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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 19960129APPROVED 3/19/96 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS SCHEDULED MEETING JANUARY 29, 1996 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met in joint session with members of the Orange County School Board and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board on Monday, January 29, 1996 at 7:30 p.m. in the meeting room at the Government Services Center in Hillsborough, North Carolina. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Vice-Chair Stephen Halkiotis and Commissioners William L. Crowther, Alice M. Gordon and Don Willhoit COUNTY COMMISSIONER ABSENT: Moses Carey, Jr. COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill ORANGE COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Superintendent William Harrison and members Robert Bateman, Keith Cook, Susan Dovenbarger, David Kolbinsky, Delores Simpson and William Wolford CHAPEL HILL-CARRBORO SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Superintendent Neil G. Pedersen and members Mary Bushnell, Nicholas M. Didow, Harvey Goldstein, Bea Hughes-Werner, Mark Royster, Elizabeth Carter and Kenneth Touw COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr., Assistant County Manager Rod Visser, Planning Director Marvin Collins, Budget Director Sally Kost and Clerk to the Board Beverly A. Blythe 1. BRIEF REPORT ON THE STATUS OF THE SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION STANDARDS WORK GROUP Sally Kost presented an update from the School Facility Construction Standards Work Group. She said that they held a public hearing on the standards last week. They are focusing at this time on elementary and middle school space. Each school system developed a plan using the state standards. The draft standards include a four level approach to facility size. The "Basic School" is modeled after the guidelines as established by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. The first tier included additional staff work space and conference room space. The second tier included additional space for after school programs and the third tier included everything else. They are continuing their discussion on energy efficiencies and technology enhancements. The next meeting is scheduled for February 28. They plan to start finalizing their recommendations which will then go to the three governing boards with the Board of County Commissioners making the final decision. In answer to a question from Commissioner Gordon about the response at the public hearing, Commissioner Halkiotis said that many citizens spoke in support of additional space. Mark Royster noted that the capital needs assessment recently done for the State used state standards rather than standards as recommended by this committee. Nick Didow mentioned that what they heard at public hearing was that increased technology would require more space and more support facilities rather than less space and facilities. 2. JOINT COMMUNITY SCHOOL PARK/RECREATION USE OF SCHOOL SITES John Link made reference to the draft report entitled "Recreation and Parks Issues in Orange County, North Carolina". He briefly explained the benefits of combining new schools with new parks. Section III of the report describes the school/government coordination that exists today. Following that is a list of what the towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro could do to work together in siting joint facilities and programs. That same page outlines how the County and school boards can work together in developing agreements for coordinating and constructing shared facilities. The final report will be presented at the Assembly of Governments meeting scheduled for February 29. Harvey Goldstein noted that it is important to plan the facility conducive to the activities taking place in the school. Commissioner Gordon asked about Wake County schools and was told that 15 schools in the 90's have been built with that concept. Susan Dovenbarger questioned at what point in the planning process the schools will be involved and how will the governments work with the school boards. Mary Bushnell suggested that the final document include the responsibilities of each. In answer to a question from Commissioner Halkiotis, Harvey Goldstein said that the school board was against skateboarding near Culbreth because it was near a research area, it was thought to attract older people in their 20's and that there would be an increased demand on the usage of the restrooms which could lead to vandalism. 3. DESIGNATION OF GENERAL AREAS FOR FUTURE SCHOOL SITES - SCHOOL SYSTEMS AND COUNTY ROLES Commissioner Gordon mentioned that the Southern Village project and the adjacent Chapel Hill Park will be providing a 16-acre tract for an elementary school. However, there has been no discussion about a school site in the University Station area. Nick Didow said that the Town of Carrboro is aware of the school growth and is including in their discussion of the Northwest Small Area Plan locations for new schools and parks. Neil Pedersen said that the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School District is working with Roscoe Reeve on designating future school sites and should have that information available in about two months. Marvin Collins said that if future school sites can be designated on the Land Use Plan that whenever a development comes in, they can require that property be reserved for a school and then the school board has five years (corrected to 18 months) to decide if they want to purchase that property. However, these future sites must be designated in the Land Use Element of the Comprehensive Plan. Commissioner Halkiotis noted that the County is willing to help both school systems identify parcels of land for future school sites. Commissioner Willhoit noted that in the County, there are smaller subdivisions more spread out and that one problem in identifying future school sites is the unavailability of water and sewer. If sites could be identified and purchased, they could be used for recreation and parks until a school is built. Mark Royster feels that if parcels are identified the price will increase. Commissioner Willhoit noted that it is not necessary to identify a specific parcel, but to identify a specific area. It actually may help the developer with selling his property. Harvey Goldstein emphasized the importance of working together on identifying and funding future schools. He feels the Board of County Commissioners need to take the lead in this effort. Larry Haverland asked at what point they need to let someone know they are interested in a future school site. If they are going to build 500 homes in University Station, perhaps they should think about a new school further south instead of further north. Marvin Collins said that their Planning Staff reported to the Orange County Board of Education several months ago on the possibility of five subdivisions in University Station and received no interest in designating a school site. Susan Dovenbarger asked that the Planning Department continue to let them know about future subdivisions. Marvin Collins said that if a school site is designated on the Comprehensive Plan, they can require the developer to reserve a school site. They would have to set aside so much acreage for five years (later corrected this to 18 months). If the school does not purchase the property within that time, it reverts back to raw land and the developer can do whatever he/she wants. Marvin Collins clarified that once an area is designated, the school board has eighteen (18) months in which to purchase the property. 