Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 20030305APPROVED 5/612003 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS WORK SESSION March 5, 2003 5:30 p.m. The tJrange County Board of Commissioners met for a work session with the Board of Health on Wednesday, March 5, 2443 at 5:34 p.m. at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Margaret W. Brown, Moses Carey, Jr., Alice M. Gordon, Stephen Halkiotis {arrived at 5:54} and Barry Jacobs COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill and S. Sean Borhanian COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr., Assistant County Manager Gwen Harvey and Clerk to the Board Donna S. Baker {All other staff members will be identified appropriately below) BOARD OF HEALTH MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair Melvin Hurston and members, Janet Sautherland, Martha Jane Stucker, Lee D. Werley III, Alice White, Edith Wilder, Alan Rimer, Jessica Y. Lee, Jonathan Klein BOARD OF HEALTH MEMBERS ABSENT: Sharon E. Van Horn, Barry Lynn Adler BOARD OF HEALTH STAFF PRESENT: Health Director Rosemary Summers, Tish Burns, and Ron Holdway NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE. Commissioner Carey made opening remarks. DISCUSSION ISSUES FROM THE BOARD OF HEALTH a. Improving communication between the BOH and the Board of Caunty Commissianers- Chair of the Board of Health Melvin Hurston said that they decided to make this a more informal session as opposed to the last two sessions. Each of the members introduced themselves. Melvin Hurston said that they are not saying that communications with the Board of County Commissioners are not effective. The Board of Health wants the Board of Caunty Commissioners to become more aware and feel comfortable with the various issues confronting the County. The smallpox plan is one issue and a policy has been developed for this. There are many grant opportunities such as the Youth Tobacco Prevention Grant and they would like to knave haw they could better convey the importance of this information to the Board. There are also some key legislative issues that are emerging. Melvin Hurston introduced the Healthy Partner staff that help to convey information about key issues. He said that they need to understand how to share this information with the Board of County Commissioners. Commissioner Carey asked for any other comments and said that he knows that the Regional Bio-terrorism Committee is made up of several Health Department staff. He asked how the Orange County Health Department fits into that picture and what the process is of getting this information back to the Board of County Commissioners. Health Director Rosie Summers said that she has been to several meetings and there have been many bio-terrorism and disaster preparedness committees. Duke and UNC Hospitals have agreed to meet together for disaster preparedness. They are trying to get the hospitals prepared in the event of mass casualties or a terrorist incident. The Health Departments have been invited to participate in this because some of the funds from the federal government are being channeled through State Public Health and State Emergency Management. The Health Departments are providing surveillance, which is the system of early identification of events that might signal that something has happened. Commissioner Carey asked if we were prepared in terms of technology. Rosie Summers said that we are not as prepared as New Yark City. North Carolina does not have the infrastructure in place yet but is working on this. Surveillance systems take a long time to build. The reporting system now in the State is still based on the "cards" -the old way-but over the next five years the State has plans to go to an electronic reporting system. Commissioner Carey asked if any of the money has trickled down to the local levels yet. Rosie Summers said that there are several different pats of money and EMS Director Nick Waters has access to some money and the Health Department has received small amounts of money - $2,400 targeted for staff training and $4,300 for communication to the public. They also applied for and received notification that they will receive $39,000 for six months to help with the organization of a volunteer medical board. Melvin Hurston said that the question is how to filter information to the Board of County Commissioners. Jessica Lee said that the issue of bio-terrorism and disaster preparedness is a major issue within the County. She said that the board members and staff are doing all they can with limited resources. A core group of medical professionals is ready but the resources are still limited. Plans for smallpox are in place but they are still waiting for funds. Commissioner Halkiotis asked what would be done if there was a smallpox outbreak in Orange County. Rosie Summers said that they have a skeleton plan in place to vaccinate all residents within five days. The CDC says that this is a reasonable amount of time considering the incubation period. There is not enough staff to do this though and they are trying to pull in outside resources. There are four vaccination sites and four alternate sites. The next step is to bring law enforcement into the next phase of the plan. The Hospital and UNC are part of the plan. The Chancellor even offered Carmichael Auditorium for a vaccination site. The actual plan is a protected document and this can be shared in a closed session with the Board of County Commissioners and they hope to have it in place by end of the summer. Alan Rimer said that OWASA has been working on their vulnerability assessment to determine the components of the system that are most vulnerable. He said that on the Internet there is a design that shows how to put germs in the water system through a household connection. OWASA is looking at putting in backflaw prevention mechanisms. Commissioner Brown asked how citizens could get information about what is being done behind the scenes as they become more aware of issues. Rosie Summers said that they can call the Health Department. She said that they are developing the public information piece. The website is very active and there is a page on smallpox and other hot topics. Jonathan Klein said that there was a special hotline far rabies in the past and this could be done in the event of a smallpox outbreak. Rosie Summers said that the West Nile hotline is still up and running and they update the message on the hotline regularly. Alan Rimer said that in the next joint meeting {Assembly of Governments), that the boards could consider how all communities could be proactive in public education for health issues and OWASA issues. Rosie Summers said that she would like to have a regular column in one of the newspapers and a regular radio spot on WCHL for health issues where an expert in the community could come in to answer questions from citizens. Commissioner Halkiotis said that one of the things they learned at the terrorism symposium is that the State is naive in its planning and is not concerned unless you live within a ten mile radius of the Shearon Harris nuclear facility. The communication piece is critically important. John Link said that the managers in the Triangle area {EMS Directors, Police Chiefs, and Fire Chiefs) went through exercises a few months ago with "dirty bombs" at the State Fair and all three university stadiums. He said that it was worthwhile to participate in this and evacuation was a main issue. He suggested that they think about doing this kind of exercise with health issues. Commissioner Gordon said that Triangle J Council of Governments is trying to get another of these exercises together and Jahn Link asked that it include health issues. Rosie Summers said that it might be better to have a scenario such as a large- scale food borne or water