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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 03-23-2000APPROVED JUNE 29, 2000 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MARCH 23, 2000 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Thursday, March 23, 2000 at the Government Services Center in Hillsborough, North Carolina. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Moses Carey, Jr. and Commissioners Margaret W. Brawn, Alice M. Gordon, Stephen H. Halkiotis, and Barry Jacobs COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Jahn 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) 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. 1. TANF HOUSING PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION PLAN John Link said that Housing and Community Development Director Tara Fikes is bringing forward a proposal to outsource the administration of the TANF block grant program that will enable families to have existing homes improved or have housing provided in another way. Tara Fikes said that this is a proposal to accept the availability of the $312,395 in TANF housing funds that are available to the County and also to approve a professional services contract with Gee Associates, Inc. for an amount not to exceed $141,309. The work group determined that it would be most efficient to outsource the administration of the program. Commissioner Brown said that when it was decided in the fall that the County would apply for this grant, there was discussion about who would manage the project. She supports this propasal. A motion was made by Commissioner Brown, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to approve the Professional Services Agreement with Gee Associates, Inc. for an amount not to exceed $141,309 for overall management, supervision, and case management services for the Orange County TANF Housing Program; and to authorize the Chair to sign the Memorandum of Agreement on behalf of the Board. VOTE' UNANIMOUS Commissioner Brown asked for a periodic update on a quarterly basis as part of the contract. 2. WATER-SEWER BOUNDARY REVISIONS Chair Carey made reference to the memo in the agenda. He said that he has not received any feedback from OWASA and he and Commissioner Gordon have not had a meeting with the Hillsborough Town Commissioners yet, but one is scheduled for April 5m Commissioner Gordon made reference to the memo in the agenda packet. She suggested discussing the items that were controversial. Discussion ensued on the two changes regarding state policy. She explained that staying with the wording specifying "State regulations" would mean that the lines would be sized only to serve the intended use, and the sole exception would be if state regulations required something larger. Regarding "Controlling access to lines" the language on page 13 would exclude service to another public facility, since that service might allow extensions to extensions and thereby allow proliferation of utility lines. However, Section E on "siting of essential public facilities" was included to provide some flexibility. Chair Carey said that there was an underlining theme and he felt that the County could represent the interests of both school systems. The County needs to recognize the fact that it may be necessary to extend a line to service a school or an essential public facility. Commissioner Jacobs said that it is not that another line is going to be extended but that the line is in and of itself a public facility. It was an attempt to make use of a line that was already there to address a public health issue. Commissioner Halkiotis feels that there is some real danger in this. He was involved with the siting of two schools for the Orange County School District. He noted that one criterion is to site schools where there are existing water and sewer lines. There are people who want to put more development in rural buffers. The wording "serve another "essential public facility" could be misinterpreted. Chair Carey said that the term "essential public facility" is defined to make sure no private use of the line can be made, but if the line is there it should be able to be used for an essential public facility. Commissioner Brown said that she feels very strongly about not putting in lines larger than necessary to remedy the situation for the essential public facility. Geoffrey Gledhill said that the theory behind this is that schools will be sited where water and sewer is available. Also, there may be existing public facilities that may need help because of failing systems. Commissioner Jacobs said that the concern is that this would be an intentional housing generator. He would be comfortable leaving it that the professionals would size the line. If in the future, the governing board decides to change this section, they could. Chair Carey said that he hears a consensus that the Board agrees with what was stated by Commissioner Gordon above regarding sizing of lines and controlling access to lines. Therefore the Board approved that wording by consensus, with Chair Carey expressing some reservations. Commissioner Gordon said that there were two aspects to Emergency Water Transfers. The first aspect is to add a sentence saying, "This section shall not apply to any system operated by the municipality.' Chair Carey said that the Board decided that this would be a deal breaker so it was decided to eliminate all the municipalities. The second aspect is to increase the number of days in the review and approval process to reflect some time frames that would be more acceptable to OWASA. Commissioner Gordon said that the original language put forth by the committee as shown on the line that is not annotated at all. Commissioner