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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 19990215APPROVED 4120199 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS WORK SESSION February 15, 1999 COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Alice M. Gordon and Commissioners Margaret W. Brown, Moses Carey, Jr., Stephen H. Halkiotis and Barry Jacobs 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 RECORDINGS OF THE MEETING WILL BE KEPT FOR 5 YEARS. INTRODUCTION OF PLANNING DIRECTOR John Link introduced Craig Benedict as the new Planning Director for Orange County effective March 1, 1999. John Link made reference to three handouts: Dr. Gordon Thompson's response in the matter of Carolina Power & Light Inclusionary Housing/Small House Requirements - Board of Aldermen agenda abstract Draft outline of Plans/Work to date on Y2K 1. Y2K Readiness _ Summary Report John Link gave an overview of how the County staff will address Y2K. He has asked staff to approach this as if it is a countywide disaster. On January 1, it could be very cold and he has asked staff to address coming into buildings that may not have heat. A plan will be in place on how we will carry out our responsibilities for providing for the health, welfare and public safety of our citizens. The responsibilities are listed below: Rod Visser and IS Director Dick Taylor will be in charge of technology Purchasing Director Pam Jones will take the lead for public safety Albert Kittrell will take the lead for human services Paul Thames will take the lead for County offices - other than those listed above John Link noted that we will be sure we can pump gas and that the Sheriff vehicles will run. We will determine which buildings must be operational and make sure that happens first. We will have a process for handling our foster children and the frail and elderly. He has asked the County Departments to identify items in their offices that may need compliance. Rod Visser said that the Y2K problem goes beyond computers and mainframes. He told about a workshop he attended where they had an exercise drill where nothing worked and because of their contingency planning, they could handle almost all situations. We will need to focus on the most critical needs and develop a contingency plan. He made reference to an outline he distributed which listed five phases that are non-sequential and listed below- + Awareness - Fall 1998 to March 1999 ? Assessment - Early 1998 to March 1999 ? Renovation - Mid 1998 to Fall 1999 ? Validation - April 1999 to Fall 1999 ? Implementation - Summer 1999 to Winter 2000 Rod Visser reviewed the framework for the Y2K plan and said that the draft framework provides some natural contrasts in assessing and responding to potential Y2K problems. He said that money will be placed in the CIP to address some of the Y2K problems and they will bring to the Board any requests for additional funds. John Smith, Information Technology Advisory Committee Chair, said that the Committee has discussed this issue since September. He supports the plan as outlined by Rod Visser. He said he would add two things to this outline. One is that there is a sense of urgency and we need to be doing something and moving ahead. He feels that if it is necessary to get outside consultants or materials, there will be competition from others also needing assistance. The IT staff is small and their priority is to keep County offices up and running. He feels that outside contractors need to be used. Regarding the mainframe application, a lot of that is specialized and it will be difficult to find someone to help on these systems. He emphasized that we need to move ahead just as soon as possible with outside help. Chair Gordon asked about testing of all systems for Y2K compliance and John Smith said that testing is important and should be done as soon as possible. Chair Gordon feels we should be ready to test by June. She agrees that the County has public health and safety responsibilities and needs to address these in its Y2K preparation. In answer to a question from John Smith, John Link said that the County does not have a staff person totally dedicated to Y2K compliance. John Smith said that he feels the County needs someone whose main job is to coordinate all the Y2K activities. Chair Gordon asked that the IT committee discuss what outside help might be needed and make a recommendation. Commissioner Carey supports the team that John Link put together but thinks if we are going to be fully compliant by June 30 we may need to free someone up from the staff to coordinate these activities and hire additional technical staff support. In answer to an inquiry from John Link about the extent of the County's responsibility for its citizens, Chair Gordon said that this needs to be thought through and that there may be some problems we will need to address. She asked John Link to bring back a recommendation. She would like to see contingency plans for items such as food and water - not only for the poor and frail but for everyone. She noted that the county along with the towns have police power and that we have no idea what is going to happen but she feels the County has external responsibilities as well as internal and needs to be prepared. Commissioner Carey said that we should treat it just like any other natural disaster except we will not be able to rely on help from other jurisdictions. The County needs to be prepared for this possible "natural disaster." 2. 