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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 10-06-2011 APPROVED 11/1/2011 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS DAY WORK SESSION October 6, 2011 1:30 pm The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a Work Session on Thursday, October 6, 2011 at the Southern Human Services Center, in Chapel Hill, N.C. Chair Pelissier called the meeting to order at 1:50 p.m. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Bernadette Pelissier and Commissioners Valerie Foushee, Alice Gordon, Pam Hemminger, Earl McKee, and Steve Yuhasz COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Barry Jacobs COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: John Roberts COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Frank Clifton and Clerk to the Board Donna S. Baker (All other staff inembers will be identified appropriately below) 1. Southwest Branch Library Sitinq Criteria Asset Management Director Pam Jones said that this process is similar to what the Board has experienced before. The criteria can be applied to multiple sites. She and Library Services Manager Lucinda Munger went through the criteria, which is used nationally by a lot of different libraries. Low Medium High Phase I 1 2 3 Visibility - Visible from the street - Traffic count that meets or exceeds the average traffic counts of a major thoroughfare in a community - Visual appeal 1 2 3 Site Capacity - Meets minimum acreage (urban services vs. rural services) - Space for building and on-site parking - Adequate utilities - Space for future expansion - Space to accommodate the necessary setbacks, road expansions, and other site amenities Total: Phase I (If total ranking equals 6 or more, excluding a ranking of 1, go to Phase II) Low Medium High Phase II 1 2 3 Centrality - Existing population - Growth and development - Proximity to schools - Proximity to retail - Proximity to other libraries - Site is not isolated 1 2 3 Site Conditions, Allowances, and Constraints - The cost-benefit conclusions of physical, legal, and entitlement site allowances/constraints - Technical and environmental assessments (planning/zoning, jurisdictional processes, etc.) - Environmentally sustainable (C&A, storm water mgt, buffers, energy "net zero" capacity) - Operationally sustainable - Defeats obsolence 1 2 3 Cost and Availability - Cost for site acquisition - Timeframe for development of the site - Terms for site control necessary for development process Total: Phase II (if the total ranking equals 6 or more, excluding, a ranking of 1, go to Phase III) Low Med High Phase III 1 2 3 Community Preference - Input from elected officials - Alignment with planning tools (Comprehensive Plan) - Input from a board cross-section of the area to be served - Orange County Library Advisory Board - Orange County and Carrboro Friends of the Library 1 2 3 Lease versus Purchase - Analysis of the long-term viability of the site - Availability of property for lease 1 2 3 Partnerships - Co-location with other entity - Mutually beneficial joint development - Enhances service possibilities Total: Phase III Frank Clifton said that a one-floor operational library is more functional than a two-story building because there must be dual services in the two-story building. Operationally, a one- story building is better. Commissioner Hemminger said that the discussion about the 20,000 square feet is a concern to some people and there are many parameters that the Board of County Commissioners has not discussed. She said that the Board needs some guidance about the thinking of this number. She asked what one floor of the Hillsborough library is and Lucinda Munger said that it is about 12,000 square feet. A lot of that is used as non-public space. Commissioner Hemminger said that she wanted to make sure that any building should have dedicated public meeting space and she asked staff to come back with examples of a 20,000 square-foot facility and the basis for this square footage. They may need less or more. She just wants a basis for the numbers. Frank Clifton said that there were library studies done based on estimated use and population served and this issue was addressed. Commissioner Hemminger said that she is looking at estimated figures on how many people would use this facility, and for staff to come back with information that iincludes what a 20,000 square-foot size facility could incorporate and how many people it could serve, including meeting rooms, etc. Chair Pelissier asked that this information be presented at the meeting next week with the Town of Carrboro. Lucinda Munger said that the services provided all depend on what will be included in the library facility. Frank Clifton said that this library is not just for the Town of Carrboro, but for outside of the Town of Carrboro wherever it is put. Commissioner McKee said that, as they look at this process, a great deal of the users will be from Carrboro and there will need to be some sort of agreement with Carrboro to expedite this process. He asked if there was information on how many patrons would be drawn off of the Chapel Hill Library. Frank Clifton said that he agreed, but there are many people who do not live in Carrboro proper who would also come in and use this library. Commissioner Yuhasz asked if the studies for this library take into account the building size of the current Main library. It was answered no. Lucinda Munger said that the County is limited and cannot expand the new Orange County library facility physically. The patronage has almost doubled in the new facility with no room to grow. She wants to call the southwest library a partner to the Main library. Commissioner Yuhasz suggested comparing the zoning process and see if there can be some pre-zoning from Carrboro that would help with the timing and the siting of the library. He also suggested having this conversation with the Town of Chapel Hill in case there is an appropriate place in Chapel Hill. Commissioner Foushee said that it seems that what is here is in conflict. She said that the last process of siting a library did not go well. She