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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 20030424APPROVED 06!03!2003 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS WORK SESSION April 24, 2003 7:30 p.m. The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a Work Session on Thursday 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. Gordon, Stephen Halkiotis and Barry Jacobs COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill and S. Sean Borhanian COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr., Assistant County Manager Rad Visser 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. The Board added North Carolina Moving Ahead as item 2-a. The other two items will be moved to 2-b and 2-c. 1. Additional High School Space Proposal from CHCCS Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board Chair Valerie Foushee read a written statement. She said that the school board is committed to the southern location and is willing to finance the additional funds necessary to acquire this site. She made reference to the information that justifies the need for additional high school capacity because it is projected that the district will exceed the 110% level of service during the 2004-2005 school year. Additionally, a count of present Stn 6tn 7tn and Stn graders indicates that there are 1,041 future high school students currently living in the southern area of the district. Two other locations were thoroughly assessed and carefully considered. Each of these sites would necessitate compromising both equity and access for the students in terms of programming and other opportunities. They believe that once the Rock Haven site is acquired, with the cooperation of the Board of County Commissioners, the Town of Carrboro, and the Town of Chapel Hill, they will be able to open a facility that will bring pride to everyone. Valerie Foushee spoke about the budget and said that the architects have been instructed to design a school for 1,000 students. The square footage is approximately 182,710 feet -matching the Orange County construction standards. The total estimate for the project budget is just under $34 million. This exceeds the budget standards by $3.9 million. This excess is due to the land costs and the site development costs. The rest is contributed to the increase in fees and contingency funds based on the site development costs. She said that it is not the intent of the school board to fund this high school at the expense of their existing and older facilities. This will impact their capital investment program as it eliminates the new central office program for $5.8 million in the 2002-2012 CIP. Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Superintendent Neil Pedersen made the PowerPoint presentation. He emphasized the need far the new high school because by 2005 they will be 500 students over capacity. This is according to County projections. Regarding the Rock Haven site, it was identified in the 1990 master plan as a potential school site. It is within the urban services boundary. By building in the south, it would dramatically reduce the mileage and driving time for students, parents, and school buses. The Chapel Hill Transit serves the site. Of the 63.72 acres, 45 of the acres can be used for buildings. The site is comprised of three different properties -Glover, Fisher, and Minton. The combined appraised value of the property is $2.5 million. There will be generous buffers on the property next to the residents. There are bio retention areas within the parking lots to protect the environment downstream. At this time, there is no football/soccer stadium with a track, but the board is still hoping to provide more athletic facilities. The intent is to add this, or if not, to move to the Scroggs field that is shared with Parks and Recreation. Regarding the financial aspect, they believe that they have sufficient funds to construct this school. The site acquisition would be about $1 million aver what is budgeted and the site development would be about $2.5 million aver the budget. The total budget for the school would be approximately $4 million aver the Orange County construction standards budget. The school board has asked and the Board of County Commissioners has agreed previously to reallocate the $12.8 million that was scheduled in the bond referendum for the 10th elementary school to the third high school because it is a more pressing need. They would be requiring $5.1 million of alternative financing by the County. The school board would finance $6.3 million of the project and impact fees would be used. Superintendent Pederson then compared funding scenarios. He said that they are concerned about the impact of the new school on their CIP. They will be losing $12 million over 10 years in projected revenues compared to the CIP last year. The money they will need to finance the additional cost of the third high school replaces the cost for a central office that is in their budget. Therefore, the central office will move into the unfunded category. Regarding eminent domain, of the three property owners, two have indicated their willingness to sell and one is not interested in selling. They are going into this knowing that they may need to use the power of eminent domain, which is granted to school systems and the counties through the law. The down side of acquiring the property through eminent domain is that they would not know the final cost of the property until there is a legal process to decide this. His expectation is that if the cast of the land is more than what was budgeted that they will need to use creativity to make up for it. They are not asking the Board for additional funds. In summary, he said that he believes that they have clearly demonstrated that a third high school is needed and that the southern part