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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 20060315APPROVED 6/13/2006 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS WORK SESSION March 15, 2006 4:00 p.m. The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a Work Session on Wednesday, March 15, 2006 at 4:00 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 Gordan, and Stephen Halkiotis COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr., Assistant County Managers Rod Visser and Gwen Harvey, and Clerk to the Board Donna 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. John Link distributed his suggestion to the Board far addressing the financing of the Efland/Buckhorn/Gravelly Hill water and sewer infrastructure costs. Chair Jacobs made reference to item `g', which will be on the consent agenda on March 21St Chair Jacobs said that Rod Visser is preparing a memo for all County Commissioners explaining the policies of usage of the courthouse. 1. Solid Waste Matters a. Solid Waste Operations Center Design Rod Visser said that the County is preparing to construct a new solid waste operations center that would be located on the south side of Eubanks Raad an property the County has acquired over the last several years. They feel that there are a lot of sustainability and environmentally friendly features. He introduced the architects from Dixon-Weinstein -Ken Freedland and Jim Compton. He said that after they receive comments from the Board, they would like to schedule a meeting with the Rogers Road neighborhood to show the design and answer questions. They would like to have the facility ready to operate by mid-2007. The architects made a presentation. Ken Freedland said that they are at the stage of having nearly completed the schematic design. He showed a map of Eubanks Road and the site. He said that they were asked to design a 7,000-square foot building of usable space. They designed a 9,000-square foot building that houses the Solid Waste operations department, includes a public meeting facility that will accommodate 80 people, and a storage building that serves Solid Waste. The building should embody sustainable building strategies and will be a high performance building. He pointed out the placement of the buildings. They think that the porch into the reception area would be a prime place to take advantage of recycled building materials. The property is oriented to the south to take advantage of daylight and solar gains, including opportunities to produce hat water. They think that they can make extensive use of recycled materials, and they also have the opportunity to use alaw-impact wastewater treatment and an on-site storm water recovery system. This system would be designed by Hal House, from Integrative Water Systems. Commissioner Halkiotis asked how the water would be reused. Hal House said that they are in the early stages of design, and they propose to make effective use of recycled water back into the building to flush toilets and to irrigate. They have been doing this in Chatham County for 10 years and have had good experience. Commissioner Gordon asked for an explanation of the water source and it was answered that it would be a well. She asked about the water recycling process and Hal House explained this. The process uses sand filter technology to cleanse the water and they are also putting plants in to cleanse the water. Commissioner Gordon asked several clarifying questions that were answered by Hal House. Commissioner Halkiotis asked whose idea it was to bring in Dr. House and Ken Freedland said that they brought him in during the interview because the request for proposals included a lot of sustainable building strategies. They have worked with Dr. House before. Commissioner Halkiotis thanked him for this because he has been hungry to have something like this attached to a County building. Commissioner Carey asked how this project relates to smart design and cost. He said that it looks like there are five separate buildings with walls that do not connect, which would add on costs. He asked what the walls are made af. Ken Freedland said that they had a perimeter and they have all single floors. They did not think it would be appropriate to build amulti-story building. He said that the building is a simple design with a tilted window and the storage building is proposed to be a metal building. The show piece building is the public meeting hall and is taller. He said that there is a passibility of adding another sustainable strategy of green roofs. Commissioner Carey asked about the implications of extra wall space for energy. Ken Freedland said that they have mare day lighting this way. Commissioner Gordon said that she would like the numbers on the perimeter space. She said that this design seems like it is sprawling. She would like to see some numbers on haw having so many separate buildings is energy efficient. Ken Freedland said that they would not run away from perimeter like they sometimes used to. They will bring the numbers. Commissioner Gordon asked if they were comfortable that the buildings are as energy efficient as they would be if there were not the tang corridors. She does not understand how it could be less expensive and more energy efficient. Ken Freedland said that they have not done an energy efficient cast study yet. Commissioner Gordon said that she would like to see a more compact design. Commissioner Halkiotis said that he and Chair Jacobs were able to preview this, and he said that they have been dealing with issues in the neighborhood of having a landfill nearby and he thinks that it is very appropriate that the Solid Waste staff be cognizant of their position, place, and purpose. The staff needs to see what impact they are having on the community. He thinks that there are same arguments about the visual impact of staff being cognizant all the time of their mission and service to the citizens. He understands Commissioner Gordan's concerns, but there can be demo areas as well as the wetlands reclamation area in the blank spaces. Commissioner Carey said that he would like to see a more compact design, but all of the features they have mentioned so far are good (day lighting, wetlands reclamation, etc.