HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 199712013
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APPROVED MARCH 4, 1998
MINUTES
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Regular Meeting
December 1. 1997
The Orange County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Monday, December 1, 1997 at
7:30 p.m. in the courtroom of the Old Courthouse, Hillsborough, North Carolina.
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair William L. Crowther and Commissioners Margaret
W. Brown, Moses Carey, Jr., Alice M. Gordon and Stephen H. Halkiotis.
COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill
COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr., Assistant County Managers Rod
Visser and Albert Kittrell and Clerk to the Board Beverly A. Blythe (All other staff members will be identified
appropriately below)
NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT
AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE. ALL RECORDING TAPES OF THE
MEETING WILL BE KEPT FOR FIVE (5) YEARS.
Board Oraanization
a. Election of Chair and Vice Chair
The Board elected Margaret W. Brown as Chair until the first meeting in December, 1998. The vote
was 3-2 (Commissioners Crowther and Carey)
The Board elected Stephen H. Halkiotis as Vice-Chair until the first meeting in December, 1998. The
vote was 4-1 (Commissioner Crowther)
Commissioner Halkiotis served as acting Chair because Commissioner Brown had laryngitis.
b. Desianation of votina deleaate for all NCACC and NACo meetinas for December 1. 1997-
December 1. 1998
A motion was made by Commissioner Carey, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to appoint
Chair Margaret W. Brown as the voting delegate for all NCACC and NACo meetings until the first meeting in
December, 1998.
VOTE: UNANIMOUS
Appointments
a. County Manager
A motion was made by Commissioner Crowther, seconded by Commissioner Carey to appoint John M.
Link, Jr. as County Manager.
VOTE: UNANIMOUS
b. Clerk to the Board
A motion was made by Commissioner Halkiotis, seconded by Commissioner Gordon to appoint Beverly
A. Blythe as Clerk to the Board of County Commissioners.
VOTE: UNANIMOUS
C. County Attorney
A motion was made by Commissioner Carey, seconded by Chair Brown to continue the County's
association with the firm of Coleman, Gledhill and Hargrave for legal services.
VOTE: UNANIMOUS
d. Board Member Appointments
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Several changes were made to the Board member appointments on various boards and
commissions. These will be reviewed on Saturday at the County Commissioners' retreat and a final copy will
be attached to those minutes and distributed accordingly.
1. ADDITIONS OR CHANGES TO THE AGENDA -NONE
2. AUDIENCE COMMENTS
a. Matters on the Printed Agenda
Commissioner Halkiotis stated that citizens who have indicated a desire to speak on an item on
the printed agenda will be recognized at the appropriate time.
b. Matters not on the Printed Agenda - NONE
PUBLIC CHARGE
Commissioner Halkiotis dispensed with the reading of the charge.
3. BOARD COMMENTS - NONE
4. COUNTY MANAGER'S REPORT
a. Report on Piedmont Electric Membership Corporation Distribution Line
The Board heard a report from John Link on the Piedmont Electric Membership Corporation's
distribution line.
Mr. Coley and Robert Cantwell spoke about the Piedmont Electric issue. They are not happy that
Piedmont will be taking their land which is part of the rural buffer.
A petition was presented with 16 signatures expressing gratitude to the Orange County Board of
Commissioners for their support in opposing the routing of Piedmont Electric's proposed transmission line
through their neighborhood. They asked to work with the County Commissioners and other concerned
citizens and groups to build a strong political consensus around the rural buffer and a stout legislative
foundation under the conjoined ideals of rural preservation and sustainable development.
A letter from Jennifer Miller was received. She asked that the County Commissioners seek ways
to strengthen protection for the rural buffer against increasing sprawl and growth pressures from surrounding
cities and towns.
agenda.
Senior Planner Gene Bell presented background information on the Rural Buffer as included in the
Mr. Brickhouser and Dave Overshane outlined the process they followed in determining the best
route for distribution lines. Because of growth in the area, they decided that they needed to build a 100 KV
line. They started studies in the area in February and March with the help of a consultant.
In answer to a question from Chair Brown, Mr. Overshane said that the right-of-way will be 100 feet wide.
Commissioner Halkiotis made reference to attachment seven of the abstract and questioned if
Piedmont Electric examined alternatives to this plan and the consultant confirmed that they did examine
alternatives to this plan, including connecting to Duke Power transmission lines. He said that these
alternatives were determined to be either too intrusive or not technically feasible.
Commissioner Halkiotis emphasized that the County Commissioners have made a commitment to
the rural buffer. He had asked for this presentation so that Piedmont could understand this commitment. He
wants the rural buffer to be around for a long time. He hopes that Piedmont Electric will be as least
destructive as human beings can be when they run this transmission line.