borne illness issue. She said that the State Auditor determined that the food supply in the State and the nation is not very well protected. These things are more likely to happen. Chair Jacobs made reference to legislative items that concern the Board of Health. He suggested that Rosie Summers share this information with the County Commissioners or Greg Wilder who is the point person for legislation. He said that they received an email today from the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners about the new cuts proposed by Governor Easley. He would like to be kept abreast of what is going on related to issues that are of concern to the Board of Health. He would be interested to know how genetically engineered crops might affect us if they were to be raised in Orange County. He does not think that Cooperative Extension is the place to bring this issue up, but he thinks that the Board of Health might be. Jonathan Klein asked Commissioner Jacobs how he would like the information. Commissioner Jacobs said that in terms of the legislation, Greg Wilder is the conduit. For instance, the Board of County Commissioners has a resolution tonight that addresses the legislative goal of a cigarette tax that is different from the Board of Health's legislative goal. When it comes up tonight, he was going to recommend that it be referred to the Legislative Goals committee. Jonathan Klein said that his understanding was that the way the County Commissioners wanted to modify the resolution was to have the funds directly related to health issues. He said that the larger statewide organization that is pushing this feels that the general legislature would be mare likely to pass it if it were applied to general funds. This would still achieve the primary goal, which is to reduce tobacco use. John Link said that he does not think that it is a good idea for the money to go to the general fund. Commissioner Jacobs said that he would like to try and marry the two resolutions because they are similar. Melvin Hurston spoke about same vehicles of communication and said that the Chair or Vice-Chair of the Board of Health could contact the Manager and put the information in the Manager's memo. Also, Board of Health members could make comments in the public comment section at Board of County Commissioners' meetings. Commissioner Carey said that any of these vehicles of communication would be appropriate. The Health Director or a designee could send an email about legislative issues. If there is something more, then someone could came to a Board meeting and speak to the County Commissioners. If a response is needed, the Manager should be contacted. Commissioner Halkiotis would like to see Board of Health related issues in the Manager's memo because it is steady. 2. Neuse River Basin On-Site Septic Inspection Proposal Alan Rimer said that the Board of County Commissioners has been helpful in food and septic area staffing. The response time to citizens was 4-6 weeks last year and it is down to a couple of weeks now on septic permits. The restaurant inspections are up from the 85% range to the 90-95% range. The Upper Neuse River Basin Association was farmed about a year and a half ago. This group has been working on a report and there is a proposal to look at onsite inspection of septic tanks. This study puts into context what this program should look like. The association's view looks just like Orange County's view. The difference is a strong public education campaign in Orange County to raise awareness. One of the elements of the educational component is how to finance the program and repairs. There are funds that can help indigent people, but there has to be matching money. The second element is the quantity of failures and the cause of the failures. The key point is haw the Board of Health can become proactive in providing information to the Board of County Commissioners on environmental issues. The Board of Health needs to know of environmental issues that other groups may be working on that affect public health. There was an issue related to OWASA about the quarry and the well fund and the BOH was never contacted. This issue has been resolved, but they would like to avoid this from happening again with other groups. In summary, the Board of Health would like more discussion on the wastewater issue again and to look at other environmental issues and how to foster communication between the BOH and other environmental groups that have an impact on public health. Commissianer Jacobs said that he, Commissioner Halkiotis, and the Manager met with the Director of the Upper Neuse Basin management and agreed to became active members. He said that he is by default the representative of the group. He made reference to pages 41 and 46 of the report. He attended his first meeting and said that one thing that struck him was that he does not see any reason why we would not introduce an inspection system of septic tanks for new homes because a lot of the problems occur within the first two years far new homes. Regarding the issue of the municipal users of underwriting the retroactive programs, he encouraged the BOH to approach OWASA again to institute this on a pilot basis. Alan Rimer said that it would be appropriate to package together historically what has happened and provide it to the Board. Chair Brown asked about the 40°!0 of new systems that are failing within the first two years. Ron Holdway said that the issue is the filters that the State started requiring. Some of these filters have been clogging and the systems themselves have not been failing. Commissianer Halkiatis asked Rosie Summers and the Manager to generate a list of inspections that could have a fee attached to them and to refresh everyone on what the County can charge. Commissioner Jacobs said that there is legislation that has been introduced to allow charging fees for restaurant inspections. Commissioner Halkiotis said that the education process about septic systems is never ending because people move out and new people move in. Rosie Summers said that Ron Holdway and his staff have had good feedback with the "information days" in neighborhoods. 3. Diminishing Funding Streams for Public Health Programs Melvin Hurston said that they are confronted with how to survive within the economic issues facing the nation. The BOH's budget will highlight some of the issues. Alice White said that the BOH would like to be well-positioned going into the budget and they would be glad to provide information to the Board of County Commissioners as to where the dollars are going. Commissioner Gordon said that it would be important to show the Board measurable outcomes when possible and why the programs are important and the time line and performance outcomes. With no further items to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 7:10 p.m. Margaret Brown, Chair Donna S. Baker Clerk to the Board APPROVED 05106!2003 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING March 5, 2003 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for regular session on Wednesday, March 5, 2003 at 7:30 p.m. at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Margaret Brown and Commissioners Moses Carey, Jr., Alice M. Gordon, Stephen Halkiotis and Barry Jacobs COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill, Sean Borhanian COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr., Assistant County Managers Rod Visser and Gwen Harvey and Clerk to the Board Donna S. Baker (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. 1. ADDITIONS OR CHANGES TO THE AGENDA Chair Brown asked to postpone item 5-a to the next meeting, the Tommy Thompson Resolution. Commissioner Gordon asked to postpone item 9-d, Boards and Commissions. PUBLIC CHARGE The Chair dispensed with the reading of the public charge. 