HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 20060131APPROVED 5!16!2006
MINUTES
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
JOINT WORK SESSION
WITH BOARD OF HEALTH
January 31, 2006
5:30 p.m.
The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a joint work session with the
Board of Health on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 at 5:30 p.m. at the Southern Human
Services Center in Chapel Hill, N.C.
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Barry Jacobs and Commissioners
Moses Carey, Jr., Alice Gordon, and Stephen Halkiotis
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Valerie Foushee
COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey 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 HEALTH MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair Jessica Lee, Vice Chair
Matthew Vizithum, and members Timothy Carey, Rev. Sharon Freeland, Christina
Harlan, Sharon Van Harn, Alan Rimer, James Stefanadis, and Alice White
BOARD OF HEALTH MEMBERS ABSENT: DeWana Anderson
BOARD OF HEALTH STAFF PRESENT: Health Director Rosemary Summers,
Ron Holdway, and Danna King
NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE
PERMANENT AGENDA FILE 1N THE CLERK'S OFFICE.
I. Welcome and Introductions
Chair Jessica Lee made introductions.
Commissioner Carey said that the BOH changed two of their meeting dates that
conflicted with Board of County Commissioners meetings (May and June meetings}. He
appreciates them changing these so he could attend.
Chair Jacobs said that Commissioner Foushee is ill.
II. Items for Discussion
A. Health Department Strategic Plan 2006-2011
1. Mandated Services
2. Priority Health Needs and Projects
3. Facilities and Services
Jessica Lee said that the Board of Health enjoys dialogue with Board of County
Commissioners and they feel that the County Commissioners' support is important for
them to fulfill their mandates and obligations to the citizens of Orange County. Tonight
they will focus an their strategic plan. The plan covers five years and they believe this is
a road map for them and lays out areas that they can grow. They are open to comments
about this document. She made a PowerPoint presentation.
Health Department Strategic Plan
2006-2011
BOCCIBOH Meeting
January 31, 2006
Themes in the 2006-2011 Strategic Plan
Twa overall themes emerged as the plan developed:
• Environmental challenges in the context of growth and sustainability in the county
• Challenges of access to health care for vulnerable populations
Overarching Areas
• Community outreach
• Public health preparedness
Environmental Challenges in the Context of Growth & Sustainability
• Food, Lodging & Institutional Inspections
• Wastewater Treatment Management Program
• Protecting Water Resources
• Technology, Training and Facilities
Environmental Challenges:
Food & Lodging Inspections
• Since 2002, there are an additional 281 inspections required {16°~ increase)
• In the last four years OCHD only achieved 100% of State mandated inspections once
{2002-2003)
• In the past 2 years, OCHD investigated 11 food borne/point source related outbreaks
• NC DENR Regional Consultant's evaluation showed a need for two additional staff
persons
Chair Jacobs said that it was part of the State consultant's recommendation that
some of the money from inspections goes to the local health department. He asked
about this. Ron Holdway said that some is funneled back into the County, but it is less
than $10,000.
Chair Jacobs asked if the fees have gone up recently. Health Director Rosemary
Summers said that the State has allowed the County to charge fees for plan reviews for
new restaurants, but the restaurant inspection fees that the restaurants pay to the State
have not gone up.
Commissioner Halkiotis asked about the amount of the fee and it was answered
$100-150. He said that field people need to be taking advantage of emerging
technology to save time in inspections. He said that they could save a lot of "people
hours" by dealing with the information once instead of writing it down and then entering
the data later. He has been doing some private work with the Inspections department
and will be bringing a recommendation to the Board soon.
Environmental Challenges: Wastewater Treatment Management
Operational inspections of some on-site systems, all non-municipal discharging &
non-discharging systems, and all bio-solid application sites
468 systems with the re-inspection requirement in 1995; 1,962 systems now require
re-inspection
• No positions have been added far this program since its inception in 1995
Environmental Challenges: Protecting Water Resources
• Continuation of 2002-2004 Strategic Plan
• Focus is on water monitoring, surveillance & education
• Relates to previous county commissioner goals and to the State of the Environment
Report
Environmental Challenges: Protecting Water Resources
• Private well database is growing; 1,666 are currently in GIS layer with information;
have electronic data on 7,752 wells
• 300-400 new well permits per year
• Approx. 400 water samples in FY04-05 - we are on track to double that number this
FY
• Septic system education & maintenance key
• Financing study completed
• Pharmaceutical disposal study completed
Commissioner Gordan asked about new wells coming in and if they are always
put on the GIS and Alan Rimer said yes.
