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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 19870302~' MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING MARCH 2, 1987 The Orange County Board of commissioners met in regular session on March 2, 1987, 7:30 p.m. in the courtroom of the Old Courthouse, Hillsborough, North Carolina. MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair Shirley E. Marshall and Commissioners Stephen Halkiotis, John Hartwell and Dan Willhoit. MEMBERS ABSENT: Commissioner Moses Carey, Jr. ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill. STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Kenneth R. Thompson, Assistant County Managers Albert Kittrell and William T. Laws, Director of Finance Gordon Baker, Clerk to the Board Beverly Blythe, Community Development and Housing Director Tara Fikes, Purchasing Director Pam Jones, Tax Supervisor Kermit Lloyd, Planner Brad Torgan, Budget Analyst Donna Wagner and Personnel Director Beverly Whitehead. A. BOARD COMMENTS Chair Marshall added to the agenda item E4 "Telephone Report" and item G8 "Hillsborough's Annexation Proposal". She corrected question 12 on page 18 of the agenda to read "enclose a financial audit for 1985-86". B. AUDIENCE COMMENTS 1. MATTERS ON THE PRINTED AGENDA None 2. MATTERS NOT ON THE PRINTED AGENDA Planning Board Chair Barry Jacobs on behalf of Sharlene Pilkey and himself presented to the members of other County personnel an inscribed cup as an expression of for the solidarity in planning that in necessary for Orange shown by the dedication of the Board members. C. MINUTES None. PUBLIC CHARGE -- - Chair Marshall read the Public Charge as approved by written in the Policies and Procedures of the Board. Barbara Page, the Board and appreciation County and as the Board and D. RESOLUTIONS OR PROCLAMATIONS 1. WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH Commission for Women member Kay Scurlock presented and read the proclamation for Women's History Month. She outlined the various activities that are scheduled in celebration of this month. Motion was made by Chair Marshall, seconded by Commissioner Willhoit to approve the proclamation as stated below: WHEREAS, the month of March, 1987, has been designated as "WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH by the U.S. Congress; and WHEREAS, this commemoration of the vast contributions of women of every race, class and ethnic background is worthy of note to all citizens; and WHEREAS, the many contributions have been historically undervalued and overlooked; and WHEREAS, women continue to be integral to the leadership, well-being and ~':s quality of life of Orange county; now ~`~` THEREFORE, do we, the Commissioners of Orange County, proclaim the month of March, 1987, as WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH and commend this observance to Orange County citizens. VOTE: UNANIMOUS. E. REPORTS 1. PRESENTATION ON .MODULAR CONSTRUCTION BY JIM GIBSON Jim Gibson gave a slide presentation on concrete and steel modular structures. The slide presentation showed in detail how the different parts of the structure are built and then how they are put together to forma modular building. He explained that modular structures are being built to specific specifications and that two and three floor structures are possible. The square foot cost would range from $39.00 to $60.00. The structures are being built in a short period of time and are completely relocatable. 2. ORANGE COUNTY ARTS COMMISSION Arts Commission member Gerald Eidenier on behalf of the Arts Commission thanked the Board for their support. He outlined the activities for last year. He described the process and the criteria standards that were followed in determining the recipients of the local art grants and the funds from the Grassroots program. Grants were awarded throughout the County. He reported that next fiscal year the Arts Commission will have more than $40,000 for arts activities. He outlined future goals which included a resource directory for Orange. County and a quarterly newsletter that will announce art activities in the County. The Commission plans to cosponsor "Arts in the Park" that takes place in July at the Eno State Park. ''~ 3. LAKE ORANGE PROPERTY OWNERS SURVEY RESPONSE (A complete narrative ;; of the survey is in the