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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 19991213I APPROVED 3121/2000 2 Minutes 3 Orange County Commissioners 4 Orange County Board of Education 5 Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education 6 December 13, 1999 7 7:30 p.m. 8 Southern Human Services Center 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Monday, December 13, 1999 at 7:30 p.m. at the Southern Human Services Center Board Room in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The purpose of this meeting was to meet with members of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board and the Orange County School Board. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Moses Carey, Jr. and Commissioners Margaret W. Brown, Alice M. Gordon, Stephen H. Halkiotis, and Barry Jacobs COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr., Assistant County Manager Rod Visser and Clerk to the Board Beverly A. Blythe (all other staff members will be identified appropriately below) CHAPEL HILL-CARRBORO SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS AND STAFF: Chair Elizabeth Carter and members Nicholas M. Didow, Gloria Faley, Valerie Foushee, Maryanne Rosenman, Roger S. Waldon, Teresa H. Williams, and Superintendent Neil G. Pedersen ORANGE COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS AND STAFF: Chair Susan A. Halkiotis and members Keith Cook, Robert H. Bateman, Rick Kennedy, and Superintendent Randy Bridges. 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. Chair Carey called the meeting to order. He welcomed the new Board of Education members. He invited the school board Chairs to make opening comments. Elizabeth Carter, Chair of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education, thanked the Board of County Commissioners for allowing this meeting. She said that Superintendent Dr. Neil Pedersen would lead the discussion for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. Susan Halkiotis, Chair of the Orange County Board of Education, also thanked the Board of County Commissioners for rescheduling this meeting. AGENDA 1. County/OCSICHCCS Discussion/Policy Issues a. Alternative Models for Establishing Future School Funding Parameters County Manager John Link spoke on this. He said that the County Commissioners asked, as a part of their 1999-2000 goals, under Effective and Efficient School Funding, that the staff develop recommendations that would provide parameters that can be established to guide the Commissioners in making a decision on school budgets for the year 2000-2001 and beyond. He went through the slides entitled "Education Funding in Orange County" and said that all counties in the State were contacted and asked if they have established school-funding parameters. Fourteen counties responded to the information requested and eight counties are I using a formula or guidelines to determine school funding. He said that 48-49% of the total 2 County budget is being dedicated to school funding. Over the past ten years, the total 3 education budget has gone from $18.1 million to $48.4 million. The reasons for this increase 4 are as follows: 6 ? three bond referenda 7 ? 10% increase in current expenses each year 8 ? increases in recurring capital, and 9 ? the creation of the capital reserve fund for School/Park projects 10 11 John Link explained five possible funding scenarios. He said that the staff sees scenario 12 four, where the school systems receive a designated percentage of the total General Fund 13 budget, as the most appropriate scenario for education funding. Based on historical increases, 14 by the year 2010 scenario four would produce an education budget of $106.7 million. If the 15 County continues to provide a 10-11 % increase each year, the education budget would be $150 16 million by the year 2010. He said that the Commissioners still need to make a decision as to the 17 use of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Special District Tax. The tax has been used, in recent years, to 18 start up new schools or programs. Orange County Schools do not have a Special District Tax. 19 He said that one mechanism that could be used is to increase the general fund commitment to 20 schools that could provide some additional funding for the Orange County School system as 21 part of the per capita appropriation, and reduce the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Special District Tax. 22 He welcomed any questions at this time. 23 Chair Carey said that he remembered receiving a letter from both school boards asking 24 the Board of County Commissioners to appoint a task force to study these recommendations 25 before making a decision. He said that the Board has not had an opportunity to discuss the 26 letter nor the scenarios for education funding. 27 Elizabeth Carter said that she would appreciate the County Commissioners giving 28 consideration to appointing a committee to study the different scenarios. 29 Susan Halkiotis said that the value of having a committee is that there are a number of 30 variables that the school system is facing that simply defies projections. The school systems 31 are wrestling with an increasing rate of growth. The value of the committee would be to bring 32 some of the issues to the table and make sure that whatever is done with the budget would take 33 care of the needs. 