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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 19930518 321 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING MAY 18 , 1993 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met in regular session , on Tuesday, May 18 , 1993- at 7 : 00 p.m. in the OWASA meeting room in Carrboro, North Carolina. BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair Moses Carey Jr. , and -Commissioners Alice M. Gordon, Stephen H. Halkiotis, Verla C. Insko and Don Willhoit. ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr. , Assistant County Manager Rod Visser, Clerk to the Board Beverly A. Blythe, Finance Director Ken Chavious, Planning Director Marvin Collins, Housing and Community Development Director Tara Fikes, Personnel Director Elaine Holmes and Purchasing and Central Services Director Pam Jones. SCHOOL IMPACT FEES - PUBLIC HEARING Planning Director Marvin Collins stated that the purpose of this item is to receive citizen comments concerning a system of impact fees to help finance a portion of school capital needs in Orange County. He explained that for several years Orange County has pursued an objective of helping to fund school capital needs created by growth. During the 1981 Session, the General Assembly authorized the County to levy impact fees in its planning jurisdic- `tion for a number of needs, including school buildings. The Board of County "`°' Commissioners are considering a schedule of impact fees which range from $500 to $750 per residential unit. The fees collected would go to the school system in which they are generated. All comments received at this public hearing will be included in the record of the official public hearing scheduled for May 24 , 1993 . ANDY PHILLIPS, principal of Seawell Elementary, asked the Board to consider the tremendous impact that growth has had on their school system. Teachers .now have real spaces to teach visual art and cultural activities---but the problems are just down the road. He asked that the Board plan for -future growth and emphasized that the welfare of the children and the quality of their learning is of top importance. ALAN SPALT noted that residential growth does not pay for itself. He feels that since residential growth does not pay for itself, it is appropriate and important that the growth should pay for a significant portion of the needs. It seems that the main criticism is that the impact fee will have an impact on affordable housing. He feels that $500 to $750 is not the difference in this county between affordable and not affordable. The County needs affordable quality education and this can go hand in hand with affordable housing. Chapel Hill-Carrboro needs one elementary school now and will need another at the end of the decade. The impact fees can help fill this gap. He feels it is fair to have an impact fee and wonders if the square footage of bathrooms is a better way to levy this than the number of bedrooms. He supports a gradual impact fee which would help affordable housing. - 322 NANCY SALMON spoke in favor of the impact fees. She feels this is not a perfect answer but probably the most appropriate to address the capita' ', needs in the County. She feels that in the long run higher taxes would be more detrimental than a one time fee. The schools attract families to the " area and the Orange County district is equally as attractive as the Chapel Hill-Carrboro district. She feels that economic development may not be the answer to this problem because more jobs means more people and more children. The main problem with impact fees is that it makes housing more expensive. She suggested a sliding scale may help this problem. RICHARD KENNEDY lives in the County school system and supports impact fees. He feels the County should plan ahead and take advantage of this opportunity to meet the needs of the schools. DELORES TAYLOR agrees that the County has an obligation to the children in this County to speak for the children. She asked the Board to support this fee for the building of elementary schools. VIC KNIGHT stated that the Board of Realtors oppose impact fees. He believes there are other ways to raise money for the schools.. They do support the proposed Economic Development Districts and feel that new industry will raise additional revenues for the schools. MARTI MANDELL spoke in favor of the impact fees on new residential construction. She feels that this is the most logical choice to help raise money for public schools. She feels it is not wise to have a bond issue so-, soon after the one approved last November and since there is little industry the County cannot depend on this type of revenue to help build schools. WOODY CLARENCE, local home builder, questioned if this is the right way to raise the money needed for the schools. He builds homes for people who have lived in the County for a long time and questions the fairness of charging these people who have no children. With regards to affordable housing, he stated that most homes cost in excess of $100, 000. - MARY BIISHNELL, Chair of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education,- - emphasized the need for school capacity. They have moved their sixth grade and expanded most of their elementary schools and still need to build elementary schools. What makes this appropriate and fair is that new .housing increases the district's capacity for population. The