}, but he would still like to see cost differentials, building costs, etc. Commissioner Gordon echoed what Commissioner Carey and Commissioner Halkiotis said that she commends the architects far the innovative design features. Chair Jacobs asked if the site was completely wooded and Ken Freedland said that the site where the building is was largely clear-cut and the parking lot has been thinned. Chair Jacobs asked if the parking lot was designed for a school bus to easily turn around and Ken Freedland said that it was designed for all sizes of tour buses, trucks, and staff parking. Chair Jacobs asked that the doors to the public meeting room be handicapped accessible and Ken Freedland said that they would meet all requirements for both handicapped and building codes. Commissioner Gordon asked that the meeting room be designed so that everyone can see the audiovisuals. Chair Jacobs said that the County Commissioners would like periodic updates about the design and any variations in the design. Commissioner Gordon asked clarifying questions about the number of offices. Solid Waste Director Gayle Wilson said that they were building an extra office for passible expansion. There are 20-21 offices. Commissioner Foushee asked if the offices were designed to accommodate more than one person. It was answered that the average office space was 10' x 12'. Commissioner Halkiotis asked if there were any innovative ways to capture and recycle the material from work boots an a rainy day sa that it would not get tracked into the buildings. He challenged Hal House to think about this. Chair Jacobs expressed his excitement about being able to incorporate these design elements into a new building. The County Commissioners all agreed. Commissioner Halkiotis pointed out that the architectures were local. Ken Freedland said that they would come back with responses to the questions before going forward with the design. They need to have this discussion within the next month. b. SWAB Recommendation Regarding Transfer Station Siting Rod Visser said that last fall there was another Solid Waste Matters work session and one of the topics was a review of the County's master plan for solid waste facilities. Part of the direction that was received from this was the County Commissioners asking staff to move forward and begin same analysis, with help from the SWAB, with regard to the future need for a transfer station. At this time, capacity will probably be reached at the MSW landfill sometime in 2010. At the mast recent SWAB meeting on March 2nd, they adopted a resolution, which is included in the materials. Chair Jacobs invited Jan Sassaman, SWAB Chair, to come to the table. Gayle Wilson said that they have known that they were going to have to have a transfer station since 1997 and the Board of County Commissioners adopted a resolution four or five years ago declaring that there would be no more new MSW landfills in the County. A few years ago, when the Board was discussing the solid waste master plan for Eubanks Road, the Board stated that the item should be referred to the SWAB far a recommendation on where the transfer station should be located. They have discussed whether there would be sufficient space at the Eubanks Road landfill area for a transfer station. The SWAB has adopted a resolution recommending that the transfer station be located at the Eubanks Road site and that it be designed, developed, permitted, and operating as soon as passible so that there is an opportunity to preserve some landfill capacity on south Eubanks Road before it reaches capacity. Jahn Link asked how much property the transfer station would consume and Gayle Wilson said that it would be a large amount of space. Several things would have to be relocated. This would be part of the cast of the transfer station. Commissioner Halkiotis said that he and Chair Jacobs went to Georgia to visit a site and the buffering was very extensive. He said that when he was driving back from Washington, D.C. he was stunned by the number of tractor-trailers on I-95 heading to Virginia because the netting systems on these trucks were not good. There were plastic bags flying off onto I-95. He said that he does not want to become disrespectful of the citizens and he hopes that they start buffering this site early so that there is at least five years of growth. He wants to think creatively about how to minimize the visual impact. He asked how many trucks would be coming out of there per day and Gayle Wilson said anywhere from 7-8 to 14-15 on heavy days. This would be 5 '/2 days a week. He said that the additional traffic generated by this site would be so minimal, that he does not think that the Town of Chapel Hill will require them to do a traffic analysis. Chair Jacobs asked why it was necessary to have a separate entrance for the occasional pickup truck and Gayle Wilson said that it was far safety and efficiency reasons, and they try to keep the customers out of the way of the big trucks. Chair Jacobs asked when the County last talked to any neighboring jurisdiction about partnering on a transfer station and Gayle Wilson said that they spoke with Durham about 2-3 years ago. Chair Jacobs said that when he, Commissioner Halkiotis, and John Link had lunch with Durham's Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, and Manager, the issue was raised and they seemed interested. Gayle Wilson said that they would be glad to talk with Durham, but the Durham facility is inadequate for what it is even handling now. They will