34 Susan Halkiotis said that the Orange County School Board's perspective is that there are 35 issues that need to be discussed with the Board of County Commissioners and the school 36 boards. 37 Keith Cook said that the school boards should have some buy in and sit around the table 38 and have some input to take back to the citizens who depend on the school boards to do their 39 job. 40 Roger Waldon mentioned that he would like the County Commissioners to be sensitive 41 to the differential nature of the capital expenditures. Capital expenditures such as opening a 42 new school tend to be lumpy. 43 Chair Carey said that one point made by John Link was that even though other counties 44 have guidelines, there is flexibility built in to address those other issues that come up. He said 45 that all of the scenarios show an increase in funding and hold harmless the issue of population 46 growth. 47 Nick Didow said that theoretically the scenarios assume that the starting point is a fully 48 established, fully funded, fully developed organization. He told Commissioner Gordon that he 49 would find it interesting in the process if the committee could address the question of what 50 would be a fully funded, fully developed school system in Orange County and Chapel Hill- 51 Carrboro. He thinks that it might be interesting for everyone to see how close or how far the two 52 school systems are from being fully funded. He would like for this committee to look at the 1 question of what a fully funded school system would look like. 2 Elizabeth Carter said that the school boards are appreciative of what the County 3 Commissioners have done in the past. When the school board meets in February they will hear 4 from each school and there are a lot of needs that are not shared with the County 5 Commissioners because the needs are taken care of by the thrift shop or other fundraising done 6 by the schools. 7 Susan Halkiotis added that the school systems are fortunate and unique in enjoying the 8 County Commissioners' support the way they do. She asked John Link what he projected the 9 general fund increases to be for the County over the next few years. 10 John Link said that in terms of the natural growth of revenue based on the tax base 11 increasing and keeping the tax rate the same, it has ranged from 3-5%. He said that there has 12 been some healthy growth in the last year or two. 13 Rick Kennedy said that everyone needs to keep in mind why they are here. He said that 14 he is here to make sure that his children and other children in the County get a good education. 15 He said that education could be provided for less but the children would pay for it down the 16 road. He feels that some of the increases in funding over the years are due to the fact that the 17 school system fell behind on building schools when they were needed. He said that he does not 18 feel comfortable with any of the funding scenarios. He thinks it is more important to look at the 19 job that needs to be done. 20 Chair Carey said that he feels decisions on past funding were made because it was the 21 right thing to do. The County Commissioners have been forthright in providing what the most 22 important thing in the County budget is because education is the largest single item in the 23 budget. 24 Roger Waldon said that he feels there is value in communicating back and forth and 25 talking about the needs of both the school systems and the County. He is concerned about the 26 formula and the timing right now. He is concerned that doing something for this year might be 27 problematic. 28 Elizabeth Carter agrees with Roger Waldon. 29 Keith Cook asked if the County Commissioners would discuss the request they received 30 from the two school boards for a committee to discuss this topic and Chair Carey said yes. 31 32 b. Cost Efficient Facilities Initiative 33 John Link said that he participated on a task force that included Director of Central 34 Stores and Purchasing Pam Jones, and Commissioners Jacobs and Halkiotis in which they 35 discussed the concepts of value engineering. He said that according to growth projections, 36 there would be a need for 19 new schools over the next 30 years at an estimated cost of 37 $340,000,000. The County is also talking about an adequate public facilities ordinance which 38 directly affects how growth is addressed. The focus on the capital improvement budget will be 39 more accentuated. 40 Pam Jones said that by looking at the projections, the construction costs over the next 41 three decades is going to be significant. She said that what is being proposed tonight is a 42 process that will be collaborative among the schools and the County. Page two of attachment 43 1 b outlines the process. She said that performance standards would be developed for new 44 construction. The emphasis is on using the available resources that will last the longest amount 45 of time. She explained the procedure that would be followed. She said that the funding of the 46 new construction would follow along similarly with the concepts of value engineering. The 47 Commissioners would approve the project up front, but it would be funded in accordance with 48 the various components. The major amount of time would be spent up front. This process also 49 provides some consistent guidelines for the architect. She said that this process is a good start 50 with getting together and collaborating on what the acceptable standards are for buildings that 51 the County might build. 