1999-2000 Board of Commissioner Goals Chair Gordon went over the procedure for continuing the discussion of their goals. The County Commissioners discussed the topics identified at the January 16, 1999 Planning and Goal Setting Retreat, and identified 1999-2000 goals to be developed by staff for Board review and adoption as listed below. PLANNING (additional comments) ? review cell tower regulations in concert with Board of Adjustment permit decisions and Class B Special Use Permits ? review flexible development regulations ? review and discuss time limits for development process ? look at a grid system for future location of cell towers ? review the future technology for cell towers TRANSPORTATION ? discuss the University's student expansion and transportation of students ? receive an update from the University on projected growth ? stress to the TTA our needs here in Orange County for transportation ? look at the benefits of Orange County being a part of another transportation district ? determine strategies to get what we need from regional groups like TTA, DOT, etc. ? promote park and ride lots OPEN SPACE AND RECREATION AND PARKS Commissioner Jacobs read a goal which he will share with the other Commissioners for their comments. This had to do with preserving rural character and re-examining the recommendations of the Rural Character study. ? look at TDR and the possibility of transferring within the County jurisdiction ? make a decision on TDR for Oranae Countv Chair Gordon made reference to the Shaping Orange County's Future Task Force and asked Environment and Resource Conservation Director David Stancil to explain how managing growth and preserving open space in the rural areas, and exploring the cluster approach in the rural areas, may be addressed by this Task Force. He said that some of the Rural Character ideas have been identified time and time again by the Land Use and Growth Committee and the Environment, Resource and Conservation Committee. Although they will not have recommendations to the County Commissioners until September, based on what has happened so far, he feels these issues will be addressed. Chair Gordon said that a goal needs to be developed to include new initiatives for open space, agricultural preservation, rural buffer preservation, flexible development and open space acquisition. She would like to see the issues outside of the Joint Planning Area addressed first and noted that the JPA Rural Buffer should continue in its current form. The Board decided to carry forward the points listed under rural character preservation. They will react to the various proposals as this goal is articulated. PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUES Commissioner Halkiotis made reference to his meeting with area law enforcement officials about locating a firing range in Orange County. They hope to be able to raise outside funds to build this facility. John Link said that he plans to put funds for this item in the Cl P. DISTRICT ELECTIONS FOR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Commissioner Carey said that he feels the Board needs to have representation from all areas of the County. He asked that the County Commissioners consider a public hearing on this issue to hear what citizens have to say before making a decision. Commissioner Halkiotis said that he does not support district elections. He feels that there is a segment of the population who will always feel that they are not represented. The County Commissioners discussed at length the advantages and disadvantages of district elections. Commissioner Brown and Commissioner Halkiotis said they were not interested in pursing this issue and Chair Gordon said that she did not know of a district election plan that could address the philosophical differences that are the major issue. Commissioner Jacobs said that he is not opposed to looking at this but he feels we can accomplish many of our same goals by looking at the composition of our boards and commissions to which the County Commissioners make appointments. FIREARMS The County Commissioners heard concerns about firearms from a citizen on January 19 and decided at that time to reactivate the Hunting Committee to look at this issue. They requested that this committee also look at discharge of firearms within a certain number of feet from a school and other issues involving alcohol and hunting. CHILDCARE FOR COUNTY EMPLOYEES Commissioner Carey said that he learned that there are County employees in need of subsidy for childcare. He feels we need to pay our employees enough to afford childcare or to subsidize those employees who meet subsidy criteria. He feels we also need to challenge both school systems and the municipalities to help solve this problem. Commissioner Jacobs said that the goal might be to seek adequate childcare for children, not only those of County employees. John Link said that there are two programs which offer subsidies for childcare. One program is offered by DSS which has a lower threshold of eligibility than the other program administered by Daycare Association, to which the income range can go as high as $30,000 to $35,000. He asked if he could come back with a report before the County Commissioners make a decision on this. Commissioner Halkiotis would like to know how other companies are providing day care for their employees or ensuring that employees can pay for adequate daycare. WELFARE REFORM Chair Gordon said that with welfare reform, she wants to be sure we are following through on these goals. She asked for an update on these goals. Commissioner Jacobs asked for a report on what the County is doing for Work First participants in locating/providing jobs within the County government. HEALTHY CAROLINIANS Commissioner Brown put this on because she is interested in understanding how the Healthy Carolinians Task Force is meeting its objectives for the needs of children, teen pregnancy and the use of preventive services. She would like to know what services we provide and what nonprofits we are giving money to that may address some of these objectives. She would like to have these objectives clarified and an update before we set new goals. Commissioner Carey said that the objective of the Healthy Carolinians is not for the County to provide all the services that would make this a healthy County. It is for the people who are involved in human health and in human services, and some who are not, to get involved and work together to make this a healthy County and achieve the goals in that report. This is an important area that needs a lot of work over the next few years. It was decided that this would be a topic for the Board of County Commissioners/Health Board meeting scheduled for next month. Commissioner Brown asked for a report on the services the County provides in the whole area of substance abuse - what is being done and who is doing it. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to a handout at the January 16 retreat on a strategic Aging plan and said that he feels we need to address some of these issues. He feels we need to have equal opportunities for seniors in the northern and southern parts of Orange County. Commissioner Brown feels that this is the time to develop a senior plan. The Board decided that they need to discuss this further and make some decisions. ESL Chair Gordon said that she feels it is important to support English as a Second Language (ESL) as much as possible. Commissioner Jacobs wants to make government more accessible to people who don't speak English. He supports training for employees in speaking Spanish. Also, Commissioner Halkiotis supports having Spanish signs in all County buildings. Chair Gordon said that she would like to see a heavy emphasis on the newcomers to our area getting what they need to succeed, including learning English. That needs to be the message and we need to support that with dollars and have classes readily available at different times during the day and evening hours. Commissioner Carey feels we need to do both -- teach English to the Spanish speaking residents and teach Spanish to those who interact with citizens. We also need to address the literacy in this County. We have residents here who cannot read. It was clarified that Lucy Lewis, Orange County Literacy Director, is trying to address many issues dealing with ESL along with issues dealing with literacy, and that allocating additional funding to the Literacy Council may be the best thing to do to help this countywide effort. Commissioner Halkiotis feels it is important to get information out to the Spanish speaking citizens in Spanish so that they can understand health issues and issues affecting their children. Some parents are working three or four jobs and do not have time to learn English. He feels we need to re-sign all our buildings which could probably be done for $1,000. Commissioner Brown feels that teaching employees Spanish is probably not too successful. However, she feels that teaching employees to have a sensitivity to people who don't understand what is going on is very important. She feels we should consider hiring people who speak Spanish and also identify those we have hired who speak different languages. John Link said that this is something they can work on. WASTEWATER TREATMENT AND MANAGEMENT PROGRAM Commissioner Brown made reference to the proposal for the wastewater treatment and management program (WIMP). It was decided that this will be discussed at the BOCC/Health Board joint meeting scheduled for March 9. Health Director Rosie Summers said that the WTMP program, along with the Healthy Carolinians report, will be on that agenda. Also, they hope to have some discussion about the role of the County as provider of last resort in health care, which goes along with the discussion of Work First, welfare reform and the safety net of services. This will have an impact on how the Health Department focuses its services. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the adverse public health condition and if there is still an interest in this. Rosemary Summers said that this is pending for some attorney work. Geof Gledhill was concerned about the enforcement and if that was actually a public health rule - what the enforcement procedures would be and whether those in fact differ from the imminent hazard regulation that is currently on the books. She does not want another rule that she cannot enforce on the books. John Link said that the staff will take what has been discussed, go through the present goals and prioritize and bring back before the end of March for Board confirmation. The only two things that are definitely to be flagged are the farmland preservation and historic preservation goals which the County Commissioners have not adopted. Commissioner Brown suggested adding a heading for an affordable housing goal. She also would like to separate out parks and recreation. It is under human services and planning and she suggested making it a separate goal. Also, historic preservation and farmland preservation need to be moved to the new Environment and Resource Conservation Department and may be retitled. Commissioner Brown said that she has a lot of items dealing with schools she would like to discuss. She would like to have an update from the Schools and Land Use Councils. She would like to have an update and further discussion on the Impact Equity study. There is also the issue of working with the schools on how to deal with the budget. She suggested that the manager come back with a report on this - what percentage of the County budget will be allocated for the schools. A way needs to be found to establish that amount, and the schools should work within it. This would help the schools understand what the budget is for that year, and would give them a figure to work within, saving them a lot of work and time on wish lists. Chair Gordon feels that this is a big topic which could be added to the work session the County Commissioners have scheduled with the two school systems on March 31. It was decided that the County Commissioners need to discuss this topic prior to the joint meeting. After further discussion, there was a consensus that it is too late to make this a goal this year, but it could be developed and established for future years. Chair Gordon would like to see this goal expanded to include funding for adequate public facilities. The County Commissioners decided they would like to learn more about providing for adequate public facilities and asked for a report. ADJOURNMENT With no further items for the Board to consider, Chair Gordon adjourned the meeting. The next meeting listed on the meeting calendar is scheduled for March 16, 1998 at 7:30 p.m. at the Southern Human Services Center Alice M. Gordon, Chair Beverly A. Blythe, Clerk