explore this. Commissioner Foushee said that the fact that Durham City's facility was inadequate would lend itself more to the opportunity to partner. Gayle Wilson said that their facility was a temporary transfer station. The plan was to eventually build a permanent, more capable facility. They are still using the temporary facility and have even made same improvements to it. Commissioner Carey asked if there was a reason for the transfer station to be in close proximity to the landfill and if the SWAB considered other options. Gayle Wilson said that it is not essential but does offer advantages such as easier State permitting, existing haul patterns, the new operations administrative center is close by, and if they try to preserve some landfill space, then they can use the same crew. Commissioner Carey asked how long in the future this facility would serve the County and Gayle Wilson said that it should last 25-30 years with minimal upgrades. Commissioner Carey asked some clarifying questions about traffic flaw and the map. Chair Jacobs said that he would like to see the result of ca-locating with Durham City and to have this discussion and a cost analysis before they endorse a final plan. Gayle Wilson said he would be glad to meet with them. Chair Jacobs asked John Link to call the City Manager about this, too. Gayle Wilson said that one of the key things to that conversation is how quickly the County can move or abandon the landfill space. Commissioner Gordon asked how much time was left in the present landfill space and Gayle Wilson said that it would reach capacity in mid to late 2010 and the minimum time to design and construct a transfer station would be about three years. Commissioner Carey asked the staff to explore options to not locate the transfer station in this community and to look at other possible locations in Orange County to give them more flexibility. Gayle Wilson asked for any exclusionary criteria for other options. Commissioner Halkiotis asked Gayle Wilson how much revenue would be lost for the first year if the transfer station were in Durham and Gayle Wilson said that the overall revenue for MSW is aver $2 million a year. The profit above cast is probably about $500,000. Commissioner Halkiotis warned about opening up the issue of siting it somewhere else in the County. He thinks it would be a firestorm of controversy. Gayle Wilson said that if the transfer station does go an Eubanks Raad they would make it the best they can for the citizens. Commissioner Gordon said that all she wants to do now is to talk with Durham. Chair Jacobs said that because they have not identified the place where the waste will be sent, it is premature to look elsewhere. Commissioner Carey said that he has been through all these battles before but he also recognizes that he does not want to make a decision by default to keep it in this neighborhood just because they have always had it. This diminishes the importance of the people in that area, in his opinion. Chair Jacobs suggested directing staff to move mare quickly as to where they would ship this waste if they want to go with Commissioner Corey's suggestion of exploring options on the table. Gayle Wilson said that it is important not only where the waste is going but also where it is coming from into the transfer station. They want to keep it fairly close to the center of waste generation. Chair Jacobs said that the Board would like for the staff to talk with Durham and came back with some cost-benefit analysis with the pros and cons, and make some inquiries of the possibilities of taking the County's MSW. c. Solid Waste Convenience Center Siting Issues Rod Visser said that they received notice in 2005 that the SWCC lease on NC 57 will be terminated, but the owner has extended the lease on a bi-monthly basis. The staff has looked at long term and temporary replacement of this convenience center. He said that ERCD staff Dave Stancil and Rich Shaw have been looking at properties in the northeast to central part of the County that could provide co-location opportunities. They have also looked at the possibility of pursuing a temporary site at the Grange County Public Works site. ERCD Director Dave Stancil said that one of their lands legacy priorities is to site land for a northern district park, and they have looked at having a convenience center and will report back as information becomes available. John Link said that there are some tangible properties that are worthwhile. Chair Jacobs said that Dave Stancil brought forward to him and the Vice-Chair five sites and they told him to look at three of them. Commissioner Gordon asked, if you were going to do this, how much of the acreage on a park site would be needed far a convenience center and Dave Stancil said five acres, with two acres far the facility and three acres far buffering. Commissioner Halkiotis said that you should not see the green boxes when you are driving up. Commissioner Gordon said that when they buy park sites, people want to know what it will be used for, and the seller should know what would be put on it. Commissioner Halkiotis said that this could work if it is planned right and if the County is willing to spend the extra money for the buffering. He said that they should honor, through the Economic Development Director, Home Depot for its willingness to have a convenience center behind its facility. This is an attractive facility. John Link pointed out that the inflow and outflow of traffic for different purposes would need to be considered and Dave Stancil said that it is one of the criteria. This would be small and could be embedded in the park. Chair Jacobs said that Hillsborough voted regarding a proposed rezoning of the property on which the current convenience center is located and deferred it for at least four months, with a 60-day agreement, which gives the County six months. Regarding