economic development district proposal, is long range and will not help to meet the needs of today. She urged the Board to support the impact fees proposal and help the schools get the facilities they need. HENRY WHITFIELD .spoke against impact fees. He talked about the OWASA fees and how they have increased from 1982 to 1992 . He feels the County is building extra expensive school buildings and should try to reduce this cost. He supports paying for these new facilities through the regular advalorem tax. JENNIFER MILLER spoke in support of the proposed impact fees. LARRY CARROLL stated he supports the impact fee over the impact to-.. However, he would like to pay through the property tax rather than impac-L. fees. He offered to work with the County in implementing these fees. The � - 323 home builders want the fees to be fair. JACK IMPERIAL, a local builder, feels that the fee will not be adequate and that it will have to be increased continuously. He feels it is unfair and that monies needed for the schools should be from the property tax. PHIL FOSTER, real estate broker and developer, feels that the County Commissioners should look at other alternatives and how these fees will affect everyone. NOTE: THE PUBLIC HEARING WAS KEPT OPEN FOR ADDITIONAL COMMENTS AT THE PUBLIC HEARING SCHEDULED FOR MAY 24 , 1993 AT 7:30 P.M. REGULAR MEETING I. ADDITIONS OR CHANGES TO THE AGENDA A change to the regular meeting calendar was added as item III-E and consideration of appointments to the Board of Equalization and Review and the Orange County Planning Board was added to item XI. "Feedback on the Scope of Work on the Solid Waste Plan" was added as item VIII-F. II. AUDIENCE COMMENTS A. MATTERS ON THE PRINTED AGENDA Chair Carey indicated that citizens who want to speak to an item .,on the printed agenda will be recognized at the appropriate time. B. MATTERS NOT ON THE PRINTED AGENDA Georgia Nelson, President of the Board for Charles House, stated that their need has become increasingly urgent. Charles House is a senior daycare facility where people pay $35 to $39 a day. The county pays 12 . 00 a day and their actual cost is over 49.00. They know they will always have a gap and have to raise funds from the private sector. However, they cannot continue at the present rate. They are asking for an allocation of $8, 000. The town of Chapel .Hill has indicated they cannot continue their support. This type of care is one of the best alternatives to institutional care. At the. ._,., present time, they serve three clients from DSS.. This was referred to the County Manager for a response. BOARD COMMENTS Commissioner Halkiotis made reference to a meeting he attended in which he presented the DARE proclamation to Food Lion. He expressed a concern that there are a lot of parents and law enforcement officials who need help in accessing the services available in this County and a person or agency to help in answering questions. He suggested looking at the Management Analyst position to see how services can be improved for parents crying out for help. He offered to meet with the. County Manager and other agencies to look at what can be done for these parents. Chair Carey stated that he is aware there are problems with youth and adolescents. There were some good recommendations that came out of the youth forum and he has the understanding that these recommendations are being pursued. 324 PUBLIC CHARGE Chair Carey dispensed with the reading of the Public Charge. III. ITEMS FOR DECISION - CONSENT AGENDA Motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Insko to approve those items on the Consent Agenda as listed below: A. VISITOR BUREAU This item was considered at the end of the Consent Agenda. B. COMMUNITY HEALTH ADVOCACY PROGRAM CHAP CONTRACT WITH UNC-CH AND SUBCONTRACT WITH JOCCA AND OCCHS The Board approved and authorized the Chair to sign contracts between UNC-CH and the Orange County Health Department and a subcontract between the Orange county Health Department, JOCCA and OCCHS. C. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH FEE FOR TATTOO PERMITS The Board approved a permit fee of $200. 00 for the Tattoo Operator permit and a fee of $100. 00 for the Tattoo artist permit. D. APPLICATION FOR INCLUSION IN EXISTING VOLUNTARY AGRICULTURAL DISTRICT-WALTERS AND DUNN PROPERTIES The Board approved and authorized the Chair to sign the necessary documents authorizing the properties of Victor Carl Walters, Jr and Elizabeth T. Walters and Robert Marshall Dunn and Rose Walters Dunn be included in the existing voluntary agricultural district of Victor Carl Walters, Jr. a-- Lucille Walters, and Victor Carl Walters, Jr. and Elizabeth T. Walters. ADDED E. CHANGE OF AUGUST 2ND MEETING TO AUGUST 4TH The Board approved a change in the regular meeting schedule for the first meeting in August from August 2 to August 4. VOTE ON THE CONSENT AGENDA: UNANIMOUS ITEM REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA VISITORS BUREAU _ It was clarified that this new permanent time limited position will be paid entirely by the Visitors Bureau. A motion was made by Commissioner Halkiotis, seconded by Commissioner Insko to extend the permanent time-limited position of Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors. Bureau Director through June 30, . 