1 5. RESOLUTIONS/PROCLAMATIONS
2 The resolution as stated below was signed by Chair Crowther on November 24, 1997. It is
3 included in these minutes for the official record.
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5 PUBLIC PROCLAMATION
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7 REGARDING USE OF WATER OBTAINED FROM THE PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM SUPPLIED BY THE
8 ORANGE-ALAMANCE WATER SYSTEM, INC. AND THE TOWN OF HILLSBOROUGH AND FROM ANY
9 RAW WATER SUPPLY WITHIN ORANGE COUNTY USED BY THE ORANGE-ALAMANCE WATER
10 SYSTEM, INC. AND THE TOWN OF HILLSBOROUGH
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12 Pursuant to the provisions of the ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR THE CONSERVATION OF WATER
13 DURING A WATER SHORTAGE, RESTRICTING THE USE OF WATER AND WATER WITHDRAWALS,
14 AND ALLOCATING AUGMENTED STREAM FLOW FROM RESERVOIRS,
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16 I, William Crowther, Chair of the Board of County Commissioners, having been provided with
17 information that the water level of Lake Orange has risen to less than 24 inches below full do hereby issue
18 this PUBLIC PROCLAMATION declaring to all persons that the Stage III Water Shortage WARNING, the
19 Stage II Water Shortage ALERT and the associated water use restrictions applicable to users of water from
20 the public water system supplied by the Orange-Alamance Water System, Inc. and the Town of Hillsborough
21 are now rescinded.
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23 This proclamation, and lifting of all water conservation restrictions pursuant to it, shall be in effect until
24 the Ordinance entitled "AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR THE CONSERVATION OF WATER DURING A
25 WATER SHORTAGE, RESTRICTING THE USE OF WATER AND WATER WITHDRAWALS, AND
26 ALLOCATING AUGMENTED STREAMFLOW FROM RESERVOIRS" is amended or repealed or until the
27 Chair by Public Proclamation, declares that a Stage II Water Shortage ALERT is reinstated. By order of
28 William Crowther, Chair of the Orange County Board of Commissioners, this the 24th day of November,
29 1997.
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32 6. SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS - NONE
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34 7. PUBLIC HEARINGS
35 a. Skills Development Center
36 This item was presented for the purpose of conducting a public hearing on the financing of
37 renovations to the Skills Development Center, 501-503 W. Franklin St., and to begin appropriate action to
38 acquire funds.
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40 The following persons spoke during this public hearing:
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42 Barbara Baker, Director of Administrative Support Services with Durham Technical College, said
43 that this facility will provide the room to train the citizens in the County that need training. This will provide a
44 facility that will house several agencies with the main goal of training for jobs. She supports this proposal.
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46 Dorothy Pennell, Manager of the Employment Security Commission in Orange County, said that
47 she is in support of the one stop concept that this proposal represents.
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49 Cindy McMahon spoke on behalf of her literacy students. She said that most of their students
50 want to learn to read to get a better job. This facility will help the citizens they work with to train and find
51 employment in the area.
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53 A motion was made by Commissioner Carey, seconded by Commissioner Gordon to close the
54 public hearing.
55 VOTE: UNANIMOUS
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A motion was made by Commissioner Halkiotis, seconded by Commissioner Brown to accept the
proposal from NationsBank, adopt the resolution as attached to these minutes on pages providing
final approval of terms and documents, and to authorize the Chair, Manager, Finance Director and/or
Attorney to execute all documents related to this transaction, subject to final review by the County Attorney
and Bond Counsel.
VOTE: UNANIMOUS
b. Magnolia Place Housing Development Program
This item was presented to receive citizen comments prior to the official close-out of the Magnolia
Place housing development project and to consider authorizing the chair to execute the certificate of
completion and public hearing certification.
A motion was made by Commissioner Carey, seconded by Commissioner Gordon to close the
public hearing.
VOTE: UNANIMOUS
A motion was made by Commissioner Carey, seconded by Chair Crowther to authorize execution
of the Certificate of Completion and Public Hearing Certification, which will contain minutes of the public
hearing by the Chair on behalf of the Board of Commissioners.
VOTE: UNANIMOUS
8. ITEMS FOR DECISION - CONSENT AGENDA
A motion was made by Chair Crowther, seconded by Commissioner Carey to approve those items on
the Consent Agenda as stated below:
a. Appointments
The Board appointed Jeff Porter to the Advisory Board on Aging for a term ending June 30, 1999.
b. Economic Development Funding by the General Assembly
The Board authorized the release of funds appropriated to Councils of Government by the N.C.
