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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 20050913APPROVED 11/15/2005 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS WITH THE BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES WORK SESSION September 13, 2005 5:30 p.m. The Orange County Board of Commissioners met far a Work Session with the Board of Sacial Services an Tuesday, September 13, 2005 at 5:30 p.m. at the Government Services Center in Hillsborough, NC. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Moses Carey and Commissioners Valerie Foushee, Alice M. Gordon and Barry Jacobs COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Stephen H. Halkiotis COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoff Gledhill 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 SOCIAL SERVICES MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair Rosetta Wash, Vice Chair Joe Robbins, Commissioner Foushee BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES MEMBERS ABSENT: Fabiola Porras and Harold Russell DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES STAFF PRESENT: Director Nancy Coston and staff members Gwen Price, Joyce Lee, Lindsey Shewmaker, Yvette Smith, Dustin Lowell and Denise Shaffer NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE. 1. Welcome and Introductions Chair Carey welcomed everyone to the meeting. He said that Commissioner Halkiotis is out of town. Everyone present introduced themselves. DSS Board Chair Rosetta Wash thanked the Board of County Commissioners for their support of the Department of Social Services and for the opportunity to meet and share some of the things going an in Sacial Services. She apologized for having to leave early but as Executive Director for the American Red Cross she has a training session this evening with volunteers preparing to assist with the Hurricane Katrina disaster. She said Vice-Chair Joe Robbins would present the Board's report. Joe Robbins said that DSS staff member Lindsey Shewmaker has copies of the DSS Board's annual report for anyone who would like to have one. Commissioner Jacobs asked Rosetta Wash how many families had the American Red Cross assisted so far in Orange County and she said that they have assisted 35 families from the disaster area (Mississippi and Southern Alabama} and these families are mostly sheltered in hotels. She said others are with family members and some have found apartments. She said that the Red Cross was training volunteers to be deployed to the gulf area and that they have trained over 80 people. Ms. Wash said that donations are coming in from the community through their chapter and also on-line and now the concentration is to make sure volunteers are trained and ready to ga. She said another training session is planned for next weekend and there are 90 people signed up to participate. There are also case workers working everyday assisting the families as they came to the Red Crass and they are asking all non-profits who have anyone show up at their offices to direct them to the Red Crass. The Red Cross is the point of entry for assistance for FEMA, as well as the Red Cross. She said that the process is for the Red Cross to house evacuees initially for 14 days; if they have to go to hotels, then they need to seek authorization to extend that for another 14 days. The Red Cross can also assist with the first month's rent for those who have found apartments or housing. She said that the community has been very supportive. Chair Carey asked about intakes and Rosetta Wash said that they are all taking place at their office in Chapel Hill for Orange County and they are working closely with DSS. Once the evacuees are in the system, they are eligible far FEMA assistance, but this must be done through the Red Cross. Jahn Link commended Rosetta Wash and the Red Cross. He also asked Rosetta Wash if the Red Cross was getting people coming into Orange County on their own ar are we getting evacuees through Wake County. Rosetta Wash said that mast of the people they have assisted are coming in an their own, as opposed to thorough Wake County. She said they are looking to coordinate services with Wake County. Chair Carey asked about training for volunteers and Rosetta Wash said that the Red Cross had waived same of the eligibility requirements for training in order to expedite more volunteers faster. It is a full day training and covers shelter operations, first-aid, intake, haw to assist with mental health issues, etc. Chair Carey said that he had heard that $72,000 had flawed through the Red Crass and Rosetta Wash said it all camas through to the American Red Cross and then the money is designated for Hurricane Katrina relief. Joe Robbins thanked the Board of County Commissioners for their time and for the $50,000 that was delegated for Child Care subsidies this year. They are trying to get sponsorships from churches and other organizations to stretch the money even further. He also said that they have improved their outreach and information efforts both through participation in local events and through their new website and various written publications such as the annual report. In addition to the basic work they are looking for innovative ways to promote self-sufficiency such as providing social work staff in Orange County schools, implementing multiple responses in Child Protective Services, seeking ways to serve foster children and working with other partners on treatment issues for families with children with mental health issues. Joe Robbins said that another problem they feel needs to be addressed is the issue of staff turnover. He said that inefficiencies are showing up in the operations. He said that the staff never complains but the Board recognizes that staff is stretched. The DSS Board is putting this on their agenda to discuss how to reduce the number of turnovers. Chair Carey asked what areas of Social Services has the greatest amount of staff turnover DSS Director Nancy Coston said that this is consistent in both public assistance and other areas. She said that about three years ago there were some issues in the child welfare area but that has leveled off. She thinks that the least number of vacancies they have had is 10. 