Jacobs said that the original language was agreed to by consensus and then it was brought up again. Commissioner Gordon referred to the mutual aid compact signed by 29 jurisdictions. On page 29 under Water Supply Emergencies, it says that, "short term emergency shall mean a period of not more than seven days." Also, under Activating an Emergency Transfer, it says that, "it would be activated by the chief administrative officers of the entities involved. They shall immediately notify their respective governing boards that such an emergency exists. Any emergency transfer lasting longer than seven days shall require approval by the governing boards of all parties to the transfer." Commissioner Gordon said that what the Water and Sewer Boundary Agreement says is that 3a days is when the managers of the jurisdictions are to be notified. At 6~ days, the governing board is notified. At 9~ days, the elected board has to approve. She said that the disagreement has to do with when people should be notified that the water is being drawn and at what level and in what time frame. She feels that the staff should be notified at 30 days, the governing board should be notified at 60 days, and it should be approved at 90 days by the governing board. Commissioner Brown agrees with the timeline of 3a-6a-9a days for notification. She made reference to the agreement and said that maybe Triangle J should be contacted to inform them that this is not being followed. Chair Carey said that he feels that OWASA would not object to the 30-day notification. Commissioner Brown feels that this is a big compromise and the notification time is too long. Geoffrey Gledhill said that the Emergency Agreement serves a different purpose than the Mutual Aid Compact. He said that the Mutual Aid Compact is designed to bring a number of local governments on board to help out if there is an emergency and to set a price during the short term periods of emergencies. He said that they both operate during emergencies but that is the end of their similarities. A motion was made by Commissioner Brown, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to adopt the Emergency Water Transfer section as written. VOTE: AYES, 3; NOES 2 {Commissioners Carey and Jacobs) A motion was made by Commissioner Brown, seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to adopt the Emergency Water Transfer section with the exclusion of the Municipalities. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Commissioner Gordon pointed out page 11 where it says, "Chapel Hill or Carrboro." The Board agreed to leave the language as, "Chapel Hill or Carrboro." Chair Carey pointed out page 20, under Linkages to Other Agreements, and added, "except as otherwise provided by law." A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to approve the Water and Sewer Boundary Agreement with all the changes on the yellow sheets and other changes as agreed to by the Board and noted above. The material is available in the permanent agenda file in the Clerk's Office. VOTE: UNANIMOUS 3. LITTLE RIVER NATURAL AREA PARK John Link said that the staff is asking that the Board authorize the execution of an option agreement to purchase 135 acres for a joint 390-acre Orange-Durham County regional park and natural area. Rich Shaw gave a brief summary of this proposal from the agenda abstract. Orange County is considering the purchase of land in Little River Township in partnership with Durham County, the Triangle Land Conservancy, and the Eno River Association. The site is owned by the Triangle Community Foundation, with 135 acres in Orange County and 255 acres in Durham County. The proposed option gives Orange and Durham Counties the right to purchase the property on or before May 31, 2000, by which time the county must commit to a binding purchase agreement or lose its $9,000 share of the $30,000 option price. The Orange County portion of the land would cost $367,150 including estimated closing costs. He said that state grant funds from the Clean Water Management Trust Fund and/or the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund would contribute to this effort. If the maximum funds were received by the state grant sources, the County's share would be $104,580. He made reference to the letter of intent that spells out the terms of the proposed option agreement. Durham County approved the letter of intent on March 13t"and the Board of the Triangle Land Conservancy and the Eno River Association also agreed to the terms. He said that the Board is being asked to approve the letter of intent, decide how it should be handled once a formal option agreement is prepared, and commit the $9,000 for the County's share. A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to adopt the letter of intent to execute the option agreement, authorize the Manager to exercise the option and report to the Board of County Commissioners, and authorize payment of the option amount of $9,000. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Commissioner Jacobs noted that as of this week there were 411 acres in the County that are water or park related. Potentially, by this action, by the action on the Greene Tract, and by the action on the Duke Forest property, the water and park related properties in Orange County would be increased by 63°l0. Commissioner Gordon clarified that the letter of intent would be reworked. Commissioner Halkiotis said that this is an example of Orange County helping to preserve the water supply for adjacent counties. 