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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 20050829APPROVED 1/2412006 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS WORK SESSION August 29, 2005 7:30 p.m. The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a Work Session on Monday, August 29, 2005 at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Moses Carey, Jr., and Commissioners Valerie P. Foushee, Alice Gordon, Stephen Halkiotis and Barry Jacobs COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr., Assistant County Managers Rod Visser and Gwen Harvey, and Deputy Clerk to the Board David Hunt (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. Stillhouse Creek Stream Restoration Project Update Dave Stancil introduced staff members Brent Bogue and Perry Sugg. He said tonight they would like to update the Commissioners on what is being done with a number of projects. He said that the Stillhouse Creek Restoration project is on the property directly behind the Government Services Center in Hillsborough. He said that substantial erosion had taken place on the segment of Stillhouse Creek running from Margaret Lane south to the Eno River. He said that Brent Bogue and Perry Sugg would address this project in detail later in the presentation. Dave Stancil said that there have been discussions in recent weeks concerning the Justice Facilities Expansion Project, the River Park area behind the Courthouse, the Courthouse parking lot, and the expansion of the Farmer's Market. In recent months there were two primary issues that came up related to the Farmer's Market. One involves being able to work around the edge of the proposed Farmer's Market footprint. The other issue was making sure there was a bridge adjacent to the Government Services Annex across Stillhouse Creek. He wanted to give the Commissioners an idea of what is being proposed, particularly the revegetation, shrubs, trees, and the proposed rerouting of a segment of the stream, which will create same additional aquatic habitat possibilities. This will increase the number of environmental education opportunities. Perry Sugg said they are in the final stages of preparing the bid package far this project that will go out next week. They are going through an informal bid process that has a cap of $300,000 and no minimum. He said that the engineer's estimate is under $300,000 so that is the figure that they expect to be reflected in the bids. Once they receive the bids it will take approximately six weeks to complete the contract with the state. This means it may be the middle of October before the project could begin. They would then have 109 days to complete the project. Dave Stancil explained that same vegetation might take 20 to 30 years to reach maturation. Perry Sugg said that the state is doing this far mitigation purposes. These streams have to be constructed under extreme mitigation guidelines and there are riparian criteria that must be met such as a certain number of plants per acre. They are planning to use containerized plants that would give them a little more of a head start, but they would still be small plants. Bioengineering would be used for the banks that will fit in with the existing structure. Brent Bogue explained that when this project is completed, it would look a lot like a natural stream with the vegetation and natural rocks and said that one new prefab bridge would go across. Commissioner Halkiotis said that he wanted to make sure that there would not be any cost to Orange County and staff agreed. He then asked about the third bridge. It was explained that one of the bridges, the Boy Scout Bridge, is being moved. Commissioner Halkiotis asked about the diameter of the pipe in reference to discharge. Staff explained that the pipes were 48 inches in diameter and Commissioner Halkiotis asked what happens when the discharge is shooting out "wide open" like in the case of Hurricane Fran. He wanted to know if this had been taken into consideration and what would happen to this restoration project. Brent Bogue said this was taken into consideration and that pools would be in place to dissipate the energy from the pipes. When seen in their natural flow state, the pools will look like little water falls. The pools would not be very deep but would be rock veins that come in from the side of the stream channel. When high flow comes out of the pipes the water would hit these stone veins, which would cause the water to turn a little bit and dissipate that energy rather than force it down the stream and erode the bank. It will be approximately a 10 to 15 foot wide diameter area and will look like a natural stream channel. Commissioner Gordan asked Paul Thames to speak about this from an engineer's viewpoint. Paul Thames said that putting things in a stream to change water velocity is a common way to prevent erosion. He said that putting the veins and dams in and spreading the flow out over a larger area will slow the water down. Restricting the flow of the same amount of water increases the velocity. And the energy in the veins causes the water to become turbulent in places as opposed to scouring. This is the kind of thing you want if you want to preserve a natural look. He said that you could make it mare efficient by getting the water out by just putting in a concrete flume. Commissioner Gordon asked if what Commissioner Halkiotis described, with the water charging through, would wash out the stream. Paul Thames said that all streams have some erosion when you have a storm of Katrina's magnitude. When Commissioner Halkiotis talked about how the water backs up, that is not the stream backing up, it is the