52 Commissioner Halkiotis said that the driving force behind this is the fact that the Shaping 4 1 Orange County's Future Task Force presented some frightening figures with respect to how 2 many schools would be needed by the year 2030. He said that when Planning Director Craig 3 Benedict first came to Orange County, he started doing some studies and conservatively 4 predicted that 19 schools would be needed by the year 2030. Commissioner Halkiotis said that 5 the amount of money that would be needed to fund these schools is really scary. He feels that 6 the County has been very frugal in building necessary structures that it needs for its own 7 programs and that if all of the expenditures for buildings that have been built for County 8 functions over the last ten years were added together, the total would not add up to the cost of 9 one elementary school. He mentioned that it is projected that the County will need a new, very 10 large jail soon. He feels that it is foolish for the County not to plan for the $340,000,000 that it is 11 going to cost to build 19 new schools. 12 Chair Carey clarified that the projected 19 schools does not include replacements. 13 Nick Didow shared some thoughts. He invited the County Commissioners to include 14 participation by the school board members in initiatives like this. He said that the standards that 15 Pam Jones mentioned were not something new in terms of construction. If these standards are 16 a way to gain some additional efficiencies and to do an even better job of the stewardship of the 17 funds then he feels it is a good idea. He thinks that the school boards have considerable 18 experience in this type of analysis and would be happy to share it. 19 Susan Halkiotis made reference to the statement that the standards would be reviewed 20 periodically. She feels that with the changes in technology and innovations a review is 21 necessary. She feels it is something that is already being done and that sharing information 22 would be useful. 23 Chair Carey said that he feels it would be beneficial for all parties to sit down to discuss 24 the standards and look at them periodically to see if they need to be revised. 25 Gloria Faley made reference to the next item, Parks Task Force Resolution on Joint 26 Access to Recreation Facilities, and said that when considering these facilities the effect of open 27 facilities on the teaching atmosphere needs to be studied. 28 Chair Carey said that this recommendation includes a group from the school boards and 29 the County getting together over the next few months to arrive at a plan. 30 Pam Jones said that the standards she spoke of create an overlay to the existing 31 standards. 32 John Link said that the present standards are quantitative in terms of the amount of 33 square footage per function in the schools. 34 Keith Cook said that the schools already have guidelines that have been incorporated 35 over the years and it seems that the two school boards are not given the credit they are due for 36 already doing a good job. He said that the guidelines should be flexible as things change over 37 the years. He requested that the County invite the school boards to discuss these things early 38 in the process. 39 Chair Carey said that he wished this meeting could have been earlier. He said that the 40 County Commissioners have to initiate things that are in the best interest of the public in Orange 41 County and sometimes the school boards cannot be included in the process early on. He said 42 that it was unreasonable to think that the school boards would be brought in to discuss matters 43 before the County Commissioners discuss them among themselves. 44 45 c. Parks Task Force Resolution on Joint Access to Recreation Facilities 46 John Link said that the Parks Task Force, as chaired by Commissioner Brown, asked 47 that this resolution be shared with each jurisdiction. This resolution calls for each jurisdiction to 48 carefully consider an open facilities policy. 49 Commissioner Brown said that when the parks bond passed in 1997, the County 50 Commissioners felt that there was a need for a task force to develop goals for using this bond 51 money. An inventory of all facilities was completed. The task force was a countywide 52 committee looking at recreation facilities. This resolution addresses the issue of open facilities 1 in Orange County. She suggested a meeting between representatives of the County 2 Commissioners and the School Boards on how the school's recreational facilities are being 3 used. The outcome of these meetings would be included in the task force report. She said that 4 she would be glad to serve on the work group and she asked for volunteers. 5 Susan Halkiotis said that the Orange County School Board would be willing to participate 6 and Elizabeth Carter said that the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board would be willing to 7 participate. 8 Chair Carey said that the next step would be for all of the elected boards to agree that all 9 facilities funded by public dollars would be accessible to the residents of Orange County. The 10 question is under what terms the open facilities would be accessible. 11 Gloria Faley said that she appreciated the wholistic approach to the open facilities. 