permanent agenda files in the Clerk's Office). Brad Tongan briefly reviewed the results of a fact finding survey of the property owners that live or own property adjacent to Lake Orange. He stated that two-thirds of the property owners responded and that 58~ supported unconditionally raising the lake to 616 .feet. Of those that wanted specific conditions met they primarily dealt with the issue of compensation and the County insuring access would not be cut off if the Lake was raised. Only one person was opposed to raising the lake at all. Twenty percent believed that the property will be damaged in some manner-; thirty percent believed they should be entitled to some sort of compensation. Mrs. Hendricks, Lake Orange property owner, inquired about the status of the environmental impact study and indicated she would like this study completed at this time to determine the impact the raising of the Lake would have on the property. The Board asked that a report be given on the status of the study and that if one is currently being done by the Department of Environmental Management on the Upper Eno, would the study include Lake Orange. 4. TELEPHONE REPORT BY DxCK HELWIG Dick Helwig, Chair of the Telephone Technical Task Force, asked that the Board request from the Utilities Commission an extension of time through April. 10 for a response to them from the Board. Motion was made by Commissioner willhoit, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to request an extension of time through April 10 from the North Carolina Utilities Commission far a response to the request dated October 23, 1986. VOTE: UNANIMOUS. . a '~ F. ITEMS FOR DECISION - CONSENT AGENDA The County Manager recommended the following action by the Board: 1. RSVP RENEWAL APPLICATION To approve the following resolution which will authorize the _._~ County Manager to submit the RSVP Application to ACTION far the .period July 1, 1987 through June 30, 1988 in the amount of $24,775 in federal funds: A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING SUBMISSION OF A GRANT APPLICATION FOR THE RETIRED SENIOR VOLUNTEER PROGRAM (RSVP) BE IT RESOLVED by the commissioners. of Orange County that the Commissioners authorize the County Manager to submit an application to ACTION for. a $24,775 grant for continuation of the Retired Senior Volunteer program for twelve months and to certify to the federal government the willingness of the County to assure a minimum of 40% in cash, goods, and services as the nonfederal share in support of the program. 2. NONDEPARTMENTAL BUDGET APPLICATION FORMS FOR FY 1987-88. To approve the Nondepartmental Budget Application Forms which will be used by the outside agencies in making application far funding. 3. CAROLINA CABLE - CHANGE IN ORGANIZATION FIRST READING This item was removed from the Consent Agenda for separate consideration. 4. EFLAND SEWER BOND ORDER (A copy of the bond proceedings and the resolution is in the permanent agenda file in the Clerk's Office). ,, To adopt the resolution setting March 24, 1987 as the date for the public hearing on the Efland Sewer Bond Order. ?, Motion was made by Commissioner Hartwell, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis that the foregoing action be taken by the Board. VOTE: UNANIMOUS. 3. CAROLINA CABLE - CHANGE IN ORGANIZATION (FIRST READING)_ ~(A copy of the resolution will appear in the minutes at the time the second reading is approved) Motion was made by Commissioner Willhoit, seconded by Commissioner Hartwell to approve the first reading of the resolution to transfer the ownership of Carolina Cable from Prime Venture I, Inc. to. Prime Cable Income Partners L.P. VOTE: UNANIMOUS. ITEMS FOR DECISION - REGULAR AGENDA 1. BOARD PRIORITIES FOR THE 1987-88 BUDGET Chair Marshall stated the following priorities: (1) Where appropriate to add teen programs in the budget. (2) Discussion on alternatives toward achieving equity in the funding of the schools. (3) Needed resources for the Board of Elections' responsibilities in 1988. (4) To have the Personnel Department look at cafeteria benefits with emphasis on items raised by the Sheriff and the Register of Deeds in the goals and objectives session. 