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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 19960220APPROVED MARCH 19. 1996 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING FEBRUARY 20, 1996 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, February 20, 1996 at 7:30 p.m. in the OWASA Community Meeting Room in Carrboro, North Carolina. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Moses Carey, Jr., and Commissioners William L. Crowther, Alice M. Gordon, Stephen H. Halkiotis and Don Willhoit. COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill COUNTY STAFF PRESENT; County Manager John M. Link, Jr., Assistant County Managers Albert Kittrell and Rod Visser and Clerk to the Board Beverly A. Blythe (all other staff will be recognized accordingly) 1. ADDITIONS OR CHANGES TO THE AGENDA - NONE II. AUDIENCE COMMENTS A. MATTERS ON THE PRINTED AGENDA Chair Carey said that citizens who have indicated a desire to speak to an item on the printed agenda will be recognized accordingly. B. MATTERS NOT ON THE PRINTED AGENDA Roscoe Reeve spoke on behalf of a Chapel Hill Law Enforcement support group which is the oversight committee of a program called Project Turn Around. He petitioned the Board to receive information on Project Turn Around and to consider helping to fund this program in the upcoming 1996-97 and future budgets of Orange County. He distributed information to the County Commissioners. He explained that Project Turn Around is a court diversionary program for first time non-violent felony drug offenders. The 2-year State grant helped Chapel Hill to establish this program in 1993. This grant required citizen oversight and evaluation. Since September, 1996, Chapel Hill has fully funded this program. The purpose of the program is to identify the drug offender at his/her first felony charge and turn that person away from drugs and drug dependency toward being a positive member of this community. This is accomplished by providing individuals who agree to participate in the program with twelve months of intensive supervision. They must be employed or in school, must support themselves, must participate in drug counseling and must have no further criminal charges and be drug free. If the participant successfully finishes the program, the court charges are dismissed. The program has been rated successful so far by law enforcement, the district court judges and the offices of the District Attorney and Public Defender and they join in this request . The program serves individuals who reside in Chapel Hill, the rest of Orange County and outside of the County. Approximately 40% of the participants have been Orange County residents outside of the towns. Between November, 1993 and November, 1995, Project Turn Around evaluated 202 charged drug offenders. One hundred sixty-four have participated in the program and 68 have successfully completed the program and 29 were unsuccessfully terminated from the program. Only two graduates of the program have been rearrested for drug related crimes. This is the only diversion program in this area for substance abusing criminals. The annual budget is about $72,000 with most of the funds committed to personnel costs. The participants contribute financially to this budget through the payment of fees. The average cost per participant is $4,920 compared to $18,000 it cost to keep a person in prison for one year. Mr. Reeve asked about the possibility of reprogramming a portion of the Criminal Justice Partnership funds to early intervention programs to support this program. They will seek a broader base of support from other jurisdictions who have or will benefit from the program in the future. He thanked the Board for receiving the petition. Chair Carey said that he is familiar with the program and feels that they can use some of the Criminal Justice Partnership funds for this program. He referred this to the staff to take under advisement. Commissioner Halkiotis also spoke in support of this program being continued. PUBLIC CHARGE Chair Carey dispensed with the reading of the charge. III. BOARD COMMENTS Commissioner Gordon said that at a recent meeting with the two school boards, they talked about siting new schools and one thing that would be helpful would be to revise the Land Use Plan. She asked about this process and John Link indicated that the earliest this could go to public hearing would be May. Commissioner Gordon made reference to the snow removal process and said that at a recent Transportation Advisory Committee meeting all the elected officials seemed satisfied except Orange County. Commissioner Halkiotis feels there are a lot of safety