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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 19960306APPROVED MARCH 19. 1996 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING MARCH 6, 1996 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Wednesday, March 6, 1996 at 7:30 p.m. in the Efland Cheeks Community Center in Efland, 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 Manager Rod Visser and Albert Kittrell and Clerk to the Board Beverly A. Blythe (All other staff members will be identified appropriately below) NOTE: All background information is in the permanent agenda files in the Clerk's Office. Tapes of the meeting are available for five years. 1_ ADDITIONS OR CHANGES TO THE AGENDA The Board added one appointment to the Human Relations Commission to the Consent Agenda item. 11. AUDIENCE COMMENTS A. MATTERS ON THE PRINTED AGENDA Chair Carey said that citizens who have indicated a desire to speak on a specific item will be recognized at the appropriate time. B. MATTERS NOT ON THE PRINTED AGENDA Debbie Santucci, member of the Efland Community, spoke about a community park and asked the County Commissioners to support this collaborative effort between the County, the school and the community. They would utilize the land that belongs to the school and the County. This will be presented to the County Commissioners at a later date. Jim Goldstein requested that the budget document be changed to reflect more detail. He asked that on the demographic statistics the "per capita income" be changed to median Family Income. Chair Carey indicated this request will be taken under advisement PUBLIC CHARGE Chair Carey dispensed with the reading of the public charge. I11. BOARD COMMENTS Commissioner Halkiotis said that, in their billing, Centel included information on several plans for extended telephone service. John Link will investigate and report back to the Board. Commissioner Halkiotis asked that something be done at the intersection of NC57 and NC86 north. This is a dangerous intersection that needs investigation. John Link reported that improvements to this intersection will go to bid in late spring. He will encourage the Department of Transportation to move this forward. Commissioner Halkiotis asked that a response be requested to the letter sent to DOT about snow removal issues. Commissioner Gordon asked for recognition of those from Cheeks Township who were in attendance. There were three individuals who had attended to speak in favor of a community park. IV. COUNTY MANAGER'S REPORT John Link reminded the Board that the Department of Transportation will hold their annual public hearing in Orange County the first meeting in May. V. RESOLUTIONS/PROCLAMATIONS A. PROCLAMATION OF MARCH 3-9, 1996 AS SEVERE WEATHER AWARENESS WEEK IN ORANGE COUNTY A motion was made by Commissioner Halkiotis, seconded by Commissioner Gordon to approve the resolution as stated below: A PROCLAMATION FOR SEVERE WEATHER AWARENESS WEEK MARCH 3 -9, 1996 WHEREAS, Governor James B. Hunt, Jr. has proclaimed the week of March 3 through March 9, 1996 as Severe Weather Awareness Week, and WHEREAS, Orange County is vulnerable to severe weather, including the devastation of tornadoes, and WHEREAS, The devastation of the tornado on November 23, 1992, is still easily remembered, and WHEREAS, The need for citizens to learn more about tornadoes and how to protect themselves should be emphasized, NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of County Commissioners hereby designate the week of March 3 through March 9, 1996, as SEVERE WEATHER AWARENESS WEEK and encourage all citizens to learn more about tornadoes and be aware of the dangers of severe weather, especially during the spring season. VOTE: UNANIMOUS B. WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH PROCLAMATION A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to approve the proclamation for "Women's History Month" as stated below: THE ORANGE COUNTY COMMISSION FOR WOMEN SUBMITS THE FOLLOWING PROCLAMATION TO THE ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS: WHEREAS, American women of every race, class, and ethnic background have made historic contributions to the growth and strength of our Nation; WHEREAS, American women have stepped into the public arena to address social and political issues that affected the quality of life for both their families and the larger community; WHEREAS, these contributions have been historically overlooked and undervalued in the literature, teaching and study of American history; and WHEREAS, women in Orange County have made and continue to make significant historical contributions to our community, state, and nation, NOW, THEREFORE, do we, the Commissioners of Orange County, proclaim the month of March, 1996 as WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH and commend this observance to Orange County citizens. VOTE: UNANIMOUS VI. SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS - NONE VII. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. ORANGE COUNTY CONSOLIDATED PLAN FOR HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS Housing and Community Development Director Tara Fikes presented for public comments the 1995 Consolidated Plan for Housing and Community Development Programs in Orange County and proposed uses of 1996-97 HOME funds. This public hearing provides an opportunity for citizens and public agencies to provide input into the plan. PUBLIC HEARING WAS OPEN FOR CITIZEN COMMENTS Donna Bryant, OPC Mental Health Center, asked for support for a group home in Roxboro. She works with homeless people who are living on the street. Some are suffering from mental illness and substance abuse and would greatly benefit from a group home setting. Pat Connally, OPC Mental Health, clarified that she and Donna are asking for home funds for people with special needs. In particular, they wish to serve the people who are severely and persistently mentally ill and rely on social security for their only income. Because of this income level, people must depend on others for a place to live or become homeless or placed in rest homes and hospitals. Many people stay in rest homes and hospitals longer than they need to only because they have no place to go. The availability of affordable and permanent housing linked with support services has been demonstrated to be cost effective resulting in reduced number of hospital days and emergency resources. She is asking for $200,000 so they can purchase 5 two bedroom condominiums for people who are mentally ill or have other disabilities. Mr. Ed Hudgins talked about housing for the mentally ill. He asked that the mentally ill people not be forgotten. He was diagnosed with mental illness in 1979. From then until now he has been homeless or lived in the shelter, state hospitals, slept in his car or stayed in rooms in boarding houses. Now he lives in a 2- bedroom apartment which is the nicest place he has ever stayed. He has lived in this apartment for six years and has only been hospitalized twice in the last seven years. Trish Hussey, Director of Freedom House Recovery Center, asked for support to build 2 houses plus a community education building. She is requesting $336,000 from the Home funds and $66,000 from the Criminal Justice Partnership Act. She noted that 10,000 residents are suffering from substance abuse. Peter Langum talked about the need for affordable housing as a big scale project. He feels that the UNC Hospital and other companies/businesses in the area should help in this endeavor. Chair Carey noted that there is a group effort to use some of the Horace Williams tract for housing. With no further comments, the public hearing was closed. Tara Fikes said that there will be $500,000 available. Followup will be a plan to come back to the Board of County Commissioners the first meeting in May. B. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM Tara Fikes presented for citizen comments a FY1996 Community Development Block Grant Program Application in the Housing Development category. The proposed project will provide the necessary street, water and sewer improvements for nine lots. Habitat for Humanity plans to build five single-family homes in Efland. The total anticipated cost is approximately $145,750. THE PUBLIC HEARING WAS OPEN FOR CITIZEN COMMENTS Susan Levy spoke in support of this proposal. By receiving this grant, they will be able to sell the homes for $46,000 to $52,000 which means that these homes will be affordable to lower income families. They feel they are serving the citizens who have the greatest need. Ketih Cook spoke in support of this request. He noted that the County needs this type of housing very much. With no further comments, the public hearing was closed. A motion was made by Commissioner Willhoit, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to approve the resolution as stated below which authorizes the submission of the CDBG Application on or about March 11, 1996 and authorizes the Chair to sign the 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 Housing Development grant funds from the N.C. Department of Commerce is hereby authorized. Specifically, funds will be requested for the installation of public infrastructure for a small subdivision being developed by Habitat for Humanity of Orange County, Inc. in the Efland community. The amount to be requested will not exceed $250,000. The application will be submitted on or about March 11, 1996. FURTHER, the Board of Commissioners of Orange County authorizes the Chair of the Board of County Commissioners to sign the application document upon approval by the County Attorney. VOTE: UNANIMOUS VIII. ITEMS FOR DECISION - CONSENT AGENDA A motion was made by Commissioner Crowther, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to approve those items on the Consent Agenda as stated below: A. APPOINTMENTS The following appointments were approved: Human Relations Commission - Sue Russell for a term ending December, 1998 Human Relations Commission - Gloria Faley for an unexpired term ending December, 