2. CITIZEN & AUDIENCE COMMENTS a. Matters not on the Printed Agenda Bobby Schopler spoke on the Piedmont Wildlife Center and the progress for this center and thanked the Board of Commissioners for their support. He feels that Orange County is the ideal location for this center. He gave an update on activities since he last spoke to the County Commissioners and reported that there has been increased membership to aver 100 members and a benefit concert is scheduled for March 15t". The Center has matched its first $50,000 matching gift and is talking with another donor and hopes to have an announcement an March 15t". The Center has completed applications with other counties (Durham and Guilford) for funding and has communicated with all of the counties in the Piedmont. The Center is finalizing an agreement for a temporary location in an area organization. This site has a building and 350 acres. The education committee has put on its first teaching seminar and has plans for a first school program. As of today, they are being considered for a 501-C-3 status. He gave reasons for locating the Center in Orange County. He said that Orange County is conveniently located between the Piedmont and the Triangle and is halfway between the zoo and the vet school. One potential site is the Seven Mile Creek property. Chair Brown asked to refer this to the Manager to ask for an evaluation. Dr. Schopler referred to an earlier funding proposal that he had submitted to the Board of Commissioners. He said that he could resubmit this proposal if needed. b. Matters on the Printed Agenda {These matters were considered as the Board addressed the items on the agenda below.} 3. BOARD COMMENTS Chair Brown recognized the League of Women Voters who were attending tonight's meeting as a part of their educational program. Commissioner Halkiotis said that he wanted to highlight the events last Thursday night and Friday of the ice storm and that the northern and central parts of the County had over 3,000 households without power. He said that this highlights the fact that there needs to be continued emphasis to site permanent generators for both school systems. We need to be prepared to keep a facility running on its own. Chair Brown asked the Manager to come back with a report and said that she thought that Smith Middle School was going to be the designated school in the southern part of the county for a generator. Jahn Link will follow up on permanent infrastructure for emergencies in the budget process. Commissioner Halkiotis encouraged the Board of County Commissioners to call the Sheriff and ask for a personal tour of the new jail's basement. The County needs a warehouse somewhere in the Public Works campus. There are water supplies and voting machines in this basement. This space is being wasted and could be used as a physical fitness facility for the Sheriff's Deputies. Commissioner Gordon added her support for Commissioner Halkiotis' statements about the generators. She recalls that there was a proposal for a generator far the Southern Human Services Center atone time. Commissioner Gordon said that there has been some successes in phase I of the Triangle Transit Authority Regional Rail. The first phase is scheduled to go from Durham to Raleigh. On February 28t" they received final design approval from FDA. This is good news and they are ready to move forward with phase I. Commissioner Gordon said that the Triangle J Council of Governments discussed legislative priorities at their last meeting. She said that the County Commissioners might hear about a bio-fuel program award that the TJCOG is going to announce in conjunction with some Congestion Mitigation Air Quality grants with the DOT. Those grants have been awarded in Wake and Durham Counties. She read from a letter from State Transportation Secretary Tibbett, as follows: "Our support of TJCOG's Bio- fuels Program demonstrates the department's commitment to provide a transportation system that protects and enhances North Carolina's natural environment. I look forward to working with local governments to help expand the use of this environmentally friendly fuel." Only Wake and Durham Counties were eligible for this award. Commissioner Carey said that he represented the Board of County Commissioners at the NaCo Legislative Goals meeting in Washington, D. C. He distributed copies of the State's legislative goals. They did not get much encouragement in Washington financially. However, most of the discussion revolved around the funding of the Medicaid program. Anew initiative arose at the national level far Medicaid. The 17 states that are affected have formed a coalition at the national level to work on trying to address the issue of Medicaid funding and NaCo supports this. There will be more information on this in the future. The goal will be to keep the counties from bearing more of the funding burden for Medicaid in these states. John Link said that in many of the eastern counties, Medicaid can reflect as much as 30-40 percent of the budget. Commissioner Jacobs welcomed the members of the League of Women Voters. He outlined a proposal about locating schools. He wanted to say this in the Board Comments and not under the school merger item because he wants it to be clear that siting schools does not necessarily relate to the issue of whether or not we merge the two school systems. He read his proposal, which is incorporated by reference. In summary, he proposed that the Board direct staff to develop a draft MOU that would engage both school systems with the municipalities and the County in the comprehensive school siting process. He asked for the Board's support of this proposal. Commissioner Carey said that it sounds like Commissioner Jacobs is suggesting a process similar to the joint planning agreement. Commissioner Jacobs said yes and that it is in keeping with the practice in Orange County in trying to be collaborative and creative. Commissioner Carey said that this process has potential and we would have to engage the towns to see if there is interest in looking at school sites. He thinks this is a good start. Commissioner Gordon said that she feels that before we do something so specific that we explore what the jurisdictions and school boards think. She said that we should be careful in how we approach this because it is the statutory responsibility of the school systems to site schools. She would like to float this idea with the other entities involved. Commissioner Halkiotis said that school systems do not have the experience of land planning. The technical assistance can be achieved from staff. He said that this proposal was awin-win situation. He is supportive of this proposal and he would like for the Manager, Commissioner Jacobs, and representatives from the school boards to sit down and discuss this. This could save same money, time, and aggravation. Chair Brown agreed and said that it would be very beneficial to both school systems to have the resources of the County departments in locating school sites. She said that she has received several e-mails regarding the new high school site that suggest that the County Commissioners and other elected officials within the County are not working together. The statutory process does not allow for a lot of compatibility in working together. She would recommend sending this on to the Manager to develop some process to bring back and share with everyone. The general proposal could be made at the Assembly of Governments meeting on April 29th. The school boards could be invited to the meeting as well. John Link agreed to work an this. He made reference to the last paragraph and said that it should emphasize having a direct correlation between the siting of new schools in the future and having the funding to take care of these sites now. This is similar to the Lands