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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 09-12-2000APPROVED MAY 1.2001 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS September 12, 2000 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met on Tuesday, September 12, 2000 at 7:30 p.m. in the Boardroom of the Southern Human Services Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Moses Carey, Jr., and Commissioners Margaret W. Brown, Stephen H. Halkiotis, and Barry Jacobs. COUNTY COMMISSIONER ABSENT: Alice M. Gordon (out of town due to death of her mother) COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr. and Clerk to the Board Beverly A. Blythe. (All other County staff will be identified at the appropriate time.) 1. MASTER AGING PLAN REPORT Florence Soltys, Chair of the Advisory Board on Aging, made opening comments. She said that the task force has met with the Health Department, the Department of Social Services, Mental Health, UNC, Institute on Aging, and the various schools to discuss these goals. These groups have agreed that the goals and strategies are appropriate for them. Department on Aging Director, Jerry Passmore, spoke about the Master Aging Plan for Orange County for the period July 2000 -June 2005. He said that they tried to look at all issues for all people. The County Commissioners thanked the Committee for this report. They found it very informative. Commissioner Brawn asked about the statement, "The Department on Aging is not yet fully recognized as a central portal for persons to access information." Florence Soltys said that the Department an Aging needed to be presented as the focal point for services in the County. Commissioner Brown asked that the legislative goals in the report be forwarded to our State delegation. She also wondered if there could be a page that describes what the organizations shown in the report do, such as what the Department on Aging is and what the Nursing Home Advisory Committee does, etc. Jerry Passmore said that the purpose tonight was to present the vision and the issues and to receive feedback from the County Commissioners. Commissioner Brown would also like to have a list of services that are provided by the County at this time for the aging population. Jerry Passmore talked about the "Roundtable" that would bring together the providers in the community as well as other groups and departments, which have an interest in the quality of life in later years. The Department on Aging would coordinate this effort to provide services to alder adults. The Roundtable would meet quarterly ar bimonthly. Chair Carey made reference to page 23 and the issue of providing housekeeping for moderately impaired older persons. He asked to what extent this was happening in the County and who was providing the service. Jerry Passmore said that the issue was to provide assistance to caregivers. He said that it was cheaper to provide heavy housecleaning than to try to provide aids to go in and provide care and a little housecleaning. Kate Barrett said that currently there are three different programs that provide services in the home -Medicaid, DSS, and the Department on Aging. She said that what the Department on Aging does and what AAA mandates is that the system be objective and prioritize the services. The more acute people with the highest need get the most care. She said that there was a nurse's aid shortage. She said that for $15,000, they could put a cleaning service in once a month. If aids were used for this service, no agency would consider putting an aid in the home unless the County agreed to a minimum of four hours. The cost of that service would be $65,000 to serve 25 people. a 2010 goal far the baby boomers. He said that staying at home would be a major issue far the baby boomers, because money would not be a big issue. The Master Aging Plan was referred to the County Manager. He will bring back information on moving forward. 2. ORANGE ALAMANCE UTILITY SYSTEM REPORT Commissioner Jacobs asked when this issue was going to be discussed. John Link suggested having a work session on October 2"d because there were no items for the JPA Public Hearing. The Board agreed to have a work session on October 2"d to address Adequate Public Facilities, the Orange-Alamance Utility System, and the Water and Sewer Service Boundary Agreement. 3. PATHWAYS PRESERVE PLANNED DEVELOPMENT Planning Director Craig Benedict said that this 470-acre planned unit development proposal has some important aspects that are unique to recent development proposals. This proposal was submitted in late June and has been reviewed by the staff on a variety of issues. He said that the purpose of the rezoning was not to increase density, but to shift densities within the project to afford the possibility of having a change in development type (i.e., multi-family, townhouse, apartments, cluster single family, and single family}. The inclusion of 200 acres of public open space, lower cost housing, a variety of housing types, and apedestrian-friendly community design are proposed. John McAdams made some brief comments. He introduced the developers, Tony Natelli of Natelli Communities from Maryland and Michael D. Chadwick from Raleigh. He also introduced Jerry Turner from Jerry Turner and Associates, a land planning firm in the Triangle. The proposed development is a 485-acre tract of land that is located north of Hillsborough. Tony Natelli said that Natelli Communities was headquartered in Montgomery County, Maryland. Although they have developed properties in several states, the primary focus of their work is in Montgomery County and Frederick County, Maryland. The price range of their communities varies. They are builders of homes as well as land developers. They have expertise in developing mixed communities. He feels that Orange County will be proud of this community. He explained that the community would have multiple villages interconnected with vehicular roadways and pedestrian walks or paths. A retail and office village will provide a town center atmosphere and services. A recreation area of over 20 acres will provide tennis facilities, soccer- size playing field, and acres of open space far other recreation activities. Also included in the plan is 200 acres of land left in a natural