12 13 d. County School/Parks Reserve Fund Guidelines 14 John Link made reference to page two of the abstract and pointed out that under item 15 C1 which states, "As an incentive to assist the Towns in meeting parks needs, County funding 16 of Town park projects (including school/town park combinations) would be offered on a 1:1 17 matching basis." He said that this means that the County Commissioners would match the 18 funding from the other entities. He continued saying that since this is a further clarification 19 under C3, that should an entity wish funding for parks design or planning, County funds for such 20 design or planning would be considered only if the County is also participating in the actual 21 project itself. He said that item D clarifies that the County and Carrboro are participating in the 22 additional expansion of ball fields for the new middle school, and the first step is for Carrboro 23 and the County to pay for the additional grading that would be necessary. He pointed out on 24 page three that the fund has almost $2.4 million dollars. 25 Keith Cook made reference to C2 on the first page and said that it seems to him that the 26 time for the County to fund schools or parks is while the land is being purchased. He said that 27 the purchasing of the land and the committing of County funds should coincide. 28 Susan Halkiotis asked if the funds are to be used for development and if development 29 could be stretched and defined as acquisition. She asked if County funding was only for 30 planning and development or if it could be used to reimburse the other entity that may have 31 purchased all of the property. She wants to know if the schools purchased a site, could they 32 come to the County Commissioners before any design or development and ask for a one-to-one 33 match. 34 Commissioner Jacobs said that if public funds are invested, the title must be in the name 35 of a school board or a governmental entity. 36 Chair Carey said that if a school board is about to acquire property with the expectation 37 that a park is going to be there that the school board should consult the County Commissioners 38 ahead of time. He said that there would be a revised County Master Parks and Recreation Plan 39 soon. 40 Commissioner Jacobs said that the school systems are different than the municipalities 41 from the County Commissioners' perspective because it is the same money. 42 Bob Bateman made reference to item Al and asked if there was a chance of buying 43 more land to establish a park. He said that Northern Orange County only has one park. He 44 asked if it was too late to revisit the Northern Orange Elementary site for a park. 45 Chair Carey said that now that there is criteria in the policy, the school board could ask 46 the County Commissioners to revisit any particular site. 47 Commissioner Gordon pointed out that the purpose of this was to establish criteria. She 48 made reference to the long-term recommendations and said that this particular fund is to be 49 used for land. She said that the original intention of the School/Parks Reserve Fund was to buy 50 land. She also listed the other parks that now exist in northern Orange County. 51 Commissioner Brown addressed Bob Bateman and said she would like for him to come 52 back to the County Commissioners with a proposal for the Northern Orange Elementary site. 1 Bob Bateman said that he would think the County Commissioners would like to establish 2 a park for northern Orange County. 3 Elizabeth Carter said that what Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools struggle with is the 4 fact that there is no land readily available for new schools. She said that Chapel Hill-Carrboro 5 City Schools are projecting in the next five years that four new elementary schools might be 6 needed. 7 Rick Kennedy asked about the pot of money and if it was for land acquisition. 8 Chair Carey said that this pot of money was created for land acquisition and the interest 9 is the only part of the money that would be available for development. 10 Rick Kennedy asked for clarification on when the school board could approach the 11 County for funding. 12 Commissioner Gordon said that there could be an agreement so that the County could 13 help fund the purchase of land. 14 Nick Didow said that he has served on the school board for some time and that this fund 15 was discussed several years ago. He was excited about this fund because at that time it was 16 dedicated to buy school sites, then the fund was expanded to include recreation land, and then 17 two-thirds of the fund was diverted to provide for County facilities. He asked the County 18 Commissioners to share some of the logic behind changing the funding allocation. 19 Commissioner Brown made reference to the explanation from Commissioner Halkiotis at 20 the beginning of the meeting where he described the percentage of the monies that have been 21 spent on County facilities over the years. 22 Chair Carey said that the change in allocation was in recognition of the vast unmet 23 needs that have not been addressed in County facilities over the years because so much of the 24 spending capacity has been used for the schools. 25 Nick Didow asked if the reallocation would continue for some time. 26 Chair Carey said that it would continue as long as the current group of Commissioners 27 was together. 28 Commissioner Halkiotis said that it has only been in the last six years that the largest 29 parking lot in County government that meets the needs of the entire judicial facility in 30 Hillsborough received asphalt. He said that clients who go to the Department of Social Services 31 continue to park in a rocky and ruddy parking lot in Hillsborough. He said that many County 32 buildings have been neglected so that schools could be properly funded. 