4. SCHOOL FUNDING OPTIONS TASK FORCE DRAFT Rod Visser made reference to the information that was distributed and described the attachments to the task force report. John Link summarized this report. He said that this report is being shared with the Board tonight to see if it is suitable in terms of format and content so that it could be sent to the school boards. This item is also part of the agenda for next Monday's meeting. He pointed out three items: - under Major Points of Discussion, number three, it is clear that the County Commissioners' definition of mandate is different than the school board's definition. - On page three, the productive final discussion focused on benchmarks for school funding that would take into account the historical efforts that the County has been making over the last 10 years. There is an agreement to disagree on how the school budget is presented. The school boards want the operating expense portion separated from the capital portion. Commissioner Gordon suggested having a final report from the committee. She has no comments because she has not read this report, since it was just distributed. Chair Carey said that he found the task force meetings very informative. He thinks that the way school officials view their responsibilities is very significant. The County Commissioners have to balance the needs of all the groups in Orange County and the school officials did not perceive the budget this way. They tried to reach as much consensus as they could in the task force meetings. That is how the list of benchmarks was developed. He feels this recommendation should be shared with the two school boards and that the school board should take this into consideration when they do their budgets. There are needs that have been neglected that should be addressed. He does not recommend that the committee be reconvened because he does not feel that a consensus will be reached. Commissioner Jacobs suggested that this report be discussed jointly by the two school boards and the County Commissioners. Considering all the input, he and Chair Carey will present a final report. Commissioner Brown made reference to the letter signed by the School Governance Committee members. She asked if this letter should be answered because it does have same inaccurate information. Commissioner Halkiotis said that there was misinformation that needs to be addressed. He feels that the Commissioners should respond with a letter in a positive way. The Board will wait until the report is adopted before a response is sent to the School Governance Committee members. 5. CIP PRESENTATION John Link said that this would be a brief overview of the CIP and a more thorough discussion would occur at the budget work session on March 29t". He said that the total funding plan for the next 10 years is $225 million dollars and he feels that this represents a significant investment in the County and the schools infrastructure. He said that the school districts are addressing a number of the older schools and there are several new schools that are being constructed. There have been three affordable housing projects funded in the last two months and the County has taken steps to increase open space and to improve existing facilities. Budget Director Donna Dean said that the primary funding for the ten-year plan includes the half- cent sales tax that is projected to increase about 5% on an annual basis. Also, approximately nine cents of the current property tax rate is earmarked to repay debt service. Other funding sources include grant funds, school impact fees (increasing about 3% per year), state public school building funds, and the peak debt service for Orange County Schools. Donna Dean said that the upcoming bond sale would affect next year's available funding sources for the CIP. The annual debt service for the first $40 million is between $3-3.5 million, and the first installment would be due next fiscal year. Regarding future debt, Donna Dean said that about $21 million of the 1997 bonds remains to be sold, and the sale would depend on the remaining needs of the schools in the County. The annual debt service for the $21 million is projected to be $1.5 million. Donna Dean made reference to page two of the Manager's memo regarding the funding for the Orange County Schools, and said that the Orange County School system identified the need for a new high school and the projected cost would be $25,000,000. Of that total, one half was included in the 1997 bonds. At that time, the Orange County School Board agreed to fund the remaining half of the $25,000,000 with their pay-as-you-go money. The school board has decided to pursue a private placement loan and repay the debt with their pay-as-you-go money. Donna Dean reviewed some projects of smaller scope in the County and the future needs identified by the schools. She made reference to the new elementary school for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools that is projected to cost $17.8 million. She said that this was an unmet need that the County has not been able to fund. Commissioner Halkiotis asked about the work that was done on the School Construction Standards Task Force for elementary and middle schools. He said that the task force spent a lot of time on this issue and he feels that the information shauld be utilized. He feels that $17.8 million is an inflated figure for the new elementary school. He would like to have copies of the standards developed by the task force on the table at the joint work session with the schools on Monday, March 27t" John Link said that the staff is not proposing that the County fund a new elementary school for $17.8 million, he is just reporting what is in the school board's documents. John Link said that he would like the Board to consider establishing a timeline for the next 12 to 18 months for funding various projects. A motion was made by Commissioner Brown, seconded by Commissioner Gordon to