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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 20060831APPROVED 1 01312 0 0 6 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS WORK SESSION AUGUST 31, 2006 7:30 pm The Orange County Board of Commissioners and the Orange County Planning Board met for a Wark Session on Thursday, August 31, 2006 at 7:30 p.m. in the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, N.C. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Barry Jacobs and Commissioners Moses Carey, Jr., Valerie Foushee, Stephen H. Halkiotis and Alice M. Gordon COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoff Gledhill, Brian Ferrell COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: Interim County Manager Rod Visser and Deputy Clerk to the Board David Hunt (All other staff members will be identified appropriately below) NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE Chair Jacobs called the meeting to order. He distributed a copy of the United States Constitution, including the amendments, which will be distributed at the September 11tH ceremony. There was also a public safety update added to the agenda regarding the shooting at Orange High School yesterday and Tropical Storm Ernesto preparations. ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA: 1. Public Safety Update a. Orange High School Incident Debrief Chair Jacobs thanked the Sheriff's Department and EMS for all of the work that was done yesterday regarding the shooting at Orange High School. Sheriff Lindy Pendergrass made reference to the press release at the County Commissioners' places. He distributed a sequence of events. He said that the cars were in place and when the 911 call went out, they acted properly. They received the call at 1:04 p.m., and at 1:06, they had the shooter in custody. The school was in total lockdown within five minutes. They searched the area and found a weapon, ammunition, and two pipe bombs that the shooter had an his person. The shooter made comments about his father being sacrificed, and a Lieutenant responded to the residence and found the father, who was dead. The suspect was armed with a 9mm rifle and a sawed off shotgun. He came into the schoolyard, drove by the guardhouse without stopping, immediately exited the vehicle and fired 12 shots into the courtyard and two shots into an automobile. After finding the pipe bombs at the residence and in the car, Durham County Sheriff's Department was called in to bring their bomb truck and check out the school. Nothing mare was found. He said that everyone followed procedure right down to the wire and it was very successful. The staging was at Abundant Life Church. The suspect was completely obsessed with Columbine. About 3:30 p.m. yesterday, it was discovered that an email was sent to the principal at Columbine from the suspect saying that the same thing was going to happen in Orange County and that it would all be over with by the time he read the message. The suspect is in prison at this time. EMS Director Jack Ball commended Sheriff Pendergrass far the coordination of effort yesterday. Commissioner Halkiotis complemented the Sheriff on the effort yesterday. He said that the Sheriff has been prepared for something like this far over ten years. He said that this could happen anywhere. Commissioner Carey said that this confirms the rationality of the investment in school resource officers. He made reference to the incident where the suspect was transported in April for a mental health issue. He said that there was a problem here and that they should be doing something different or better in terms of treatment to pick up on these things and try to prevent these types of incidences. Sheriff Pendergrass said that April 20t" was the anniversary of the Columbine incident and the suspect attempted suicide. The procedure was followed and he received medication. Commissioner Gordon and Commissioner Foushee also thanked the Sheriff. Commissioner Foushee agreed with Commissioner Carey that the investment in SROs is necessary. b. Tropical Storm Ernesto Preparations EMS Director Jack Ball said that Tropical Storm Ernesto is coming to North Carolina and the projected path is east of Raleigh. It is projected that the area will get 3-5 inches of rain and some high wind gusts. They have been coordinating activities for preparation with all partners, which include the utilities, OWASA, the Towns, and the non-profits. In their briefings they discussed monitoring the storm in its progress; monitoring the roads, creeks, streams, low lying areas far flooding; and being prepared to provide assistance to anyone that needs to be taken out of these areas. They will also monitor the power outages and assist the power companies. They will also assist DOT in the event that there is any kind of debris on the roads. He urged the citizens to be prepared and to have 72 hours worth of food and water, stay clear of downed power lines, and stay away from flooded roads. 2. Proposed change to meeting time of 9121106 closed session (pinkl Chair Jacobs made reference to another addition to the agenda, which was on the pink sheet. This is just a change in meeting time for Thursday, September 21, 2006 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. A motion was made by Commissioner Halkiotis, seconded by Commissioner Carey to change the time for the September 21, 2006 meeting from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Original Agenda 1. Capital and Debt Related Matters a) Approval of Fiscal Year 2006-07 School and County Capital Project Ordinances Rod Visser explained the three major topics for this item. He said that in June, the Board took many actions related to the adoption of County and School Capital Project Ordinances for 2006-2007. There were a variety of other projects that the Board did not act on at that time, and the plan is to bring these project ordinances back at the next regular meeting for consideration. Budget Director Donna Coffey made reference to the green cover. The shaded portions are those projects to be approved at the September 12t" meeting. Rod Visser recognized the CHCCS Board members and staff that were in attendance. The OCS Board had a special meeting tonight. Commissioner Halkiotis said that he was looking for the piece of CIP material that he had questions on several months ago about Gravelly Hill that shaved an extra $1 million. Donna Coffey said that this was a mistake from OCS. Commissioner Carey asked about the shaded items and Donna Coffey said that all of them are pay-as-you-go except for the CHCCS item, on column E on page 1, which are projects with alternative financing. Chair Jacobs asked about the County's Information Technology expenditures. He said that the staff was supposed to be investigating doing some imaging. IT Director Todd Jones said that they convened a group with