having a temporary site in Fairview at the Public Works facility, he said that people in the neighborhood may not trust that this site would be as benign as the County Commissioners perceive it to be. He cautioned the staff to be careful about the contacts they make or what they say. Chair Jacobs said that he learned that one of the parcels that immediately adjoins the Public Works site is owned by the Central High Alumni Association, and they want to build a community meeting place there. He wants to proceed very cautiously. Commissioner Halkiotis made reference to the visit to the property that he made with the staff and said that the operations center is very visible. He suggested that Dave Stancil and Marabeth Carr look at same additional plantings of evergreens that do not lose their leaves. The Board agreed. d. Greene Tract Disposition Rod Visser said that the Greene Tract work group chaired by Commissioner Carey in 2002 adopted a resolution that was transmitted to each jurisdiction and all three governing boards endorsed the recommendations. The resolution stated that there are 60 acres that are County property, but the balance of the Greene tract - $5+ acres - should be kept in open space protected by conservation easements and the other 18 acres should be earmarked for future affordable housing purposes. Also, the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund needs to be reimbursed for the property that would go out of solid waste purposes. The work group discussed that the triggering mechanism far this would be when the open space is put under a conservation easement. Dave Stancil has been working with the Triangle Land Conservancy to possibly work with the County and the towns on the conservation easements. Dave Stancil said that TLC is inclined to be a partner and he would anticipate hearing back from them soon, within 30-45 days. Chair Jacobs said that Chapel Hill is hosting the next Assembly of Governments meeting on March 30t'' and they are proposing the discussion of the Greene Tract. Commissioner Gordon asked about the 11 undetermined acres and Rod Visser said that there are 85.9 acres for the conservation easement, 60 acres for the County, and about 18.1 for affordable housing, and the remainder is left for a utility easement around the railroad track. They thought for many years that there were 109 acres, but when it was actually surveyed it was closer to 104. Dave Stancil said that he remembered that the 11 acres were distributed between the open space and affordable housing. Commissioner Gordon asked about getting water and sewer to the affordable housing. She said that they got information about how many tracts were served by water an Rogers Road. There were a number of tracts that had not hooked up and she asked about this. Housing and Community Development Director Tara Fikes said that the eligibility requirement far hooking up at the County's cost was 80°1o below median income. The staff will bring specific information back on how many families hooked onto the system that were eligible and why the eligible ones did not. Rod Visser said that the contemplated way of getting sewer to the affordable housing would be from the backside of the Habitat project and running it along Purefoy Road. Discussion ensued on the placement of the sewer lines on the map. Chair Jacobs asked that the information came back from Tara Fikes before the Assembly of Governments meeting. e. Interim Report from SWAB Work Group on Salid Waste Management Plan Update Rod Visser said that this is a process that goes on every three years and the County is to provide an update to the State by the summer of 2006. As part of the process, the Board and the municipalities agreed that it was important to have elected official representation an the work group. Gayle Wilson said that the work group has met six times and has not met since November. They plan to meet again in April and discuss a decision points questionnaire and some of the research that staff has done. The original timeline had the plan being adopted by all of the governments and submitted by the end of June, however, it is likely to be sometime in the fall. He said that one thing that has been discussed is the notion of franchising the SWAB and they would like more information about this such as benefits, limitations, process, etc. Rod Visser said that one of the "bad bills" as viewed by the Association of County Commissioners is directly related to this topic -Senate Bill 951. This may be another reason to accelerate the efforts of examining franchising. Chair Jacobs suggested talking to Alamance County officials since they have experience with franchising. Gayle Wilson said that the SWAB is going to conduct an analysis on curbside pickup of trash. Commissioner Halkiotis said that $2 million is a significant amount of money, and that does not include what people are putting in their gas tanks to drive to the convenience centers. Commissioner Foushee asked if there was a negative consequence to the delay for not having an updated plan on time. Gayle Wilson said that there was not a negative consequence and he has been told that those that do not have a valid updated plan submitted can be eliminated for consideration for grants. They can also delay issuance of permits for disposal, transfer stations, etc. The County has not been exposed to any consequences. Jahn Link asked Gayle Wilson about analyzing franchising and said that one aspect is who pays the franchisee -the County or the citizens. He said that they should look at a combination of private sector doing door-to-door pickup where they charge the citizens, but there are still 2-3 convenience centers in the County. Commissioner Gordon said that the County is at a 46°~ reduction rate and she wants to know the positive things Orange County has done. Gayle Wilson said that Orange County has led for three