1996. Human Services Advisory Commission - Phil Cooke, Karen Taylor, Tony Dalton and Bev Foster for terms ending March 30, 1999. B. COMMUNITY-BASED PUBLIC HEALTH INITIATIVE -YEAR FOUR GRANT The Board approved and authorized the Chair to sign a contract between the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill and the Orange County Health Department to fund year four of the Community-Based Public Health Initiative. The aim of the program is to improve the health of African American members in the Efland-Cheeks and Cedar Grove communities and to strengthen the capacity of community-based groups to assess and address their own unique health related problems. C. PHASE 2 CHARLES' WOODS SUBDIVISION - PRELIMINARY PLAN The Board approved the Preliminary Plan for Phase 2 Charles' Woods Subdivision in accordance with the resolution as presented in the agenda. The property is located on the east side of Dumont Drive in Eno Township. The approved concept plan involved 52 lots with a total area of 81.2 acres proposed to be subdivided. This phase includes 17.30 acres. Twelve (12) lots are proposed which average 1.26 acres in size. All lots would have individual wells and septic tanks. D. FAIR HOUSING PLAN The Board approved and authorized the Chair to sign the Fair Housing Plan which is required of all participants in the N.C. Small Cities Community Development Block Grant Program. E. PERSONNEL ORDINANCE REVISION - THE WORK WEEK The Board approved the revision to the Personnel Ordinance Article III, Section 1.0, The Work Week, covering work schedules as presented in the agenda, effective April 1, 1996. F. PERSONNEL ORDINANCE REVISION - SHARED LEAVE The Board approved the new Personnel Ordinance Article IV, Section 22, Shared Leave effective April 1, 1996 as presented in the agenda. VOTE ON THE CONSENT AGENDA: UNANIMOUS IX. ITEMS FOR DECISION - REGULAR AGENDA A. BID AWARD - LIBRARY AUTOMATION OF HYCONEECHEE REGIONAL LIBRARY SYSTEM A motion was made by Commissioner Halkiotis, seconded by Commissioner Gordon to award the bid to Gaylord Information Systems for Orange County's share at a cost of $75,438.01. The bids received are listed below: Ameritech $279,690.90 SI RSI $261,599.00 Gaylord $212,761.00 VOTE: UNANIMOUS B. MATERNITY CARE COORDINATION GRANT A motion was made by Commissioner Halkiotis, seconded by Commissioner Willhoit to accept the grant of $12,500 and authorize the Chair to sign the contract amendment with DEHNR, to authorize the Health Department to enter into an agreement with the UNC Department of Family Medicine to provide MCC services to their prenatal clients for a trial period of one year; the continuation of which is contingent upon a review of the first year's experience. In concurrence with the request of Family Medicine in their letter of January 29, 1996, approve a permanent, time-limited position for a period of 12 months commencing with the date of hire which is projected to be on or about May 1, 1996, to be reviewed as to outcome effectiveness and financial feasibility before it is renewed. VOTE: UNANIMOUS C. REALIGNMENT OF POSITION IN THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT AND INCREASE IN HOURS FOR AN EXISTING POSITION (8:40 - 8:45) A motion was made by Commissioner Willhoit, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to approve the increase in hours for a vacant Community Health Assistant position from one half time to full time subject to the approval of the Board of Health. VOTE: UNANIMOUS D. BOARD OF EQUALIZATION AND REVIEW SCHEDULE A motion was made by Commissioner Willhoit, seconded by Commissioner Gordon to adopt the resolution as stated below which authorizes appointment of a special Board Of Equalization And Review for the purpose of hearing 1996 valuation appeals, and establish compensation for members of the E & R Board at $100 per meeting for the E & R Board chair and $75 per meeting for other E & R board members, except for County Commissioners who may serve. ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS A RESOLUTION PROVIDING FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF A SPECIAL BOARD OF EQUALIZATION AND REVIEW WHEREAS, pursuant to North Carolina General Statute 105-322, the Board of Equalization and Review of Orange County is presently composed of the members of the Board of County Commissioners of Orange County; and WHEREAS, the Board of Commissioners of Orange County is authorized to appoint a special Board of Equalization and Review to carry out the duties imposed by North Carolina General Statute 105-322; and WHEREAS, the Board of Commissioners of Orange County deem it advisable to appoint a special Board of Equalization and Review and by this resolution provide for the membership, qualifications, terms of office and the manner of filling of vacancies on the special Board of Equalization and Review; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT: 1. The special Board of Equalization and Review of Orange County is hereby created. 