Commissioner Carey asked what has to happen to get the remaining wells put on
the GIS layer. Alan Rimer said that the existing wells need to be surveyed in.
Environmental Challenges: Protecting Water Resources
• Develop comprehensive plan and implementation strategies with water resource
partners {e.g., CFE, utilities, NC DENR, non-profits}
• Establish a monitoring program {both surface and ground water)
• Educate contractors, realtors, & homeowners
• Establish incentive programs for homeowners for septic system maintenance
• Continue special projects for communities (e.g., Mill Creek, Rogers Road, Bradshaw
Quarry, ASC Quarry)
• Apply for a CWMTF grant
Environmental Challenges:
Technology, Training, & Facilities
• Field based technologies (GPS based PC notebook and other handheld, mobile
technologies) needed to improve services to clients & build databases for analysis
• Need to keep software current for GIS and Accela {Permits Plus)
• Emerging pathogens, waste and water technologies and analysis possibilities require
constant staff training
• Inadequate space far staff and unsafe filing systems
Commissioner Carey asked if any other counties or states are using incentive
programs for septic systems and Alan Rimer said yes. For example, the new septic
tanks in Watauga County are mandated to go onto a maintenance program and the
older septic tanks are being considered for incentive programs. He said that the
incentive program could be anything such as helping to have the septic pumped out
every two years, or taking the sludge to OWASA. He said that they now know whenever
a septic load is taken to OWASA.
Challenges in Access to Health Care for Vulnerable Populations
• Chronic Disease Prevention
• Access to Medical and Dental Care
Challenges to Access to Care:
Chronic Disease Prevention
• Focus on diabetes, obesity, & tobacco
- 17 deaths each year due directly to diabetes
- 18.7°lo children are overweight or obese
- 22.2°~ adolescents are overweight or obese
- 48.7°lo adults are overweight ar obese
• Reduce tobacco use among teens & adults
- Targets of $°~ far middle school, 19.1 °~ far high school, 12.5°~ for adults
• Obesity & tobacco use are major contributors to other health problems
Challenges to Access to Care:
Chronic Disease Prevention
• Teen Tobacco Grant ending 2/28/06; re-funded far additional 3 years 7/06-6109; both
districts
• 2005 YRBS results show a 5°lo and 12% drop in high school smokers in both districts
• 1.5 Registered dieticians booked with individual sessions & classes an weight
management
• Schools actively engaged in policy changes
• Redefined nursing position to address chronic disease efforts in the community
Challenges to Access to Care:
Chronic Disease Prevention
• Re-energize partnerships to develop a county-wide plan for addressing obesity
• Seek additional funding for expansion of chronic disease screening, referrals, and
case management of high-risk populations
• Develop cross cutting community wide prevention and promotion campaigns
Challenges to Access to Care: Medical & Dental Services
• Reported 3-month waiting list to become new patient at Carrboro Community Health
Center for medical care
• Dental has a 10 -12 month recall list
• Dental emergency care requests have doubled in the last 2 years
Challenges to Access to Care: Medical & Dental Services
• Started primary care in 200b in Hillsborough; about 231 regular patients
• Evening clinics in both locations
• Added another night for free dental clinic through SHAC in Carrboro
• Central Carolina Health Network formed
• Need: Provide dental services 5 days/wk at both locations
Challenges to Access to Care: Technology, Training, & Facilities
• Aging software systems for patient charting, billing and data collection
• Technology efficiencies for field based staff
• Training needs far staff have increased with increasing complexity of medical and
dental practice
• Clinical facilities too small for patient loads
• Evaluation of cost of supporting dual clinical sites
Commissioner Halkiotis said that several years back, some departments like the
Health Department had a Tech Support person and Rosemary Summers said that they
were supporting part of the position for Social Services and they are no longer
supporting that position. It is totally a Social Services position.
Chair Jacobs asked about the rent in Carrboro and it was answered
$58,OOOIyear.