2. Alternatives to Sheaffer House Nancy Coston said there is a document called "Sheaffer House Alternatives" in their packet that outlines some of the information about Sheaffer House. This program has been available to Social Services far about 20 years from its original donation by Dr. Sheaffer to the County. It had provided emergency shelter for up to 90 days for 5 to 6 children at a time as a juvenile justice and social services program. She said that Mental Health had never used the House for any of their programs and it was never licensed as a mental health program. She said that about 8 months ago DSS started talking about what was the best thing to do with the kids in the community in reference to mental health reform. They had already had some discussion before they received the notice about the issues of Sheaffer House, which involved mold, abatement issues and costs that made it cost prohibitive for the Lutheran Family Services (LFS} to continue to operate it, so LFS decided to close the home. In the interim, they have had to place children in various facilities, many of them out of the county and some of these facilities have been more expensive and not necessarily the program that they would have chosen as their first choice for these children. DSS wants the children to be served closer to their families and closer to Orange County DSS resources. That has not always been possible without having Sheaffer House ar some other service available. Nancy Colton said that they have had intense meetings between juvenile courts, mental health, DSS and some of the Manager's staff that have been extremely productive and has provided an excellent partnership. One suggestion that came out of these meetings was to look at what Durham County was doing with private contractors using therapeutic homes. She said that the therapeutic homes are similar to foster homes except there are additional requirements on what these parent families must be willing to provide. She said that the parent families would require more training and would have to agree to take children with behavior problems They would also get an availability fee which means they get paid whether any children are in the home or not. Nancy Colton said that in talking with other agencies that have worked with therapeutic homes that it was the general consensus that this was a resource that Orange County needed. She said she had a verbal contract from Caring Family Network that is already in Orange County and is also the same organization that is in Durham County. Caring Family Network has some homes that provide therapeutic, emergency care. They do not have any emergency homes for immediate available care. She said that there is information in their packets that cover some recommendations on how to address this issue. DSS is pursuing contracts with organizations and is organizing a meeting of all providers of these mental health and social services who may be available to Orange County. Nancy Coston said when they assessed the children from Sheaffer House they found that the majority were mental health clients. She said that they need to get children into the mental health system sooner so that the case manager can make arrangements for therapeutic services that might prevent Social Services from having to do emergency care. The way that this is done with the Juvenile Court Counselors is there is a liaison physician that is paid for with the Justice Partnership funds. The liaison is on a part-time basis assigned to Juvenile Court and it has been strongly recommended that Social Services consider having apart-time physician that is a mental health employee who would stay with Social Services in staffing their cases to expedite the children's delayed entry into the mental health system particularly in the current state of reform. The quicker they can get the children into the system in the appropriate program, the less likely they will get caught in a situation where they will not have the services they need. The Caring Family Network said that from the time they sign a contract with the County, they could have homes available in nearby counties within two months and resources in Orange County within five months. Nancy Coston said she would like to suggest that DSS da all four of these interventions but she wanted the Board of Commissioners to have time to discuss this. The other piece that is driving this is the statistics that are coming back to them on group care. Children are not having the kind of outcomes they would want them to have after they have been in group homes. When they become adults, DSS is seeing things that make them feel that maybe they could have intervened in a different way to make them more self-sufficient adults. The statistics from both the mental health and social services are not goad. They are acknowledging this and taking this opportunity to see if something better can be done. This is not to say that there aren't children who will need group care. But, if they need group care, DSS would want it to be in Orange County. Chair Carey said that when a similar report was given to the OrangelChatham Justice Partnership, they commended the Sheaffer House group and others for their rapid response in trying to make sure that the services we need in Orange County are provided in Orange County for this group of kids. The partnership thought this was the direction in which they should be going. Commissioner Jacobs asked if the liaison with OPC would be working with juveniles and Nancy Coston said that they would be working with anyone from Social Services. She said that what was proposed was that they share the person that is also with the Juvenile Court because some of the children are the same children. She said that they would serve any Social Service children that need mental health care. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the age group. Nancy Coston said that with Sheaffer House the age was12 years and older. These could also be the more difficult children to deal with so that is going to be the age group that the majority of the time is spent an, in terms of difficulty. There is also a need for mental health services for parents of younger children, in addition to, teen- agers. She said that many families are also in need of mental health services. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the $18,000 for the liaison position and Nancy Colton said it is half time for 10 months. John Link asked if this was an OPC or a County position and Nancy Colton said it was an OPC position. Nancy Coston said that OPC has not filled the position yet. She said that OPC has asked her if they could consider delaying this until Social Services made a decision about whether they were interested sa that they could participate in the interview process. Chair Carey said that some of funds in the $220,000 that was previously available have been paid and some of it may be paid back. He asked how much of the $166,705 (budget request from Social Services) was in the $220.000 and Nancy Coston said $165,000. She also said she had not actually looked at the Justice Partnership money. Nancy Coston said that the numbers are prorated. The Caring Family Network numbers are the ones they have quoted. They have had to pay some very expensive casts to wherever happened to have a placement. She said she thinks that DSS may not need four homes once mental health is up and running. Commissioner Gordon clarified that Sheaffer house could take care of 6 children. Nancy Coston said that they calculate for four children at any given time because 2 of the children could be Juvenile