4. REVIEW OF THE TEN-POINT PLAN FOR SCHOOL CAPITAL FINANCING Impact Fees The first three topics relate to the technical report on the impact fee. Marvin Collins said that as soon as the school construction standards report is finished in March, he will use these standards to update the technical report and present it at public hearing in May. This would be enough time to implement a new system for 1996-97 fiscal year. Land for Future School Sites The fifth item requesting municipalities to consider limiting the rate of approval of new residential development so as not to out-pace the ability of the County to provide additional schools has not been addressed yet. John Link indicated that this item will be discussed later. Commissioner Gordon asked that this item be added to the Assembly of Governments meeting on February 29 or the municipalities could be requested to consider this item and start thinking about it. Mark Royster said that a developer cannot be denied the right to develop because of a lack of schools. That is why it is more important than ever to collaborate with other governmental bodies. In answer to a question about enabling legislation, Geoffrey Gledhill said that someone cannot be denied the right to build a house because the County cannot provide the schools for education. Local governments can place development moratorium for a specific period of time. However, he is not sure it is legal to use a moratorium to slow down development. Haverland indicated he would not like to limit the growth in the northern end of the County. Commissioner Halkiotis suggested further discussion on this item before asking the municipalities to do anything. Commissioner Willhoit mentioned that in the Joint Planning Area they have no rezonings until 75% of the land is developed. Maybe this could work in other areas. Item number 6 to request the Town of Chapel Hill to reserve a school site in the proposed Meadowmont development has been accomplished. School Facility Construction & Utilization Neil Pedersen made reference to multi-track schools and said that they are doing a survey which is due back this Friday. The Board will discuss the results of that survey at their Planning Conference scheduled for February 15. William Harrison said they are looking at a single-track school at the old A.L. Stanback School for 300-350 students. This will be available to all students in the County School District. Capital Funding Options In answer to a question from Commissioner Gordon about his plan for funding two schools, Neil Pedersen said that they have not decided they don't need a middle school. They just feel that an elementary school and an addition to the new high school needs to be done first. They feel that they can work out some financial options to pay for these two items. The plan is not perfect and they will need to make some sacrifices the first five years of the plan. However, they feel they can meet their current renovation needs and make payments on the new elementary and high school addition. They need the new elementary and high school addition for year 1999-2000 and they will need a new middle school for 2000-2001. Larry Haverland said that with developments like University Manor and a possible release of 200 students from Alamance County, the Orange County Schools may soon need a new elementary school. 5. AMENDMENT OF IMPACT FEE ORDINANCE TO INCLUDE BUILDING RETROFIT AS A POSSIBLE USE OF IMPACT FEE PROCEEDS With regard to the amendment to the Impact Fee Ordinance, Geoffrey Gledhill indicated that public comments will be received on February 26 at which time the Board of County Commissioners can vote to approve the amendment effective immediately. This will allow Orange County Schools to use their impact fee proceeds for renovations. In answer to a question from Keith Cook, John Link said that the impact fee may be increased after the technical report is finished and the increase is justified in that report. Right now it could be increased from $750 to $1200 in the Orange County School District. 6. DISCUSSION OF CHANGES IN THE DISTRIBUTION OF RECURRING CAPITAL FUNDING IN ANNUAL BUDGETS Sally Kost explained the abstract dated October 17, 1995. There are two options listed. One option would reallocate within the current budget of $1.5 million based on a per pupil basis. The second option would also be based on per pupil basis with continued funding to Orange County Schools of $750,000 and increased funding for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School District. Commissioner Gordon said that she favors option #2. Her concern is where the additional money will come from. John Link indicated that the extra money will need to come from either the pay-as-you-go funds or the sales tax. The sales tax revenue is the fastest growing for the school system. Larry Haverland does not feel that $750,000 is enough for recurring capital. However, he does not favor taking additional allocations from the property tax. He would rather it come from the sales tax. He would like to talk further about their $750,000. Commissioner Willhoit explained that the $750,000 would not be a cap. Orange County Schools would increase at the time the number of students increased. Commissioner Halkiotis said he would like to know how this recurring capital is being used for both school systems so he has a clear understanding of how the money is being spent. Commissioner Gordon asked if they could agree to allocate recurring capital on a per pupil basis and determine which method to use at a later time. It was decided that this item needs further study and they would get back together for further discussion. Everyone agreed that this was a good meeting and that progress was made. ADJOURNMENT With no further items to discuss, Vice-Chair Stephen Halkiotis adjourned the meeting at 9:30 p.m. The next regular meeting of the Board of County Commissioners is scheduled for February 5, 1996 at the Old Courthouse in Hillsborough, North Carolina at 7:30 p.m. Stephen H. Halkiotis, Vice-Chair Beverly A. Blythe, Clerk