General Assembly as stated below:
RESOLUTION 97198 BY ORANGE COUNTY
WHEREAS, in North Carolina the Lead Regional Organizations, as voluntary organizations serving municipal
and county governments, have established productive working relationships with the cities and counties
across the state; and
WHEREAS, the General Assembly continued to recognize this need through the appropriation of $864,270
to help the Lead Regional Organizations assist local governments with grant applications, economic
development, community development, and to support local industrial development activities and other
activities as deemed appropriate by their local governments; and
WHEREAS, these funds are not intended to be used for payment of members' dues or assessments to Lead
Regional Organization or to supplant funds appropriated by the member governments; and
WHEREAS, in the event that a request is not made by a unit of government for release of these funds to our
Regional Council, the available funds will revert to the State's General Funds, and
WHEREAS, in Region J funds in the amount of $48,015 will be used to carry out the economic development
plan approved by the COG Board of Delegates and especially to improve the economy of the counties and
towns of the Region by strengthening ties to, and consequently, the benefits of the Research Triangle Park.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that ORANGE COUNTY requests the release of its $6,961.04 share
of these funds to the Triangle J Council of Governments at the earliest possible time in accordance with the
provisions of section 16.5 of Senate Bill 352, the 1997 ratified budget bill.
C. Classification Plan Amendment - Programmer/Analyst
The Board amended the Orange County Classification and Pay Plan by establishing a new class
of computer programmer/analyst, salary grade 68 ($29,301-$46,588); and changing the title of the existing
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programmerlanalyst, salary grade 70 ($32,303- $51,365), to computer programmer/analyst II, to
remain at salary grade 70.
d. CJPP Implementation Grant Acceptance FY 1997-98
The Board accepted a grant for fiscal year 1997-98 from the N.C. Department of Corrections for
continued implementation of the Orange Chatham Criminal Justice Partnership Program.
e. Magnolia Place Deed of Trust Notification
The Board approved a Deed of Trust Modifications for two lots in the Magnolia Place
development.
f. Housing Rehabilitation Contract Award
The Board awarded a $25,350 housing rehabilitation contract for the HOME Program to Taylor
Home Improvements. One other bid was received from Thames Construction Co. for $32,215.
Victoria Woods Subdivision - Preliminary Plan
The Board approved a preliminary plan for the 21.16-acre Victoria Woods subdivision in Cheeks
Township near the intersection of West Lebanon and Doe Run roads per the Resolution on file in the Clerk's
Office.
h. Examination of Boards
The Board examined bonds for County officials and employees as required by N.C.G.S. 109-5 and
recommended that the bonds be maintained at current levels.
9. ITEMS FOR DECISION -REGULAR AGENDA
a. 5trateglC Automaton flan implementation - Snort I erm clan
The Board considered the proposed Orange County strategic automation plan.
The presentation is in the agenda. This short-term plan is through June, 1998. It will bring all
computer systems up to a base level before starting with replacement due to life cycles.
Commissioner Gordon said that if the County plans to hire someone with network expertise, that it
needs to be done as soon as possible. She asked if this person needs to be hired before they expend any
of the $182,000.
Commissioner Brown asked about the new personal computers that the Department of Social
Services have received and IS Director Dick Taylor said that they have received about 40 new computers.
They will have 75 employees in the new Southern Human Services Center who will need computers.
John Link said that he would like to take the suggestion of hiring someone with network expertise
36 under advisement and ask the Advisory Committee to respond to this question and others.
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It was the consensus of the County Commissioners to call this committee the Information
Technology Advisory Committee.
Commissioner Halkiotis said that he is uncomfortable and uncertain about this plan. He also has a
problem with the cost of this plan. He would like additional information before making a decision.
Commissioner Brown agreed with this. It was decided that this item would be brought back on December 16
for further discussion.
Rod Visser noted that the proposal for the project including the flyover is due back the end of this
week. They plan to bring back to the County Commissioners the contract for their approval at the next
meeting.
A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to approve
the Capital Project Ordinance as stated below which will implement the first phase of the short term plan
under the County's Strategic Automation Plan.
Revenue - Transfer from General Fund (1997-98) $ 182,429
Appropriation - Information Technology Capital Project $ 182,429
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VOTE: UNANIMOUS
b. Living Wage Ordinance
The Board considered specifics of a potential Orange County living wage ordinance.
Director of Economic Development Ted Abernathy briefly answered questions which were
previously asked by the County Commissioners. He noted that all County contracts in excess of $25,000,
including legal, accounting and construction contracts could be included.
For the purpose of the draft ordinance, the Board agreed that $8.00 would be the appropriate
living wage for the County. They agreed that the next steps would be to draft an ordinance for public
hearing.
A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Brown to instruct the
County Attorney to draft an ordinance for public comment at the next quarterly public hearing.
