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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 08-19-2010 APPROVED 10/5/2010 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS WORK SESSION August 19, 2010 7:00p.m. The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a work session on Thursday, August 19, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, N.C. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Valerie P. Foushee, and Commissioners Alice Gordon, Pam Hemminger, Barry Jacobs, and Steve Yuhasz COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Bernadette Pelissier and Mike Nelson COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Frank Clifton and Clerk to the Board Donna S. Baker (All other staff members will be identified appropriately) INVITEES: Kathleen Ferguson, Economic Development Commission Chair; Jim Norton, Director of Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership; Jim Parker, Hillsborough/Orange County Chamber of Commerce Chair; Margaret Cannel!, Director of Hillsborough/Orange County Chamber of Commerce; Randee Haven O'Donnell, Carrboro Board of Aldermen and Mayor Pro Tem; James Harris, Director of Community and Economic Development for the Town of Carrboro; Aaron Nelson, President of Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce; Dwight Bassett, Economic Development Officer for Town of Chapel Hill; Roger Stancil, Chapel Hill Town Manager; and Mark Kleinschmidt, Chapel Hill Mayor. 1. Orange County Economic Development Discussion To provide an opportunity for the Board of Commissioners, leadership of the Economic Development Commission Advisory Board, and invited guests to discuss the Economic Development Commission Advisory Board's recommendations and other related initiatives/plans for future economic development in Orange County. Chair Foushee said that Commissioner Pelissier was not in attendance because her mother had passed away. Introductions were made. Frank Clifton said that this meeting began with a conversation several months ago with the Orange County Economic Development Commission and the recommendations from the EDC are as follows. A. May 18, 2010 Orange County EDC Recommendations: 1. Fully funding the water and wastewater infrastructure improvements needed in the Economic Development Districts to make them more attractive to investors and business owners. Frank Clifton said that Orange County has committed to expanding utilities to the Buckhorn EDC and Mebane is involved as well. There have also been conversations with the City of Durham regarding water available in areas on the eastern side of the County and sewer potentially available. 2. Endowing the EDC's economic development tool kit so that the County can effectively respond to opportunities to recruit, retain, grow, and generate the kinds of businesses that are desirable. Economic Development Director Brad Broadwell said that he and his counterparts have been talking about needing a tool box for economic development. He said that one of the tools they need the most is capital funds for new businesses. Next is to find resources and to provide these for incubators to start up businesses. Other tools include incentives and a streamlined permitting process, since there is limited time for a company to come in and start up. Brad Broadwell introduced Michael Geouge and Ernie Pearson, partners in Sanford- Holshauser Law Firm. He said that both of these gentlemen have been involved in economic development. Ernie Pearson said that incentives to create industry and businesses are not new. He gave a history of incentives for businesses in North Carolina. He said that any state recruiter will tell you that they never see a request for proposals from a company that does not have incentives. He said that there is a perception that certain businesses are not welcome in Orange County. Incentives can be cash grants, land, or a loan fund. He said that gaming or call centers are good industries to look for and an incentive could be to wire a building for technology. He said that the County would miss out on a lot of opportunities if there are no incentives. Michael Geouge said that they are delighted to be here tonight and they represent industries and businesses, and they also do consulting with communities to help assess the economic development analysis. He suggested that the county look at the incentives that it wants. He said that you have to know what your competition is doing. He suggested a competitive incentive analysis for Orange County to see what the competitors are doing. 3. Commissioning research and building its knowledge base so that economic development decisions are data driven, based on current analysis, and result in performance that is valued in Orange County. Economic Development Advisory Board Chair Kathleen Ferguson said that when the board spoke with the Board of County Commissioners in May, one of the quotes that she shared was that, "Businesses will tell you what they want and how to sell it if you listen. You listen in different ways by scrutinizing sales statistics, by reading news and industry publications, and by old-fashioned asking." This quote was from Success Made Simple: An Inside Look at Why Amish-Built Businesses Thrive. She said that the County should do the homework. She said that they are asking for a continual commitment for Orange County in doing the homework and keeping up with the needs of businesses. She said that the Economic Development Department is now doing surveys of certain businesses, but more questions need to be asked. General Comments: Randee Haven O'Donnell asked to add another topic— Sustainability and Economic Resilience. Commissioner Gordon said that the Board of County Commissioners did have a retreat where it articulated a vision. She made reference to page 2, "Grow and generate the kinds of businesses that are desirable." She said that the County Commissioners talked about some parameters. She said that this does not preclude talking about any particular kind of business. She would like the Board to be informed about the discussion of generating desirable businesses. Chair Foushee said that everyone's presence here is because the County Commissioners believe that there has to be some coordinated collaboration between the Towns and the County. She said that economic development in the Towns is economic development for Orange County. She asked everyone to speak openly. Other Discussion Topics: A. Can we expand collaboration and coordination of economic development efforts and decisions between Orange County and the Towns of Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough, Mebane and Durham? B. Can we better capitalize resources available to Orange County and its Towns via existing assets such as DTCC, UNC, UNC Health Care and others? C. How do we fund economic development going forward; at what levels; and what measures of performance should be employed to measure success? D. Should we modify the current County ED Advisory Board structure to enhance our ability to function in today's environment? E. Can we enhance the image of Orange County and its Towns as an economic development opportunity for new or expanding businesses? F. Next steps? Follow up? These topics were not necessarily discussed in any order. Mayor Kleinschmidt said that economic development in other parts of the County is also economic development for Chapel Hill. He asked about the obstacles to continued and expanded collaboration. Dwight Bassett said that when they do have business opportunities there is not enough time to respond to companies in a timely manner. He said that there is not a clear economic development plan or incentive policies. Brad Broadwell said that the will is there to collaborate, and there are some things that are transpiring. He said that the County has been able to purchase some software to enhance economic development tools. Jim Norton said that the cooperation is there but not the tools that everyone can use to make something happen. Aaron Nelson said that he thinks everyone is cooperating but not coordinating. He said that there is no agreed upon objective. He said that some of the incentives are low and an agreed upon set of objectives as to what they desire would make it easier to go and get it. James Harris said that peers know what the constituents want, which is lower tax rates, but they are not particularly clear on what the elected officials want. He said that the collaboration is fair, but more resources are needed. Frank Clifton said that everyone is correct and it is a very competitive market. Incentives can be a number of different things and not just cash — such as a speedy permitting process, available land, etc. He said that the elected officials need to have discussions about the guidelines before someone shows interest. Commissioner Jacobs said that the Board of County Commissioners spent hours at a retreat on economic development and they targeted what they did not want. Orange County has never wanted companies that need a lot of water. However, Orange County needs to be more positive. He said that there is no table for the groups to sit at to collaborate. He said that the inter-city trips sponsored by the Chamber were educational. He said that there needs to be some way to bring everyone to the same place to move in concert toward a common goal. He said that both universities and Durham Technical Community College need to come to the table also. Chair Foushee said that what they have heard from the economic development team is that there is no collective vision/incentives. She said that the obstacles are that there is not a vision among the elected officials and those who are authorized to work on the elected officials' behalf. Randee Haven O'Donnell said that everyone needs to be thinking first about how each of the entities in Orange County will commit to teamwork to bring their visions together for a whole vision. This needs to happen before getting a toolbox. Dwight Bassett said that their Mayor sent a letter in reference to this topic and what the entities stood for, the values behind it, and the tools needed. He asked Mayor Kleinschmidt to reinforce this. Mayor Kleinschmidt said that he sent a letter to all from the meeting in the spring. He said that the visions are not really far apart. He said that the University is one of the biggest assets. He said that the Town of Chapel Hill is generally in support of the creation of additional tools for the toolbox that would include more economic development funds, expansion of the revolving loan fund, public financing, effective marketing, branding of the image. He believes that the Council is generally supportive of this kind of approach. Randee Haven O'Donnell said that she is hoping that through this dialogue they will be able to clarify a framework to put these tools in. The framework is one of sustainability and economic resilience. She thinks that this is what is missing. She said that she is looking at the things that are being done in Chatham and Alamance Counties. She thinks this is the direction that Orange County needs to go — promote local businesses and close in on the leakages. She said that it would be great if there was less expensive planning and tax rates to promote more development. She said that the land is very expensive here. She would like to coordinate the visions around sustainability and economic resilience. Willie Best said that when he was in Guilford County, they went to Indianapolis, which partnered with its local university to create an incubator on the campus and then the company went somewhere else after three years. He suggested doing this with UNC. Brad Broadwell said that the County needs to take advantage of what it has now and not look too far into the future. Commissioner Hemminger said that she hates going to Durham for retail and there is so much leakage going into other counties. She said that Orange County needs more retail and she tries to shop in Orange County, but there is not much to choose from. This is a piece that the County is truly missing. Commissioner Yuhasz said that it is important to support local businesses but they also need to recognize that this is not a local community but a regional community. Many of the people that live in Orange County work outside of Orange County. He said that it is a mistake to focus on just local businesses and avoid the regional businesses. He said that there is a vision for Orange County, but they need to look at the intersection of what Orange County wants and what wants Orange County. They need to go after businesses that want to be here. He said that the entities absolutely need to cooperate and coordinate, but the economic development professionals need to have the tools to bring businesses here. Aaron Nelson said that he has been watching for ten years and this is the best economic development team he has seen. He suggested having elected officials to note four business clusters and working on these. He also suggested focusing on intersection of interest. He said that there is a solar company right now who wants to open a warehouse in Orange County to manufacture panels. He asked whose job it is right now to recruit this