Justice children and they are planning for them. She said that since DSS refers about two-thirds of the children to the Sheaffer House, which means about four out of the six children would be theirs to take care of. Commissioner Gordon asked about the closing date. Nancy Coston said that on June 10t" Sheaffer House closed their doors because of mold abatement and at the end of July they told DSS that after seeing the cost figures they had decided to close permanently. Commissioner Gordon asked about the $165,000 appropriation and Nancy Coston said Wane of this money has been released. Commissioner Gordon asked how many children would be placed and Nancy Coston said that in the therapeutic home model, they have 1-2 children placed in each home and it provides more of a professional parenting training model. Sheaffer House served a great need for them in terms of having an immediate place for a child to go. For a social worker, that is a great relief, because they had a "no reject" policy. She said they need that kind of model for this to succeed. They need to know that a home or facility can take the majority of the children that are referred. Commissioner Gordon said that the report said that a stipend is given to hold the sponsor. Nancy Colton said that a sponsor would get $10,000 whether they take a child or not but they also have to agree that they can be called on at any time. Cammissioner Gordon clarified that the "payments to the Caring Family Network" is an estimate of what it may realistically be. Nancy Caston confirmed this and she said that she expected to put in two beds in November and maybe two in February. She said that mental health told her today that they are already looking for four beds for mental health during this year and then they will have some additional beds in Person and Chatham counties. Of course, DSS wants Orange County children to stay in Orange County. Commissioner Gordon asked if there would be a total of $ children. Nancy Colton said that there would be a total of 8 emergency beds in Orange County between DSS and Mental Health. She said they would have some children to come through DSS that would not meet the mental health criteria or are not meeting it yet and DSS would be responsible for paying for them. Commissioner Foushee clarified that there may be some overlap and the same child may be eligible for services of both groups and in that case particularly if it relates to mental health it would be referred to mental health and that would leave a place for another child to be served. Assistant County Manager Gwen Harvey said they could be transferred from DSS to OPC. Nancy Coston said that they get children in faster care where it is a treatment issue mare than a protection issue. They all agree that they have not done everything they would like to do in these circumstances. There is a lot of potential here and the group that is working is trying to address these problems. Chair Carey asked about an evaluation mechanism for determining if this process has made a difference and Nancy Coston said they were working on that and to please let her know if there are any specific items that the Board of County Commissioners would like to address. Commissioner Gordon said that they need to think about what outcomes they would like to see. She said it needs to be documented at the beginning so they will have a baseline for comparison. Nancy Colton said that they would work with mental health and juvenile courts because they have another whole set of outcomes and they need to develop joint outcomes. Commissioner Jacobs asked about Dr. Sheaffer and wondered why he gave his house as a foster home facility. DSS staff member Denise Schaeffer said that originally this was a home for young mothers and small children and then in the 1970's, there was a need for a home for these types of children. She said that Dr. Schaeffer remained somewhat involved over the years and continued to make donations. Commissioner Jacobs said it would be a nice gesture to continue to use the name of Sheaffer House to honor Dr. Sheaffer. 3. Medicaid Spending Trends Nancy Colton said that there are a couple of documents in the packet showing where the Medicaid dollars go. There are two different ways to look at spending of Medicaid dollars. The Medicaid reports come to them showing the spending of Orange County -what we spend an our residents no matter where they are served. Then Orange County's provider report shows everybody who bills and receives Medicaid who happens to bill from Orange County. The provider's report is much bigger than the paying report particularly because of UNC Hospitals. These are pretty significant numbers. John Link said that this money is coming in from other counties as well. Nancy Colton said that if you subtract the $73 million from the $192 million, what is left shows what had to come from somewhere else. Also some of theirs went to another county, although nowhere near as much. The $26 million for physicians is mostly UNC. The UNC situation certainly drives what is in their figures. Intermediate nursing homes are also fairly significant casts. This will give you a feel far who gets the Medicaid dollars. Assistant County Manager Gwen Harvey asked about others not shown on the report who receives Medicaid dollars. Nancy Coston said the report is very long and she only listed the ones who receive the largest amount of dollars. They actually get the report for everyone who receives these funds but it would be very cumbersome to chart all of the smaller recipients. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the regulations regarding evacuating nursing home residents. Nancy Coston said that she is not involved in licensing nursing homes but the rest homes are expected to have a plan in advance. Whether they have a realistic plan is probably questionable. A lot of times their plan is to stay in place with a generator. This is one of the issues on their list to fallow up with adult home care. Nancy Coston said that in the east, corporations have plans to move residents inland. John Link asked if the prescription line was mostly the hospital and Nancy Coston said that the local pharmacies, particularly the chains get a lot of this money also. John Link asked about the spending patterns of DSS budget. Nancy Coston said Medicaid spending for the first two months is higher and normally it is lower in these two months. She said that they do have more Medicaid clients and she is not sure why the budget is higher. She said that this does not include children that have switched from Health Choice to Medicaid. Gwen Price said they anticipate that about 300 children will switch in October. Nancy Coston said they have estimated $30,000 to $50,000 for the year for the children and this is one more thing that will pile an a little bit unless something levels back out. The pharmacy costs are one of the largest increases. Chair Carey said the state increased Medicaid in order to switch from Health Choice to Medicaid. Nancy Coston said that of course any new cases that come in would be in Medicaid. They will try to track to see where their numbers go up. Commissioner Jacobs said that he hopes they do track this and Nancy Coston said that they could do some averages. Commissioner Jacobs said that it would be nice to know which pharmacies are benefiting. Commissioner Gordon asked what percentage increase they had seen in two months. Nancy Coston said about 25°~ increase aver what they spent last year at this time. They had projected an 11 °~ increase. John Link asked what they were hearing from other counties. Nancy Coston said that she not yet heard from any other counties, but looking at the state report it appears to be a 22°~ annualized increase which is much higher than what was budgeted. 