Commissioner Carey asked about the cost of dual clinical sites and Rosemary
Summers said that as they ask far new facilities, they are going to look at the cost of
facilities at both ends of the counties.
Chair Jacobs asked if they have revisited the original proposal for the dental
facility at Southern Human Services Center and Rosemary Summers said na. Chair
Jacobs said that he would be interested in them looking at that and Rosemary Summers
said that they would.
Overarching: Community Outreach and Education
• Clearly articulate & raise awareness of who we are, what we do and what we stand
for
• Increase knowledge of the breadth & depth of services that benefit all community
members
• Educate on emerging health issues: dental health, obesity, tobacco use, diabetes,
asthma, lead, air and water quality
Overarching: Community Outreach & Education
• Develop a comprehensive outreach, education & communication plan that includes
environmental issues in the context of health
• Create additional tools that aid the community in areas such as environmental health,
vital records
• Improve two-way communication between the public and the department
Overarching:
Public Health Preparedness
• Involves many community & county partners
• 2grant-funded positions:
- Preparedness coordinator has enabled department to move forward quickly in
partnership
- Volunteer coordinator has recruited and trained around 200 health professional
volunteers
• Federal grant for Medical Reserve Corps is ending 9106 (volunteer coordination}
$50,000
• May have a 15% cut {$10,200} to our preparedness allocation in 06-07
FY 2006-2007
Priorities must be on those areas that we are mandated to accomplish
- Restaurant inspections
- WTMP monitoring visits
- Public health preparedness
• Seeking grant funding for expansion initiatives in the areas of water quality
monitoring, dental clinical expansion, and chronic disease initiatives
OCHD Commitment
Continue providing the highest quality public health services that we are able to do
within our budget
Rosemary Summers said that they have over 200 volunteers in the medical
reserve corps and these include nurses, pharmacists, mental health professionals, and
social workers and they would like to expand beyond health professions into same
citizens that want to volunteer and can get trained.
Commissioner Halkiotis said that this is a wonderful program and should be
renewed every year.
Chair Jacobs asked if they had looked at other communities and haw they
operated after the grant and Rosemary Summers said that they would but there are only
a few counties in North Carolina that have had the grant.
Jessica Lee said that they have presented a lot of ideas of areas that they would
like to grow in and they are looking at additional areas of additional funding, but they
need Board of County Commissioners funding also. There are many technological
needs.
Commissioner Halkiotis made reference to restaurant inspections and that
restaurants are inspected four times a year. He asked if the results are posted on a
website somewhere and Ron Holdway said that they only post the score on the County
website, but they do not have the ability to post other information. Ron Holdway said
that they have three inspectors doing restaurant inspections.
B. Feedback from Commissioners
Commissioner Halkiotis said that he had dental procedures several years ago
and it was very expensive. He wonders what people do if they do not have a dental
plan. He questioned some dentists and learned that older people do not have the work
done. He said that there are a lot of children and others who would be worse off if not
far the Health Department's services.
Commissioner Halkiotis said that he hopes that they will revisit the dental facility
for the Southern Human Services Center.
Chair Jacobs asked if they would be interested in meeting with the Town of
Hillsborough about bio-solids since Hillsborough is now talking with Durham about
possibly treating wastewater.
Alan Rimer said that they were approached last year by neighbors of an
application site in Alamance County, and they expressed some real concerns. There
was a presentation recently that said that they would need ahalf-mile buffer around
every bio-solids application site in the State. The bottom line is, unless it is class A
sludge (it can be treated and has no industrial waste in it} - it can contain pathogens,
which could have a real public health impact. He thinks they owe it to citizens that are
near application areas that are not OWASA's sludge to participate in a meeting with
Hillsborough.
Alan Rimer said that they have a workgroup that will be looking at this issue
specifically, and they can came back with their findings and then they can facilitate a
political discussion.
Commissioner Carey asked about OWASA being classified as Class A and if
they are the only one and Alan Rimer said that Raleigh is seeking Class A also. He
does not think they have a chance because the Neuse River plant has so much
industrial waste in it.
Rosemary Summers said that you can ask the State to do an evaluation of your
programs, and they chose to have an evaluation of the wastewater side of
Environmental Health. The legislature passed the mandatory accreditation of local
health departments. Orange County is slated to enter the accreditation stream in 2008,
so having quality assurance pieces in place in the Health Department will be really
important. There will be more program evaluations in the next few years that are done
on a line to getting quality assurance in place.