Ena River. What happens in that case is that all the area will be under water just like it is now. That also dissipates the velocity. He said if you want a natural looking stream this is the way to create it. Commissioner Gordon asked if it would be possible to use some other kind of artificial or human made construction in the area near the Government Services Center where the stream is narrower. She said that the woods appear to be so close to the bridge that it doesn't seem safe for people walking back and forth. She asked if it was possible to do something else to slow the water down and do something that would prevent erosion of the Government Services Building, between the street and the first bridge, that wouldn't require people to go across the woods? Perry Sugg said there is not much that can be done. It is narrow and it is mostly rock structure. He said that what is usually done when a stream is this narrow is that planting is not done right up to the crossing and they leave a wider corridor. Commissioner Gordon asked if a retaining wall approach could be used since this is to be planted? That way, if you wanted to go from the Government Services Building to the Sheriff's Office you would not have to walk through the woods. She asked how far back the woods would be from the bridge. Perry Sugg said that it would be difficult to change the design and complete the project this year. Commissioner Halkiotis asked Paul Thames if the problem with the sewer system that was experienced in1996 down from the parking lot of the Finance Building had been corrected. Paul Thames said that Hillsborough has increased the size of their water line. Since that is the lowest point in the system Hillsborough was getting storm water into the sewer system, which is not uncommon for an old system. It is certainly conceivable that when you get a tremendous flow you may get that same kind of problem. Commissioner Gordon said that she does have some safety concerns including concern about mosquitoes. She said that she liked the idea of the project when it gets near the Eno River, but she is worried about the part near the Government Services Center. It is a very urban setting to have the potential of that section in conflict with the Government Services Center and the Sheriff's Office. She was concerned about going through the woods and the mosquito problem in this urban area. She said that she had not realized how densely planted this area would be and whether it would be safe to walk through there at night. Chair Carey asked Mr. Sugg to comment on the mosquito problem and these pools and the extent to which they would generate that kind of problem or will there be enough flow to keep the larvae moving downstream. Perry Sugg said he did not think there would be a mosquito problem. He said that mosquitoes mainly grow in stagnant water in heavy shade. Brent Bogue said these are vernal pools that are flowing and they should dry up because they do not have a constant flow going into them. Chair Carey asked if there were any further questions or comments Commissioner Jacobs thanked the group for answering his questions. He also said he and Commissioner Gordan had talked about the approaches to the bridges and he appreciated what was said about having some separation so people wouldn't feel like there was this over-hanging presence that might intimidate them from crossing. Chair Carey said that it is the Board of County Commissioners' pleasure that we proceed with this project. 2. Northern Human Services Center Update Paul Thames said that he wanted to let the Commissioners know that the drinking well serving the Northern Human Services Center is falling down. He said that this was found to be problematic when they tested the water after a fuel spill. They have not found any signs of fuel oil in the water. He said that the well itself is in the boiler room next to the old coal bin and it might horrify same people that someone would drink water from the well in that location. He said that another well was drilled west of the existing property and this well was tested and it came in showing a low pH, slightly acidic, but higher than drinking water standards of iron. The drinking water standards far iron are associated with nuisance, i.e., taste, odor, stains, etc. He said that this is not a health concern. He said that he and staff engineer Kevin Lindley have designed a water treatment system to deal with the problems that exist with the new well. This will require use of some fairly simple water treatment components. The water will be chlorinated and there will be a water storage tank inside. They will need a small, prefabricated concrete building about 1 Q to 12 feet square which will be set next to the west wall of the existing cabinet to hold this equipment. Everything except the water heater will be removed from the basement and there will be a good water supply for the building and for the park. Paul Thames said that construction would be done by the public works staff and that they expect to have this completed by February. Paul Thames said that In regards to the waste water system a great deal of time was spent in 2004 trying to figure out exactly what kind of technology was needed for an enhanced system. They calculated, based on current environmental health regulations and on projected uses in the park, that they needed about 6,000 gallons a day. They have selected Advantex. The Advantex units will be located across the road from the existing Northern Human Services property. This consists primarily of about three units 3 112 feet deep, 16 feet long, and 8 feet wide which is a fairly small footprint. Only about one foot