years in a row in capital waste reduction in the State. It is also recognized for having the most sophisticated and diversified waste reduction program in the southeast. It has a comprehensive collection system - a combination of drop off, curbside, and commercial deliveries. It conducts commercial food waste collection that is turned into compost and resold at the landfill facilities as compost. It has one of the leading construction and demolition waste reduction programs in the State. The clean wood waste leftover from construction sites is ground and sold as mulch. The staff frequently attends state and national conferences and conducts presentations on the programs as being innovative and aggressive. Rod Visser said that the household hazardous waste program is one of the leaders in the State. Commissioner Gordon asked about the original target for reduction and Gayle Wilson said 25% was the State's target and 45% was the secondary target for 2006. Most of the rest of the State is going backwards. Commissioner Gordon asked for an explanation of franchising and Gayle Wilson said that it is a government asserting control over the waste sector. There are franchises related to callection of waste and/or recyclables and franchises related to disposal facilities. The new bill would require the County to compensate the private haulers' businesses of 18-24 months of gross revenues. John Link made reference to page 10 of the abstract, which has a good questionnaire. He said that there needs to be an essay question about pay as you throw and how it relates to operation of the landfill if Chapel Hill or Carrboro wants it. He thinks this might come up at the Assembly of Governments meeting. Chair Jacobs said to ask staff to define franchising in writing. The County Attorney has written one memo about this and the Board needs to see this again. He would also like to see additional fruitful areas of recycling, and the issue of franchising relates to siting of convenience centers. Chair Jacobs asked about page 5 and the work group and how it is going to proceed. He is hesitant to call what the work group does having a public hearing because it is not a publicly constituted body. He would rather call it a public comment session. f. Feasibility of Landfill Gas Recovery Rod Visser said that this topic has been of interest to the Board for some time in terms of looking into the feasibility of extracting energy from a landfill from methane gas and how might this be used, etc. The staff asked the consulting engineer to provide a brief analysis. Gayle Wilson said that they looked at three energy recovery options: Producing energy either through micro-turbines ar internal cambustion engines Extraction of dirty gas and delivery to a nearby industrial use Capturing the gas and processing it to upgrade it and selling it, or putting it into a gas company line He said that the only two options that the consultant thought were feasible were the high grade BTU pipeline gas or the creation of electricity through micro-turbines or internal combustion engines. He said that the landfill gas recovery process requires a balance of maximizing the amount of electricity produced with the generation ability. The old landfill on the north side is probably not worth pursuing for this. The only one with potential is the new landfill on the south side. The consultants did not seem to believe that there is an economically viable gas energy project. When the staff asked about the new schools planned in the future as well as a new animal shelter, the consultants said that they could do a more focused analysis of providing energy to one or more of those facilities. The analysis that was done looked at three options and none broke even. Same of the costs were steep and the County would have to invest in a collection system. He said that if the County Commissioners want them to pursue this further, they would need additional information on the facilities and the energy demands. Cammissianer Halkiotis said that it would be nice to explore amicro-turbine providing electricity for the Solid Waste administration building. He would also like to explore this possibility for the schools and the animal shelter. Chair Jacobs said that there is a critical mass of needs in this area and for them to talk to Steve Scroggs of CHCCS because they are going to operate on a quick timeframe for a new school. He would like to do some additional analyses. Commissioner Halkiotis said that it might be good to plan on a transfer hookup for a passible micro-turbine machine in design of buildings. g. Report on Proposed Amendments to Regulated Recyclable Material Ordinance Chair Jacobs said that at agenda review they talked about having a little more of an explanation of the issue. Since no Commissioner had a chance to look at this, there is no point in spending time on this now. There needs to be a more detailed explanation. The Board took a break for dinner at this time. 2. Budget/Capital Investment Plan (CIP) Drivers Discussion John Link said that they are trying to be in step as they pull together the operating and capital budgets. They have had two informal committee budget discussions -one with the Chair and the Vice-Chair and one with Commissioner Halkiotis and Commissioner Foushee. These are reasonable items that will need to be addressed aver the next two fiscal years. Budget Director Donna Dean made reference to the darker shaded areas. On raw 12, which is on page 2 of 5, they removed the hiring delay. They are currently at a 120-day hiring delay and they are looking at a savings of $900,000+ for the current year. If they phase in the removal of the hiring delay over two years there would be a $450,000 savings. Donna Dean then made reference to row 13, which is restoring the two cents back to the schools' recurring capital and the County's long-range capital, and it would be $2.4 