Legacy Program where important properties have been identified to preserve and there is funding in place now. Chair Brown said that she had a wonderful dinner with the Americorp volunteers last Thursday. They worked everyday and built a park outside of the Southern Human Services Center and three miles of trails. There was a send off dinner far them. Chair Brown said that she and Mayor Foy met with Geoff Houck, head of the hospital, to set the stage of working together with the hospital on the important issue of Medicaid funding and how it is going to decrease. Also, mental health reform will create a great need for mental health services. They tried to put in place some communication with the Hospital and the Tawn of Chapel Hill. 4. COUNTY MANAGER'S REPORT John Link asked EMS Director Nick Waters to speak on the County's response to a potential terrorism threat. Nick Waters said that they are revisiting the County's multi-hazard plan and making sure that the task for consequence management includes every possible consequence of a terrorist activity and is assigned to someone. They were able to review the plan because of the ice storm. Also, new partnerships are forming every day. For example, they met with the Interdenominational Alliance in Chapel Hill who is interested in getting involved on a community level and will be in contact with other churches. The key is to get citizens educated and prepared about terrorism. Homeland Security has an office and they activate codes and the County reacts to these advisories. This is important for the Sheriff. Regarding shelters, DSS and the Department of Health facilitated a meeting with a number of agencies to talk about shelter operations and to identify better facilities for special needs versus general population. They also talked today about how to communicate with the non- English speaking population. There was a big scare about anthrax and now the issue is smallpox. He asked Health Director Rosie Summers to speak about this. Rosie Summers said that there is a three-phase approach for smallpox response. The first phase is to vaccinate the core public health response team and key people within UNC Hospitals. The key people would be the first people that would be taking care of emerging smallpox cases. Phase II would be to vaccinate the first responders within the County, which includes law enforcement, fire, rescue, and the remaining health care workers. This is being run under a federal response program managed by the CDC. Phase III is the general vaccination for the public. They do not anticipate going to this stage in the near future. They are engaged in on going planning for this and this is a total community planning effort. They are in the process of finalizing phase I I plans should they need them. April is Public Health Month and they will focus on emergency preparedness in general. They also hope to engage the non-English speaking population in the preparedness effort. Nick Waters said that their department is actively pursuing grants to try to meet some of the shortcomings. Phase I of the needs assessment study has been completed and will be coming to the Board possibly by the next meeting. The study painted out some short and long-term solutions for the County's emergency communication system. There was a tabletop exercise that involved the triangle municipalities, and the lack of communication abilities was evident. The staff is also looking at a Department of Justice grant that will buy about 350 masks that will equip emergency responders with two filters. This is mainly for the threat of terrorism and gas. The other grant is through the Crime Commission for $1.1 million. This will help buy 450 portable radios for Orange County responders on an 800 trunking system. Another grant is for the ability to print maps and assign tasks in the EOC. The grant will provide a plotter for the GIS. There is a $53,000 grant they are pursuing that will enhance their ability to do additional terrorism planning, additional public education, and additional multi-hazard planning and training at the County level. Nick Waters made reference to a publication from FEMA called "Are you ready?" The website is www.fema.c~ov. This publication covers natural disasters and talks about terrorism. This is a free publication and can be downloaded. Commissioner Gordon said that when she heard about duct taping and plastic sheeting, she was surprised so she went on the government website and verified it. She asked if there was something better ready for Orange County's website about preparedness. Nick Waters said that he wants to develop a disaster website so that there is a link for disaster information on all County websites. Commissioner Gordon asked Nick Waters to work an the communication issue fairly soon because when the electricity goes off, etc., it will be too late. 5. RESOLUTIONSIPROCLAMATIONS a. Resolution of Appreciation for Tammy Thompson The Board was to consider approving a resolution of appreciation for Tommy Thompson of the Red Clay Ramblers for his contribution to Orange County and American music. DEFERRED b. Women's History Month The Board considered recognizing March 2003 as Women's History Month. Milan Phan, Civil Rights Specialist with the Orange County Human Rights and Relations Department said that on March 15t" they will be celebrating at the New Hope Elementary School Little Theater with local advocates and several other women's organizations. Bonnie Gates, Chair of the Orange County Commission for Women, read the proclamation. A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Carey to approve and authorize the Chair to sign the proclamation as stated below: WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH PROCLAMATION WHEREAS, American women of every culture, class, and ethnic background have made historic contributions to the growth and strength of our Nation in countless recorded and unrecorded ways; WHEREAS, American women have played and continue to play a critical economic, cultural, and social role in every sphere of the life of the Nation by constituting a significant portion of the labor force working inside and outside of the home; WHEREAS, American women have played a unique role throughout the history of the Nation by providing the majority of the volunteer labor force of the Nation; WHEREAS, American women were particularly important in the establishment of early charitable, philanthropic, and cultural institutions in our Nation; WHEREAS, American women of every culture, class, and ethnic background served as early leaders in the forefront of every major progressive social change movement; WHEREAS, American women have been leaders, not only in securing their own rights of suffrage and equal opportunity, but also in the abolitionist movement, the emancipation movement, the industrial labor movement, the civil rights movement, and other movements, especially the peace movement, which create a more fair and just society for all; and WHEREAS, despite these contributions, the role of American women in history has been consistently overlooked and undervalued, in the literature, teaching and study of American history; and WHEREAS, the Orange County Board of County Commissioners on March 25, 1976, established the Orange County Commission far Women to promote the growth and development of all Orange County women and the Commission has been doing that for more than 25 years; NOW THEREFORE, do we, the Board of Commissioners of Orange County, North Carolina hereby proclaim March 2003 as "Women's History Month" and commend this observance to Orange County citizens. THIS THE 5t" DAY OF MARCH, 2003. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Commissioner Gordan said that it is appropriate for this to happen when the League of Women Voters was in attendance. She said that being a member of the League of Women Voters helped her when she decided to run for commissioner. c. Resolution in Support of an Increase in North Carolina's Tax on Cigarettes The Board considered adapting a resolution to be forwarded to the Orange County legislative delegation supporting an increase in North Carolina's cigarette taxes. Board of Health member Jonathan Klein read the resolution. He said that the primary goal is to help decrease youth tobacco use in the State. A secondary goal, but lower priority, is to generate revenues far the State. The Board of Health feels strongly that there should be any warding that it takes to help this pass in the legislature. A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs to approve and authorize the Chair to sign the resolution with some changes. He said that the Board adopted a goal last year and it could be incorporated with this goal sa that they are consistent. He read the wording of the last paragraph as follows: Now, Therefore, Be it Resolved that the Orange County Board of Commissioners supports an increase in the cigarette tax in North Carolina to be used primarily for health programs and for reducing and preventing tobacco use. He would like to leave off the .75 cents and the "whereas" about how much it will generate until we decide on asking far a specific increase or just an increase. This was seconded by Commissioner Carey. Commissioner Carey asked about the numbers that would be prevented from starting to smoke as a result of the increase. He asked about the money generated and if it was from the .75 cents. Jonathan Klein said that this is where the estimates come from. He made reference to the additional information in the agenda packet. Commissioner Carey wants more detail available for the legislative subcommittee. Commissioner Jacobs said that it would be useful to have a list of the 50 states and the tax rate on cigarettes. Commissioner Gordon said that the benefits of the tax increase as stated in the resolution depends on the .75 per pack. She would like to approve the resolution as written. Commissioner Jacobs said that only one of the "whereas" statements, other than the one he mentioned, relates specifically to the .75. Commissioner Gordon asked Jonathan Klein about deleting the .75 per pack portion of this resolution. Jonathan Klein said he thought the .75 per pack should stay in the resolution. They added this in for the money to be used for health programs and reducing/preventing tobacco use at the request of the County Commissioners. They would feel more comfortable if this portion were left out so that it would be more palatable for the legislature. This is the recommendation of the Board of Health. Commissioner Carey said he is a member of the BOH, but he was not there when they adopted this resolution. He said that there is going to be a similar type of resolution coming from the school boards asking for the money to be spent on education and one from the Mental Health Association recommending that the revenue be spent to support mental health reform. He thinks we should be specific about where the funds should go because there are going to be competing demands. Commissioner Halkiatis said that the Board is in agreement that this needs to happen. He does not believe the legislature has the guts to do this. He would like to send this to the local legislative subcommittee. Commissioner Jacobs withdrew his motion until this item could be referred and brought back. Commissioner Carey did not withdraw his second. The motion was back on the floor. The changes are as follows: The last "whereas" is changed to eliminate the $573 million and the "Now, Therefore..." is rewritten as follows: "Now, Therefore, Be it Resolved that the Orange County Board of Commissioners supports an increase in the cigarette tax in North Carolina to be used primarily for health programs and for reducing and preventing tobacco use." The corrected resolution is as follows: RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF AN INCREASE IN NORTH CAROLINA°S TAX ON CIGARETTES March 2003 WHEREAS, the Orange County Board of Commissioners joins the Orange County Board of Health in carrying out the responsibility of protecting and promoting the health of the people of Orange County; and WHEREAS, a goal of Healthy People 2090 is to "reduce illness, disability, and death related to tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke"; and WHEREAS, death rates from heart disease and cancer, the leading causes of death in North Carolina and Orange County are partially attributable to smoking and tobacco use; and WHEREAS, North Carolina's cigarette tax is currently $.05, the 3~d lowest in the nation; and WHEREAS, the use of tobacco products costs the State $4.75 billion in medical costs and lost productivity annually; and WHEREAS, each year 24,090 children in North Carolina start smoking each year {66 a day}; and WHEREAS, the best way to prevent and reduce tobacco use by children is to substantially increase the cost of cigarettes; and WHEREAS, such a tax increase would result in a 16.1 °I° decrease in youth smoking rates, preventing 105,750 North Carolina children from starting to smoke and saving 33,750 premature smoking-related death; and WHEREAS, North Carolina expects to suffer approximately a $2 billion deficit in fiscal year 2003, the third year of significant deficits; and WHEREAS, these deficits have caused cuts to important programs affecting the health and wellness of the citizens and more reductions are threatened; and WHEREAS, North Carolina targets almost no state funds towards preventing tobacco use; and WHEREAS, such a tax increase would generate new revenue; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Orange County Board of Commissioners supports an increase in the cigarette tax in North Carolina to be used primarily for health programs and for reducing and preventing tobacco use. This the 5t" day of March, 2003. VOTE: UNANIMOUS This resolution will be sent to the legislative committee. Commissioner Jacobs said that the Board would be talking about advocating for increased tax an alcohol with some of this money to go to treatment programs. Commissioner Gordon said that she thinks the .75 should have been left in as the Board of Health asked. 6. SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS a. Orange County Arts Grants Recipients (Fall 20021 The Board presented grant checks to local artists and arts organizations receiving Fall 2002 Orange County Arts Grants. The checks were presented to the following organizations and artists: Cedar Ridge High School Chorus Boosters Chapel Hill Museum Choreo Collective Deep Dish Theater Company Efland-Cheeks Elementary School Cultural Arts Committee Friends of the Carrboro Branch Library Lineburger Comprehensive Cancer Center Medical Foundation of NC NC Women's Choral Festival Orange-Person-Chatham System of Care Network Guy B. Phillips Middle School Michael Schwalbe Village Band Women's Center Women's Voices Chorus Renee Piechocki b. Friends of Bolin Creek Presentation The Board received a brief presentation from the newly formed Friends of Bolin Creek, a conservation group interested in preserving the Bolin Creek corridor. Dave Stancil introduced Julie McClintock of the Friends of Bolin Creek and she gave a PowerPoint presentation. The Friends of Bolin Creek is a group of Orange County citizens in southern Orange County who love Bolin Creek and have a vision for preserving it. They have been meeting for about two years. They would like to develop a nature park and preserve along Bolin Creek. They would like the County Commissioners' support for this concept. It will take a lot of time and money to develop the Bolin Creek Corridor Open Space Master Plan. She pointed out where the creek flows through the