will be above ground, mast will be in ground, which provides insulation for the water going through, and it makes it much easier for landscaping. They will use the existing pump station and septic tanks on the west side of the school building; put in a new 18,000-gallon septic tank. He said that monitoring wells will be placed on the down stream slope and nitrification fields along the upstream slope which gives you a base line condition for ground water and they will be able to see if anything might run into it off site. The projected cost is about $250,000 dollars, which should be completed and operational by next June. Commissioner Foushee asked if there are examples of the Advantex technology being used in North Carolina. Paul Thames said that he felt sure there are since the Advantex system is preapproved for use in North Carolina. Commissioner Halkiotis asked Paul Thames to explain what they are doing with the treated liquid product in the end and where it is going to be discharged. Paul Thames stated that it would be discharged in a subsurface nitrification field. The technology is exactly the same as they are using now except the field will be three times the size. It won't be sprayed. Commissioner Halkiotis asked what the yield of the new well is and Paul said that in a 24 hour draw down they get 38 gallons per minute. Commissioner Halkiotis said he remembered being in a meeting at the Cedar Grove United Methodist Church many years ago and the sinks in the bathrooms were terribly stained from the high iron content of the water. Paul Thames said that the existing well does not have an iron problem. Commissioner Jacobs asked if staff is planning to do a public information session in this area before this technology is installed. Paul Thames said that they have had meetings inviting the community to talk about the park and building. They have had some fairly extensive discussions with these citizens that attended including a homeowner on the north side of the system and at least one citizen on the down slope side of the system. Commissioner Jacobs said that he felt these homeowners would have more questions and it would be nice to have some drawings of haw this is going to look and how far from the property lines the structures will be and why they are not extending water and sewer to the building. He said that the other question would be are they planning on using any of the money Congressman David Price got for the County. Commissioner Jacobs said this money was available far Orange County to use either in Efland, Mebane (in the Economic Development district}, or at the Northern Center. Paul Thames said that one disadvantage of using this money at Northern is that they would have to go through the Construction Loan and Grants program for design approval which would add another layer of regulation which would mean another layer of time. The other thing is that the Construction Loan and Grants program is for water and sewer and not on-site waste treatment. Commissioner Jacobs asked if the money for this project was already budgeted and Paul Thames said that he understands that it is. Commissioner Jacobs stated that since they told Congressman Price that it might go into this project, they might want to do a written analysis of why they chose to do it this way. Commissioner Halkiatis wanted to know who ultimately would be responsible for maintaining this system. Paul Thames said that this is a system that falls within Environmental Health's purview. If they do not do oversee this then we would be looking at hiring a base water company. He said that the good thing about this system is that you do not have to be there everyday. There are all kinds of telemetry that gives you operational parameters and automated remote system malfunctionlfailure notifications. This information will be downloaded on a website and can be checked there. He said that we would need someone to visit the site in terms of looking at the field and making sure that we don't have any surfacing effluent, testing the monitoring wells, etc. It would be necessary to hire a base water operating company to be out there about once a week for 4 or 5 hours; for 2 guys it would cost approximately $800.00 per week. Commissioner Halkiatis asked who would decide if Environment Health would ar wouldn't take care of this. He wanted to know what the decision making process was in all this with respect to what options people have. Paul Thames said he assumed that the Commissioners would make this decision. He said that all waste water systems under a certain size or with certain types of technology have to have a certified operating entity. There is no technology fora 6,000- gallon system that would avoid that. Commissioner Halkiotis said he understood all this but that he remembers several years ago when the guy from North State came before them far about three meetings trying to sell their products to handle the problems with Piney Mountain and he does not want this to happen again. Paul Thames said that at the very least Environmental Health would be providing the oversight. But it is the Board's choice whether the Board would want them to be the operating entity. They can and are certainly qualified to be the operating entity. Chair Carey asked if they have to submit monthly reports an our behalf and Paul Thames said yes. Commissioner Jacobs said that the Board needs to model whatever behavior they might want in the future so the public is assured that it is being done in the mast responsible and most above board manner passible. Chair Carey asked if these containers, which will be about 1 foot above ground, could be seen from the road. Paul