business. James Harris said that Orange County also needs appropriate zoning because businesses will not come if it is too difficult. Dwight Bassett said that Chapel Hill is at a critical point and needs to increase its absorption rate. There is currently 200,000 square feet of retail on the market and built. There is over 600,000 square feet of approved office space. Currently in the planning stages there is several hundred thousand square feet of retail that is being considered. He said that there needs to be a lot of marketing to attract these businesses. Jim Norton said that he has heard from the County Commissioners that until the elected officials decide to commit resources, they can talk about it forever, but they need money for the economic development. Jim Parker said that it is important to be flexible, but you also have to realize that there are other things that economic development may need and the ordinance rewrite is good to streamline the permitting and zoning process. Development in Orange County is indicative of the process that has been in place for years. He said that the UDO will make this process more flexible and streamlined. He asked if there was a set meeting for the economic development professionals to meet on a regular basis with other stakeholders to exchange ideas. He said that it is important for the Town of Hillsborough to be a part of this process. Margaret Cannel) said that she came to work in Orange County in 1997 and then the EDC later, and one of her first jobs was to look at what kinds of businesses they want to attract, and that has not been done yet. She said that times have changed and the County needs to change also. She said that one of the biggest stumbling blocks is not having a streamlined permitting process. Brad Broadwell said that the Orange County Economic Development Department recently did a survey to businesses in the community and 90% of businesses that responded were locally-owned businesses. He said that this will not change anytime soon. Aaron Nelson said that Orange County residents spend $1.5 billion every year on retail and half a billion of it is spent outside of Orange County. He said that recruiting a big box retailer would not compete with the small local retailers. Commissioner Yuhasz said that he has become frustrated with hearing the problems but not having any suggestions for resolutions. He said that they should create some formal cooperative organization between all of the economic development departments and interests so they can create a set of suggestions for all elected officials with what needs to be done to change this situation. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the agenda, item E, "Should we modify the current County ED Advisory Board structure to enhance our ability to function in today's environment?" He said that he finds this whole conversation very frustrating because everyone is in agreement, but doing their own thing. He listed the entities —four municipalities, Orange County, two universities, Durham Tech, and the Visitor's Bureau. He said that he would like to come away from one of these conversations with some agreement that there is a village common as opposed to having the same conversation over and over. Frank Clifton suggested challenging economic development staff to come together and develop the laundry list of issues to establish priorities that would be valuable. The priorities could be brought back to each group and see who buys the idea. There needs to be a list to give to recruiters. Chair Foushee made reference to item E and asked Frank Clifton if this is a proposal to modify how the elected officials are being advised by the economic development commissions. She said that there are opportunities that are being missed, but they are hearing about it after the fact. Frank Clifton said that from the perspective of the County, if they want to create a working group of professionals that know the business, then this is something that should be done. This includes the community colleges, universities, people involved in economic development. This would be a group of decision makers. Mayor Kleinschmidt said that this is a great idea. He suggested that each jurisdiction have a few council members working closely with the Economic Development Director offering the kind of advice that is empowering. Randee Haven O'Donnell said that this is how it is done in Carrboro. She said that she liked what Frank Clifton said, but the entity he is talking about is separate from the citizen advisory committee. She thinks that there should be both. She said that there needs to be clarity on the focal points and clarity of interest on the intersections. She said that sustainability does not mean low-tech. It means accelerators, start-ups, etc. Resilience means flexibility, adaptability, and being able to read the markets for certain areas. Aaron Nelson said that Orange County needs to get to the place where there is no second guessing of the economic development professionals. He agreed with having a council for economic development made up of professionals as well as a citizen group. Chapel Hill does not have a citizen advisory group. Commissioner Jacobs said that he is proud that Orange County values the environment. He gave OWASA as an example. To some extent, this value has been a problem for economic development in Orange County because of land use plans, etc. He thinks that the three governments are now working well together and it is no longer controversial, and the business community needs to see that. Roger Stancil said that there is a lot of consensus in the room. He said that in reality the Town of Chapel Hill has come a long way in the last three to four years in economic development. The reason for that is that the Economic Development Committee developed a very simple, one-page strategy statement. He suggested that he and Frank Clifton come back with a structure and strategy statement, charge the managers with this responsibility, and then they can come back with a recommendation to the elected officials. Commissioner Gordon agreed and said that the elected officials should let the managers recommend the structure group with a focused charge. All agreed to approach it this way. There was also agreement to include the Town of Hillsborough and the City of Mebane. Funding Commissioner Jacobs said that, in the absence of funds, the 1%-cent sales tax vote could determine more what resources will be available. Frank Clifton said that each entity funds a certain level of economic development right now. Commissioner Yuhasz said that he hopes that the task force comes back with a recommendation of the level of funding that is appropriate. 