County. She gave four reasons to preserve open space in the Bolin Creek corridor. The first reason is that this is a critical period in urban growth for the Bolin Creek watershed, it is not all built out yet and there is a lot of opportunity to take protective action now, the University is developing a new plan for the Horace Williams Tract that could adversely affect Bolin Creek. The second reason for preserving open space in this corridor is to establish the connectivity of natural areas. She turned the presentation over to Dave Otto, Chair of the Friends of Bolin Creek Steering Committee. Dave Otto continued with the third reason for protecting the corridor - to protect the last intact stretches of native forest habitat remaining in southern Orange County. The final reason is to leave a legacy for future generations. He showed Rock Creek Park in Washington, D. C. as a model of what they would like to do in the Bolin Creek corridor. They would like to set up a master plan, similar to the New Hope Corridor Plan. The plan will be collaborative with the municipalities and universities. They have already made similar presentations to Chapel Hill and Carrboro and they are asking that the County Commissioners commit to protect this natural treasure. They recommend that the jurisdictions appoint a joint advisory committee to oversee the master plan process. The advisory committee will work with the planning staffs to identify funding sources and hire a consultant who will develop the master plan. They are asking that there be representatives from all of the participating jurisdictions as well as UNC, Duke, and OWASA. Chair Brown recommended referring this to the Manager. She suggested that the Countywide Intergovernmental Parks Work Group receive this presentation because it has the same membership that was referred to above. The next meeting of this work group is very soon. Commissioner Jacobs said that he endorsed the Chair's suggestion. He said that the University has set up some advisory committees that involve elected officials and he serves on one of them. Jim Ward represents the Town of Chapel Hill on this group -the External Relations Committee. They asked the members to think creatively about partnerships that the University could engage in regarding the Horace Williams Tract. He said that it looks like they want to preserve this corridor. He has suggested that the group might want to think about dedicating some of the natural areas for permanent preservation. He and Councilmember Ward will continue to bring this up. Commissioner Halkiatis said that he also supports Chair Brown's proposal. 7. PUBLIC HEARINGS -none 8. ITEMS FOR DECISION -CONSENT AGENDA A motion was made by Commissioner Halkiotis, seconded by Commissioner Carey to approve those items on the consent agenda as stated below: a. Minutes The Board approved minutes from the January 21, 2003 regular meeting as amended by Commissioner Gordon. b. Appointments None c. Bid Award: Front-Loading Refuse Truck far Recycling Operations The Board awarded bid number 245 to Volvo and GMC Truck Center of Carolina of Charlotte, North Carolina at a delivered cost of $161,754; authorized the Purchasing Director to execute the necessary paperwork; and authorized the Finance Director to solicit and execute all administrative actions and documents associated with completing an appropriate installment financing agreement for this equipment with a local financial institution. d. State Mutual Aid Agreement The Board approved Orange County's participation in the Mutual Aid Pact; authorized the Manager to sign all paperwork and execute all documents that may pertain to the County's participation in the pact; and appointed Manager John Link as Primary Representative, with Assistant Manager Rod Visser as First Alternate, and Assistant Manager Gwen Harvey as Second Alternate. e. Request for Use of the Orange County Seal The Board granted permission to Elizabeth S. Ryan to use the Orange County Seal in her book under the framework outlined in Ms. Ryan's information and in the manner recommended by County Attorney Geof Gledhill. f. Notice of Public Hearing an Orange County's 2003 Legislative Agenda This item was removed and placed at the end of the consent agenda for separate consideration. VOTE ON CONSENT AGENDA: UNANIMOUS ITEMS REMOVED FROM CONSENT AGENDA f. Notice of Public Hearing on Orange County's 2003 Legislative Agenda The Board considered providing notice that it will hold a public hearing March 24, 2003 on potential items to be included in Orange County's agenda package for the 2003 legislative session. Commissioner Jacobs pointed out that the subcommittee cannot meet until the 18t", and the public hearing is the 24t". He said that the committee will get the materials to the Board as soon as possible, but it may not go out at the same time as the other agenda materials. A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Carey to: 1. Direct the Clerk to the Board and the County Manager, on behalf of the Board of Commissioners, to publish a notice of the Board's intent to hold a public hearing on March 24, 2003 at 7:30 p.m. in the F. Gordon Battle Courtroom at the New Courthouse in Hillsborough, North Carolina to receive public comments on potential items for inclusion in Orange County's legislative agenda package for the 2003 North Carolina General Assembly Session; and 2. Direct the County Attorney to contact Orange County's legislative delegation and request that two blank bills, one to address any financial issues and one to address any other matters, be introduced in each chamber of the General Assembly. This will reserve the opportunity far members of the delegation to introduce any legislation, which the Board of County Commissioners might request as part of its legislative package. VOTE: UNANIMOUS 9. ITEMS FOR DECISION -REGULAR AGENDA a. Establishment of Board Goal to Examine Possible Schao) Merger The Board considered establishing a formal Board of Commissioners' goal that would call for the examination of the implications of merging the Orange County and Chapel Hill-Carrboro school systems. Commissioner Carey said that what he proposed was what the abstract says and the proposal was not to merge the schools this year but to make the decision and engage school boards in a process to adopt a goal to merge the schools. This requires a lot of dialogue and includes the feedback from the public and both school boards. He said that we need to proceed with this and should adapt this goal of moving forward and gathering information. Commissioner Halkiotis made reference to item 3 and the impacts of a passible merger on the rural buffer and growth and development patterns in the County. John Link said that the staff has tried to reflect the comments and suggestions made by individual Commissioners. If there is anything included in the cited task and specific milestones that the County Commissioners find troubling, then they can remove it. Commissioner Halkiotis said that if any talk of merger will encourage a rural buffer controversy then he does not want to do this. Commissioner Carey said that he thinks that we will learn what people think as we go along the process. He does not envision that the merger might adversely impact the land use planning process. Commissioner Jacobs said that the sentence could easily be changed to say, "a detailed analysis of the impacts of a possible merger on land use, including the affects an the growth and development patterns of the entire County." The mention of the rural buffer could be left out. John Link said that for sake of the audience the objective that the staff has presented to the Board is to examine the pros, cons, and other implications of a potential merger of the Orange County Schools and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. The understanding is that the County Commissioners would like the staff to pursue a timetable between now and August to respond to five areas of potential impact -finance; governance and implementation; public information, input, and education; educational and student impacts; and other impacts and implications. The staff recommends that they provide the Board interim reports as they proceed with this. The staff will be gathering facts and information and will talk with the NCACC and see what other counties have done before school merger. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to "Governance and Implementation" and suggested adding, "What relationship, if any, would this have to the Schools Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance?" He made reference to Public Information, Education, and Input, and "An investigation of both the truths and the fallacies of a possible merger." He said that people have raised concerns about the impact on property values. He asked if this would be under the truths and fallacies of school merger. He thinks this should be addressed. Also, under Educational and Student Impacts, another concern is the extent that extensive additional busing will be necessitated. He asked at what point we would be soliciting public participation in a decision making process or in shaping the discussions. John Link said that the staff's role is to provide information and bring it back in August. He thinks that the report should be made to the public at this time. Commissioner Jacobs read Task A and said that this reads that the County Commissioners would make a decision and them seek public comment. Jahn Link said that this is not the intent. Commissioner Carey said that this statement should be made clear and his vision is to get the public involved. Commissioner Gordon made reference to land use and said that it was ok with her to take out the part about the rural buffer, but she thinks that the Board should talk about the growth and development issues and this would include the rural buffer. Also, she thinks that we need to add a Task B, if the County Commissioners believe that merger should be pursued then they will hold a binding public referendum on the question of whether merger should occur. She personally believes in increased collaboration and equity of funding and facilities. She said that when she ran for County Commissioners, she said that she was opposed to merger. She feels like if we initiate this study, we should promise the public that there would be a referendum and give the public the chance to vote. Commissioner Halkiotis said that when Commissioner Carey proposed this he stated that we should be careful an how statements were worded. He said that adding a referendum would escalate the discussion even further and puts it into another area where irrational feelings and comments are going to get out of control. He remembers when the original 1986 merger study report was given. He will support this only to the point of a data gathering process without escalating it into public hearings or a referendum. Commissioner Jacobs agreed with Commissioner Halkiotis and pointed out under Public Education, Information, and Public Input, number 5, "describe how a referendum an merger could be included in the decision making process." He thinks this is an adequate start. After the information is received, then the Board can decide on a process. The first decision is whether to proceed with the discussions. He thinks it is premature to jump into the discussions about a referendum. Commissioner Carey agreed with Commissioners Jacobs and Halkiotis and said that he opposes Task B. He stated that one of the reasons that he proposed this goal in January is because we just came off of an election and na one was running for anything. This allows for more objectivity. Chair Brown made reference to item 4 and "Other Impacts and Implications" and asked about a "detailed description of the benefits and casts far children in the entire community associated with possible merger." She asked what this means, "the costs and benefits for children." Also, regarding land use, she thinks there should be a quick document on what the zoning is in the County because very few people understand it. Also, regarding Finance, number 4, she read, "the analysis of what changes might be needed and how much it would cast to equalize facilities for bath districts." She asked what this meant and if it meant haw we would equalize if there were not merger. Commissioner Gordon said that a lot of these things could be utilized whether or not there was merger. If there were merger, then the facilities in the two districts would have to be made similar. Commissioner Jacobs said that programs and facilities are to be included and not just facilities. Regarding Chair Brown's question about costs and benefits, he said that it was not clear to him either. Chair Brown made reference to Commissioner Jacobs' statement about truths and fallacies and said that there are myths about both school districts. She heard someone say yesterday that if you did not go to Chapel Hill East, then why live in the district, because Chapel Hill High School was not worth a #$°~*. She would like to understand some of the issues related to test scores and what they reflect. She said that this proposal to her is just for information. Commissioner Gordon asked Chair Brown if she decided to leave the wording alone under costs and benefits. Chair Brown said that number 4 could have an 'a' under it. Commissioner Jacobs offered a substitute as follows: "A detailed description of the effect on promoting equal opportunity for children in the entire community associated with a possible merger." Commissioner Gordan said that we need a general overall pros and cons. There should be something about the benefits and negative impacts for children in the community. John Link said that the negative impacts would relate to financial terms. There will be no evaluative or judgmental descriptions. He does not expect it to be received unanimously. The staff will just be bringing the facts and information. Public Comment Michael Kelly, a resident of Orange County and a parent of children in Orange County Schools, said that he recognizes the inequities that do arise from unequal resources being committed to two different school systems. He asked the Board of County Commissioners to commit to a public referendum on this issue. This would lower the anxiety for the citizens. He said that the appearance of the County Commissioners being hesitant to a public referendum is that they may commit to a merger without public input. Etta Pisana said that she fully supports a careful study of a merger. She thinks that the community will support this if it can be convinced that it would be good for our children. She said that the community would not be easily convinced. The questions are "Why do this?" and "What's in it for the kids?" The question is not about dollars. She supports a referendum and believes that it will ratchet dawn the emotion if the Board commits to a referendum and lets the citizens decide. A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon to add an objective two under Task B, which would read, "If the Commissioners believe merger should be pursued, hold a binding public referendum on the question of whether merger should occur." There was no second. The motion failed. Commissioner Halkiotis made reference to Etta Pisano's comment and said that nobody is contemplating a November referendum. Etta Pisano said that she thought Commissioner Gordon said for 2003. Commissioner Gordon said that her motion deleted a time frame. A motion was made by Commissioner Carey, seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to adapt the goal of a school merger study as amended