Thames said that they will be in the middle of the field, several hundred feet from the road, with tree buffers and the chances that you will be able to see them from somewhere off the site are very small. He said that once you get on the site you will be able to see them. a) Proposed Northern Park Master Plan Dave Stancil said that this is a follow-up from the proposed master plan for Northern Park report the Board received an May 3rd. He said that at several community meetings they engaged approximately 30 citizens who were asked what type of park they would like to see. Tonight they would like to follow-up with more specific questions that the Board had on May 3rd with the goal of having a sense of what modifications and changes the Board feels need to be made to the Master Plan. He said that they would also like to talk about prioritizing facilities. He said that they tried to design this plan bath in terms of what the community wanted to see as well as what might be practically possible and in the end they asked the public to prioritize what they thought were some of the top issues. (7ne of the things that they heard mast from the public at the meetings was that there was a real need for baseball and softball fields. On May 3rd some of the questions that they were asked to take a look at and come back tonight with were about the cost estimates that were used for the proposed facilities. When staff asked the group in the end to rank and prioritize what they thought the most important facilities were, they did have the cost estimates that were prepared by a professional construction cast estimating firm to help them work to see whether they were in some proximity to their budget which is $1.2 million dollars. Secondly, information was requested about the skate park, which has been proposed. The skate park was among the higher vote getting facility in the early stages but there are some questions about other issues related to the skate park. Thirdly, operation and maintenance cost information was questioned and Lori Taft has prepared a memo that is in the packet that speaks both to the skate park and same operation maintenance issues. Finally, the question of public access to the water body was a concern and Geoff Gledhill has provided some information on this. Chair Carey asked if the skate park David Stancil referred to is the skate area on the map. David Stancil said that is true. But that it is not the BMX type bike course that was discussed but more of a compact concrete or harder surface for skateboard and inline skates and some bikes. Lori Taft has outlined this in her memo. The given cost estimates for Phase 1 as shown on the Draft Master Plan are approximately $400,000 dollars. He said that to include the citizen prioritized facility costs as outlined on the Draft Master Plan is estimated to cost another $1.02 million dollars. Future work as listed on the Draft Master Plan is estimated to add another approximately $830,000 dollars making a total estimated cost to be $2.25 million dollars. Chair Carey asked if there were any questions on the cost estimates or the elements of the project. Commissioner Gordon asked when these estimates were made. David Stancil stated that the estimates were done in March. Commissioner Gordon wanted to know where the $1.4 million dollars was coming from. David Stancil said that there was $1.2 million dollars from the bond that was appropriated. There is another $141,000 in the Northern District payment-in-lieu funds. That would give them about $1.34 million. Beyond that they might need to look at what sort of facilities they could look at not building. Commissioner Gordon asked if the county could bid with an alternate. She said that she is concerned that the estimates are too low. She suggested that when staff sends it out the plan for bids then perhaps the county could bid some of the things as alternates. Commissioner Gordan also wanted to know if the skate park was basically a flat surface. Lori Taft said it would basically be a flat surface with jumps and half plastic columns. She said that maybe some rails either could be built into them. She said that available on the market npw is a micro system that can be attached and if damaged, can be removed and repaired. Commissioner Gordon asked if this estimate is less firm than the others. Marabeth Carr responded that one could be a little more flexible with the design and cost of the state park. Commissioner Gordon asked if the ball fields were lighted and irrigated. Marabeth Carr said the ball fields are lighted but not irrigated. Commissioner Halkiotis asked if they were planning to run any water lines so there would be water on the walking trails and at the future picnic shelter. He said that it is a lot cheaper to put the pipe in the ground at the beginning of the project rather than later. Lori Taft said that water {both regular water and hoseable water} would be needed at the shelter and fields and at the restroom facilities. She also said they would need to know how far they could pump the water from the well. Paul Thames said that water could be pumped anywhere they wanted to go. They would not run sewer lines; there would be a tank with a pump. Commissioner Halkiotis said he liked this preliminary layout. He also appreciated the attorney's opinion on water opportunities. He would also like staff to bring back to the Board the monies that were in the long range CIP for this Northern site. He wanted to knave how much of that money had been expended; which fund had been used for the well and for wastewater treatment; and what is left in that fund. Commissioner Halkiotis said that based on their experience from