33 Commissioner Gordon said that the original thought was to purchase land that would 34 start out as a park and would later be used to build a school. Her opinion is that the focus is still 35 on getting lands that would eventually be used for schools and then augmented for parks. She 36 also reiterated that the County Commissioners have authorized the Manager and the staff to 37 look and see if there are now lands that could be purchased. 38 Nick Didow said that he is very thankful for what the County Commissioners have done 39 for the schools, but this is the first time the school boards have met with the Commissioners 40 since the reallocation. He felt that it was very appropriate to ask about the reasoning behind the 41 reallocation. 42 43 e. Program/Staff/Facility Initiatives with Future Budgetary Impacts 44 This was included for information purposes. 45 Superintendent Randy Bridges said that the Orange County school system has 46 mentioned to the County Commissioners at the last two budget sessions having pre-K classes 47 in the K-5 schools. He said that another item that would be coming before the County 48 Commissioners is for some additional teaching positions so that some pre-K classes could be 49 established. He said that there is also some space issues in housing the pre-K classes. He 50 also mentioned a survey that was conducted a couple of years ago and said that the parents 51 talked about establishing a Spanish program in the K-5 schools. 52 Susan Halkiotis said that another item that is going to be discussed later in the agenda is 7 1 the need for new elementary schools. Also, there is a need for new middle schools and class 2 size reduction. 3 Chair Carey asked about the cost for the pre-K classes and the Spanish program. 4 Superintendent Randy Bridges said that the pre-K classes would require 6-7 teaching 5 positions, and the Spanish program would require a half-time position in each of the K-5 6 schools. Each of the positions, including benefits and local supplement, would total 7 approximately $47,000. 8 Superintendent Neil Pedersen summarized his memo to John Link. 9 1. Class size - The goal is to reduce class size in grade 3 from 26 to 23 10 students. This initiative would require four teachers and four assistants at an 11 approximate cost of $276,000. 12 2. Compensation of staff - The present compensation package for Chapel Hill- 13 Carrboro City Schools is currently not competitive. The school board hopes 14 to enhance compensation packages for teachers, classified staff and bus 15 drivers. 16 3. Technology - Some of these issues will be covered at budget time. 17 4. Limited English Proficiency Program - This initiative would require adding two 18 ESL teachers. 19 5. Minority Student Achievement - The school board is continuing its efforts in 20 this area. A new team has been pulled together to develop some goals and 21 strategies. 22 6. Middle School After-school Program/Communities in Schools - It is possible 23 that the funding for the Middle School After-school Program that comes from 24 the state might be disappearing. Also, the Director for Communities in 25 Schools is spending much of her time fund-raising for her salary and the 26 operation of the office. 27 7. Planning for new middle school - Smith Middle School will open in 2001. The 28 planning process for hiring a principal and other staff members will need to 29 begin soon. 30 8. Capital Budget - Site acquisition for future schools is important at this time. 31 Also, there is an immediate need to plan for a new elementary school. 32 33 In answer to a question from Chair Carey, Keith Cook said that the funding for the 34 Community in Schools program might end before the school year ends this year. 35 Commissioner Gordon made reference to the recommendation from the Chapel Hill- 36 Carrboro City School Board on reducing class size and asked the Orange County School Board 37 for information on what they propose to do to reduce class size. 38 Commissioner Brown asked both school systems to provide information on the after- 39 school programs, including the number of participants and costs involved. 40 41 2. Issues Identified by Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools 42 43 a. Acquisition of School Sites and Construction of New Schools 44 Neil Pedersen said that a new facilities master plan is being developed. 45 Roger Waldon made reference to the preliminary report, Attachment 2d, and said that 46 there are a number of projections of how many students are expected in the next ten years. 47 The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools will need at least one, possibly two, elementary schools 48 in the next ten years. In the next fifteen years there will be a need for a new middle school. 49 There is a summary on page 14 that says that for the next twenty years, the Chapel Hill- 50 Carrboro City School Board feels that five school sites will be needed. The school board feels 51 that it would be beneficial to identify future school sites. The school board hopes to have a 52 Master Facilities Plan in place by the end of June. I Commissioner Brown asked about the student enrollment figures for 2005. She said 2 that she was amazed by these projections. 3 Roger Waldon said that page 11 of the report is the best guess for projections. 4 Commissioner Brown made reference to page 7 and the standards for elementary, 5 middle, and high schools and said that the standards are not the same for the three schools. 