1994 and to establish a permanent time-limited administrative assistant position through June 30, 1994 for the Visitors Bureau. VOTE: UNANIMOUS IV. RESOLUTIONS PROCLAMATIONS A. PROCLAMATION FOR E.M.S. WEEK MAY 23-29, 1.993 A motion was made by Commissioner Willhoit, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to proclaim May 23 through May 29, 1993 as E.M.S. Week in Orange County as stated below: EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES WEEK WHEREAS, Governor James Hunt has proclaimed the week of May 23 through May 29, 1993 as Emergency Medical Services Week in North Carolina, and WHEREAS, The Emergency Medical Service in. Orange County is a complex system involving Telecommunicators, Fire First Responders, Law Enforcement Officers, Nurses, Doctors, County Staff and Volunteers from Orange County and South Orange Rescue Squads, and WHEREAS, These people must attend many hours of specialized training in addition to hours of service provided, and WHEREAS, They place themselves in peril as they respond quickly and efficiently to provide emergency assistance to the sick and injured in Orange County, and WHEREAS, The citizens of the County have supported the E.M.S. service through both taxes and donations, and WHEREAS, The Orange County Board of Commissioners publicly acknowledge their support and appreciation to all the members of the Orange County Emergency Medical Services System, NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Orange County Board of Commissioners hereby proclaim the week of May 23 through 29, 1993 as EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES WEEK and encourage all citizens of Orange County to continue to support their E.M.S. system. VOTE: UNANIMOUS - -B. COUNTY AUCTION -- 1993 A motion was made by Commissioner Halkiotis, seconded by Commissioner Insko to adopt the resolution as stated below authorizing the Director of Purchasing and Central Services to conduct an auction of those personal property items declared surplus or confiscated. R E S O L U T I O N WHEREAS, Orange County desires to dispose of surplus, confiscated and abandoned property in a manner prescribed by North Carolina State Law, and WHEREAS, Orange County has given its own departments and funded agencies the opportunity to acquire this property prior to its disposal, and WHEREAS, Orange County has determined that public auction would be the most - equitable way to dispose of .surplus, confiscated and abandoned property and at the same time produce the most revenue for the County, NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT: The Orange County Board 'of Commissioners do authorize the Director of Purchasing and Central Services to conduct a public auction of these surplus and confiscated items found on the attached list on May 22, 1993 . The auction to be held at 10: 00 a.m. at the Orange County Public Works Department and to be conducted on an as is, highest bidder basis. The auction will be conducted by Phillip Walker Auctions. FURTHERMORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT: The Orange County Board of Commissioners do hereby authorize the Director of Purchasing and Central Services to sign over the title of those vehicles being sold at auction so that ownership may pass to the buyer and to direct the Clerk to the Board of Commissioners to send notice of such authorization to the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles and do hereby authorize the Director of 326 Purchasing and Central Services to make the necessary adjustment sin inventory for items listed and items that have been stolen salvaged, or destroyed or mistakenly placed in inventory. VOTE: UNANIMOUS V. SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS - NONE VI. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. EPLAND CDBG APPLICATION Tara Fikes presented for the purpose of receiving citizen comments the proposed FY93 Community Development Block Grant Application for the Efland Community and a resolution authorizing submission of the formal' application document by May 28, 1993 . Sam English spoke on behalf of the senior citizens in that area. He stated that a lot of the septic tanks do not work and there are people in this area who are ill and have no bathroom facilities. They really need sewer and water lines available in the Efland area. Motion was made by Commissioner Willhoit, seconded by Commissioner Gordon to approve the resolution as stated below authorizing submission of the Efland CDBG Application by May 28, 1993 and authorizing the Chair to sign the application document on behalf of the Board upon approval by the County Attorney. RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING AN APPLICATION FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT FUNDS NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of County Commissioners of Orange County, that an application for Community Revitalization Grant funds from the N.C. Department of Commerce is hereby authorized. The target neighborhood is the Efland Community and the amount to be requested is $600, 000. The application will be submitted on or before May 28, 1993 . FURTHER, the-.Board of Commissioners of Orange- County authorizes the Chair .of the . -Board of County Commissioner to sign the application - document upon approval by the County Attorney. VOTE: UNANIMOUS B. 1993-94 COMMISSIONERS' GOALS Discussion ensued on suggested changes made by Commissioner Gordon which are listed below in the motion for approval. Commissioner Willhoit noted that the problem with transportation planning is that on the one hand they want to support light rail and mass transit but are not interested in adopting the planning concepts necessary for implementation. It will be made clear on the landfill site selection goal that the final site will be approved by the governing bodies and the County Commissioners will give the final approval through a Special Use Permit. Site selection for schools was discussed and it was determined that this would be a topic for the NonBinding Task Force to discuss further. NOTE: THERE WAS NO CITIZEN COMMENTS. 