2. The Orange County special Board of Equalization and Review shall consist of 3 regular members, each to serve for a term beginning on the date of appointment and continuing until this resolution is rescinded or revised. VOTE: UNANIMOUS X. REPORTS A. FIRE INSPECTION PROGRAM FEES (8:55-9:10) Rod Visser provided a report on current fire inspection program fees and suggestions for reviewing the schedule of fees as outlined in the agenda. Commissioner Halkiotis said he supports the recommendations. His concern is with small businesses paying the full fee. He feels that the 10% fee that Hillsborough has added is not fair. His other concern is that, because of doing the fire inspections for the Town of Hillsborough, the County does not have time for inspections in the County. In answer to a question from Commissioner Gordon, Rod Visser indicated that the Town would need .8 of a person to do their own inspections. Mr. Jack Davis made reference to the fire inspection at his place of business on July 13, 1994. The inspection took 20 minutes and they found two violations. He does not feel it is fair to charge him $165.00 -- the same as it cost to inspect WalMart or other larger facility. He told about his ordeal with the Magistrate's office. He asked that the County Commissioners rescind the contract with Hillsborough and charge a reasonable amount for the inspection. Commissioner Gordon said she wants the program to be self-supporting through fee revenue but the County should review the fee schedule to see if changes should be made. Commissioner Willhoit said he does not want to charge a fee to schools or public entities. He feels the fees should be realigned with the time it takes to do the inspection or the square footage to be inspected. B. REPORT - FLEXIBLE DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL Planner David Stancil presented a report on the Planning Board's recommendations concerning proposed Flexible Development open space preservation strategies that were presented at a public hearing on November 27, 1995. He summarized the recommendations as listed on pages 5, 6 and 7 of the agenda abstract. He presented an implementation schedule for the Board's consideration of approval. Commissioner Willhoit noted that the Planning Board discussed having an intensive orientation to distribute the information and asked if June 17 through June 28 workshops address this issue. David Stancil said that the intent is to do these initial training workshops and then to provide ongoing workshops once a month or as often as necessary. Commissioner Willhoit made reference to the issue of the yield plan and asked if it was necessary to do a conventional design in order to get a yield plan. David Stancil said that the basic yield plan would be to do a conventional design to see how many lots could be created on the site and then to rearrange them in accordance with the open space provisions. Commissioner Willhoit said he feels that affordable housing should be a flexible option rather than a separate category. He feels that if a developer comes in with a flexible plan that provided affordable housing or one that provided open space and met a criteria of 40 or 50% open space, they should not have to do a yield plan. David Stancil stated that, as it now stands, they would still need to do a yield plan. Commissioner Willhoit feels that if a plan comes in which more than meets the level of open space required, that it may be desirable to eliminate the yield plan. He made reference to the annual review and said he preferred a system where each time a development comes in it is tracked instead of waiting for a year to accumulate the data. A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Crowther to accept the report and approve continuing the discussion on this item at a work session scheduled for March 21, 1996 at the Government Services Center in Hillsborough at 7:30 p.m. After the work session the Board will consider the timeline for implementation of the flexible development proposal. VOTE: UNANIMOUS C. SISTER COMMUNITY PROJECT: LOCAL HOST FOR PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION EXCHANGE PROGRAM Chair Carey presented information on the Sister Communities Project. He stated that a group of South Africans will be visiting the US in April or May, 1996. There is a possibility that this area will be selected as a host site and, as coordinator for this visit, he asked that Orange County participate in hosting these visitors. A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Willhoit to endorse the participation of Orange County officials by hosting the South Africans in their specific areas of interest. VOTE: UNANIMOUS XI. APPOINTMENTS - NONE XII. MINUTES - NONE XIII. CLOSED SESSION - NONE XIV. ADJOURNMENT With no further items for the County Commissioners to consider, Chair Carey adjourned the meeting. The next regular meeting will be held on March 13, 1996 with the Town of Hillsborough at 7:30 p.m. at the Government Services Center in Hillsborough, North Carolina. Moses Carey, Jr., Chair Beverly A. Blythe, Clerk