Chair Jacobs asked about primary care of the 231 regular patients and
Rosemary Summers said that they do know if they are children or adults and where they
come from. Those patients have made over 400 visits. The criteria are that they had to
have already been enrolled in one of the preventive programs. Chair Jacobs asked to
see the data.
The meeting adjourned at 7:15 p.m.
Barry Jacobs, Chair
Donna S. Baker
Clerk to the Board
APPROVED 4!18/2006
MINUTES
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
WORK SESSION
January 31, 2006
7:30 p.m.
The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a work session on Tuesday, January
31, 2006 at 7:30 p.m. at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Barry Jacobs and Commissioners Moses
Carey, Jr., Valerie P. Foushee, Alice M. Gordon, and Steve Halkiotis
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT:
COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill
COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr., Assistant County
Managers Gwen Harvey and Rod Visser, and Clerk to the Board Donna S. Baker (All other staff
members will be identified appropriately below)
NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT
AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE
Chair Jacobs suggested that since Commissioner Foushee is feeling under the weather and
Commissioner Carey has to leave early, they would do the child care task force item first.
2. Child Care Task Force
Assistant County Manager Gwen Harvey said that she and Social Services Director Nancy
Coston were here as support staff and they had attended the child care summit for affordable
child care in Orange County. The information was in the retreat notebook and is also on the
abstract.
Commissioner Carey said that this task force would be developing a charge and timeline.
He encouraged Gwen Harvey to get as much of the business community involved as possible,
financially and otherwise. He said that there should be a process, or action steps, to achieve
the goals that are listed.
Commissioner Foushee said that in listing the goals, one of the most important goals of
convening the task force is to look at quality of childcare services and providing early childhood
education. She said that they heard at this meeting that they will be partnering with the Orange
County Partnership far Young Children, Child Care Services Association, and Department of
Social Services. She said that this is not just an ongoing dialogue about the situation, but steps
to create efforts to mitigate some of the factors that are impacting childcare.
Commissioner Halkiotis added that both Nancy Coston and John Link were present at the
Partnership far Young Children board meeting recently, and there was a consultant that talked
about fundraising. He said that the importance of the business community being involved
cannot be overstated. Michele Rivest, Director of the Orange County Partnership for Young
Children, did a presentation last year on the economic impact of a good childcare program in
Orange County. He said that both chambers need to be involved to make this happen. He said
that there is an attitude out in the state that government should not be involved in childcare. He
said that you could send your child to UNC-Chapel Hill for less money than you can get quality
childcare in Orange County. He wants to bring in the business community, both chambers of
commerce, and add in the economic development piece -that when you empower families, you
empower business and the economy.
Commissioner Gordon agreed with Commissioner Faushee and said that the issue is not
just affordable childcare, but quality childcare and that early childhood education is important.
Chair Jacobs said that he, Commissioner Halkiotis, John Link, and Economic Development
Director Dianne Reid met with the Chapel Hill Chamber yesterday, and they are trying to
improve their relationship. He said that this could be something that they could aggressively
pursue as a partnership. They also attended a planning meeting for the Central Orange Senior
Center, and the management of the Sportsplex was talking about daycare. This is another
opportunity.
Chair Jacobs asked if there was any interest in looking at facilities. He made reference to
Durham Tech and said that they did not talk about having any kind of child care facility. There
will be parents that will be attending Durham Tech, and maybe it would be good to include
childcare in County facilities such as court or community college facilities. He said that as they
think of capital projects, they need to examine if childcare should be included.
Gwen Harvey said that they would come back with a proposed charge and composition of
this task force and then have the Board confirm it.
John Link said that it would be a good idea to keep some quantitative measures in front of
everyone during this process, especially if they are asking the public to get involved. He said
that there is a notorious waiting list for daycare placement at DSS and Child Care Services. He
said that it is a good idea to talk about public buildings having daycare centers. A five-star
daycare center has a rigid set of criteria, and this needs to be discussed thoroughly.
Chair Jacobs said that UNC wants to constitute another advisory group about Carolina
North, and this would be a good opportunity to introduce the idea of incorporating child care at
least for the people who work and live at the site.