4. DSS Social Workers in the Orange County Schools Gwen Price said that they entered into a contract with Orange County Schools for providing school social workers {family specialists). This has been a great preventive program and from DSS standpoint this has been one of the things we have talked about over the years. What happens to children is greatly impacted when there is no prevention effort and this is an opportunity to provide some prevention effort. Commissioner Gordon asked about the location of these family specialists. Yvette Smith said it was decided to place these family specialists in the schools where the most students receive free and reduced lunches. Gwen Price said OCS has four social worker positions on their staff. Yvette Smith thanked both boards for their support for this endeavor. This partnership between the schools and DSS is excellent. They have had great cooperation. They have four social work positions that have made a big difference within the schools. They have been able to service and provide needs for families that they were not able to help before because they had four social workers trying to saver 12 schools. These positions with the DSS are 12-month positions, which allow the social workers to follow these families, even aver the summer. These cases are open and these families are serviced in summer months and we are able to help families in preparation and their students' readiness when school begins in August. These positions are described an your handout. They feel this is intervening earlier to prevent things like neglect and abuse. The social workers advocate for services and monitor progress. They provide case management services far these children. They make monthly home visits and if a situation intensifies and rises to a level that requires mare home visits, then it is possible to provide them. They bill Medicaid. They also provide transportation to the location of the services needed by the family. Meetings with the social workers, staff, and principals are held routinely. One of the principals has expressed the need to have a full time social worker in their particular school and has listed same of the situations that social workers face: a) They have a family of four with a student in kindergarten and second grader and a baby driven in a car. b) They have a family in which all the members of the family are incarcerated; the mother just got out of jail and has no support system. The children in this family have significant complex issues including suspected drug abuse, sexual abuse, neglect and mental health issues. This family is in crisis and their children still have to attend school. c} They have a family in which the parent has no transportation other than public transportation. She has no support system in Hillsborough. The social worker has to help this mother access medical care for her children and job information for herself. d) They have a family with three children and the social worker has to work with this family to help access mental health services, Medicare services and child care services. The social worker has worked with the parent who is a drug and alcohol abuser who keeps her children at home for care-taking responsibility. Commissioner Foushee asked what the average caseload for these social workers, especially with the amount of intensity they face. She said that they were all convinced that this is a valuable service and they are proud to be able to provide this kind of service for the schools. Yvette Smith said the highest caseload is 26 families with 40 children and these social workers must work after-hours. The lowest caseload was 13 families and 18 children. This is for one school. Gwen Price said that their goal caseload is 22 families. Commissioner Jacobs asked about guidance counselors and Yvette Smith said that they make referrals. The school nurse, teachers, and social workers also refer. Commissioner Jacobs said that this would have been a function of the guidance counselor in the past. Gwen Price said that some of the needs that the children have are outside of the schools and guidance counselors did not provide support outside the schools. Commissioner Jacobs asked if there were other counties using this model. Nancy Caston said that there are several that have done this kind of model and there are four counties that have similar models and other kinds of relationships. Nancy Costan said that the C~CS has contacted her to expand this program. They think three more social workers would have all the schools covered. This would be the three schools that are the second schools on the list. John Link said the one of the reports that the Commissioners had asked for from budget work sessions was the number of non-profit agencies that provide support in the schools in some way. He asked if social workers work, for instance, with "Adolescents in Need" or after school programs, "Volunteer for Youth" and how well all these allied services work toward overall intervention for families. Yvette Smith said that this was working out. They have to do a family services case plan and collaborate with all those services mentioned in the case plan for each family. Many non-profits service the children inside the school. There is still the need for the social worker to work with the family itself. This service is family focused, it is not just for the children. Chair Carey asked what part of the social worker position does Medicaid cover and Nancy Colton said about 50°~. Commissioner Gordon asked about criteria they were using for providing social workers in the schools. Cedar Ridge High School, Stanback Middle School, and Hillsborough Elementary are not on the list. She wanted to know what this meant. Yvette Smith said that they do have social workers in these schools. DSS has four social workers and OCS has four social workers. Commissioner Jacobs asked about C~CS having social workers that work for the school system and not for DSS. Nancy Coston said she thinks that the racial workers in the school tend to focus mare on in-school problems. She