Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 20030421APPROVED 06/0312003 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS WORK SESSION April 21, 2003 7:30 p.m. The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a Budget Work Session on Monday at 7:30 p.m. in the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Margaret W. Brown, Moses Carey, Jr., Alice M. Gordan, and Barry Jacobs COUNY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Commissioner Halkiotis COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill and S. Sean Borhanian COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr., Assistant County Manager Rod Visser and Gwen Harvey, and Clerk Qonna 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. Chair Brown announced that Commissioner Halkiotis would not be in attendance. 1. Change in BOCC Regular Meeting Schedule The Board considered changing the location of its Work Session, scheduled for Thursday, April 24, 2003 at 7:30 p.m. from the Government Services Center in Hillsborough, North Carolina to the Southern Human Services Center, 2501 Homestead Road, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Chair Brown said that the rationale for this is that there will probably be many people from the schools and many senior citizens to talk about the senior center planning and there needs to be more space. Commissioner Jacobs said that the Board always tried to balance the meetings between Hillsborough and Chapel Hill. He hopes that this change will be balanced later on. Commissioner Carey asked about the 5:30 p.m. work session and Chair Brown said that this has been canceled. A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Carey to amend the Board's regular meeting calendar by changing the location of the scheduled Work Session on Thursday, April 24, 2003 at 7:30 p.m., from the Government Services Center in Hillsborough, North Carolina to the Southern Human Services Center, 2501 Homestead Road, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Jahn Link made reference to the packet for Thursday's meeting and said that there may not be sufficient time for the item on the senior center. This item will only be an informational item. Commissioner Gordan asked if there would be a response from the high school initiative. John Link said that his response would be financial. The school board has made a proposal and the County's response is to look at the cost of the proposal and to look at how this fits into the revenues of the school system. The information will probably be in column form to give a comparison of the casts. Commissioner Carey said that he read the information from the school board Chair. The letter had a series of steps that needed to be taken and the type of commitment they were expecting the Board of County Commissioners to make, especially related to imminent domain. He said that we need to be clear at which step a decision of the Board's is going to impact this and what kind of commitment is required at that point. Commissioner Jacobs asked for a copy of the school's proposed CIP. Commissioner Gordon said that Commissioner Halkiatis had asked about information about the legal steps. 2. 2003-13 CIP Presentation & Issues Discussion Jahn Link presented the 10-year Capital Improvement Plan. He focused on the County capital side of the plan. The school CIP's will be presented on May 22"d and they predict that the school CIP's will be reviewed later because projections under the SAPFO need to be correct and they will be working on a 4-6 week delay compared to the past. John Link said that they have tried to capture all of the requests that departments have made. They will point out items that are not funded and just because an item is not funded does not mean that it is not a high priority. It just means that it is abig-ticket item and pay as you go funding, sales tax, or property tax could not accommodate it entirely. Budget Director Donna Dean pointed out the bright green sheet with attachments. These are replacement pages for the CI P document. Chair Brown asked how items get into the CIP and how can Board of County Commissioners add items. John Link said that the Board of County Commissioners can add items at any time and the document now reflects the work of the staff, task forces, etc. Donna Dean continued with the PowerPoint presentation. This year they are offering a new approach for reviewing the CIP by separating the County capital plan from the schools. The comprehensive long-range County plan identified needed projects regardless of funding availability. This can be a tool for future financing strategies. The unfunded County capital needs are in Appendix E. Major funding sources for the plan include about $79 million from 1997 and 2Q01 voter- approved bonds. The alternative financing plan approved by the Board in September total $37.8 million. Over the 10-year plan, there is about $37 million in dedicated sales and property tax to offset the County projects. Some of the projects in the plan include the parks and the Lands Legacy Program; County facility needs for roof replacements, HVAC replacements, and the space study; and purchase of emergency generators. The plan also includes funding for partner projects - Orange County satellite campus of Durham Tech, affordable housing, senior centers, and the Heritage Center. The unfunded County projects include future County park sites, emergency preparedness, County equipment and record storage facility, and the Northern Human Services Center. The next step is the public hearing on May 6t" for County related projects. The Schools' CI P will be presented on May 22"d. The two public hearings for the recommended annual budget are on May 29t" and June 5t". Adoption is scheduled for June 26t" Commissioner Gordon asked about which projects have matching funds. She knows that Durham Tech is $4 million from the County and $4 million from the bond, but not the other ones. John Link said that the Efland sewer extension uses the 1997 bond