with the substantive additions (to make sure that the staff comes back with specific facts). The staff will come back with the amendments. Commissioner Halkiotis asked that the document be in strike and delete format. He would like this to not be lost in staff analysis for months. He would like to receive periodic updates. Commissioner Carey said that we should make sure bath school boards get the updates. Chair Brown said that she expects that the school boards will help them generate information. VOTE: Ayes, 4; No, 1 (Commissioner Gordon -she believes in increased collaboration and equity in funding but she thinks that we should promise the public that there will be a binding public referendum.) b. Southern Community Park Actions The Board considered four actions related to the approval and construction process for Southern Community Park. Environment and Resource Conservation Director Dave Stancil said that this would be funded from the proceeds of the Orange County bond referenda in 1997 and 2001. He made reference to page three and the recommendations for actions. He read the four recommendations as stated in the agenda abstract. Chair Brown gave background on this item. This came up in the Intergovernmental Parks Work Group and the goal was far the County and the Town of Chapel Hill to work together on this park. A motion was made by Chair Brown, seconded by Commissioner Carey to: 1. Approve the Southern Park Conceptual Plan, with a condition of relocating the planned third full-size soccer field along US 151501 South and away from the Dogwood Acres subdivision. 2. Review and approve the Proposed Process for Approval and Construction of Southern Community Park, as proposed by the Work Group in Attachment 2. 3. Appoint two Board members to the Southern Park Project Planning Committee, to serve with an equal number of Tawn Council members in overseeing the park process; and 4. Authorize the release of $140,000 in 1997 Parks bond funds for the development of construction drawings far the Southern Park Special Use Permit. Commissioner Gordon said that she would be interested in this because it is within biking distance of her house and would like to be an alternate on this group. The Board agreed to Commissioner Gordon being an alternate on this subcommittee. VOTE: UNANIMOUS c. Youth Tobacco Prevention Project Grant Acceptance The Board considered accepting funds from the Health and Wellness Trust Fund, in the amount of $232,848, for the Youth Tobacco Prevention Project and establishing a new grant-funded public health educator position to serve as project manager. Health Director Rosie Summers introduced Susan Spalt, Health Education Coordinator for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools and Donna Williams from the Orange County School system that have been partners in the collaboration to developing and carrying out this grant. The third partner could not be in attendance. She pointed out the statistics in the agenda abstract that show the magnitude of the problem of youth tobacco use. There have been programs in the school systems, but they have not lasted long because of lack of funding. This grant was one of 26 awarded across the State. There were aver 70 applications. The first year of the grant is $81,351 and the subsequent years are slight reductions in those funds. Commissioner Gordon asked about the first grant year dates. Rosie Summers said that it would be sometime in March 2003 through March 2006. Commissioner Gordan is supportive of this idea to prevent youth from using tobacco. She said that she is worried about the measures of performance. She said that there is too much process and not enough results. There is no reason to do this if there are na results. Also, there should be markers along the way to show results besides a process. Rorie Summers said that they would be developing afull-blown evaluation plan with the State. There will also be pre-imposed test measures for the students. Commissioner Carey said that he supports this project, but he added that there needs to be reports throughout the grant period. He said that although the 3°lo goals may not appear to be very high, it is not easy to change behavior. He said that if the goals were acceptable to the TRUST then they should be acceptable to us. He said that we da not have enough money to isolate outcomes of reduction and he does not want to spend a lot of money on evaluations. He would rather spend money on the activities. Commissioner Jacobs said that raising the tax on cigarettes would probably have an impact on smoking habits as anything else we might do. He said that the abstract is a little confusing and he read, "It is proposed that the Board of County Commissioners will review the grant outcomes each year," but it appears the only measurement of decrease will occur in 2006. He asked for clarification. Rosie Summers said that they would report annually on the activities and the outcomes. The Youth Behavioral Risk Factor Survey is not always done each year. Commissioner Jacobs said that he would be more comfortable in proceeding with the understanding that there will be mare specificity on how to benchmark as we go along. Chair Brown asked about smoking in the last 20 years and when it started being taught in school as a bad thing. She asked when it became part of the school curriculum. Rosie Summers said that it has been limited to a single session as part of an integrated curriculum. Susan Spalt said that at least since 1974-1975 the schools have gone to showing gory pictures of lungs, etc. to showing the benefits of non-smoking and teaching them that it is not normal to engage in the risk behaviors. Chair Brown asked about the target population and Rosie Summers said that they would be targeting older students to teach younger children and then higher risk high school students. Chair Brown said that the word "addiction" was not used and she asked why. Rorie Summers said that it is atwo-pronged approach. One is to take care of kids who are already addicted and the other piece is prevention. A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Carey to approve the Manager's recommendation, with additional language with the first bullet of the Manager's recommendation as follows: "with the provision that the Commissioners will review the grant outcomes each year." The Manager's recommendation is as follows: - Approve receipt of the grant and approve the establishment of the Grant Project Ordinance for a period of three years, with the provision that the Commissioners will review the grant outcomes each year - Authorize a new grant-funded Senior Public Health Educator position far project implementation with continuation of the position after the three-year grant-funded period being contingent on Board of Commissioners decision, and - Authorize the Board Chair to sign the grant agreement with the North Carolina Health and Wellness Trust Commission UOTE: UNANIMOUS d. Boards and Commissions The Board was to consider a list of boards and commissions on which members serve. DEFFERED 10. REPORTS -none 11. APPOINTMENTS -Wane 12. MINUTES -Wane 13. CLOSED SESSION A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Carey to go into closed session "Ta discuss the County's position and to instruct the County Manager and County Attorney on the negotiating position regarding the terms of contracts to purchase real property," NCGS § 143- 318.11(a}(5}. VOTE: UNANIMOUS A motion was made by Commissioner Halkiotis, seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to reconvene back into regular session at 11:05 p.m. VOTE: UNANIMOUS 14. ADJOURNMENT A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to adjourn the meeting at 11:10 p.m. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Margaret Brown, Chair Donna S. Baker Clerk to the Board