Commissioner Halkiotis asked about the list of employers in Orange County that provide
some semblance of childcare assistance to their employees. He would like to see this list.
The County Commissioners also asked for the list of employers that employ beneficiaries of
the substantive program.
1. Follow-up from BOCC Retreat
a} Goals and Objectives
b) BOCC Priorities
Chair Jacobs said that they had previously discussed talking about items that the County
Commissioners wanted to discuss and skipping over those that they did not want to discuss.
Commissioner Gordon asked what they wanted to have accomplished tonight.
Chair Jacobs said that there was some of the County Commissioners that had goals
they had not seen in a while and they wanted them updated. The desired outcome is to have
some clarity of how they relate to what is going on now and beyond.
Commissioner Gordon said that she is not sure what to do with all of these goals
because some dates are in the past and she is not sure what they are going to do tonight. She
said that it would be difficult to discuss without updated timelines. She suggested flagging goals
that they would like to update.
John Link said that the staff provided the Board with one page of updated information
with the accomplishments since 20Q2.
Commissioner Gordon said that between now and the budget, they need to look at the
Board of County Commissioners' priorities.
Commissioner Halkiotis said that he looked at the goals and objectives as a historical
document of what the Board of County Commissioners has put together, along with promptings
from various boards and commissions.
Chair Jacobs said that Commissioner Foushee has not had the opportunity to know this
information of the goals and objectives, and he sees this as a refresher for some of them and
new to Commissioner Foushee.
Commissioner Foushee said that she looked at this in a different way, and she put the
goals within the context of the priorities. She said that she looked at this as an opportunity to
determine how the priorities are going to be incorporated in the budget. She said that she is
thinking about where these priorities are and how they get into next year's budget and she is
interested in what they are going to fund.
Commissioner Carey said that he was hoping that this year that the Manager and the
staff were going to take certain priorities and come up with a plan and the estimated costs of
getting them done. He was worried about staff time and he wants to start with the priorities.
Chair Jacobs said that he just wants to flag goals. For example, under Long Range and
Current Planning, there is a Telecommunications Towers goal, which says, "since the new
ordinance went into effect, there have been no towers proposed that would be a class A special
use permit, but there have been eight class B special use permits." He said that this brings to
mind where they are with the consultant to do the telecommunications siting plan. Chair Jacobs
wanted to know if this is a satisfactory system if everyone is coming in with class B special use
permits so that they do not have to deal with the County Commissioners. He asked if it was a
priority to fund the telecommunications study and what the cost would be. He said that a 350-
foot tower was being proposed by Piedmont Electric Membership Corporation.
Craig Benedict said that the telecommunications goal had two parts and one was to
modify the ordinance to have heightened regulations and the other part was to develop a master
plan on how to limit the total amount of towers and promote co-location. To do that, they could
get a consultant. A consultant has helped the County to review the private sector towers that
have come in. They are suggesting hiring the same consultant to represent the County to help
them identify new locations. He said that a consultant could come in and receive a percentage
of the revenue stream that would come in from the telecommunication providers, or they could
work on an hourly basis ($150-200/hour). He said that Piedmont Electric does want to put up a
350-foot tower and remove the 150-foot tower they have off of NC 86, just north of Stanback
Middle School. The County and the State have been in communication with them to see if there
are other uses for the tower, such as public safety.
Chair Jacobs asked about the frequency of class B special use permits. Craig Benedict
said that originally the telecommunications ordinance said that a tower could go between 150
feet and 200 feet without a class A special use permit if three or four providers were put on the
same tower. If they went over 200 feet, it would be a class A and came in front of the County
Commissioners. At some point, the ordinance was changed to say that a 150-foot tower would
be class A. There was a negative backlash, where instead of promoting co-location on new
towers, applicants would go with a 149-foot tower and maybe put one or two extra spaces on
the tower. The positive is that there have been 20 co-locations on towers that have been
approved previously at the 150-foot to 300-foot range.
Chair Jacobs said that in the northern part of the County, there is no cell phone service.
He said that if there is a plan, then the Board can give the go ahead on some towers on
locations where they are needed. This has not been done. Craig Benedict said that what they
have left a placeholder in the ordinance for a Master Telecommunications Plan.
Chair Jacobs asked where the plan was and Craig Benedict said that he has the plan
and he can bring it forward.