issues that need to be addressed during inclement weather. He also asked John Link to give an update on the situation in front of A. L. Stanback where there was another accident last week. Commissioner Halkiotis represented the County Commissioners at a press conference on the new Information and Referral system which is a computerized data base of people/agencies who can assist people. He is very proud of the final product. Commissioner Gordon announced that the "Shaping Orange County's Future" committee will have their kick-off this Friday at a news conference at noon at the Old Courthouse. IV. COUNTY MANAGER'S REPORT - NONE V. RESOLUTIONS/PROCLAMATIONS - NONE VI. SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS - NONE VII. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. INCREASE IN OCCUPANCY TAX In July of 1991, the General Assembly of North Carolina enacted a bill allowing the Orange County Board of Commissioners to levy a room occupancy tax of up to 3% on the gross receipts derived from the rental of any room, lodging or similar accommodation. The Board of Commissioners subsequently approved a 1 % occupancy tax which took effect September 1, 1991. In the 1995-96 fiscal year, the 1 % tax is estimated to generate $154,810. Additional funding is sought by the Visitors Bureau to provide for additional programs to better serve a client base that has increased more than 400°x6 in three years. Area hoteliers collecting occupancy taxes from their guests also expressed their desire to see additional sales and marketing programs implemented by the Bureau and therefore support an increase in the county occupancy tax from 1 % to 2%. Jim Harter, Chair of the Marketing Committee for the Visitors Bureau, gave some background history on how they came up with this proposal and why they feel that with additional funds they can be more effective than before. They spoke with owners and managers representing about 80% of the rooms in Orange County before they considered this proposal and have strong support from them. The extra 1 % will be used to promote the County. Tourism is a big business and they want to increase this business for the County. Terry Murphy, General Manager of the Carolina Inn, spoke in support of this increase. He feels they need to proactively go out and sell Orange County to visitors. Margaret Skinner, President of the Orange County Lodging Association, said that this Association comprises large and small hotels and the bed and breakfast establishments. She presented letters of support from Jan Chovanec, General Manager of the Siena Hotel and from the Orange County Lodging Association. A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to close the public hearing and endorse this proposal effective July 1, 1996. VOTE: UNANIMOUS VIII. ITEMS FOR DECISION -CONSENT AGENDA A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to approve those items on the Consent Agenda as stated below: A. BID AWARD FOR THE WATERLINE AT THE NORTHERN HUMAN SERVICES CENTER The water supply at the Northern Center has an unacceptable copper content, which can be alleviated through the installation of PVC piping. The water lines were replaced with copper lines a few years ago; however, the acidic nature of the water at this site reacting with the copper piping makes their continued use unfeasible. The scope of the work covered by this bid will include not only re-piping all water lines in the facility, but will also allow for the installation of internal storage tanks, which will allow us to abandon the use of the existing elevated water tower as our source for potable water. The Board awarded the bid for water line replacement at the Northern Human Services Center to Sparrow and Sons Plumping at a total cost of $30,001 and authorized the Chair to sign the contract. Other bids were received from Brown Brothers for $86,000 and Eakins Plumbing for $53,647. B. SPRING FARM, SECTION 3 PRELIMINARY PLAN The County Commissioners approved the Preliminary Plan for Spring Farm - Section Three with a Class B private road subject to the conditions contained in the resolution of approval as presented in the agenda and on file in the Clerk's office. This property is located on the east side of Morrow Mill Road in Bingham Township. It is zoned AR and designated Agricultural Residential in the Land Use Element of the Comprehensive Plan. Sections 1 and 2 were minor subdivisions located south and southwest of Section Three. The total acreage is 14.96 and six new residential lots are proposed to be served by individual wells and septic systems. C. PROPERTY TAX REFUNDS The County Commissioners approved the property tax refunds