2. RECOMMENDED CABLE T.V. EXTENSION POLICY Norman Vogel, Chair of the Cable TV Citizen Advisory Committee, presented the findings and recommendations of the Committee. He explained ~.. that at the present time Alert serves both Hillsborough and Car Carolina Cable (formerly Village Cable) serves the city of Cha el "`'~ the County of Orange. rboro 'an'd The County has cable TV franchise agreements with p Hz11 and Cable and Alert Cable. Carolina Cable's both Carolina the majority of the land area within the County while the a ream Alert limits expansion beyond the numbe franchise agreement encompasses in November, 1980• On June r of homes connected to itsensys~~m Commissioners a re ~-~~ 1986 Alert presented to the Board of ermit a quest to amend its existin reactivatedrtheeCableoTVuCitizenoAdv~e Alert's expansion request. ~sory The Committee recommended that the existing franchise that Carolina provisions would be necessary for, this Density requirement - 30 Two way cable capability 400 Mhz capable - Local on i t more Countyrresidents~grTheeBoard Committee to assist in assessing Alert's franchise be comparable to Cable was given. The following to occur: homes per mile No re g na ion and public access programming - cluirement of overbuilding Minimum technical standard offered by cable company Minimum Technical Standards _ Frequency Accuracy Frequency Stability (3 hours) +5 khz .~ 24 hour Signal Level Stability +5o Khz Overall Difference in Signal Level 6dB Hum Modulations 6dB System Carrier to Noise ~'~ Terminal Isolation 4odB Cross Modulation 30dB Composite Triple Beat 51dB Second Order Intermodulation 53dB 60dB Vogel continued his presentation stating that originall Vil had anon-exclusive franchise, superb system in the Count Carolina Cable built and installedeaCvery required to match the Y and the committee recommended that Alert be order to be given a favorable of that system built b revised its g~ judgment in this matter.CaAler~a Cablee has comparable offeringnto CarolinalCablereb Y they now have a substantially Discussion ensued on the sharing of those interest to the citizens of Oran a count programs that ma that cooperation between the two companiesyneedsmtosoccurratartwell rbiated are granted permission to televise from the same the time both Vogel indicated he doesn't know how this cooperationhcanlberha• the present time. Chair Marshall andled at caoperation between theutworcompaniesmissioner Hartwell's Doug Keel with remarks on televised from the ArtSchool andlthatxthelsame ethat televising Board meetings from the same location, programming will be Chair Marshall asked about the interru t~ quzpment would facilitate Hillsborough and Keel indicated that the p ~'°ns that frequently occur in corrected. problems are bein Commissioner Hartwell stressed the importance g ~.dentified and there is something that is of Count p prime interest to all the citizenstognOrange Y• Keel ex lamed there is already some sharing of that he would be willing to work with Carolina Cable o programming and n joint projects, ~y :lw' Commissioner Hartwell suggested that a clause be included in the franchise that would require cooperation between the two cable companies. Keel objected to this requirement because of the required lead time for implementation and indicated it could be worked out between the two companies. After ensued discussion, Alert Cable and Carolina Cable ___}, indicated their willingness to discuss this cooperation aspect further. Ken Thompson asked about the logging of complaints and Keel stated: : they do keep a log of outages and complaints at Alert. - It was the consensus of the Board to add an amendment to the franchise .that would require cooperation between the two companies. Motion was made by Commissioner Willhoit, seconded by Chair Marshall to direct the Manager and the County Attorney to prepare Franchise ~ Amendments to the franchises of Alert and Carolina Cable consistent with the recommendation from the Cable T.V. Citizen Advisory Committee. VOTE: UNANIMOUS.. 