6 Roger Waldon said that in the next phase of these reports the standards and what is 7 meant in terms of numbers would be addressed. 9 b. Communities in Schools 10 This was included in discussions earlier in this meeting. 11 12 c. Proposal for School Board Taxing Authority 13 Elizabeth Carter said that each year the state school board gives each school system a 14 list of priorities and each board has to set priorities with what the state brings forth. She said 15 that School Board Taxing Authority was the top priority across the state of North Carolina. She 16 said that the Chapel Hill-Carrboro School Board hoped that some of the conversations about the 17 School Board Taxing Authority could be started locally to make the County Commissioners a 18 part of this issue. She said that this issue did not pass unanimously with the Chapel Hill- 19 Carrboro School Board. 20 Susan Halkiotis said that the Orange County School Board also did not pass the 21 resolution unanimously. She stressed that the school system has been treated well through the 22 County Commissioners' generosity. However, the issue of accountability is put squarely on the 23 heads of the people who are spending money. 24 Chair Carey said that there is probably not any unanimity of opinion of this subject on 25 any of the boards. His concern in the resolution is in the last "Whereas", where it implied that 26 the school boards should not be held accountable for not fulfilling the needs of the children if the 27 school boards did not have taxing authority. He said that if you spend money you ought to be 28 held accountable regardless of whether you have taxing authority or not. 29 Elizabeth Carter said that the school board sought to change parts of the resolution 30 because it implied things that did not happen within the district. She thinks the school boards 31 should be held accountable. 32 Keith Cook said that across the state there are a number of individuals and Boards of 33 Education who are dissatisfied with the level of funding that is received from the County 34 Commissioners. These are the school districts that are supporting this proposal for school 35 board taxing authority. 36 John Link said that he talked to Ed Regan, the Deputy Director of the North Carolina 37 Association of County Commissioners. He said that there is one issue that the sample 38 resolution does not address, and that the School Board Association needs to be prepared to 39 address sooner than later. This issue is that the state statute provides for $1.50 maximum tax 40 levy by the County Commissioners. He thinks the School Board Association needs to be 41 prepared to address how the school boards propose to initiate the delineation between school 42 boards and County Commissioners on the property tax. 43 Bob Bateman said that the Orange County School Board has discussed this issue but 44 because there are many questions, there has not been any action taken on this item. His 45 concern is that with three taxing bodies, the $1.50 tax levy very well may be in jeopardy. 46 47 d. Capital Project Ordinance Approval - Glenwood Elementary Renovation 48 Chair Carey said that the County Commissioners had some questions about this item 49 because there was a possibility of Glenwood Elementary School being phased out. 50 Superintendent Neil Pedersen said that the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School System 51 has no plans to close any of their elementary schools within the next 5-10 years. He said that 52 Glenwood Elementary School is about 40 years old and needs some upkeep. I A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Brown to 2 approve the capital project ordinance for renovations to Glenwood Elementary School. 3 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 5 3. Issues Identified by Orange County Schools 7 a. Funding for Opening New Elementary School 8 Superintendent Randy Bridges made reference to a budget session held last year and 9 the discussion on funding the start-up costs for the new elementary school from the Orange 10 County fund balance. He said that the estimated start-up costs for opening a new elementary 11 school would be $700,000 to $1,000,000. He asked if the County Commissioners still expect 12 the Orange County school board to use their fund balance for opening this new elementary 13 school. 14 Chair Carey asked that Randy Bridges work with the County Manager on this issue. He 15 said that the commitment from the County Commissioners is for both school systems to 16 maintain a reasonable fund balance. 17 John Link asked about the fund balance for the Orange County school system and said 18 that the County Commissioners could address what the fund balance may not cover. 19 Rick Kennedy pointed out that the start up costs for a new elementary school in Chapel 20 Hill-Carrboro is twice what it is for Orange County. 21 John Link said that the County Commissioners have two tools in terms of addressing the 22 Chapel Hill-Carrboro school system; general tax and district tax. He said that the County 23 Commissioners only have one tool in terms of addressing the Orange County school system, 24 the general tax, which in this case means using the fund balance. He said that the allocations 25 to both school systems is based on the per pupil allocation. 