2. Discussion on Proposed Uses for the Potential One-Quarter Cent Sales Tax Revenues from a November 2, 2010 Special Advisory Referendum Concerning the Levy of a One- Quarter Cent (1/4¢) County Sales and Use Tax Frank Clifton made reference to his handout. He said that to get any approval by the public, there has to be understanding and commitment. He suggested that the timeline commitment be 10 years. His suggestion is that 50% go to schools (older buildings) and the other 50% go to economic development activities (promotion, small business loans, and infrastructure). He said that he and Brad Broadwell have talked about this and they see some of this as partnership money (Chamber, Towns, etc.). Commissioner Hemminger said that she would like to add the word "technology" for the funding of the schools. Commissioner Jacobs said that any commitment should say "no more than" because conditions can change very quickly. There has to be some flexibility. He also wants to hear what the schools have to say. He said that he does not have a strong opinion about what the money should go toward as far as the schools or economic development, and the voters do not really need to know that at this point. He said that the important issue is that `X' amount will go to `Y' function. He would rather not specify how the money will be spent before there is a plan for economic development that comes back from the professionals. He would like to see a third smaller component of community and emergency services. Commissioner Yuhasz said that he initially thought the same, but the more slices that are created, the harder it will be to identify this as something other than just another tax. He said that 10 years is a bit long for a commitment. He suggested saying 10 years with a planned review after five years. Commissioner Gordon said that the commitment should be five years. She agreed with narrowing it down to two issues. She thinks that the schools and economic development are the two most important pieces. She is not quite ready to agree on the percentages for these two items. Commissioner Hemminger agreed with a five-year commitment because it will be easier for the voters to accept. She loves economic development, but she is not sure how much the public will understand, so she would like to take 10-15% out of there for libraries or EMS. Chair Foushee said that she agrees with the five-year commitment also. She said that she has heard a lot of the public request more economic development, even in the school community. She thinks that people understand that the schools will not be funded like they should without more economic development. She also agrees with the need for improved library services and emergency services. Commissioner Yuhasz said that there is a real need for improved libraries and emergency services. He said that "community services" is very broad. He suggested that all of the money for these two things not be taken out of the economic development slice. Frank Clifton said that there are a lot of needs, but when you talk about the slice of the pie, 5% is only $115,000, so you need to look at the dollar figures. Commissioner Gordon said that she would need to know what each slice of the pie would get. She said that it is important not to over-promise. She needs more hard data about how the money could translate into accomplishments. Commissioner Jacobs said that 15% is about $350,000, or$175,000 each for libraries and emergency services. Commissioner Yuhasz said that the third component may be a small amount, but he is concerned about it taking away from economic development and he would hate to see them carve this away. Commissioner Hemminger said that the voters need to know that this money will improve libraries and emergency services. She said that results take awhile for economic development and the voters like to see immediate gratification. She said that she is in favor of some percentages for community services. Frank Clifton said that staff can draft a resolution and if the consensus is to have four categories and leave the percentages alone, he can do that. He said that it would be difficult to comply with Commissioner Gordon's request for data. Commissioner Hemminger asked Frank Clifton to include technology for older schools in the resolution. Commissioner Jacobs suggested listing the older schools. A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Yuhasz that the Manager bring back at the meeting on September 2nd a recommendation dividing the proceeds into three components — public school infrastructure improvements, including technology for older schools in both school systems; economic development; and a smaller percentage for emergency services and libraries — and that the percentages be 42.5% for each of the first two and 15% for the third. VOTE: UNANIMOUS 3. Senior Orange County Staff Ethics Policy The Board agreed that this policy looks good and staff should proceed as recommended. Commissioner Gordon made reference to the educational piece for the public on the referendum. She said that this should come back on September 2nd for discussion. She said that she read that the members of the collaboration group and the two school boards are concerned about this issue. Chair Foushee said that what was in the abstract was that the education piece that the County would do would be similar to what was done before. She said that those groups willing to help with promotion can get into gear with the information piece. Frank Clifton said that he would not have anything official until September 2nd. There is not the same timeframe or staff to do the things that have been done in the past. Commissioner Hemminger suggested not doing the mailing. She suggested using the listsery and partners for radio spots, etc. She suggested going to two of the biggest precincts and the senior centers to do education. Commissioner Yuhasz agreed with Commissioner Hemminger about the effectiveness of direct mailings. Commissioner Jacobs asked the Clerk to get the names of the people who came to the budget public hearings that asked for taxes to be raised so that they could serve on the promotion committee for this referendum. (tongue-in-cheek) Frank Clifton pointed out that the County cannot spend public money to do radio ads, but other people can. A motion was made by Commissioner Hemminger, seconded by Commissioner Gordon to adjourn the meeting at 9:45 PM. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Valerie Foushee, Chair Donna S. Baker, CMC Clerk to the Board