3. HOUSE NUMBERING ORDINANCE AND RENUMBERING SYSTEM Ken Thompson gave background information on establishing a system for naming roads and streets in the County. He stated that an agreement had been reached with the Chapel Hill Postmaster to begin the conversion of the rural box numbers to a system of permanently assigned house numbers. Two rural routes have been renumbered using the new system developed by the County. These include Route 8 (area north of .Chapel Hill consisting of Stoneridge, Sedgefield, SR 1109, Millhouse Road and Whitfield Road) and Route 5 (area west of Carrboro off Jones Ferry Road). All other renumbering will be done in phases.. The General Statutes requires a public hearing before an ordinance can be adopted and implemented. Motion was made by Commissioner Hartwell, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to set a public hearing for March 24, 1987 for the receipt of citizen comments. `' VOTE: UNANIMOUS. - 4. PERSONNEL ORDINANCE REVISIONS (All changes are included in the Personnel ordinance located in the Clerk's Office) Personnel Director Beverly Whitehead reviewed those sections of the Personnel Ordinance that were previously revised and approved by the Board. .._She.reviewed those sections that had not previously been approved: All section were approved as recommended except the following 3 sections: ARTICLE_III_, SECTION 6.4 was added to provide an exemption to the political activity section of the Ordinance. It was approved as written below: "The following shall not be and 6.3 of this Article: (1) an employee that files Deeds or Sheriff as they are of executive departments of and (2) an incumbent candidate Deeds or Sheriff. ARTICLE III -- TRAVEL approved as follows: "An employee involved in for meals under the originates before 5:00 p.m. ~~ section subject to Section 6.0(c), 6.2 for the offices of Register of recognized as duly elected heads State agencies or municipalities; for the office of Register of 9.3.3, paragraph was revised and one day travel shall be reimbursed following circumstances: Travel a.m. and/ar terminates after 8:00 ARTICLE IV - SECTION 9.5.3 was revised and approved as follows: "Administrative rulings, opinion and procedures of F~-~h`e Retirement System shall be considered in the administration of retirement benefits." Motion was made by Commissioner Willhoit, seconded by Commissioner Hartwell to approve the recommended changes to the Personnel ordinance as presented by Beverly Wha.tehead and amended by the Board. VOTE: UNANIMOUS. 5. BOARD OF E UALIZATION AND REVIEW Motion was made by Commissioner Willhoit, seconded by Commissioner Hartwell to approve the establishment of a separate Board of Equalization and Review to be convened according to statute and that it be required to adhere to an attendance policy. VOTE: UNANIMOUS. 6. CREATION OF AN AGRICULTURAL ADVISORY BOARD Elizabeth Walters stated to the Board that at the request of Orange County, Representative Anne Barnes introduced House Bill 1190 "An Act To Establish Policies To Preserve Farmland" in the General Assembly in the 1985 session. The Bill was ratified on July 16, 1986. As past chair of the orange County Agricultural Task Force Implementation Committee, Walters requested that the Orange County Commissioners proceed with the. farmland preservation effort by establishing an Agricultural Advisory Board to study the Bill and make recommendations to the Board before a County Ordinance is adopted. Motion was made by Commissioner Willhoit, seconded by Commissioner Hartwell to create an Agricultural Advisory Board, appoint Elizabeth Walters as Chair and to advertise far members. VOTE: UNANIMOUS. 7. PROJECT ORDINANCE AMENDMENT AND_.REPORT - ORANGE CDUNTY HOUSING Tara Fikes presented a status report on Section 8 Programs. She asked that the Board approve the budget for the Section 8 Existing ($1,323,840) and the Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation ($343,782) Housing Assistance Programs for the calendar year 1987. Motion was made by Commissioner Willhoit, seconded by Commissioner Hartwell to approve to budget for receipt of Federal Housing Authority funds for 1987. VOTE: UNANIMOUS. ADDED ITEM 8. HILLSBOROUGH'S PROPOSED ANNEXATION No comments were made. H. APPOINTMENTS The following reappointments were approved by INDUSTRIAL DEVELDPMENT REVE.NUE_ BOND AUTHORITY Ed Bergman Sandy McClamroch NURSING HOME COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE Thomas Holcomb I. ADJOURNMENT Upon motion Commissioner Hartwell, meeting will be held o the old Post Office in consensus of the Board: made by Commissioner Willhoit, seconded by the meeting was adjourned. The next regular n March 24, 1987 at 7:30 p.m. in the Courtroom of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Shirley E. Marshall, Chair Beverly A. Blythe, Clerk