million. Rows 14 and 15 are broken out to show the Pay Plan and Employee Benefits pieces. Row 24 speaks to $1.5 million for Efland/Buckhorn Community Water and Sewer. Chair Jacobs asked about rows 17-23 that were left blank. Donna Dean said that these final numbers are due next week. Assistant County Manager Gwen Harvey said that she spoke with Judy Truitt of OPC Mental Health and they are expecting to make a request to the County for the same amount as they got last year, which is about $1.4 million, with a small adjustment. Chair Jacobs asked about the mental health transition and if this was already budgeted or if it was additional new money. Gwen Harvey said that this is the continuation of funding for OPC. Commissioner Carey reiterated that the OPC Board has not discussed the budget yet. John Link said that what is unknown is to what extent there could be services that the State no longer funds and the County chooses to fund them. Craig Benedict made reference to row 20 -Employees' Transportation/Courthouse Shuttle -and said that AI Terry with OPT and Karen Lincoln from Planning have been working on what a shuttle would cost for downtown Hillsborough. It is estimated to cast $250,000. This includes employees, operating expenses, and gas, but does not include the purchase of new OPT buses. This would be an interim program for employee transportation. It would also not include the Durham Tech park-and-ride lot. Commissioner Gordon said that the Board has not really talked the employee transportation plan through. John Link assured the Board that any of the items that are discretionary an the part of the County Commissioners are simply put down to give an idea of the costs. Commissioner Gordon said that there is a certain plan of how this is going to be done and the Board of County Commissioners has not talked about this. Chair Jacobs said that there are just placeholders for a lot of these items. Commissioner Gordon said that the question is how much parking will be displaced and when the shuttle is needed, etc. She thinks that the TTA bus should factor in somehow. Chair Jacobs said that they heard at Triangle J Council of Governments that there is a proposal to merge, to some extent, OPT and Durham and Wake County transportation systems. John Link said that this was only a draft proposal and it will be coming back to the Board of County Commissioners the second meeting in April. Donna Dean made reference to row 16, which is abig-ticket item that there are currently no numbers far. This is operational increases for new school openings - OCS Gravelly Hill Middle School in fall 2006 and CHCCS High School #3 in fall 2007. The last middle school to open was Smith and the startup costs were around $1.5 million. The last high school to open was Cedar Ridge and the startup costs were about $1.9 million. Chair Jacobs asked if the school fund balances would be coming with the school budget requests and Donna Dean said that they would ask far those at the same time. Commissioner Halkiotis said that just because, historically, something was one price before, it may not be that much ar more the next time. He gave an example that both school systems are now using privatized custodial services and are achieving significant savings. The old models had custodians that were school system employees and that is no longer the case. He said that he was shocked to hear the other night that Elementary School #10 was going to cost $23 million and two years ago it was $12.5 million. Chatham County is talking about a $60 million high school. He thinks that things are getting out of whack. He wants to go into this with a critical eye. Donna Dean made reference to rows 27-31, which are items that the Board spoke to at the retreat and at a follow-up work session. These items include Phase II TDR Development, Update School Construction Impact Fees, Orange County Campus of Durham Technical Community College Green Building Initiatives, Telecommunications study, and Technical Update Payment In Lieu Fee. Commissioner Gordon asked why there were additional casts associated with updating the school construction impact fees. Donna Dean said that they are getting a technical report. Row 32 is a new item, which are the projected costs to implement the Governor's salary increases for local teachers. For the two school systems, it is about $2.5 million. Chair Jacobs asked about the ratio of State versus locally funded teachers. Donna Dean will get this information. Commissioner Gordon asked about the EflandlBuckhorn water and sewer and the cost around the middle school. It was answered $1.5 million. She asked if this contemplates funding central Efland, and what schedule central Efland would be funded. Jahn Link said that the actual completion date would possibly be four months later than the school. He does not think that it would be longer than six months. Row 33 is school funding equity, which was discussed recently. There is a placeholder for this. Row 34 is the Health Department's Strategic Plan. Row 35 is the Greene Tract payback. Commissioner Halkiotis asked if this was based on new results of the survey that has fewer acres than originally thought. Rod Visser said that it ultimately does not matter because the cost will remain the same. It is not based on acreage. Row 36 is Elevate Per Capita Funding for Library Services. Last year the Board appropriated an additional $50,000 to make some headway in this direction. The amount would be up to the Board for this year. Row 37 is the Rescue Squad Request for $280,000. Commissioner Halkiotis said that he hopes this becomes part of the study. Chair Jacobs made reference to the Ag Summit and said that the Agricultural Center Work Group identified additional costs for a more detailed survey of what uses would be necessary at an Ag Center. Dave Stancil said that this is also an assessment of food production