back in the spring when they had a very favorable bid opening on lighting the fields they were able to bundle up two projects and save some money. He wondered if this could be done with this project. John Link said they would be glad to bring back the funding information. Commissioner Jacobs wanted to know if the measured walking trail/track now exists and was told no. Commissioner Jacobs then wanted to know where it showed up in the cost estimate and was told it was not in the cost estimates since it was planned for AmeriCorp to do this. He said that he feels the costs should be listed since there is a good possibility that AmeriCorps may not be here next year. Commissioner Jacobs also wanted to know if this was the only walking trail that is being projected at this point. David Stancil said the intention was that there would be other trails in the future. Lori Taft said that the one trail that seems to be the most useful and beneficial is the one that goes around back of the ball fields since they have the opportunity with the ball field lighting to back light the walking trail off those posts. This would be similar to what is being done at Efland now and will also provide some security. Commissioner Jacobs suggested that these suggestions be identified as future considerations. He also asked staff to go through why they opted for the parking lot close to the skating area rather than nearer the two ball fields. Marabeth Carr said it puts more parking closer to the existing field. The parking that is shown out front of that building is not there and might not be there for some time. Commissioner Jacobs also had a question about the operations and maintenance memo regarding the skate park. He asked about the $32,800 cost and also about the skate park still not being supervised. Lori Taft said that would be the supervised cost. She said that they have studied this and worked with the Risk Manager on it and it really seems that is the price they can get. That would be putting the lights on a timer and signing it appropriately noting issues of hours, safety, risk, etc. Then it would be up to the participant whether they wear their helmet or not. Even if the park is unsupervised it would still require daily maintenance and repairs. The bikes can do some damage depending on how well the concrete is put it. Marabeth Carr added that the smaller parking lot would not provide them with enough space to meet the zoning ordinance. Chair Carey asked if the $50,000 play area was fenced. Marabeth Carr said that it was fenced since this was the play area far the daycare center. Commissioner Foushee wanted to make sure that what was being said about the skate park being unsupervised but with proper signage meant that the County would not incur any liability. Lori Taft said that what she meant was that the exposure would not be as great. Geaff Gledhill added that the county has governmental immunity and it is not a liability with responsibility issue. The county's insurance policy kicks in if there is negligence on the part of the caunty employees performing their functions. He said that from what he is hearing, the experts are saying this method of doing it is responsive. Commissioner Foushee said that it appears the liability would be greater if the park is supervised. Geaff Gledhill said that skate boarding is not the same thing as swimming; there is a risk that is inherent with the sport. Commissioner Gordon wanted to follow up on the governmental immunity issue. She said that a private citizen could wander onto the property which has an attractive nuisance and she understood that the County Attorney was saying that this does not apply because of governmental immunity. Geaff Gledhill said that is true sa long as the activity the caunty is doing is a governmental function and recreation is a governmental function. Commissioner Gordon followed up on the questions on the parking space. She understands that the 27-space area and the 62-space area are what are needed for the ordinance. Marabeth Carr said they would be providing a total of 96 new spaces. Planning would like for them to provide 163. Commissioner Gordon said that she wanted to follow-up on what Commissioner Jacobs had said about parking in the existing gravel area and if the reason they can't do the 5Q- space area is just because of zoning problems. She also wanted to fallow-up an the walking track because she felt they were making an argument for putting one near the ball field and wondered whether this other track would be a measured trail. Marabeth Carr said they could make this track a measured trail. Commissioner Gordon said that going down the citizen priority list there were a number of questions. She noted that they did not put the large picnic shelter or restroom storage high on their list. The ball field, skate area, basketball courts and multi-purpose field should probably be considered. The other things leave a number of questions. She really does not knave whether or not to build the skate park. Some of the other items appear to be questions that need to be resolved in the future. Dave Stancil said that the group did not actually recommend any facilities so there aren't any shown and unless the Board wants to add some sort of tier there is really no action necessary. Commissioner Halkiotis said that he would never vote to build a skate park that was going to be unsupervised. He also feels this would generate an editorial that would not be very flattering. He thinks that they have been extremely generous in their analysis of this and he feels that they need to study the issue a lot mare. The whole skateboarding issue really was an early issue coming