26 Susan Halkiotis said that the fund balance that the Orange County school system has 27 had in the past has been their safety net. Her concern is that without a substantial amount of 28 money in the fund balance, the safety net is lost. 29 Bob Bateman said that his concern is that budget time does not give the Orange County 30 School Board enough time because the money will be needed prior to July 15` 31 Commissioner Brown would like to see the breakdown of costs for opening a new 32 elementary school for both school systems. 33 Rick Kennedy made reference to the special district tax and the difference in wealth 34 between the Towns and the County. 35 36 Chair Carey mentioned that it was 10:30 and asked what the Board wanted to do about 37 the rest of the meeting. 38 A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to 39 extend the meeting to cover the last item for Orange County schools and the two items for the 40 County Commissioners' consideration. 41 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 42 43 Susan Halkiotis had one final comment regarding the elementary school. She 44 mentioned the hunting signs on the perimeter of the property. The Orange County School 45 Board would like to ask the County Commissioners to consider evoking an ordinance around 46 this school prohibiting the firing of firearms within 1,000 feet of the school. 47 48 b. Need for a New Middle School 49 Susan Halkiotis said that there are three mobile units at Stanford and one mobile unit at 50 Stanback. There needs to be serious discussions about land acquisition and funding for a new 51 middle school. 10 1 Chair Carey encouraged the Orange County School Board to examine the long-range 2 projections very carefully as plans are generated. 4 4. County/OCSICHCCS Informational Reports 5 These reports were presented for information purposes. There were no presentations on 6 these reports and they are in the Permanent Agenda File in the Clerk's office. 8 a. Adopted 1999-2000 School Budgets 9 b. 2000-2001 Standardized School Budget Format 10 c. Number of Classrooms/Class Sizes/Capacity of All Schools, and Costs of Newer Schools 11 d. Timetables/Progress Reports for Major OCS/CHCCS Capital Projects 12 13 COUNTY COMMISSIONER ACTION ONLY 14 15 5. Housing Bond Program Awards 16 John Link made this presentation. He said that last week the Board committed $90,000 in 17 principle for housing bond funds to address the proposal submitted by EmPOWERment, Inc. for 18 purchasing a tract of land on Pine Hill Drive in Carrboro. The Board also asked the staff to 19 come back with the steps necessary for EmPOWERment, Inc. to be able to carry out their 20 proposal in a timely way so that the deal is not lost. He referred to the information in the agenda 21 abstract. He said that there are two actions that the Board needs to pursue tonight; one is to 22 adopt the capital project ordinance on the last page of the agenda abstract, and to approve the 23 letter to Myles Presler which lists 13 items that will be in the Performance Agreement. 24 Commissioner Brown asked Myles Presler how this project differs from the other projects 25 that were presented at the last County Commissioners' meeting. She does not understand why 26 the EmPOWERment, Inc. project is more important than the other projects. 27 Executive Director of EmPOWERment, Inc. Myles Presler said that this project has a 28 timeline. The closing on the property needs to be completed this month. 29 Mr. McCormick who owns the property said that he could be flexible and extend the time 30 period. He will accommodate whatever the County Commissioners decide. He is very 31 supportive of EmPOWERment, Inc. 32 Commissioner Gordon asked if this translates into giving the County more time to work out 33 some of the details of the 13 points in the letter. 34 Mr. McCormick said that he was not under a deadline. He said that if the County was 35 serious about funding the project and the project was going to be approved, he is fine with that. 36 His last communication with the realtor was to wrap everything up by the end of the year. This 37 is not a deadline. 38 Commissioner Brown said that she has a problem with someone coming to the Board 39 saying that there is a crisis when there really is not a crisis. She said that it was not fair to the 40 other housing groups. She does not mind committing to this project, but she would like more 41 time to pin down the 13 points addressed in the letter. 42 It was decided that the Performance Agreement would be brought back to the County 43 Commissioners at their January 18, 2000 meeting. 44 A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to 45 authorize the staff to bring the Performance Agreement with the 13 items back to the County 46 Commissioners on January 18, 2000 with the project ordinance. 47 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 48 Commissioner Jacobs asked that a work session be scheduled soon to address all of the 49 affordable housing initiatives. 50 John Link suggested discussing affordable housing initiatives at the first work session the 51 second week of February. 52 II 6. Second Annual Agricultural Summit A motion was made by Commissioner Halkiotis, seconded by Commissioner Brown to endorse the second Annual Agricultural Summit. VOTE: UNANIMOUS ADJOURNMENT With no further items for the Board to consider the meeting was adjourned at 10:45 p.m. The next regular meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 18, 2000 at 7:30 p.m. in the Boardroom in the Southern Human Services Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Moses Carey, Jr., Chair Beverly A. Blythe, Clerk