VOTE: UNANIMOUS
C. Computerized Information and Referral System - Orange Resource Connection
The Board reviewed the operations of the computerized information and referral system, the
Orange Resource Connections, and considered renewing an agreement with Triangle United Way to
administer the system.
Commissioner Gordon made reference to the survey of the users of this system and noted that
they sent out 54 surveys and received 28 responses along with some verbal responses. It seemed that their
concerns centered around the use of the software. The survey is included in the agenda.
Bill Norcross, program administrator with Triangle United Way gave a brief demonstration of how
this system operates. He noted that the demonstration shows information for West Palm Beach, Florida
because the triangle system is being updated at this time. They have over 200 agencies from Orange
County listed.
Susan Mitchell of Triangle United Way went through the goals and objectives of Orange Resource
Connection. They have over 1,000 entries in their data base which cover the entire Triangle area. They will
be adding Chatham County to their data base in the near future.
Commissioner Crowther asked about prior funding and was told that the County contributed
$40,000 toward the startup cost and $31,000 in 1996 and set aside $31,000 for 1997.
Commissioner Gordon asked about the budget item at the back of the agenda abstract. Susan
Mitchell made mention of the options available if the Commissioners did not approve the $31,000. One
option cost $35,000 and another option cost $20,000. These are both described in detail in the agenda.
Commissioner Carey asked about the performance agreement. He emphasized that the reason
we got into this was to improve access for the small organizations who need ready access to information to
serve their clients well and he still believes that this is important. He feels that we should support this
technology. The issue is what kind of performance we expect to be achieved over a certain amount of time.
He believes that United Way is working on the concerns which have been identified. He asked that the
County help small organizations with our recycled computers.
Commissioner Halkiotis asked why the Partnership for Small Children did not approve funding in
1996. Director, Michele Rivist said that they did not approve funding because of performance standards.
They could not justify who was using the system. They would need some better documentation and
outcomes of the service being provided before they would consider future funding.
1 Commissioner Halkiotis made reference to the survey and the low figure of 2.9 average times
2 an agency has referred clients using the Iris program in the last month. Albert Kittrell said that the agencies
3 seem to either use the program a lot or none.
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5 Commissioner Gordon noted that the directory seems to be geared more toward Wake County.
6 She feels it very important to set specific performance standards.
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8 John Link said that the intent of this program was to encourage public and private agencies to
9 coordinate among themselves and serve the citizens in a cohesive way by sharing information. He feels that
10 the question now is whether or not the County wants to do this internally rather than outsourcing. This will
11 come back to the County Commissioners on December 16 with additional information.
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14 10. REPORTS
15 a. 1996-97 Audit Report
16 The Board received the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) and single audit report
17 for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1997.
18 Finance Director Ken Chavious said that the report reflects an increase in undesignated fund
19 balance that allowed the County to surpass the 8% level established in our budget guidelines, as well as
20 Local Government Commission recommendations. This increase also serves to strengthen the County's
21 stable financial condition. The auditors found no instances of material weakness in the County's internal
22 controls and there were no findings related to the Single Audit. He outlined some of the highlights of the
23 report. There were no questions.
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25 b. YMCA Capital Campaign Challenge Grant from Orange County
26 The Board received a report and heard a request from the YMCA Board of Directors to consider a
27 $50,000 challenge grant to assist with the YMCA Capital Campaign.
28 Denise Corey, said that they are embarking on a $2 million dollar addition to the YMCA. They
29 will use $400,000 for renovations to their present facility.
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31 Commissioner Carey spoke about the services provided by the YMCA and said that he feels their
32 programming is consistent with Orange County goals. He feels this is an opportunity to help youth in all of
33 Orange County and a worthwhile project. He noted that the Board has supported other building projects and
34 asked about the timing for considering this in the context of our 1998-99 budget discussion.
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36 Denise Corey said that they plan to use this $50,000 as part of their public campaign which will
37 begin the first of March.
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39 John Link indicated that this is a capital request and he would pursue whatever the Board would
40 like. He was requested to bring back a recommendation.
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43 11. APPOINTMENTS
44 A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Brown to appoint
45 Melvin Hurston to the Orange County Board of Health for a term ending June 30, 2000.
46 VOTE: UNANIMOUS
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49 12. MINUTES -NONE
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51 13. CLOSED SESSION - NONE
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54 15. ADJOURNMENT
1 With no further items for the Board to consider, a motion was made by Commissioner Halkiotis,
2 seconded by Chair Crowther to adjourn the meeting. The next regular meeting will be held on December 16,
3 1997.
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5 Margaret W. Brown, Chair
6 Beverly A. Blythe, Clerk
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