state that would be deeded to the County for their use in expanding their park and recreation facilities. He distributed some packets to the Commissioners with pictures and brochures from other projects. He invited the Commissioners to come and visit any of the communities in Maryland. Jerry Turner showed the layout of the plan on a map. He said that there would also be a County service area, which would house police, fire, library, and office services. There would also be a day care center. The residential areas total about 186 acres {50°~ for larger single-family homes, 28% for cluster housing, and 22% for multi-family homes}. The recreation center for the neighborhood totals 34 acres, which would be owned and managed by the homeowner's association. He stressed that this plan was conceptual. There would also be 50 feet of dedicated open space between each of the types of housing developments. He pointed out that 200 acres would be given to the County for open space. There would be sidewalks on all of the major connecting roads throughout the development. Commissioner Halkiotis asked how many million gallons of water per day it was estimated that this development would use coming in and going out. It was answered that it would be less than one million gallons of water per day. Commissioner Brown asked several questions about the commercial center. Cammissianer Jacobs asked if there was one place where all outreach initiatives were coordinated and Jahn Link said that there was not any coordination in that area. John Link asked Buck Tredway for the issues and said that he would send out a memo, with a carbon copy to the Commissioners, to the department heads making the expectations about meeting notifications very clear. Cammissianer Jacobs asked about all of the communication efforts in the various County departments and boards and if these were coordinated. Chair Carey asked what Counties had public information offices and how they worked. Clerk to the Board Beverly Blythe will follow up with information about this. Chair Carey said that it is clear that we do not have a coordinated approach for communication. Commissioner Halkiotis feels that this communication issue would be a good thing for the Innovation and Efficiency Committee to work on. He suggested pooling resources with the two school systems and County government to hire some type of public information officer. He does not think the Clerk's office should be expected to do this function. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the additional youth input for the Youth Uoices link an the County web page and if this has been accomplished. He noted that the class at Orange High School offered last year to work with the County in developing this site. He would like some information on how that fits together and how much responsibility is in the Clerk's Office for maintaining the web status. He asked who was responsible for the citizen guide to public access that has been discussed for two years. Commissioner Jacobs talked about having a theme throughout the County. Buck Tredway said that he was to meet next week with Sharron Hinton to talk about Youth Voices. It would be a fairly simple matter to turn the information into a web site. He said that he would welcome assistance from the high school. Also, he is looking at merging the citizen's guide with the current departmental directory. He also said that the maintenance of the County's web site took a considerable amount of time, which was why he was looking at contracting with State Information Technology Services. In regards to the theme, Sharron Hinton, John Link, and others have met and explored the themes and have tried to narrow them dawn to something applicable. Commissioner Brown made reference to page 9, "Types of Press Releases" and suggested including as item "e" a process for responding to incorrect information via press releases. Commissioner Brown mentioned that she works each year on the tax bill inserts and she would like to have some feedback. ADJOURNMENT With no further items to discuss, the meeting was adjourned. The next meeting on the approved meeting calendar will be held on September 19, 2000 at 7:30 p.m. at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Moses Carey, Jr., Chair Beverly A. Blythe, CMC Commissioner Halkiotis supports a program that enables people to maintain their independence and live in their awn house. He feels that there are a lot of people who can benefit from the housecleaning service. Commissioner Brown made reference to page 28 and asked how a program would be developed that would subsidize quality care in adult home facilities to prevent further closings of these facilities. Jahn Link said that the County could identify who at the County level or at the State level and what the system expects. The County can help the operators of these homes to address the paperwork requirements of the County and State. This is how the local government is going to have to be proactive in the future with addressing the present bureaucracy and structure. Jill AI-hafez, regional ombudsman, said that she has worked with the Adult Care Home Community Advisory Committee to speak with the operators of these facilities and find out what they need. Discussion ensued about the need for computers for the adult care facilities. Commissioner Halkiotis made reference to some computers that were going to be unloaded on Saturday, and he suggested holding the top 50 machines for this initiative and others that have requested the computers. In answer to a question from Commissioner Jacobs about having computers at the senior centers for use by the participants, Jerry Passmore said that they have ten computers at the Chapel Hill Senior Center and a computer lab at the Northside Center in Chapel Hill. Commissioner Jacobs thanked the committee for the report. He asked if the Inter-Faith Council, Orange Congregations in Mission, and the Towns were participants in the report. He feels that there needs to be coordination with these entities. He said that we should solicit ways to plug the IFC, OCIM, and the Towns into the plan the same way that the other governmental agencies are involved. Jerry Passmore said that the Inter-Faith Council and Orange Congregations in Mission were invited to participate in the Master Aging Plan, but they chase not to participate for various reasons. Cammissianer Jacobs asked if Jerry Passmore planned to do presentations of the Master Aging Plan to the Towns of Carrboro, Chapel Hill, and Hillsborough so they will know what it is all about. Jerry Passmore asked if that was the next step that the County Commissioners wanted the Task Force to take. Florence Soltys said that the task force could do presentations to the Towns. Reverend Seymour said that this was very important to the faith community. This will add to what the faith community is already doing with the older adults. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to page 27 and asked for some information from Geoffrey Gledhill on how much purview the Board had in regards to accountability. He said that there have been discussions on taxation and legislation and there will be information coming forward as part of the legislative agenda that relates specifically to seniors. Commissioner Brown asked that there be some comment sent to the legislators about the concern of the "lack of corporate care issue". Cammissianer Jacobs made reference to pages 29 and 30 and said that there were a lot of things listed that the Economic Development Commission was doing, so Jerry Passmore may want to coordinate these issues. Commissioner Jacobs asked for clarification on several items in the report, which Jerry Passmore answered. Commissioner Jacobs asked how the costs would be tracked on facility access. He said that it would be useful to have the items prioritized in each of the categories. Cammissianer Halkiotis said that he did not want to lose the opportunity on Saturday when the computers were being unloaded. He thanked the task force for focusing on the needy people in the County, even though Orange County is one of the wealthiest counties in the state. John Link said that he would be glad to work with the Department on Aging in formatting a summary sheet for where the $60,QOQ is going. He made reference to page 37 and the transportation consultant and said that this would be a good place to involve the Innovation and Efficiency Committee. He said that this report was a very good start. He would like for there to be Commissioner Jacobs asked about the village center. He said that most of the people in the community would be driving to the center. He asked why the commercial center would not be more in the center so it would be more accessible to the residents. It was answered that, in order for the commercial center to survive, it would need a critical mass, much mare than just the residents of this community would provide. John McAdams said that the water usage would be 200,QOQ to 240,OQ0 gallons per day. Michael Chadwick made two points. Under the current zoning regulations, the plan does not offer much to the community; however, this plan is spectacular in that there is a large portion designated as open space. He also Hated that the burning of vegetation had ceased at Lake Hogan Farms (a subdivision that he is currently developing}. 4. WATER & SEWER BOUNDARY AGREEMENT Delayed 5. STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS PLAN Information Specialist Buck Tredway gave this report. He summarized the information in the agenda abstract. He said that the County Commissioners' meetings were now televised on a delayed tape. They are being broadcast on the People's Channel. Public Service Announcements are also being broadcast on cable television. The People's Channel also runs advertisements for appointments to various boards and committees in the County. The Monthly Cable Program will probably resume this month. Sharron Hinton is in charge of this. Regarding press releases, he said that this process was ongoing. The Strategic Communications Plan calls for issuance of press releases as a matter of course (i.e., meetings, events, awards, health and safety announcements, major hirings, etc.}. He and Sharon will be putting together a training session an press relations in October. Commissioner Brawn asked about the response from the various departments. Buck Tredway said that it could be better. There has been a tendency for departments to generate their own press releases. The intent is that all departments will coordinate press releases through Buck Tredway and Sharron Hinton. Buck Tredway and Sharron Hinton are working with the members of the news media and developing relationships with them. The media has been very responsive. The County has had very good coverage on the issues and programs through the media. Regarding telephone access, a direct line has been provided into the Clerk to the Board's office for general questions. Commissioner Jacobs asked if anyone was keeping a log of the calls that are received in the Clerk's office and Buck Tredway said no, not at this time. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the additional staff position in order to have the after- hours information line, which would be recorded. Buck Tredway said that he anticipated that if this information line was going to be staffed during office hours and the automated response system would have to be maintained, it was likely that it would require significant time. The additional staff person would answer the telephone and make sure that the information on the automated response system was current. Commissioner Jacobs would like to have more information on the County information telephone line. He said that if he knew how many phone calls were coming in, he would have a better idea of the demand far an additional staff person. Commissioner Halkiotis talked about the meeting calendar and asked for an explanation of how this works. He asked how we get to the basics because it is an ongoing issue. He feels there must be another way to do an annual calendar. There were two meetings planned an the same night that the Commissioners wanted to attend this week. Buck Tredway said that the Clerk's office had no control over when individual boards schedule their meetings. He said that he organized a workshop with the staff support for boards and commissions a couple of months ago, and he stressed to them to notify the Clerk's office of meetings. Commissioner Brown said that the location of the meetings should be clearly posted as well.