expects, based an the feedback she has received from mast of the schools, they think this is the kind of model they would want to see, regardless of whether or not the person is employed by DSS. Commissioner Jacobs said that there would be 7 social workers employed by DSS and four employed by OCS. 5. Public Assistance Workload Gwen Price said in the packet there is information about the public assistance workload and as they alluded to earlier that continues to increase. There are some charts to show the increases over time. The Medicaid workload has increased 42°~ and our food stamp workload has increased 88°~ aver the past four years. This is very taxing and demanding for staff, particularly in light of constant changes in policy and procedures. Our Wark First caseload has remained pretty consistent somewhere between 350 to 380 cases. One factor with Medicaid is that on the chart it identifies the cases that are actually assigned to a caseworker that is providing predetermination functions and the changes. There are also individuals that receive Medicaid because they receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI). People who receive SSI are automatically eligible for Medicaid. DSS does not have to maintain those cases but they do impact the number of Medicaid eligible people in our County. The number, 4685, is not the total number of cases in our County when we include the ones on State Data Exchange (SDX), people who receive Work First, and people who receive special assistance who also get Medicaid. When those are included, the number of cases we are looking at is 6299. Nancy Coston said that this has been hard for Gwen to manage over the last few years and this is tough on the staff and it is a statewide trend. John Link asked about eligibility for Medicaid. He gave an example of a person who had been working far a certain fast food group for four years and doing the same thing and making minimum wage -would he be eligible for food stamps and Medicaid. Nancy Coston said that the person who is working in that situation far $7.00 an hour is not eligible for Medicaid unless they have children or are disabled. Medicaid is only for families with children and disabled and elderly people. This person may be able to get food stamps if his income is below the food stamp level, which is $7.OOlhour. Chair Carey asked about language barriers with social workers in the schools and Yvette Smith said that they have some interpreters in the school and at DSS. Commissioner Jacobs would like for DSS to work with Clerk's office and put out a press release about this. The meeting adjourned at 7:27 p.m. Moses Carey, Jr. Chair Donna S. Baker, CMC Clerk to the Board APPROVED 2/21/2006 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS WORK SESSION SEPTEMBER 13, 2005 7:30 p.m. The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a Work Session on Tuesday, September 13, 2005 at 7:30 p.m. at the Government Services Center in Hillsborough, North Carolina. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Moses Carey, and Commissioners Valerie P. Foushee, Alice M. Gordon, and Barry Jacobs COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Stephen Halkiotis COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill and S. Sean Barhanian 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. Chair Carey said that the Board needed to add a closed session at the end of the meeting for the purpose of: "To discuss the County's position and to instruct the County Manager and County Attorney on the negotiating position regarding the terms of a contract to purchase/lease real property," NCGS § 143-318.11(a}(5}. A motion was made by Commissioner Foushee, seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to approve adding this item to the agenda. VOTE: UNANIMOUS 1. Chanae in BOCC Meetina Schedule The Board considered two changes in the County Commissioners' regular meeting calendar for the year 2005. The lime green sheet is the revised meeting schedule. A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner to Foushee to approve adding a Work Session on Monday October 3, 2005 starting at 5:30 pm at the Government Services Center (prior to the 7:30 pm BOCC regular meeting at F. Gordon Battle Courtroom in Hillsborough, North Carolina}; and changing the October 25, 2005 Work Session TO Monday, October 17, 2005 at 7:30 pm at the Government Services Center. VOTE: UNANIMOUS 2. Appointments a. Arts Commission -New Appointments A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Gordon to appoint Amy Lawson and Sally McKenzie for At-Large positions on the Arts Commission to partial terms expiring March 31, 2007. VOTE: UNANIMOUS b. Advisory Board on Aging -Two New Appointments A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Gordon to appoint Mr. Cary Cornette to a first full term expiring June 30, 2008 and Ms. Florence Soltys to a partial term expiring June 30, 2007. UOTE: UNANIMOUS c. Economic Development Commission (EDC) -One New Appointment A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to appoint Bernie Bean to the EDC to a partial term expiring June 30, 2007. VOTE: UNANIMOUS d. Historic Preservation Commission -One New Appointment A motion was made by Commissioner Foushee, seconded by Commissioner Gordon to appoint Tom Allison to an At-Large position on the Historic Preservation Commission to a partial term expiring March 31, 2006. VOTE: UNANIMOUS e. Recreation and Parks Advisory Council (RPAC) -New Appointments A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to appoint Denise Dickinson to a partial term expiring March 31, 2007 and Floyd Bridgewater to a first full term expiring March 31, 2008. VOTE: UNANIMOUS f. Transfer of Development Rights Taskforce -New Appointments Commissioner Jacobs expressed concerns about this board being too large. He suggested one person from the Economic Development Commission instead of two. He wants to meet with the Planning Director to see if they could reduce the size before making new appointments. This item was tabled. ~ Carrboro NTA Advisory Board -One New Appointment A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Foushee to appoint Ms. Susan Poulton to the Carrboro NTA Board to a first full term expiring January 31, 2008. VOTE: UNANIMOUS h. Orange County Planning Board -Two New Appointments A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Foushee to appoint Bernadette Pellisier to the Bingham Township position with a partial term expiring March 31, 2006 and Michele Kempinski to the At-Large position with a partial term expiring March 31, 2007. VOTE: UNANIMOUS 3. Fiscal Year 2005-06 Budget Follow-up John Link said that the Board engaged a cutting operations budget of $500,000 and asked staff to make recommendations on where the cuts should occur and also asked staff to pursue a reduction of $300,000 in the areas of Medicaid, health insurance, and energy/utilities. He said that they have taken