money and EPA money. This is an example. Commissioner Gordan asked far this information in the future. Commissioner Jacobs asked for a summary sheet of the total cast and the match available for projects. John Link said that they could also indicate where there might be a potential match. Commissioner Jacobs is interested in seeing changes in the CIP as to what has been added, deleted, completed, etc. for last year and five years back. Chair Brown asked about the "partner" projects title and if this was a new title. Donna Dean said that is a new title and these are projects they have joined with other entities with either a match or giving funds such as the City of Mebane for Lake Michael. Commissioner Carey asked if this involves money for Habitat for Humanity. Donna Dean said no. Commissioner Gordon asked about identifying those partners that contribute funding. She asked what it means if the partner is not contributing any funding to the project. John Link said that the animal shelter does not have a contributing partner. The Chapel Hill Township Park, Southern Park, and Smith Middle School Park all have other towns involved that have contributed same funding. The Heritage Center has $112,000 sat aside for future library expansion. These are just some examples. He said that "partner" is identified loosely and not just with money. Commissioner Jacobs said that it would be helpful to define the different types of partners below the items. Chair Brown asked about the Heritage Center and said that she did not see it on the long range planning for facilities committee. Commissioner Jacobs said that the Library Task Force presented this but it has not been adopted by the Board of County Commissioners. The task force finished after the space needs study and could not be incorporated into the space needs study. Chair Brown thinks this should be part of the space needs study because it requires a facility. Commissioner Jacobs said that the study did not get adopted yet by the Board of County Commissioners because of disagreements. Commissioner Jacobs said that the Government Services Center expansion is still in here, but he thought that they had decided that traffic could not support additional expansion beyond the justice facilities. Same of this needs to be cleaned up. Chair Brown made reference to storage and said that there is a strong need. There needs to be more specificity. She would like to have the space study come back with an update. John Link said that this document is not the Board's CIP until the Board finishes what it is doing tonight. This is the proposed CIP, and what the Board adopts will be its plan. Chair Brown asked for a breakdown as to what kind of storage is needed. Chair Brawn asked about the addition of Lake Michael Park and said that this comes from the Intergovernmental Parks Work Group. She said that this amount may be way too much for the County to support, but the representative felt like if Orange County gave an amount, then he could go to the Alamance County Commissioners and they would match it or better. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the Ag Center that was in the CIP but the money was taken away last year. He would like to see this put back in, even if it is unfunded. Also, in working with the towns and the school systems in identifying school sites, we should be realistic and plan for the number of school sites needed. Commissioner Gordon asked where the numbers came from in unfunded projects, County Park Sites and Development. Donna Dean said that she worked with the Parks and Recreation Director on Thursday to develop an amount for unfunded needs. Commissioner Gordan said that we might want to think about the one cent on the tax rate -School Park Reserve Fund. This is now being used far County projects. She thinks that last year it went to nothing or very little. Chair Brown asked for a report back on how the School Park Reserve Fund has been spent since it was created and where it is now. Commissioner Gordan said that it seems that last year they did another round of cuts and the Board decided to restore them if the money was available. She remembers one was Lands Legacy and one was affordable housing. Commissioner Jacobs said that Information Technology was another one. Commissioner Gordon would like to see this list. Commissioner Jacobs asked for another chart that has the amount of money spent on schools and how that compares to square footage for County staff and why the Board of County Commissioners has deferred on certain projects in order to pay for schools. Commissioner Carey asked about the $2 million in the Efland Sewer Project and if next year is the last year in the cycle. John Link said that they have 7 years and the Board can ask for an extension from the Local Government Commission. Finance Director Ken Chavious said that if an extension is granted it will be for three years. He said that we need to provide the Local Government Commission with a timetable as to when the bonds will be sold. Commissioner Jacobs said that there are three projects with time constraints - community college, animal shelter, solid waste facilities, and the Efland sewer project. He said that it would be good to separate these out. Chair Brown would also like to know the time constraints of what the Board said it would do in the bands. Chair Brawn asked to add the pre-K facility to take the pressure off of the school systems because these children are using very expensive classroom space. She would like to see this as a capital project and the pros and cons. John Link said that Smart Start could help with this. Chair Brown said that the Chapel Hill-Carrboro system is using enough rooms for pre-K to not have to build another elementary school if the children were not using the classrooms. Commissioner Carey asked the staff to find out how much space is being used far pre-K. Also, he would like from the school systems their definition of pre-K as they are using it -birth to five years or three and four-year