327 A motion was made by Commissioner Halkiotis, seconded by - .Commissioner Insko to approve the 1993-94 Commissioners' goals with the ;hanger as listed below: 1. Retaining the goal for recycling and impact fees for public school facilities. 2. Move the "Visitor Bureau" goal to Section I. 3. Organize the goals into categories the way it was done last year. 4 . Step K under "Landfill Site Selection and Development" would indicate that the LOG should make their final recommendation on a landfill site and Step L would indicated that the governing bodies will make the final decision 5. Combine the "Human Services Empowerment" goal and the- "Coordination with School Systems" goal under a single new goal entitled "Improve the Delivery of Human Services" 6. Organize the "Transportation Planning Goal" so that all the procedures fall under one objective, and the policies fall under a second objective and the sections which relate to a transportation planner (current Objective #4 'and the current Plan of Action) should fall under Resource Requirements. 7. ADD under the goal "Water Resource Quantity and Quality" the following two objectives: OBJECTIVE 3 Use available SCS soils mapping to determine general suitability of the areas of the County for land application type waste treatment systems and obtain DEM data on remaining stream and surface water waste loading allocations in order to determine the relative capacity of different areas to support. service by on--site waste treatment systems. PLAN OF ACTION A. using existing SCS soil mapping and soil suitability indexes as a base, develop and refine generalized mapping of County indicating areas less likely to be suitable for land application waste treatment technologies - data collection process is currently underway for use in this and other initiatives. - B. Obtain available information from DEM and other agencies regarding the assigned waste loading capacities of County streams and surface waters, and information on all approved surface discharge waste loading allocations for existing treatment facilities. OBJECTIVE 4 Develop a water resource protection long range planning system or program using County GIs, computer or other available technological resources to predict and address impacts of various land uses and land use patterns on the quality and quantity of the ground and surface water resources of the County. PLAN OF ACTION 328 A. Bring on line GIS capabilities of various County departments which have environmental and planning/land u'7 - responsibilities. This process is currently underway wi Planning Dept. having gotten on line in 1991, and OCEH an" Engineer scheduled to come on line in the fall of 1992 . B. Make use of computer and GIS capabilities as practicable to analyze collected environmental data on existing impacts and develop models for projecting cumulative and future environmental impacts on ground and surface water resources. C. Implement a program for integrating water resource environmental impact projections into the long range planning process. VOTE: UNANIMOUS VII. REPORTS A. ORANGE HIGH SCHOOL SEMINAR STUDENTS - SOLID WASTE REPORT Several students from the Orange County. High School seminar class reported on their observations of a reclaim center in Sevierville, Tennessee. Lillian Kizer presented a summary of their observations of the Bedminster process which is a natural and environmentally sensitive answer to waste disposal. B. GIS IMPLEMENTATION IN THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT Marvin Collins reported on the implementation of the geographic information system in the Planning Department. He explained that in 1992, the staff began the process of building a database. The most important of the databases acquired to date is the soil survey of the County prepared by the Soil Conservation Service. They have been working on a number of projects in addition to building various database layers. C. JOB -TRAINING PARTNERSHIP ACT JTPA The Board received a status report on the Job Training Partnership Act program activities. In July, 1992 Orange County became part of. the Tar Heel State Job Training Consortium with Randolph and Alamance Counties. Policies and program design for training programs in the three counties are under the auspices of the Tar Heel State Private Industry Council. Bobbie Vaughan, Orange County PIC member presented the status report which is in its entirely in the agenda abstract. D. HOMELESS WOMEN AND CHILDREN TASK FORCE REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS Sue Russell, a member of the task force, gave this report. She reported that the task force held a Community Forum on February 17, 1993 . The Task Force developed draft recommendations based on the outcome from the forum and the work of the task force. This report includes the Task Force findin, and recommendations. Some of the key recommendations to the Cour_ Commissioners include the following: 329 1. Allocate funding to Community House to hire a case manager trained to meet the needs of homeless women and children. This case manager would ensure that homeless families living in Community House are able to access all of the services that are available in the community, and would identify community agencies that would provide case management services to homeless families for a year after the families leave Community House. 