail Hughes said that a lot of the programs are administered through State and Federal funds. She said that there might be a decrease in those funds. • Solid Waste Solid Waste Director Gayle Wilson said that they are very grateful to be in their new building and they are now more efficient because Solid Waste is all in one building. Commissioner Hemminger made reference to the Solid Waste Convenience Centers and asked for Gayle Wilson's opinion about the reduction of hours. Gayle Wilson said that there was a concern about closing on Sunday afternoons. His recommendation is to leave the SWCC open on Sundays because it is so busy during this time. If the County Commissioners agreed to leave the SWCC open on Sundays, $34,400 would have to be brought back into the budget. Commissioner Jacobs said that he thought one of the County Commissioners stated that they were not going to raise any taxes. The 3-R fee is proposed to go up, but it did not occur to him about this fee. He said that the County Commissioners also said that they would not cut employees but one employee is scheduled to be cut because of a closing of a SWCC. Gayle Wilson said that there is one full-time position that will be eliminated if the recommendations are pursued. It was indicated that this person would be employed in another job with the county. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to page 39-6 (Potential Change in County Service Delivery), item #4 (Closure of Bradshaw Quarry Road SWCC and Reduction of Operational Hours at SWCC), and said that there were a bunch of recycling programs that were proposed to be cut. Gayle Wilson said that the department did consider a number of reductions in the preliminary discussions with the Manager, and they did not make it through to the Manager's Recommended Budget. For the most part, the recycling programs will stay the same. No major programs will be eliminated. On page 39-4, it shows the miscellaneous reductions for the recycling program. Rob Taylor explained these reductions and said that a lot of the savings are associated with controlling program growth, such as not expanding the rural curbside program outward. He said that all current recycling services will be maintained in the next year's budget. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the increase in the 3-R fee and Gayle Wilson said that the Board of County Commissioners added cardboard curbside recycling and the 3-R fee increase is related to this. Commissioner Jacobs said that some citizens have been asking about recycling fluorescent light bulbs. He asked if this was feasible. Gayle Wilson said that this has not been discussed. It will require some additional resources. He can prepare a proposal. Commissioner Jacobs said that he would like to see a number because it is a health and safety issue. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the latest version of a CIP for the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund. Gayle Wilson said that he submits a capital improvement plan every year, and it is a ten-year plan. The plan two years ago was that when the NC 57 site was rebuilt, that a household hazardous waste service would be part of it. This has been postponed indefinitely. He said that he would be glad to put together a memo to indicate what it would take to handle the incandescent bulbs. Commissioner Pelissier asked about the revisions of fees (page 39-12-Proposed Fee Changes for FY 2009-10—Solid Waste Enterprise Fund) and asked if fees are considered on a yearly basis. She would like to stay on top of revisions of fees for all departments. • Tax Assessor including Revaluation Tax Assessor John Smith said that this has been a challenging year. He said that he has appreciated how the Board of County Commissioners has handled the challenge and supported him. He introduced Judy Ryan, Deputy Tax Assessor. Commissioner Jacobs asked if the County would have to budget some money every year if there would be assessments every other year. John Smith said that he would ask for additional resources. Commissioner Jacobs asked John Smith if he was comfortable with a four-year cycle and John Smith said yes, but a shorter cycle would be viable. Commissioner Jacobs said to add this to the list to discuss in the fall. Commissioner Hemminger asked about the additional mailings about the revaluation and if it was cost-effective. John Smith said that it did cost about$1,000 and he does not think people have taken advantage of the appeals process like they should have. Chair Foushee went over items for future discussion: • Transportation • Policy for Commissioner travel • Efland sewer project and how it fits into the comprehensive plan • Timeline for the link Government Services Center renovations in a Manager's Memo before summer break • Space allocations • Dental Clinic • Sustainability Coordinator • Disposal of fluorescent bulbs • Process to regularly review fees • Look at revaluation schedule • Employee benefits • Indirect costs and payment-in-lieu • CIP/Budget-related work session • Debt issuance policy Donna Coffey suggested that the Board discuss outside agency funding and the fire district tax on June 9th Commissioner Gordon said that she thought the Board was going to discuss the Alternatives to Achieving the County's Share of the Targeted Tax Rate. A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Pelissier to adjourn the meeting at 8:58 pm. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Valerie Foushee, Chair Donna S. Baker, CMC Clerk to the Board