olds. Commissioner Jacobs said that if we are going to retain teachers then maybe daycare is something that is a valuable function for our government to provide childcare for the teachers. QuestionslComments on Specific Projects: Emergency Generators: Commissioner Gordon asked how many generators would be purchased (page 15-16). The staff will find the number of generators and bring it back. Chair Brown asked if this was a proposal to actually buy generators. John Link said that this is actually buying and installing these generators in buildings -Southern Human Services Center, Government Services Center, and the Whitted Center all need generators. Commissioner Jacobs said that he hopes that they will look at portable generators also. Chair Brown said that neither Carrboro nor Chapel Hill has emergency centers and they will rely on the County or UNC. She asked if the County had a plan to take this responsibility. John Link said that they plan to have schools available with generators (portable or permanent) and not rely on outside contractors for the generators. Chair Brown said that she remembers that Smith Middle School was supposed to have a generator. Rod Visser said that Smith Middle School is ready as an emergency shelter but because of the ice storm and with the downed trees, it was not accessible. He will provide mare details about Smith Middle School and what is generated. Donna Dean said that they are looking at applying for federal grants for the generators so the number of generators will depend on the amount of the grants. Equipment and Vehicles: Commissioner Gordon asked about Little River Park and haw we divided up the maintenance with Durham County. John Link said that the County provides the maintenance and Durham provides half the money. Recreation and Parks Director Lori Taft said that the money far development has been from grants but future costs will be split 50-50. Commissioner Gordon asked that this be reflected. Commissioner Jacobs asked about EMS and if there is an analysis of the rescue squad and their potential capital needs. Rod Visser said that there is some information related to ambulance needs in the short term. EMS Director Nick Waters said that the County owns the ambulances that the rescue squad uses and only growth will determine if they need more. Government Services Center Addition: Commissioner Gordon flagged this item. She recalls that the amount of money was $6 million and now it is $8 million. Lands Legacy Fund: Commissioner Gordon asked about the Opportunities Fund {page 28) and would like to find a way to restore it because it was $500,000 and now it is only $200,000. Commissioner Jacobs said that if we do not restore the cut from last year, it should not be a permanent cut. Spartsplex: Commissioner Gordon said that the Sportsplex was funded by the County at $400,000. She thinks that we need a fresh vision for the Sportsplex. It seems that after the capital obligations are met, then maybe the Board could negotiate a better deal. She is concerned that the total amount is $7.3 million. She would like to know about the last audit. Commissioner Jacobs said that he also flagged this one and the total suggests that the County needs to be more proactive if it is going to spend more than the building is worth over 10 years. Whitted Human Services Center: Commissioner Gordon said that the Board was supposed to get some kind of report before considering it further. Chair Brown said that it is being renovated at this time and the Board could get an update on the renovations. Northern Human Services Center: Chair Brown said that the Board let go of the funding for renovation work. The money that is designated here is going to help with the renewed septic system and allow expansion of the use of the building. This does not include any money for any update or renovation on the facility. She said that two years ago the Board let go of this money, but she would like to see this project move ahead because it is very needed and important to the northern end of the County. John Link said that the good news is that the big-ticket items -HVAC, the kitchen, and the roof are in the CIP plan for the NHSC. The Board of County Commissioners can control how far to go in each of these areas. The bad news with HVAC is that it will cost a lot of money. He said that this should not stop the Board from going ahead with the programming. Commissioner Carey said that this makes reference to a Commissioner appointed task force and he asked about this. Chair Brown said that it was she and Commissioner Halkiotis far the past six years. Commissioner Carey said that when the County Commissioners met with the citizens in this area, they told them that within a few months a task force would be appointed including citizens to help plan the facility. He sees these citizens every once in a while and they have asked him if the task force has been appointed. He asked if the task force was close to being appointed. Chair Brawn said that they are close, but they are waiting an the septic system to be resolved. The County has not bought this property yet. She would like to see this as a priority for funding this year. Commissioner Jacobs said that the NHSC report has not been presented to the Board yet. He asked if we have kept in contact with the community and if there could be a report in May for the Board and the community. Chair Brown said that they had a meeting two weeks ago and they will report an this. Commissioner Gordon said that she would like to integrate what the Cedar Grove Park is doing with the NHSC. There are bond funds for the expansion of ball fields. John Link said that the bond money is for the park only. Commissioner Gordon made reference to the mention of additional Durham Tech programs and asked about this. Chair Brown said that Information Technology put in computers out at the NHSC. Jahn Link said that Durham Tech could offer classes at the NHSC. Jahn Link said that the staff could come back at the first meeting in May to