their charge seriously and he thanked staff for their cooperation. They have identified $738,000 in the operations budget but have not been able to recommend reductions in Medicaid, energy/utilities, or health insurance. He said that they are facing a 16% increase in health insurance and he is recommending a $250 deductible for outpatient and inpatient hospital services. They are working with Commissioner Halkiotis on energy conservation efficiencies and those will not be realized in the course of this budget. He made reference to pages 1 and 2 of attachment 3a and said that these are interdepartmental initiatives and they total $550,000. The other cuts are on pages 3 and 4 and they are reductions in specific departments. ^ Recommended ReductionslSavings/EfficiencieslRevenue Enhancements to Achieve the $500,000 Operating Budget Reduction Commissioner Jacobs asked about Mr. Segal's report and if it may address additional savings. He asked when the Board would hear from Mr. Segal. These recommendations could be folded into the Manager's recommendations for cuts. Finance Director Ken Chavious said that Mr. Segal has given them a break and will be back into finalize things. He said that Mr. Segal's focus is mainly on the school systems now with collaborative issues. Commissioner Jacobs said that he would not want to eliminate the employee holiday social and the Board agreed. He asked about the mowing service at Blackwood and Cate Farms and said that this should be arevenue-generated service. Budget Director Donna Dean said this is just mowing around the building itself. Commissioner Jacobs said that he rents out acres at $20/acre far the hay. This will defray same of the casts. John Link said that they would pursue this with Cooperative Extension. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to #16 on page 4 and asked about the fees that are being charged for the after school program. Donna Dean said that this is savings and revenues. There are no details yet on the fees as the staff is still working on this. The final amount will be brought back to the Board. Commissioner Gordon asked that #7, Employee Development, not be cut. Chair Carey asked haw much funding is left after this proposed cut. Personnel Director Elaine Holmes said that it leaves enough funding for the programs already committed through January. The total amount left is about $40,000. Commissioner Foushee asked what keeping this amount in would allow employees to do. Kathleen Gaodhand said that what would be left would be far initiatives related to wellness, computer training, Spanish language, and cultural awareness training. The cuts would include customer service training, team building training, etc. Commissioner Foushee said that she would advocate for the supervision and customer service items. Commissioner Gordan and Chair Carey agreed. Commissioner Gordon made reference to page 3 and #11, the delay of hiring interns. She said that interns have been an integral part of the boards and commissions operating. On page 21, ERCD also recommends that this is not a good idea. It might be too late since the recruiting period is over. Jahn Link said that he would assume that ERCD Director Dave Stancil could be recruiting now. Commissioner Gordon said that Dave Stancil could go ahead and start recruiting right away. John Link said that he would talk to Dave Stancil about this. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to #9 and the Economic Development loan pool requests being lower. Donna Dean said that this is for the administrative costs of the loan pool. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the loan fund itself and Donna Dean said that there is $75,000 in the CIP that was approved several years ago that they have not used. Commissioner Jacobs said that the small business work group has met twice and will come back to the Board for approval to change the structure of the loan pool because it has never functioned successfully. He said that they might not need $75,000 this year. Donna Dean said that every year the balance would carry forward instead of having it taken out and refunding it once it gets back and running. Chair Carey summarized what the Board was asking of the staff. The Board agreed not to cut #11 (Employee Holiday Social) and #7 (Employee Development}. Regarding #12, Mowing service at Blackwood and Cate Farms, the staff will look at making it a revenue generator instead of a cost. Jahn Link said that they did not recommend any real cuts to services, but if they look at mare cuts next year, they may have to look at cutting programs and personnel. Commissioner Jacobs that the County should buy water in bulk and not use bottled water at the Southern Human Services Center. He has seen several different brands of battled water. Also, OWASA is talking about bottling its water and selling it. Commissioner Gordon said that bottled water is disadvantaging some communities. IF the county is going to purchase bottled water, then she would like to buy OWASA water if it becomes available. Expenditure Trends -Medicaid, Health Insurance, EnergylUtilities State Budget Impacts Donna Dean said that the State budget was adopted very late in August, so Budget staff and departments are still analyzing the impacts. They do not have anything definite to report yet. Chair Carey made reference to the letter he forwarded asking the NCACC for the information on the projections from the lottery for school construction. Donna Dean said that this is included in attachment 4b. She received information from NCACC on the proceeds for the next five years. SchoollPark Reserve Fund Interest Anticipated Fiscal Year 2006-07 Budget Drivers County Funding to Outside Agencies Benefiting the School Systems Commissioner Jacobs asked about the total of Commissioner approved County funding to outside agencies benefiting the school systems. Donna Dean said that it was in excess of $1 million. The biggest piece is the school nurses at $500,000 a year. Commissioner Gordon asked haw the list was compiled and Donna Dean said that she gave the school systems the list of outside agencies and asked them to give feedback on which agencies provided the schools services. The total is about $1.7 million. Chair Carey said that he wonders if the schools really know what these organizations provide for them. John Link said that this is a point of celebration because these agencies have some relationship with the school systems. He doubts seriously that other counties the size of Orange County have anything near this kind of support for schools from outside agencies. He said that he would be glad to look at this another way because everyone seems confused about the delivery of the information. Report on Lang-Term Temporary Employees Elaine Holmes said that during the June budget work sessions, the Board asked her to bring back a report on the County's use of any long-term temporary employees. The report is on