and to find local markets. They will come in April before the Board to ask for this. He suggested that this be made row 38. It will be called Ag Center Work Group Follow Up Study. Donna Dean made reference to page 1 and said that she got numbers today for student enrollment for next year. These are not official numbers from DPI. They are looking at about 333 new students for both districts next year, which includes 338 for CHCCS and a loss of 5 for OCS. These are preliminary estimates. Commissioner Halkiotis asked if any of the school boards knew this information yet and Donna Dean said that CHCCS knows this, but she does not know about OCS. Jahn Link said that the next step is to try and give an idea of the revenue picture at this paint in time. This includes the natural increase in property taxes and other revenues. He said that it would be helpful to hear from the Board on some of the big ticket items that need to be addressed such as some additional funding of capital for the County and schools, priorities for the pay plan, school funding equity, possible increases in teachers' salaries, etc. Donna Dean made reference to page 9 and the CIP Priorities and Drivers. She listed these 13 items on page 9. Commissioner Gordon said that some of these were not on the budget drivers list. John Link said that they wanted to make sure that the EflandlBuckharn item was not overlooked and that is why that was on there. For the most part, the budget driver document was for the operational budget and not capital. The items on page 9 represent additional capital items. Chair Jacobs reminded the Board that they want to do an assessment project for Efland/Buckhorn, so not all of the money that is laid out will be gone. • Emergency communications Commissioner Halkiotis said that there is a concern about ruggedized laptops and the costs. He has had three volunteer fire officials contact him in the last two days. He said that some of the handheld radios are $4,000 each. He said that the ruggedized laptops are anon-issue compared to this. He thinks that this whole thing is about the Motorola corporation retirement fund. • Information Technology needs Commissioner Halkiotis said that there are some organizations that are contracting out some of their Information Technology software. He wants to know the complete technology budget -positions, benefits, etc. He would like information on privatization of Tech services. He respects the Information Technology department, but he wants to look at every possibility. Chair Jacobs asked about privatizing technology and if this is something the Board can give direction to and Jahn Link said that they would look at this. He does not think that the staff would be able to do a full-blown report during this budget season, but they will investigate for an outside consultant if the Board desires. Commissioner Carey said that they cannot expect the existing staff to tell the Board this information and that they should go outside. Chair Jacobs said to add this as raw 39 on page 7. Commissioner Halkiotis said that on March 21St, the Board would have a presentation from the Inspections department. He has been working with them and there is great enthusiasm. He said that the work coming out of that is applicable to EMS, the Sheriff's Department, Environmental Health, and all other operations. He said that all of the County's systems need to be tied in centrally to one database. He is more than willing to work as a member of the old Innovation and Efficiency Committee to look at other areas of County government for savings. Commissioner Halkiotis said that they should ask the CHCCS board to break out the anticipated infrastructure costs for Elementary School #10. Chair Jacobs said that he has a call in to the chair of CHCCS. Chair Jacobs said that every time the Board has received an estimate, it has included the full cost of the connector road and water and sewer no matter how many times the school board is told that half of it will go to the park. Commissioner Gordon asked if they have said definitely that half will be borne by the park and Chair Jacobs said yes. Commissioner Gordon made reference to the stabilization of the house an the Southern Human Services Center property and asked about the status and Chair Jacobs said that they discussed this at the space study group and they will be reporting soon. Donna Dean said that it would be included in item 11 on page 9. John Link made reference to page 11 and the County projects included in the present CIP. He also pointed out the handout from him on the Efland/Buckhorn water and sewer. He would like the Board to consider addressing the $1.5 million for water and sewer for Gravelly Hill Middle School by taking $500,000 out of items they currently have in this year's CIP {attachment 2), taking $500,000 out of next year's CIP {yellow sheet), and then taking $500,000 from an additional debt financing of COPs occurring in late 2006. This is one option, or the Board can pursue a combination of any of these to equal $1.5 million. Rod Visser said that the main thing that they have to do financially is to adopt a capital project ordinance that would put in place the appropriation ar spending authorization for the vendor. If they take $500,000 out of currently funded capital project ordinances, then they would bring back revised capital project ordinances far these projects. John Link said that the third option -consideration of using COP funding - is based on further results they will be getting in April. Rod Visser said that they do not know exactly what the successful bid will be for the water and sewer. He said that they would not have to have the cash on hand to budget this and that is why it would be appropriate to use COPS issuance funds. John Link said that this is contingent upon getting appropriate responses from the State about this project. Commissioner