asked how to juxtapose the problem that the residents have with increased traffic against having the site in a well-traveled area so that people will know that the library is there. Any neighborhood that is considered will be opposed by the residents. She said that the County needs to be careful about not excluding sites that are not within the municipality and sites that fall within Chapel Hill's Planning jurisdiction. Chair Pelissier said that it is in Carrboro's interest to have the library sited in Carrboro. Commissioner Yuhasz said that the County needs to make sure that the municipal partners recognize that Orange County is not just another customer. Commissioner McKee said that before they start spending money on another site, he would like to see some sort of cooperation between the Town of Carrboro and Orange County, and he would also like to see an expedited review process. Chair Pelissier said that if there is an agreement that a one-story facility is wanted, then this needs to be spelled out to the Town of Carrboro with the rationale. This needs to be clear. Lucinda Munger said that another issue is on-site parking for a facility. Commissioner Gordon arrived at 2:40 p.m. Chair Pelissier said that the Board is pleased with the criteria and Carrboro will respond shortly. 2. Provision and Maintenance of Sidewalks in the County's Jurisdiction Planner Perdita Holtz said that this item grew out of the attempts to work on design guidelines for the Efland core area. While working on this, it was realized that there should be some policy guidelines before working on the Efland-Mebane Small Area Plan. This plan recommends the provision of sidewalks throughout the whole area, particularly in the more dense development. Staff is seeking direction on the sidewalk provision. Another challenge is that the County does not have a way to maintain the sidewalks like municipalities would. She made reference to page 3 of the abstract, which lists the decisions to be made on this issue. These are shown below: Decisions to be Made: In order to proceed with the design guidelines for the Efland core area, staff needs direction from the BOCC on the sidewalk issue. Design guidelines for areas with a pedestrian network are quite different from areas without sidewalks. Additionally, preliminary research shows there could be particular challenges in the Efland area because public (NCDOT) right-of- way is much narrower in some areas than the current standard of 60 feet (or more, depending on roadway type), and in some cases parcels actually extend to the centerlines of streets and the public road is located within an easement. Questions staff has included: 1. Does the BOCC want to proceed with the county "getting into the sidewalk business" at this time? 2. If so, is staff authorized to begin development of a sidewalk program for certain areas of the County (i.e., the Efland-Buckhorn-Mebane corridor to start). Does the BOCC have direction on any of the funding and maintenance issues discussed above, particularly the issue of providing sidewalks in an area that is already partially developed (the Efland core area)? (Note: a sidewalk program is likely to result in amendments to development regulations). Options for providing sidewalks include: a. Orange County or developer (for new construction) pays for and builds the sidewalks and either Orange County contracts with a city for maintenance or a Property Owners Association (setting up a POA would be a requirement for new construction) is responsible for maintaining the sidewalk. County general funds would be used under this option. Note that NCDOT would require a maintenance agreement with the County and NCDOT is willing to enter into third party agreements with the County as a "back-up" signatory for maintenance. b. Orange County creates a special assessment district for sidewalk. Property owners within the district would be required to pay into the special district and a fund would be created for sidewalk construction and maintenance. Orange County would be responsible for maintenance, likely through contracting with another city for maintenance tasks. c. Other options as the BOCC decides. 3. If not, should staff proceed with the Efland core area design requirements/guidelines? The requirements/guidelines will be more minimal than what the Small Area Plan recommended because of the differences in urban form a sidewalk network brings to an area. Commissioner McKee said that he does not have a problem with major developments having sidewalks but he does not want to get Orange County in the business of building and maintaining sidewalks. Commissioner Yuhasz said that he agreed with Commissioner McKee for not wanting Orange County to get into the sidewalk business. He said that if they look at large subdivisions, the Orange County subdivision regulations discourage large subdivisions. He said that it is not practical to add sidewalks to smaller subdivisions. Commissioner Hemminger agreed and said that she does not want Orange County in the sidewalk business. However, she does want the County to be in the business of connectivity. She also wants to look at the Safe Route to Schools systems. Commissioner Gordon agreed and said that there is no funding available to maintain the sidewalks. She said that there are ways to have connectivity without having sidewalks. Frank Clifton said that it would be important to have a policy in case there is a development that wants to have sidewalks. Chair Pelissier agreed with her colleagues. Discussion ensued about bicycle lanes and the shoulders on US 70 in Efland. Commissioner Yuhasz asked for information about the annual maintenance costs for sidewalks. 3. Paperless Aqenda Options- canceled Frank Clifton said that this item would be rescheduled for a night meeting. Commissioner Hemminger said that if Durham County is doing this, she wants to see how it works and how it looks. A motion was made by Commissioner Hemminger, seconded by Commissioner Yuhasz to adjourn the meeting at 3:05 p.m. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Bernadette Pelissier, Chair Donna Baker, CMC Clerk to the Board