out of Hillsborough because they were driving everybody in downtown Hillsborough crazy. Police were chasing them out of the parking lots. These kids are not going to walk all the way out to Cedar Grove to skate board unless their parents take them because they can't drive. He feels that an unsupervised center is just giving somebody a license to maim themselves. Commissioner Jacobs agreed with Commissioner Halkiatis about the skate park especially if they are over budget. He feels it is the most problematic aspect of the park and he can easily see something in the future work and give staff the opportunity to think it through. He agrees with Commissioner Halkiotis about the likelihood of someone getting hurt and the likelihood that it will be used a lot in a rural setting. Maybe they could talk about at the Fairview Park where it may be more likely to be used. He said that then they would be pretty close to the budget that staff has developed. He would like to see something that indicates a future visual amenity waterway even if it is just off the trail. He thinks it would be an enjoyable part of the trail to overlook a waterway. Even if it were just a picnic shelter or a bench or something simple, it would be giving citizens an opportunity to enjoy it without encouraging them to intrude on the neighbors. John Link said he had similar reservations when the skate park was discussed with the staff. He said that as they look at the skate park as a future phase at Northern or Fairview, are there numbers that indicate that there are a large number of 9t" grade males out there and has it been discussed. Lori Taft said that the parents that were there had kids younger than that -more like in the 10 to 12 year old range. John Link said that they need to do more research. He has had to ask a group of kids to leave from behind the Government Services Center. Skate parks have value but this needs more research. Chair Carey asked that when the public was asked about their priorities were they told that Americorp would construct the trails, so that they didn't factor the trails into their priority list. David Stancil said he was not sure but he did not think so. Chair Carey said he agreed with the rest of the Commissioners about the skate area. He thinks that any left over money should be used to go ahead with putting in some of the trails rather than waiting for Americorp, unless they are sure that Americorp is going to do this. Dave Stancil said that they would revise the master plan and bring it back in September. ( 3. Joint Orange County-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory and Action Plan Dave Stancil said the Board has discussed the fact that Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Orange County had all joined the International Council of Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI). As a result, a joint venture developed, whose purpose was to inventory greenhouse gas emissions and develop an action plan for reductions in emissions. Staff spent a great deal of time developing a Request for Qualifications and receiving and evaluating the results and identified ICLEI Energy Services (IES) of Toronto as the best possible contractor. During the last several months staff has drafted a proposed Memorandum of Agreement between the jurisdictions that outlines the proposed cost shares and responsibilities for the project, which will take place ostensibly over four or five months beginning in September or October. The Chapel Hill Town Council and the Carrboro Board of Aldermen have approved the MOA. They have been working on a draft contract that they will be bringing back far the Board's formal action. David Stancil told the Board that the towns have adopted the MOA so the Board should identify anything that needs to be changed. This greenhouse gas emissions project is basically an opportunity for our jurisdictions along with UNC to take a look at acting locally in terms of something that is a global issue. He said that over a period of 4 to ~ months there would be an information gathering technique that would be done in conjunction with a proposed Air Quality Advisory Committee. This Committee would include an elected representative from of each of the three Boards, one representative from UNC, three representatives from the energy industry, and six at-large appointments (2 from each jurisdiction). The cost of the project is estimated to be $45,000 dollars and this money has been in their budget for about a year and half and they would not require any new appropriations. He said that also included in the materials the Board has is a copy of the proposed MOA (Orange County's cost is projected to be about $13,700), a copy of the contract, and the scope of work. This organization (IES) has done a lot of these projects throughout the United States and in Canada, and mast recently in Arlington County, Virginia. Dave Stancil said that the Board will see references to the Cities for Climate Protection program, there are many counties included in the program and lobbying is taking place to change the name of the program. Dave Stancil said that the Town of Chapel Hill is considering a related project in terms of carbon reduction which might be one of the most unique projects that has been undertaken in the United States. This would involve working with UNC and at the power generation plant facility in trying to address carbon reduction. He said that there is a table included in their packet that shows a series of meetings with the Air Quality Advisory Committee. The first step would be to develop an inventory of what we are doing now and over the next month or two. The inventory will