act on the property, which means that the Board can address the septic issue and the other items. He recommended doing as many things as passible to allow people to use the facility. Commissioner Carey said that the community would like to be involved in the plans. Chair Brown said that it would take one year to get the septic system operational from the time it was ordered. Commissioner Jacobs suggested inviting members of the community to the meeting when the NHSC is discussed. Planning and Agriculture Building (including a Farmers Market}: Commissioner Jacobs asked far a review of this regarding the Farmers Market. Chair Brown asked if it has been decided that the Farmers Market will go with the Justice Facilities. Commissioner Jacobs said that the Board discussed it as part of the external design. Fairview Park: Commissioner Jacobs said that co-location of Public Works has been discussed far this site, and there is going to be a meeting of the Fairview Park planning group tomorrow. He thinks that the possibility should be mentioned in the CIP of considering the County's Public Works site in conjunction with Hillsborough's 25 acres and the 40 acres that the County already owns and looking at a campus that includes all of these functions. Hillsborough gave the "go- ahead" at one of the joint meetings last year. He wants to make sure it is reflected. Greenways Development: Commissioner Jacobs said that the working definition of "greenway" should be included so that he knows what a greenway is. Justice Facilities: Commissioner Jacobs said that if the narrative about the Farmers Market will be included, then it should be reflected. It should also be reflected that the Board decided that this would max out the traffic capacity at the existing infrastructure in downtown Hillsborough. He asked what had happened with the hiring of the architect. He said that it seems like it has been a year since hiring the architect was discussed. Purchasing and Central Services Director Pam Jones said that MUNIS is taking staff time and by the end of the fiscal year all three committees will be selected. Commissioner Jacobs asked for an update page on "where we are now" for the joint meeting with Hillsborough. Commissioner Gordon said that she remembers a report and discussion on justice facilities but no decision was made. There were same logistical problems. She remembers talking about the parking facilities and the first group was supposed to come back with recommendations far parking. She thought the Board was waiting for the first group. Pam Jones said that she thinks that in December that the Board decided not to have a parking deck. There is no further area without encroaching on the park. She said that she would check the minutes on what was decided. Commissioner Gordon would like to flag APS and the animal control facility. She wants to find out if we are pursuing looking at this in conjunction with Chapel Hill`s Public VIlorks facility. Commissioner Jacobs said that there was a letter sent out about this. Commissioner Gordon wants some mare justification of the $2.6 million and the ca-location. Chair Brown mentioned Information Technology and said that there is a group that has been working with Chapel Hill and Carrboro for quite a while. They are developing something that has a countywide model to it. She would like an update on this. Rod Visser said that it could be OC Net initiative, which relates to fiber and working with the school systems and the University. They will get a written update on this as well as the feasibility of it. 3. Chapel Hill Township Park & Educational Campus iCHATPECI Interim Report Environment and Resource Conservation Director Dave Stancil made reference to page three of the agenda. The Board appointed a 23-member work group to work on a master plan far the 193-acre site near Eubanks Road and Old NC 86. The site is bisected by a couple of streams that are tributaries to Bolin Creek. He pointed out the site on a map. The park site is 100 acres and it includes green, low-impact recreation areas as well as a large active recreation area. In the next couple of meetings, the design and concept plan work will be finished. The work group will hold a community forum sometime in May to share the draft plan before sending it on. He made reference to page eight, which is a projected Town of Carrboro approval process. Once this is approved, it will not go through Carrboro's approval process because it is in the joint planning area. It will take about one year far the approval process. One of the issues is the name far the site. The Board of County Commissioners asked the work group last year to contact the Occoneechee-Saponi tribal linguists to see what sort of names are out there. These names are included on page five. Secondly, a list of potential uses is on attachment two on pages six and seven. Not all facilities on the list will be used, and the Board can add or delete as needed. Commissioner Jacobs said that one of the problems is sharing park facilities with schools. He asked about the shared facilities in this park. Dave Stancil said that they would hope that the school's recreation area would be fields that could be used by the community. Commissioner Jacobs said that he would encourage staff and Commissioners to be careful as to who has the say as to when fields can be used. Some of the fields the school can have a say of who can use and then the County should be able to do the same with other fields. This has been an issue in the past and we should think creatively. Chair Brown said that they need more specific guiding principles. She recommends getting more specific when sending this back to the committee. She would like to come up with a list of how and what is going to be shared (parking, fields, walking trails, etc.). Also, the public transportation and bus route should be included in the design right now. Commissioner Jacobs asked if a trail around the perimeter of the entire property was envisioned. He said that this might be an issue far the schools because they might not want unsupervised adults walking around school facilities. Chair Margaret Brown said we need pedestrian access on both sides and trail systems are fundamental to this property. Chair Brawn made reference to the passible uses and said she would like to see what is available in other parks the County is developing. Some of the uses could be eliminated because the uses are available elsewhere. She is in favor of having group campsites. This received na nominations in the group, but she thinks this is an important educational component. Commissioner Gordon asked about a pool and if there should not be one here. Chair Brown said that there is one about a mile dawn the road at Homestead Park. The experts said in the Homestead Park group that this area has too many pools that are not being utilized. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the list of features that Chair Brown requested and suggested that it also include mileages of this park from other parks. Commissioner Gordon said that this area is rural now but it is slated to become more urban. This might be something to consider regarding the uses. She asked about the yellow listing. Chair Brown suggested coming back with a "smaller list" later before getting into the details. Commissioner Gordon is concerned about having horseback riding and mountain bikes in with the pedestrians. Commissioner Jacobs suggested doing more "combined areas" -shuffleboard could be on a basketball court. Chair Brawn would like to see this broken down into haw much money we have to develop what has already been decided -the playing fields. She would like to get this park online as soon as possible after the approval process. The staff will come back with a smaller list of passible uses for the park. Chair Brown said that the solid waste piece must be decided by budget time. John Link said that he proposes pursuing this the same way the Manager's budget is done with a menu of things that must be done to go a step lower. At this time, it was past the automatic adjournment time. The Board agreed to extend the meeting for ten minutes. Commissioner Gordon asked about the infrastructure and the water and sewer and who is to pay for this. Commissioner Gordon asked about the names -English names and Saponi names. She said that spelling and pronunciation is important. Commissioner Jacobs said he likes using their language. The group can decide which Saponi name to use. 4. Informational Reports a. Impacts from FY 2002-03 Reductions in County Capital Proiects and School Recurring Capital DEFERRED b. Transition Planning -EMS Transport Component DEFERRED c. Public EducationlOutreach on Need for Solid Waste Alternative Financing John Link said that the staff would start with what we have presently as a budget and the programs provided now. This present level of service would require additional funding. The staff could give a special report on the Enterprise Fund prior to the budget being finished. Chair Brown made reference to the education piece and said that she thought there would be an outline of what the educational piece was going to be and how it was going to be presented to the public. She thought that the educational component would be more about how much recycling costs, what kind of recycling is done, the philosophy behind it, and information about the fee. She did not consider it very educational. Commissioner Jacobs said that there are philosophical implications as to what the Board decides. He said that we need to be able to answer why what we are prapasing is consistent with the philosophy that the Board of County Commissioners is trying to espouse as far as an environmental ethic. Also, it needs to be addressed why this is a superior approach in the different alternatives. Commissioner Gordon made reference to paying a flat fee and how this interacts with encouraging people to recycle and reduce their waste. She does not see the incentive. She made reference to an amount in town budgets far solid waste and said that the County should find a way to capture this revenue. She does not want to lose that stream of money from tipping fees. John Link said that his greatest focus is the short-term. He said that they left the last meeting in 1999 knowing that they had not resolved the way to charge the extra fee outside of tipping fees to carry out the solid waste goals that all of the governing bodies adopted. The 60% reduction in waste requires a great deal of infrastructure in order to achieve it. He would like to come back with a way to address next year and defer the major decisions to charge the fee until next year because he does not think we can educate the public in two months. Chair Brown recommended coming back in August and working on a decision by the end of the year. She said that the projections are accurate but contradictory. The State plan is now ten years old and she would like to develop another plan with another perspective. Commissioner Jacobs would encourage the Manager to find the time to make a decision by the end of the fiscal year if possible. Another option is that the municipalities could add fees to their bills instead of just the County's bills so that people understand it is a partnership. Chair Brown asked to see a copy of the tax bill and how it would appear. John Link said that if the Board decides not to have a fee, there would be a menu of reduced services. For example, the pick-up may be every other week and not every week. Commissioner Jacobs said that he was encouraging the Manager to make a case for why we have to start the fee the first of the fiscal year and what is the impact. He wants to know if the fee could start January 1 st and what would have to be done to make it work fiscally. d. FY 2002-03 Hiring Freeze Update DEFERRED A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to adjourn the meeting at 9:55 p.m. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Margaret Brown, Chair Donna S. Baker Clerk to the Baard