hold a public hearing on the GIP on Tuesday, April 17, 2000. VOTE: UNANIMOUS 6. LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVE PROCESS - no discussion 7. EFLAND SEWER FUND -REVISIONS TO FEE SCHEDULE Commissioner Brown would like to know what Hillsborough's sewer capacity is when this item comes back so that the Board knows what to do. $. ADOPTION OF COUNTY CAPITAL PROJECT ORDINANCES - no discussion 9. CREATION OF BOCC OPEN SPACE TASK FORCE Commissioner Gordon said that she talked with Commissioner Jacobs and Commissioner Brawn and she feels the Board is ready to move ahead with the task force. Commissioner Halkiotis asked that there be a sense of openness when selecting members of task farces. He feels that if he is serving on a task farce and cannot attend a meeting that the opportunity should be given to the other County Commissioners to attend. Commissioner Jacobs agreed with this comment. A motion was made by Commissioner Halkiotis, seconded by Commissioner Gordon to approve the creation of the Open Space Task Force with Commissioners Brown and Gordon serving as the Board of County Commissioners representatives. VOTE: UNANIMOUS 10. APPOINTMENTS Adult Care Home Community Advisory Committee A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to reappoint Charron Andrews to the Adult Care Home Community Advisory Committee for the term ending March 31, 2002. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Arts Commission A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to reappoint Jeffrey Cohen, Lynette Jeffries, and Carolyn Leith for the term ending 3!31!2003 to the Arts Commission. VOTE: UNANIMOUS A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to appoint Stasia McGriff for the term ending 3!31/2002 and Dennis Wipper for the term ending 3!31/2001 to the Arts Commission. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Commission for the Environment Commissioner Gordon said that she talked with David Stancil and that the Water Resources Committee and the Commission for the Environment would like to have a liaison back from the Water Resources Committee to the Commission for the Environment. A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Gordon to appoint Laura Coddeman and Hervey McIver to the Commission for the Environment for the term ending 1213112001. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Equalization and Review Board A motion was made by Commissioner Brown, seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to appoint Thomas Heffner as Chair, Kevin Foy, and Jane Sparks to the Equalization and Review Board for the term ending 7!01/2000. Reginald Morgan will be on the first tier of alternates and John Horner, William Crowther, and Ruby W. Tilley will be on the second tier of alternates. Commissioner Brown will serve as the County Commissioner representative. VOTE: UNANIMOUS A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to set the compensation at $100 for the Chair and $75 for the other members of the Equalization and Review Board. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Historic Preservation Commission A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to reappoint Rob Golan for the term ending 3!31!2003 and to appoint Heath Aldridge for the term ending 3/31!2002, Dale Georgiade for the term ending 3!31!2003, and Hugh Halsey for the term ending 3!31!2001 to the Historic Preservation Commission. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Hyconeechee Reqional Library A motion was made by Commissioner Halkiotis, seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to reappoint Sherry Gray Dorsett to the Hyconeechee Regional Library Committee for the term ending 3131/2003. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Innovation and Efficiency Committee A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to appoint Harold Russell to the Innovation and Efficiency Committee. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Orange County Board of Adjustment A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to appoint Karen Barrows to the Orange County Board of Adjustment for the term ending 6l30I2003. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Orange Countv Planning Board The Board agreed to continue advertising for the Orange County Planning Board openings. A motion was made by Commissioner Brown, seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to reappoint Howard McAdams, Jr., Lynne Haltkamp, and James Selkirk to the Orange County Planning Board for the term ending 313112003. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Recreation and Parks Advisory Council Commissioner Jacobs said that Andrew Joseph, who is on this board, has had quadruple bypass surgery and has not been able to attend meetings. Andrew Joseph will be notified that his position needs to be filled. A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to reappoint Jeffrey L. Schmitt and Marie Tate for the term ending 3131!2003 and appoint Lorraine Parker for the term ending 3!3112003 to the Recreation and Parks Advisory Council. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Visitors Bureau -Chapel HilllOrange Countv The Board agreed to hold the appointments for the Visitors Bureau. Water Resources Committee A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Brawn to appoint Teresa Nicole Gooding-Ray, Thomas Grissel, and Terry Hackett to the Water Resources Committee. VOTE: UNANIMOUS 11. MINUTES -NONE 12. ADJOURNMENT A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to adjourn the meeting. The next meeting will be held on March 27 at 7:30 p. m. at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Moses Carey, Jr., Chair Beverly Blythe, Clerk to the Board