Commissioner Carey said that he remembers having discussions about the plan and he
also remembers looking at desirable places in the County for towers. There was a discussion
about whether the County should be in the position of competing with private landowners for the
location of the tower. He did not realize that the plan was never adopted.
Craig Benedict said that he could bring the plan back in May at the public hearing or
another time. He made reference to competing with the private sector and said that these types
of agreements have been put together throughout the state and they are promoting public safety
and usage.
Commissioner Halkiatis asked where the free market comes into play here. He said that
there is no incentive for providers to put towers in areas where they are not going to make
money. He said that he heard a story recently that someone with a lot of money did not like the
cell phone tower that was in the view of his estate and got the company to take it down and
people now cannot have service in that area. He heard this from a citizen last week, but he
cannot verify it.
Craig Benedict said that the industry is looking for lower towers and they are attaching
them to silos and other structures. He said that he would get the team together, along with
John Link and Geof Gledhill, get the information together on the Master Telecommunications
Plan, and bring it back to the Board.
Regarding the cost, Craig Benedict said that a consultant could represent the County
based on a percentage of revenue or a flat rate of approximately $5,000-10,000.
Commissioner Carey said that this is an example of a priority that gat lost.
Commissioner Gordon made reference to the Recreation and Parks tab and said that
the last Recreation and Parks Plan was 1988. She said that the parks element would be
updated as part of the comprehensive plan. She would like to at least get an update to the
payment-in-lieu system.
Environment and Resource Conservation Director Dave Stancil said that the Recreation
and Parks Plan is certainly in need of updating. One thing that the staff has discussed is
creating, in the interim, an addendum to the 1988 parks plan that would allow them to
incorporate the reports that were generated in the late 1990's and add the New Hope Rustic
Woodland Trail, wildlife corridors, etc. This might be a doable interim project to help get the
plan up to speed until the entire plan is updated.
John Link said that Dave Stancil and other County Commissioners have discussed other
major park areas in Bingham and in the north central part of the County. One of the elements
under is discussion is whether the County Commissioners want to continue the path that was
started in 1988, because this plan had some controversy attached to it. This is a budgetary
item because there is a challenge now to properly staff and operate the current parks. He said
that there would have to be same other source of revenue that is not competing directly with the
rest of the operating budget.
Dave Stancil said that they have talked about trying to look at long-term revenue
streams.
Commissioner Gordon would like to do something to recognize the new parks and
elevate the service level.
Craig Benedict said that he and Dave Stancil hired a consultant about four years ago to
look at the payment-in-lieu issue. The fee right now is for unincorporated areas in the County.
The consultant suggested that when the bond money shakes out and the development of parks
unfolds, that they should contact him again and he would analyze what level of service the
County is aiming for with the monies that the County has committed.
Chair Jacobs said that there is also a strategic plan for the Recreation and Parks
department. He said that he was thinking about this last night when they were listening to the
list of 100 units that have been proposed or approved around Mebane that are in Orange
County. A lot of those impacts are never recovered from any kind of fee, but this is one area
where maybe they can be.
Commissioner Gordan said that she would like abroad-brush analysis for payment-in-
lieu funds. She said that if there could be a new formula that yields fees more in line with casts,
then they could accelerate the building of park facilities.
Dave Stancil said that between the addendum to the plan, the facilities that they are
building, and the strategic plan and other documents, it should put them in a good position to
look at a level of service.
Geof Gledhill said that there is nothing about impact fees that requires the County to
look at a national level of service, but the impact fee authorization that Orange County has says
that the level of service you are looking at should be whatever you establish regardless of what
the national level is. Once a level of service is reached for parks and recreation, then you can
set the fees.
Commissioner Halkiotis said that it has been almost a year since they looked at the
Recreation and Parks strategic plan and he said that there was na way that the County could
afford 18-20 staff positions. He wants an updated version of the plan and the timeframe.
Commissioner Gordon said that if they have facility needs and there is money to be
charged far development, then they need to look into this. She said that the County should get
what it is supposed to for the cost of development.
Commissioner Carey agreed with Commissioner Gordon that they should be charging a
higher fee if the level of service indicates it. He recognizes that there must be a technical report
to document that the level of service is to the point where they can raise the fees.