as listed below: NAME ACCOUNT # AMOUNT Geneva Moody 27002 $ 3,901.68 Raines, Jerry 201560 884.02 James L. Coke 18697 35.54 Robert Everette Lloyd, II 9490320 72.00 Clark, Diane C. 9519545 353.65 General Motors Accept. Corp. 9465337 118.83 Rook, Linda McGhee 9397328 34.00 Collier, Albert M. 9520097 77.87 Capkov, Ventures, Inc. 9552771 332.46 Capkov, Ventures, Inc. 9552773 316.90 Capkov, Ventures, Inc. 9552774 Capkov, Ventures, Inc. 9552775 Capkov, Ventures, Inc. 9552776 330.31 330.31 329.04 D. RENEWAL OF CABLE TV SERVICES CONTRACT WITH TRIANGLE J COG The County Commissioners approved the continuation agreement for calendar year 1996 with Triangle J Council of Governments for Cable TV Services at a cost of $9,624. Orange County and other local governments in Region J are a part of the TJCOG Cable TV Consortium which shares consulting services. TJCOG, through a consultant, serves Orange County and other local governments by reviewing cable rates, conducting cable TV franchise renewal activities, performing technical audits for the cable companies distribution system and representing the County's interest in cable TV matters. E. BUDGET ORDINANCE AMENDMENT #4 The County Commissioners approved Budget Ordinance amendment #4, grant project ordinances and capital project ordinances as listed below: GENERALFUND Appropriation - Human Services $ 179,872 Source - Intergovernmental 169,872 Source - Miscellaneous (Revenue) 10,000 (To budget additional Department of Social Services Revenue) Appropriation - Human Services $ 19,514 Source - Intergovernmental 19,514 (To budget for State "Grass Roots" grant for Recreation and Parks Appropriation - Human Services $ 25,920 Source - Charges for Services 25,920 (To budget additional Department on Aging funds) Appropriation - Human Services 12,486 Source - Intergovernmental 12,486 (To budget additional State aid for Orange County Public Library) SMART START GRANT PROJECT ORDINANCE INTERGOVERNMENTAL (Source) DSS - 1993-94 $ 77,119 DSS - 1994-95 259,953 DSS - 1995-96 356,665 HEALTH - 1993-94 43,777 HEALTH - 1994-95 56,711 HEALTH - 1995-96 51,219 LIBRARY - 1993-94 10,721 COOPERATIVE EXTENSION - 1994-95 6,000 COOPERATIVE EXTENSION - 1995-96 17,880 HUMAN SERVICES (Appropriation) DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES 693,737 HEALTH 151,707 LIBRARY 10,721 COOPERATIVE EXTENSION 23,880 COMMUNITY BASED PUBLIC HEALTH INITIATIVE PROGRAM GRANT PROJECT ORDINANCE Source - Intergovernmental - Community Based Public Health Initiative $ 40,000 Appropriation - Human Services Community Based Public Health Initiative 40,000 (To budget additional Health Department grant funds) EQUIPMENT AND VEHICLES PROJECT CAPITAL PROJECT ORDINANCE Source - Transfer from County Capital Reserve Fund 1992-93 $ 295,300 Source - Transfer from General Fund - 1993-94 391,615 Source - Transfer from General Fund - 1994-95 465,229 Source - Transfer from General Fund - 1995-96 299,415 Source - Transfer from OEMs Base 2 Project - 1995-96 10,000 Source - Intergovernmental - 1992-93 32,935 Source - Intergovernmental - 1993-94 4,688 Source - Intergovernmental - 1994-95 131,129 Source - Intergovernmental - 1994-95 123,750 Source - County Capital Fund Balance - 1994-95 10,000 Appropriation - Equipment and Vehicles $ 1,764,061 (To budget for purchase of County-owned vehicles and major equipment) MOTOR POOL FACILITY PROJECT CAPITAL PROJECT ORDINANCE Source - 1988 Bond Funds (1990-91) $ 100,000 Source - 1988 Bond Funds (1991-92) 1,000,000 Source - Transfer from County Capital Reserve Fund - 1991-92 60,000 Source - Transfer from General Fund (1995-96) 124,492 Source - Transfer from Fairview Clay Cap (1995-96) 20,000 Source - Intergovernmental - Town of Hillsborough 43,540 Appropriation - Motor Pool Improvements Project $1,437,790 (To budget for Town of Hillsborough's share of cost of automated fueling station) VOTE: UNANIMOUS IX. ITEMS FOR DECISION - REGULAR AGENDA A. LEASE APPROVAL FOR THE SKILL DEVELOPMENT CENTER Pam Jones, Director of Purchasing and Central Services, explained the lease terms as outlined in the agenda. On March 19, they will present the final contract as well as the programming opportunities that will be offered at this skill development center. Dr. Phail Wynn and Dr. Bill Ingram from Durham Technical Institute spoke about the programming and what they will be able to provide for this center. These will be incorporated into the report on March 19. They emphasized that they are flexible and responsible to the community and employer needs in the area. They will pay 100% of instructional and support costs. In answer to a question from Commissioner Gordon concerning how much of the available 