be based on the year 2000 and the forecasting will be based on the year 2025. Dave Stancil said that their intention is to bring this back on the September 7t" agenda far action and the action would be far the Board to decide whether to approve the MOA which Chapel Hill and Carrboro have already agreed to and then the execution of the contract. Commissioner Halkiotis asked what the University would be asked to do in a carbon reduction process. Would it be something like reducing automobile emissions by some kind of light rail system an campus ar something like the electric carat Duke? Commissioner Halkiotis would like to have some more information on this. Commissioner Gordon asked about the representatives from the energy industry and who would this be and what is the reason far this. Dave Stancil said it would be good to have those folks engaged in the discussion about greenhouse gases. It may not be Duke Power and it does not necessarily need to be the large utilities. Commissioner Gordon also asked about the one representative from UNC. She wanted to know was this because it is one of the entities? She understands that three entities are paying for this and apparently Hillsborough isn't. She said that however Hillsborough should be recommended as a member and so should UNC. Dave Stancil said that they would need to go back to the Town of Hillsborough to see if they wanted to participate financially. He is not sure if their Board had discussed this. He has communicated with staff and they were not interested in a financial commitment. They will test that between now and September 7t" and bring it back for action on the 7t". He also reminded the Board that they do have some grant funds from the DCHC MPO. Chair Carey said they should proceed with the planning. 4. Other Business Chair Carey said they have one more item to consider tonight and that is the resolution relating to House Bill 947, "A Bill to be Entitled An Act to Authorize Certain Counties to Levy One-Half Cent Local Sales and Use Taxes for Public School Capital Outlay Purposes and Community College Plant Fund Purposes." In summary he said that this bill seeks to provide certain county governments the opportunity to raise sales taxes, subject to a public referendum, to address school and community college capital expenses. He said that it might be possible to salvage their inclusion by taking this action to encourage the Senate to incorporate it into its plan if the Senate gets to act on something other than the lottery when and if it comes back into session. Chair Carey said that based on staff's discussion with the Board earlier today, he is going to ask Senator Kinnaird to pursue the substance of this resolution and to use her better judgment in determining what she can do. The fact that something survives the House means that the whole thing may be allowed in the short session. Chair Carey asked the Board's pleasure on basically ratifying and reaffirming what he already communicated to Senator Kinnaird on their behalf. Commissioner Gordon wanted to know if that was a request to add it to the agenda or a request to approve. Chair Carey said it could be added to the agenda or they could act on it if they wanted. John Link said he thinks an official action should be taken, as this would reinforce the fact that the Board wanted Orange County to be considered. Chair Carey said he had already communicated this to the Senator. Commissioner Halkiotis stated that this would give the citizens an opportunity in a democratic way to vote. Chair Carey said basically it gives the Board the authority to ask the citizens to vote if they decided to da that. Commissioner Halkiotis said he is in favor of doing this. Commissioner Jacobs said he is in favor but would like to add a sentence because their intention is to protect themselves in case the General Assembly does away with the school construction funds. He would like to add a sentence that would say "Orange County Board of Commissioners would not seek approval of such a sales tax if the General Assembly guarantees the continuation of the provision of school construction funds." Supposedly, if the state approves the lottery tomorrow, the lottery would provide the school construction money and then it would go away and wouldn't be reapportioned in the budget. He just wants to make it clear to citizens that they are not asking far yet another tax for no reason; it is only if they do not get the money that is already due them. Commissioner Gordon said this might complicate matters for Senator Kinnaird. She thinks that we could go on record, but not to add it to the resolution. Chair Carey feels this will give us some flexibility in case we decide to respond to whatever "they" do over there and he thinks they can do that without physically adding it to this document. A motion was made by Commissioner Halkiotis seconded by Commissioner Faushee to add the resolution relating to House Bill 947, "A Bill to be Entitled An Act to Authorize Certain Counties to Levy One-Half Cent Local Sales and Use Taxes for Public School Capital Outlay Purposes and Community College Plant Fund Purposes." to the agenda. VOTE: UNANIMOUS A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs seconded by Commissioner Foushee to approve the resolution, as amended, relating to House Bill 947, "A Bill to be Entitled An Act to Authorize Certain Counties to Levy One-Half Cent Local Sales and Use Taxes for Public School Capital Outlay Purposes and Community College Plant Fund Purposes." VOTE: UNANIMOUS Adjournment A motion was made by Commissioner Halkiotis seconded by Commissioner Foushee to adjourn the meeting at 9:30 p.m. VOTE: UNANIMOUS