page 9 of the abstract. She divided them into two categories -those who were regularly working 15 hours a week or less and those working more than 15 hours. There were a total of 136 employees over one year and there were 93 working 15 hours or less and 43 appeared to be regularly working 15 or more hours. She noticed of the 43, there were 1 Q who were working 16-17 hours. For those working over one-year and over 15 hours, she outlined in the report the kinds of functions they provide. Regarding next steps, she and the Manager have sent a memo to department heads, bringing their attention to the policy limits on temporary employment and asking them to monitor this and to seek the Manager's approval if they need additional hours beyond the policy. The Manager has also asked her to survey what other government employers in the area are doing. Commissioner Foushee said that this information begs the question of how the County would function without so many temporary employees. The information provided shows that temporary employees are providing services to the public. She still has concerns about how the County administers the policy for hiring and retaining temporary employees. She said that it would seem that, if these positions are necessary to carry out County functions, then they need to look at whether or not they should hire more employees to perform these functions and to provide benefits to them. She has a problem with people being employed in a temporary position for more than a year and not having benefits. Commissioner Jacobs agreed with Commissioner Foushee's statements and said that this was brought to their attention when they saw the State purposefully manipulate its workers to lay them off after 11 months and then hire them again. He agrees that if someone has worked more than a year, then they need to look at whether to provide benefits. He would be interested in knowing what keeps them under 20 hours. He thinks they should be forthright in what they ask employees to do. He is not so worried about the retirees who come in and work because they already have benefits. He would like to narrow down the 43 a little more. Commissioner Gordon commended Commissioner Foushee for bringing this up and staff far bringing such a formal analysis. She asked about the recommendation of staff to remedy this situation. She wonders if following the personnel ordinance would fix it. Elaine Holmes said that the policy originally set the limit on over one year based on 15 hours because of the exceptions. She thinks that what has happened is that there are instances where the original plan was to follow the policy, but the department has had to increase the hours for services needs. Commissioner Gordon asked if the departments follow the ordinance to a tee, would it solve the situation, which is that there are people working over 15 hours a week for more than a year. Elaine Holmes said that there are departments that are facing real service demands, and that is one of the reasons that they have provided the opportunity to come back to the Manager for an extension. If the ordinance were followed exactly, the situation would be eliminated. John Link said that there would be economic impacts. Commissioner Gordon said that the staff should come back with a recommendation of what to do. If the recommendation includes something besides following the ordinance exactly, they should give the pros and cons. Commissioner Jacobs said that to have the breakdown of the 43 people would help also. This also came up when they were looking at the abundance of overtime hours. John Link said that this would help them to focus on biting the bullet in terms of further benefits to carry out the mission of the County. He thinks this is very timely. 4. Capital Funding Matters Revised Capital Funding Policy Jahn Link said that they spoke to the need to work on the specific language of the 60140 capital funding policy, but he thinks this item should be brought back after we have a fully fleshed out understanding of the lottery. Commissioner Gordon made reference to the handout from NCACC about the lottery and that 40 percent of the funds ga to public school building capital funds. The County's new 60140 policy says that public school building fund money will go to fund debt service. She thinks they should seriously consider letting the impact fee money flow back directly to the school systems because she believes that when the impact fees were passed, the intent was to let them be used for new school space, but not necessarily have them restricted to debt service. She would like to take the lottery money and use it for debt service and let the school systems have the impact fee money back directly for pay-as-you-go money. Commissioner Jacobs agreed with the Manager about having staff further analyze the lottery. Jahn Link said that there is a buzz among county managers about the impact of the 50°l° that goes to support early grade class size reduction, and this will create a need for more classrooms and they are concerned about this. Chair Carey agreed that this needs to be analyzed by the staff. ^ Recommendations to Achieve Reductions in County Capital Projects for Fiscal Year 200v-06 Jahn Link said that these are recommendations for reducing the general fund tax rate by one cent, and they have given to the County Commissioners the recommendations to reduce funding by project or function (page 11). Donna Dean painted out that an page 22 of the abstract the difference is $1,188,000. Commissioner Jacobs asked for an explanation of the $50,000 cut of building entry access control systems. Donna Dean said that this was to be done as a pilot project and Public Works said that they could hold off for one year. Purchasing and Central Services Director Pam Jones said that they are looking at computer access to County buildings versus keys. Commissioner Jacobs said that there are some safety issues proposed to be cut, but he wants to raise the flag and then leave it up to the Board to think about it. Jahn Link continued summarizing the larger cuts. The largest cut is an page 14, Equipment and Vehicle Replacement from $1 million down to $332,000. He said that they are in a frugal state of how they manage the motor pool anyway in terms of the cost of gasoline, etc. Commissioner Jacobs pointed out number 28, Fire Alarms, and said that this was a safety issue also. Commissioner Foushee asked how many buildings were without fire alarm systems and Rod Visser said that they have more buildings that have no fire alarm systems than buildings that have them. Public Works Director Wayne Fenton said that the Battle Courtroom addition has fire alarms but the other parts do not. The recreation building does not and they are recommending that they be put in. Newer buildings have alarm systems. The only building that has sprinklers is the Skills Development Center. Commissioner Foushee said that she cannot support