Gordon asked about the list for next year and Rod Visser said that they have not done this yet and they will go ahead and earmark the $500,000 for this project when they present the CIP budget. Commissioner Foushee verified that this assumes that the projects will be funded at the current level. Commissioner Gordon said that $2.9 million is the amount, and the point is what goes into that. She asked what the amount was for the next year. Rod Visser said that if you phase in the full funding of the capital funding policy, they could put in '/ cent next year (2007-08} and ~/ cent the following year (2008-09). This is their working assumption. Chair Jacobs made reference to page 11 and the last item of School Park Reserve Funding and that it does not appear on the blue sheet. Donna Dean said that the blue sheet has only the projects funded through the CIP this year. Chair Jacobs said that this is unspent money and he suggested addressing getting close to the debt ceiling by taking this money and using it for this purpose. He asked about the last time any money was spent for the School Park Reserve Fund and Donna Dean said that they used it last in 2000 for the purchase of Blackwood Farm. He asked how much money was in Lands Legacy and it was answered $4-4.5 million. He also verified that there are no school sites to purchase at this time. He suggested considering some or all of this money to pay for this water and sewer. Commissioner Gordon said she remembers transferring money from the School Park Reserve Fund to the General Fund temporarily, with the assurance by the Manager that it would be put back into the School Park Reserve Fund in the fall. However, it has not yet been returned. She believes the money should be returned to the School Park Reserve Fund as previously agreed. Commissioner Halkiotis said that he endorses Chair Jacobs' idea and he said that he thought when they went ahead and told the CHCCS board that they would realign the money for Elementary School #10, they were very understanding. He commended the school board for this. Chair Jacobs suggested taking #26 on attachment 2, which is $140,000 far paving parking lots at the Whitted Center, and the $391,000 from the School Park Reserve Funding, which would be aver $500,000 and it would not interfere with any other project. The parking lots will be paved eventually. Commissioner Carey agreed with this approach. Commissioner Gordon does not think the School Park Reserve Fund should be used far this purpose. John Link said that hopefully sooner than later they can pave these parking lots. He deferred to the Board. Commissioner Foushee suggested paving the parking lot closest to DSS. Chair Jacobs said that he would be interested in the detail on #18 (blue sheet) for flooring replacements of $200,000. Chair Jacobs made reference to page 11 and the Parks Operation Base of $230,000 and Donna Dean said that this is 2/3 net debt and it is only pay-as-you-go money on the blue sheet. Chair Jacobs said that this is another one that the Board has not made a decision about. Donna Dean said that they need to look at how they can adjust to free up some of the 213 as pay-as-you-go funds. Commissioner Gordon asked about 213 net debt and if some of the funds could be reallocated and Donna Dean said that they would have to take another look at this. Rod Visser said that 213 net debt bonds are supposed to go for County buildings and facilities. This would not work directly for water and sewer lines, so they would have to re-categorize these monies, and they can look at this option further. Jahn Link said that if they redirect funds, they would need to prioritize the projects. Chair Jacobs asked for more information on the Carrboro Library and Donna Dean said this is basically seed money in case something started moving forward with thl5. Commissioner Gordon made reference to page 9 and CHCCS Elementary School #10 and said that they need to break out planning on this item. The separate item of planning would be different than the construction. Chair Jacobs said that they were going to front CHCCS some planning money and Donna Dean said that they would look into this. Commissioner Halkiotis said that he would appreciate a breakdown on the planning money for CHCCS Elementary #10 since the architect has already designed this same school at Rashkis. It should be a reduced fee. 3. Financial Disclosure for BOCC and Senior Staff Chair Jacobs said that he brought this up a few years ago at the retreat. He sees this as full disclosure. He thinks that it would be useful to know what non-profit boards the County Commissioners serve on, and when those boards come to request funds, then there should be some limit on gifts that the County Commissioners take or that senior staff takes. He just wants to be honest with the public sa that there are no questions. He thinks it is relevant what his close family members do for a living in Orange County and what businesses he has a stake in around Orange County. He suggested making a list of some of the areas of interest. He made reference to the material from Geof Gledhill that states that they may not be able to retroactively ask senior staff to disclose information, but they can from now on. Commissioner Gordon recommended the TTA disclosure form. Commissioner Halkiotis fully endorsed the idea. John Link suggested that he, Rod Visser, and Gwen Harvey abide by the City/County Manager's Code of Ethics and that other departments -Purchasing, Budget, Finance -also abide by their specific codes of ethics. Chair Jacobs said that the ultimate goal is that the County is ethical and proud to say so. The Board agreed. Geof Gledhill will bring back a report. With no further items to discuss a motion was made by Commissioner Halkiotis, seconded by Commissioner Gordon to adjourn the meeting at 8:54 p.m. Barry Jacobs, Chair Donna S. Baker Clerk to the Board