13,000 square feet of space Durham Tech could use if given the opportunity, their staff indicated that all of it could be profitably used for instruction. Commissioner Gordon emphasized that she would like for as much of the space as possible to be used for skill training and not for relocating other agencies. Chair Carey noted that the County is moving in the direction of a one stop employment center and he supports this project. Commissioner Willhoit mentioned that in his opinion the whole focus of this effort was to position the County to respond in an effective way to welfare reform. He supports this project. Commissioner Halkiotis made reference to Census Tract 113 which has in it the highest rate of unemployment in Orange County and the highest rate of youth poverty in Orange County. It is the highest rate of everything that doesn't allow hope and a light for the future. The challenge is so great in that area of Chapel Hill. This is a wonderful opportunity for all these agencies to make a difference and a change in people's lives in this county. John Link noted that he feels this facility can accommodate what is necessary for skill development and also a representation of other agencies which help people get jobs and that there should be a component of those functions in this building. Commissioner Willhoit asked about the possibility of providing day care in this facility if that becomes one of the barriers to participation. A motion was made by Commissioner Willhoit, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to approve the lease in principle and to request that the staff bring back for approval on March 19, 1996 the final lease and additional information on (1) programming priorities, (2) participant commitment relative to skill upgrading function, and (3) options which may reduce the overall County cost, including, but not limited to revenue offsets, lease/purchase options, etc. VOTE:EMUNANIMOUSH B. PENDLE HILL - PRELIMINARY PLAN The Board considered a Preliminary Plan for Pendle Hill Subdivision. The property is located on New Sharon Church Road at the intersection of New Sharon Church Road and Walker Farm Road and is a portion of Lot 6 of Tax Map 22, Little River Township. The lot contains 13.45 acres. The approved Concept Plan was named River Park and involved 20 residential lots with a 4.5 acre common area proposed on 43.5 acres. Due to poor soils the developers have reduced the subdivision to 6 residential lots averaging 1.75 acres in size with a 2.92 acre common area. On January 22, 1996 in a 7 to 4 vote the Planning Board recommended approval of the Preliminary AMENDMENT TO MINUTES FOR FEBRUARY 20, 1996 Plan for Pendle Hill with a Class B private road subject to the conditions contained in the resolution of approval included in the agenda. The 4 Planning Board members were concerned with the road access and felt that the applicant should get access from an existing private road to the northeast. They also indicated that if access were obtained from New Sharon Church Road it should extend directly across from Walker Farm Road. The Board discussed at length the alignment of the Class B private road. A motion was made by Commissioner Willhoit , seconded by Commissioner Gordon to approve the Preliminary Plan for Pendle Hill with Pendleton Place aligned with Walker Farm Road and subject to the conditions contained in the Resolution of Approval in the agenda and on file in the Clerk's office. VOTE: AYES, 3; NOS, 2 (Commissioners Carey and Halkiotis) X. REPORTS - NONE XI. APPOINTMENTS - NONE XII. MINUTES - NONE XIII. CLOSED SESSION A motion was made by Commissioner Halkiotis, seconded by Chair Carey to go into closed session to discuss a personnel matter by authority G.S. Section 143-318.11 (a)(6) and to approve minutes of previous closed sessions by authority G.S. Section 143-318.11 (a)(1). VOTE: UNANIMOUS A motion was made by Commissioner Willhoit, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to adjourn the closed session and to reconvene into open session. VOTE: UNANIMOUS BOARD ACTION IN OPEN SESSION ON ITEM "B" - PERSONNEL MATTER As a result of the Closed Session, the Board of County Commissioners rated County Manager John Link outstanding and upon motion by Chair Carey, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis, he was awarded a lump sum bonus of $3,149. VOTE: UNANIMOUS IV. ADJOURNMENT With no further items for the Board to discuss, Chair Carey adjourned the meeting. The next regular meeting listed on the meeting calendar will be February 26, 1996 at 7:30 p.m. in Superior Courtroom for a Quarterly Public Hearing. Moses Carey, Jr., Chair Beverly A. Blythe, Clerk