Chair Jacobs made reference to the higher cost of building schools and said that once
they charge the collaboration group to revisit the construction schedules and they come back
with a recommendation, then they can think about a study.
Craig Benedict said that the fee for a consultant for parks would probably be $15,000-
$20,000. Geof Gledhill suggested getting an RFP for the schools that has an add-on.
Craig Benedict made reference to the school impact fee and said that it was agreed at
60°~ of the maximum supportable in 2001. They are probably at 40% of the maximum that
could be charged. Commissioner Carey asked if they could use the old technical report and say
that they are going to go up to 80% instead of investing in another report.
Geof Gledhill suggested that it be a short-term measure and that they need new impact
fee information.
Commissioner Halkiotis asked what to put down for the tab on the new school
assessment. Budget Director Donna Dean said that the last Tischler report said that it would be
between $60,000-$100,000. Craig Benedict said that the record keeping and coordination with
bath school systems since 2001 has improved greatly and there will be better available
information.
Geof Gledhill said that this is a fee that pays you back and it is an investment.
Commissioner Carey made reference to Completed Goals and the loan pool, where it
refers to a meeting that was supposed to occur on January 26t". He asked about this meeting.
Economic Development Director Dianne Reid said that the meeting did occur on the 26t", but
there was not a quorum of the Board of Directors. The people that were there were very
interested in utilizing the County portion as a starting point for a revived program. She said that
the representatives were from banks and they also felt that their institutions would be willing to
contribute grant funds to a reinvigorated program. They were all in favor of this new approach.
Commissioner Carey left at 8:56 p.m
Commissioner Foushee made reference to the Human Services tab, under Hispanic and
Latina relations. This is the first goal, the second page, which is designation of Compliance
Officer. She said that this has budget implications and she asked how this position relates to
those items for which the County has federal mandates. Gwen Harvey said that this position is
within the Human Rights and Relations Department. The intent of having this position in the
Human Rights and Relations Department was to serve as a resource to help all County
departments with coming under compliance, especially those agencies like Health, Social
Services, EMS, etc., who are particularly relying upon federal grant funding. Commissioner
Foushee asked if the LEP Coordinator could also serve as the Title 6 Compliance Officer.
Jahn Link asked if this is an existing employee. Personnel Director Elaine Holmes said
that Human Rights and Relations Director Milan Pham's understanding was that this was an
existing position. Commissioner Foushee said that they need to do this formally.
Health Director Rosemary Summers said that they have designated a departmental
compliance officer.
The staff will get clarification on this and report back to the Board.
Chair Jacobs asked about signage under this goal and said that they have not made a
lot of progress in this regard. He said that there was a cost listed from a few years ago, and he
does not know if it is a realistic cast. He asked for someone to come back with a plan.
Commissioner Halkiotis made reference to the Innovation and Efficiency tab and said
that if they were a private entity, the signage would be a tap priority. He said that he has
volunteered his time with Inspections because of an event he saw an TV where the private
sector has stepped into the City of New Orleans to deal with the tragedy and allowing their
Inspections people field opportunities to get information on what the city looked like before the
flood. He said that once he concludes the work with Inspections and presents it to the Board
and the Manager, he would like to sit down with Rosemary Summers to look at her inspections
department. He said that Piedmont Electric and other private entities are now using field units
for GPS verification. He said that the County is not being efficient and he would like to prove to
the Board that the County could save money and time in the field. He said that the County is so
far behind the technology curve and he is getting frustrated.
Commissioner Gordon made reference to the Resource Protection and Development
and the water resources element of the comprehensive plan land use element update. She said
that the citizens at the public hearing mentioned how important water resources are going to be,
and she asked when the water resources element was supposed to come in the comprehensive
plan. Environment and Resource Conservation Director Dave Stancil said that they envision
completing the implementation of the groundwater studies, the further assessments that have
been done on surface water supplies, and integrate the two together before doing the water
resources component. This would take at least a year.
Commissioner Gordon would like to flag this as something that she would like to see
moved along. Orange County has good quality water, but there is not a lot of quantity and the
sooner this element gets going, the better.
John Link said that Dave Stancil needs to speak to what he can and cannot do in terms
of moving this up. Dave Stancil said that other departments would need to be involved and they
would have to look at the impacts of moving it up.