of the district is where it is needed. They also believe that they have provided a realistic estimate of the cost of constructing a 1,000-student high school. They believe that they can open this school in 2006. Valerie Foushee said that the school board respectfully requests that the Board of County Commissioners approve the purchase of the three properties for the final appraised value and that the Board of County Commissioners grant the Chapel Hill- Carrboro City Schools Board of Education permission to exercise the statutory authority to acquire the above mentioned parcels by the process of eminent domain. Manager's Assessment of CHCCS Board of Education Proposal: Chair Brown said that this is an Orange County work session and they do not make decisions at work sessions. She said that there are copies of the Manager's assessment of this proposal dated April 24, 2003. Jahn Link made a PowerPoint presentation. He said that the County's focus is not about the site but the overall financing plan and the factors that need to be considered by both boards. They have included an excerpt of the school district staff's analysis of both the Rock Haven Road and the Eubanks Road sites. He said that the attachments were very important documents. the problem in this concept and they are asking far approval of costs and for condemnation. There is no provision in the North Carolina General Statutes far this approval to came to the Board of County Commissioners, but it locks the Board into the bottom line price at the end of the process. Finally, because of this system that does not work in his view, the Manager's assessment has the Board looking at the question as a whale and if it is something that Orange County can afford to do. Commissioner Carey said that the Manager suggested that the Board of County Commissioners ask the school district to pay for the overage of casts for land and this is an important element of a Board decision. Valerie Foushee said that the school board was in agreement with pursuing the interlocal agreement. Commissioner Halkiotis asked if district tax monies could also be used for capital projects. John Link said the staff would recommend against this because of equity issues between the two school systems. Commissioner Halkiotis asked the school board why they decided not to use the district tax monies. Superintendent Neil Pedersen said that they had heard the suggestion before about not using the district tax. He said that they hope it is evident that they have tried to come up with a plan that does not require anymore that is outside of their control than necessary. They thought that using the district tax would raise other questions. Chair Brown asked about the $29.9 million figure for the standards and how much is allocated far the land cost. Donna Dean said it is $1.5 million for 50 acres. The appraised value for this site is $2.5 million far 63.7 acres. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the page far funding options - 5t" page from the back of the CHCCS proposal. He said that last fall the County said that the balance for impact fees was $6.2 million, but there is $3.2 million in the school's proposal. He asked about how the difference came about. Superintendent Pedersen said that it has to do with debt service. Steve Scroggs said that they used the impact fee balance to pay the debt service during construction. The athletic facilities cost would also come from the impact fee balance. Commissioner Jacobs asked if it would be allowed for the district to build a downtown high school according to DPI standards because of the acreage. Superintendent Pedersen said that this is more of a guideline than a requirement. Commissioner Jacobs said that the Board made a commitment to the people who live in the area of the site to provide a public comment opportunity. The Board is committed to public comment for all school issues. Chair Brown said that the Board has to vote on the reallocation of Elementary School #10 money and it can be put on the May 6t" meeting as an agenda item to establish the quarterly public hearing on the 27t". In between this, there will be an opportunity to review the CIP at the work session on the 22"d Commissioner Gordon clarified that the Board would not vote on the reallocation of the Elementary School #10 money on the 6t", but the item can be put an the quarterly public hearing. Chair Brown said that her understanding was that she thought this was far a 1,500- student high school. Superintendent Pedersen said that they have had several plans under consideration but chose to build for 1,000 students expandable for 1,500. Chair Brown made reference to the unfunded proposals and said that she thought one was to convert Lincoln Center into a high school. Superintendent Pedersen said that this still was an unfunded proposal. There is still same discussion about it and it will not necessarily be a high school. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Commissioner Jacobs suggested a right turn lane on South Churton Street onto Mayo Street. John Link made reference to the deferred items and asked that any questions be conveyed to him, Jerry Passmore, Gwen Harvey, or the Chair and Vice-Chair so that they could be addressed on May 6th b. Review Proposed Process for Updating the Orange County Community Transportation Improvement Plan fCTIPI DEFERRED c. Proposed Revisions to Human Services Transportation Advisory Board B Laws DEFERRED 3. Informational Report on the Proposed Development Process for Orange County's New Senior Centers DEFERRED A motion was made by Commissioner Carey, seconded by Commissioner Gordon to continue the meeting until Tuesday, April 29th at 7:15 pm at the Southern Human Services Center {prior to the AOG meeting at 7:30 pm). VOTE: UNANIMOUS Margaret Brawn, Chair Donna S. Baker Clerk to the Board