this cut. Commissioner Jacobs said that the courthouse could be addressed with the renovation. Commissioner Gordon said that she could not support the cut either. Commissioner Gordon asked about #42 on page 17, and the $50,000 cut from Lands Legacy. Donna Dean said that they took $50,000 from Lands Legacy and put it into increased conservation easements. It is pay-as-you-ga money. Commissioner Jacobs asked about Lake Michael Park and said that he thought this was going to be part of the band. Donna Dean said that it was pay-as-you-go and the Manager recommended CIP. There is no bond money going towards this project because it came in late for the 2001 bond process. It was a total of $150,000 that Mebane wanted incrementally over three years. She has been getting calls regularly from the City of Mebane and they are ready to move forward and they can move forward without the County's money at this point, but they would like to have some contribution later on. Commissioner Jacobs suggested moving some money from paving the parking lots at Whiffed and to have $50,000 for two years for #52 and #67. If the parking lots were paved over two years, then there would be enough money. John Link suggested paving the parking lot on the east side and the one in front of the building. Pam Jones said that it would be $77,000 to pave these two parking lots. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the entrance to Whitted and the debris and Rod Visser said that there was some internal leakage discovered. Jahn Link pointed out the renovation of the vocational workshop, #53, and said that it may be more than $230,000. Commissioner Jacobs asked if it could bleed into the next fiscal year and Pam Jones said yes. Chair Carey asked what they would not be able to do on #62, Solid Waste Convenience Centers. Donna Dean said that they have in the CIP, pay-as-you-go money for the next several years to do up fits at all of the sites, so it would reduce the amount available. It might cut into the concrete work at some of the sites. Updated Debt Issuance Schedule This is attachment 4d. Donna Dean said that the green highlighted areas are the issues that have already been pursued. They are now looking at column H, which is alternative financing, planned for late winter. The two new projects are $700,000 for the Animal Services Building (planning money and construction being funded in 2007-2008) and the new County campus development of $1.8 million (land purchase). There is also money included (row 89) far Justice Facilities renovations. Other major projects that they are pursuing for alternative financing include: - CHCCS - $8.6 million for their unfunded renovation needs from the original bond request in 2001. - OCS - $4 million to complete funding for Middle School #3. - $2 million for conservation easements - Senior Centers Rad Visser said that everything they have proposed tonight has to be submitted to the LGC for approval. Finance Director Ken Chavious said that it is his intent to have the LGC approve this in early December so that they can close and issue COPs by January or February. He asked that the Board approve this in concept as a "not to exceed" amount. Commissioner Gordon made reference to the salmon colored line and where the money would come from for the animal services building. She asked if it would fit into the 60140 policy and the debt capacity. Donna Dean said that all of these fit into their debt capacity for the next 10 years. The 60/40 policy states that all future debt would be paid with either property tax ar other designated funds as the Board decides. Commissioner Gordon asked if there would be enough revenue to pay for all of this. She said that maybe there is not enough money without raising the tax rate. Donna Dean said that in the CIP there is a project that is a reserve for debt service for future projects. This would be coming out of the County's share of pay-as-you-go money. Commissioner Gordan asked if the County campus and the animal services building could be done without raising taxes. Donna Dean said that she would have to review this because the projections were done about six months ago. Recommended Projects to Fund with 2004 Two-Thirds Net Debt Reduction Bonds Donna Dean made reference to page 24, which includes projects that the Board has already approved with the two-thirds net debt sold in 2004. The last box includes the projects the staff is asking the Board to give the go ahead to bring capital project ordinances back at the October 3rd meeting to get the projects underway. She listed the proposed projects. Commissioner Gordon asked about the total bill far the West Ten Soccer Complex and if it was $1.35 million far the debt issuance schedule and $350,000 for the County's portion of the roadway, lighting, and parking. Donna Dean said that this is for phase one. Commissioner Gordan asked if it included water and sewer and it was answered that it was included in the $4 million of the debt issuance schedule for the middle school. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the jail renovations. Pam Jones said that the Sheriff requested this before. They looked at expanding the jail or bringing in modular units. There is not an agreement yet. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the Central Recreation repairs and if it would be influenced by having a park operations base. Pam Jones said that a lot of this is far the restroom facilities being brought up to par. There are also minimal office renovations. Commissioner Gordon made reference to the sewer line for the Middle School Soccer Complex and asked if this was separate. Rod Visser said that most of this is coming from the Efland sewer band money and the federal grant money. County Engineer Paul Thames is working with the State and he has proposed splitting water and sewer projects into several phases in order to get water and sewer to the school first to get it open in August 2006. He said that there is no major concern that there would not be enough money to get water and sewer to the school. A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Foushee to endorse the proposed Debt Issuance Schedule and Two-Thirds Net Debt Bond allocations. VOTE: UNANIMOUS A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Foushee to go into closed session at 9:40 p.m. for the purpose of: To discuss the County's position and to instruct the County Manager and County Attorney on the negotiating position regarding the terms of a contract to purchase/lease real property," NCGS § 143-31$.11(a)(5). VOTE: UNANIMOUS RECONVENE INTO REGULAR SESSION A motion was made by Commissioner reconvene into regular session at 9:54 p.m. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Gordon to ADJOURNMENT A motion was made by Commissioner adjourn the meeting at 9:54 p.m. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Gordon to Moses Carey, Jr., Chair Donna S. Baker, CMC Clerk to the Board