Chair Jacobs said that they asked Dave Stancil yesterday at agenda review to have a
meeting by the spring with the Eno River partners to protect it. There needs to be a
subcommittee set up of the County and Town Attorneys. He does not know about the cost
implications, but there will certainly be staff time implications in the short term.
Commissioner Halkiotis asked to also include under this haw technology can impact the
issue of water resources. The Tawn Engineer measures the level of the reservoir on his laptop,
and the County Engineer goes out with a measuring tape.
Commissioner Foushee made reference to the Human Services tab and said that she
recalls a couple of years ago a conversation about a youth services group and the need to
coordinate all County youth services programs. She asked where this stands. Gwen Harvey
said that she might be referring to the Summer Youth Leadership Development Institute ar
Youth Voices. She said that Sharon Hinton and Cooperative Extension put this together. About
three years ago a challenge grant came from the Triangle United Way that had particular
interest in doing something for youth from the central and northern end of the County. The
challenge grant (approximately $10,QOQ) was used for the first summer youth program. This
program grew to become a construct of the Manager's office, Cooperative Extension, Human
Rights and Relations, and Recreation and Parks. They will be entering the 4t'' summer of this
program and they bring in 15 youth, and they would like to expand this.
Jahn Link said that the whole issue of a structure far youth has been around since 1992
when there was a Youth Summit at Orange High School. The outcome of that was that a Youth
Coordinator was requested. He said that they have some new players trying to address youth
needs such as the Boys and Girls Club in Orange County and the Sportsplex. He thinks the
County needs to continue to focus on youth services in some farm.
Commissioner Foushee said that it seems that the looming unresolved issues are not
looming anymore and they are not where they were four years ago. She would like to
determine how to better use resources that are now available, add more to the outcomes, and
take away from the unresolved issues.
Commissioner Gordon supported what Commissioner Foushee said and said that this is
a goad chance to update what they have done for youth services.
Commissioner Halkiotis said that they need to be careful because the seniors get
concerned and upset when they hear about the Spartsplex becoming the end all to solve all
juvenile issues and youth services problems. They may need to do something to meet the
youth needs, but not at the cast of the seniors.
Chair Jacobs said that part of the tension was the talk of the seniors sharing space with
the children.
Commissioner Gordon said that the timing is important since the seniors will probably be
there in the day and the youth would be there later on in the day.
Chair Jacobs made reference to the Joint Master Aging Plan and said that it relates to
the strategic plan for the Health Department, Recreation and Parks, and the strategic plan for
janitorial services. He read from the document, as follows: "Need far additional senior center
staff, operate the new senior centers. Both centers will be larger, have expanded use hours,
and have computerized facility management and registration." He wants to put a number to all
of this because it sounds like someone is assuming that this is all a done deal. John Link would
like to put a number to this also.
Chair Jacobs said that he wants to be careful about asking volunteers to raise money for
County functions, publications, ar signage. He said that it is unreasonable to ask senior citizens
to raise money far a County publication. John Link said that he has checked this out with staff,
and there will not be any further staff encouraging seniors or other volunteers to raise money.
Commissioner Halkiotis said that he asked about the publication coordination because
he saw it being done. He wants a report back on all of the publications that County government
is engaged in, the publication budget, and whether the County is being efficient in
communications. He suggested having same scrolling information on TV.
Chair Jacobs said that they could with, the school systems, jointly produce publications
and possibly get a better price from someone who does the printing.
Gwen Harvey said that she followed up into using DTCC and printing options. She
spoke with Wendy Wallace, VP for Publications, and they do two types of publications and they
have a cost effective relationship with two vendors in Durham.
Chair Jacobs asked Social Services Director Nancy Colton about the Workfirst Annual
Report and the concerns about federal cuts. He asked her to track what the federal cuts are
going to do to the County's programs. He wants to highlight the ramifications of same of the
cuts.
John Link said that the next step is to pull information together, and as they go through
the budget process, they will try to address those issues related to the budget. Chair Jacobs
suggested taking the materials from the discussion from the retreat and the priorities that were
previously identified and try and put them all into some kind of order.
John Link suggested pooling information from tonight and the retreat and give to
department heads to begin preparing their budgets.
The Board agreed.
With no further items to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 9:37 p.m.
Barry Jacobs, Chair
Donna S. Baker
Clerk to the Board