2 . Appoint a County Commissioner to a countywide task force to plan for the development of a family shelter in Orange County. 3 . Establish a committee to study the issue of a County bond referendum to finance affordable housing. The Board received this report as information and indicated they would respond to these recommendations at a later date. E. OWASA REPORT Lois Herring, Chair of the OWASA Board, gave this report which the Board received as information. Ed Holland demonstrated the capabilities of their GIS system. VIII. ITEMS FOR DECISION ^ REGULAR AGENDA A. EFLAND CDBG APPLICATION - FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION A motion was made by Commissioner Willhoit, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to authorize a financial commitment of an amount not to exceed $130, 000 to the Efland CDBG Project, with staff to develop recommendations during the next year on financing the County's share from either operating or capital funds; and authorize the Chair to sign a letter of commitment to the N. C. Department of Commerce on behalf of the Board. VOTE: UNANIMOUS B. RE VEST FROM ORANGE COMMUNITY HOU ING CORPORATION OCHC A motion was made by Commissioner Insko, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to authorize the reimbursement of $695. 00 paid by the Orange Community Housing Corporation for an application fee paid to the County for the required sedimentation and erosion control permit application for the proposed Erwin Village affordable housing project. VOTE: UNANIMOUS C. SOLID WASTE ORDINANCE A motion was made by Chair Carey, seconded by Commissioner Gordon to adopt the ordinance entitled "Solid Waste Management Ordinance, Orange County, North Carolina" . This ordinance is in its entirety in the Orange County Book of Ordinances located in the Clerk's office. VOTE: UNANIMOUS D. ZONING ORDINANCE TEXT AMENDMENT - 'MANUFACTURED BUILDINGS After a brief discussion, a motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to table this item. r VOTE: UNANIMOUS x 3 330 E. VOTING DELEGATE FOR THE NACo MEETING A motion was made by Commissioner Insko, seconded by CommissioneM Halkiotis to appoint Don Willhoit as the voting delegate for the NA conference which will be held in Chicago, Illinois from July 16 through July 20. VOTE: UNANIMOUS F. SOLID WASTE INITIATIVES The Board agreed to proceed on these initiatives as previously submitted. IX. BOARD COMMENTS - listed above X. COUNTY MANAGER'S REPORT John Link announced that County bonds were refinanced at a rate of 5. 1% which mill save $655, 000 over the next 17 years. XI. APPOINTMENTS TASK FORCE ON THE PROCESS FOR ELECTING ORANGE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS A motion was made by Commissioner Insko, seconded by Commissioner Willhoit to appoint the following persons to this task force: LINDA CARVER COMMISSION FOR WOMEN KEITH COOK DEMOCRATIC PARTY RICHARD HAMMER REPUBLICAN PARTY GLORIA WILLIAMS SOUTHERN ORANGE NAACP RACHEL LYNCH-GAYA NORTHERN ORANGE NAACP PATRICK H. MULKEY AT LARGE VOTE: UNANIMOUS A motion was made by Commissioner Insko, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to authorize Chair Carey to appoint the Chair for this task force. VOTE: UNANIMOUS ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARD A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Insko to appoint Karen Barrows to the Orange. County Planning Board representing Little River Township. VOTE: UNANIMOUS, BOARD OF EQUALIZATION AND REVIEW A motion was made by Commissioner Insko, seconded by Commissioner Willhoit to appoint Lightning Brown as a full member of this Board and to appoint Dorothy. M. Wilson and Reginald H. Morgan as alternates. VOTE: UNANIMOUS XII. MINUTES - NONE XIII. EXECUTIVE SESSION A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commission, Halkiotis to go into Executive Session with the Orange County Schoo. Board/staff to discuss the acquisition of property. 331 A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to reconvene into Regular Session. 'TOTE: UNANIMOUS A motion was made by Commissioner Willhoit, seconded by Commissioner Insko to approve the expEinditure by the Orange County Board of Education of an amount of $722,190 for the acquisition of a tract of land upon which the Orange County School Board can construct a new Middle School. VOTE: UNANIMOUS The Board resumed their Executive Session with the Chapel Hill-Carrboro School Board to discuss the acquisition of property. Motion was made by Chair Carey, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to adjourn the Executive Session and to reconvene into Regular Session. VOTE: UNANIMOUS XIV. ADJOURNMENT With no further business to come before the Board, Chair Carey adjourned the meeting. The next regular meeting will be held on May 24, 1993 for the Quarterly Public Hearing at 7 : 30 p.m. in Superior Courtroom, Hillsborough, North--Carolina. Moses Carey, Jr. ,. Chair Beverly A. Blythe, Clerk