Social Services Director Nancy Coston, Clerk to the Board Donna Baker, Janet Sparks, and Health Director Rosemary Summers. He said that they not only want to back scan the paper, but also try to resolve the issues of not creating a lot more paper going forward. They are looking at further automating for the future. There is no formal finding yet, but they could provide a report in a month or so. Chair Jacobs suggested having a report at the work session on October 24t". He said that he would like to talk to the IT Directors of both school systems about meeting with the County to look at common PC bulk purchases. Commissioner Halkiotis suggested asking Todd Jones to look at how to put together an assessment tool to figure out where there are economies and efficiencies through the use of field grade laptops. There are some serious opportunities for savings. The Sheriff is using 2.5 people and EMS is using 4 people to input data. Todd Jones said that they are now working on getting some field technology. Commissioner Carey agreed with having a report in October on this work. Cammissianer Carey asked about the extent to which the items that are going to be debt financed. He understands that many of the items are going to be pay-as-you-go, but he asked if the items that are going to be debt financed have already been incorporated into the debt structure for this year. Donna Coffey said that they would not be bringing those capital projects back on September 12t", but after the decisions are made with what will be funded with debt. The pay-as-you-go items will be brought back on September 12tH b}Analysis of Future Debt Affordability and Staff Updates on County and School Capital Projects Rod Visser said that aver the summer, staff worked to develop updated information about the County's overall general fund debt capacity. They are looking for feedback, guidance, and any questions from the County Commissioners about these specifics. They are not looking for any specific actions. He made reference to page 2 of 4 of Attachment 2 and the $67,357,023 in County and School capital projects that need additional debt service above and beyond what has already been issued. There are four options. If the County borrowed this $67.4 million, it would still be within the 15% debt capacity, assuming a general fund increase of 8-9°~. The second option relates to considering the degree to which the County might be willing to exceed the 15°~ self-imposed debt management restraint. The third option relates to consideration of deferring or delaying the timeline for certain projects. The fourth option is examining the degree to which provisions of this recently adapted legislation would provide additional flexibility (Senate Bill 2009). This is regarding the newfound ability of school boards to issue capital leases for new school construction. Bob Jessup, the County's Bond Counsel, was involved in the drafting of the Bill. Cammissianer Gordon asked why they were only listing projects for 2006-2008. Rod Visser said that they tried to focus on things that were immediate and those things that needed decisions fairly quickly. Commissioner Gordan said that her argument is that, to make a reasonable decision, the Board would need to laok at the entire ten-year CIP and then figure out the priorities. She would also like to talk about whether the general fund will actually grow 8-9°I°, or whether it will be less. Rod Visser said that the County's debt capacity is tied to same really significant assumptions -growth in general fund expenditures each year, interest rates, timing of individual projects, etc. He believes that all of the estimates about debt service impacts are based on the assumption of a 20-year debt service at a 6°~ interest rate. He said that, in meetings with the Local Government Commission, the LGC indicated that they would be willing to work with the County an any passible underwritings to structure the debt service payments on certain projects to give mare flexibility. For example, there might be a way to postpone some of the principal payments for a number of months in order to be able to issue the debt if a project would need to move forward. Donna Coffey made reference to the four packets of information and explained them. Cammissioner Gordon expressed concern about the $67.4 million of debt. Rod Visser said that the staff is trying to present that, if the Board felt that everything on the list is important, then the Board can ask the staff to find a way to structure the debt so that it can be done. He is not necessarily advocating far the $67.4 million. In answer to a question from Commissioner Gordon, he said that the county would have to stretch the debt issuance for the $67.4 million over three years, and utilize three years of debt capacity instead of two. Donna Coffey said that, of the $67.4 million, it would not have to be issued all atone time. They ran some numbers today, and since 1989-1990, the average annual increase has been about 8.3°~ a year. There was one year with only a 1 °~ increase. Rod Visser pointed aut that some of the numbers in the $67.4 million could be subject to change (i.e., DTCC satellite campus and potential grant funding, Elementary Schaol #10, and others). Rod Visser made reference to Carrboro High School and Commissioner Halkiotis' question and said that there is another $9 million programmed for issuance. Because of cash flaw requirements, they need to pursue ashort-term financing instrument and later on roll that into alonger-term issuance. Finance Director Ken Chaviaus said that this comes at the recommendation of the LGC. The project is being built right now and the bond money is almost gone. They are going to ask the Board to adopt a resolution to authorize short-term financing on September 12th. They will do this short-term financing for six months, which will give them time to structure the other debt to issue sometime before the close of the fiscal year. Rod Visser asked about the estimate of interest rates and Ken Chavious said that this week it was 4.34%. Commissioner Carey pointed out that Orange County is one of the few local governments with aself-impaled debt threshold. Rod Visser said that there are more governments that are going in this direction. Commissioner Carey would like to have the big picture. Commissioner Gordon agreed that the Board should discuss these foundational issues because it is all predicated on certain assumptions. Commissioner Halkiotis spoke about his opinion on these projects. He has no problem with Carrboro High School and he thinks that this should be moved along. He has questions about Elementary #10 because he is not sure he fully understands the infrastructure needs, the connector road, possible roundabouts, etc. He has no problem with affordable hauling, Animal Services, Efland water and sewer, greenways, Homestead Aquatics, Lands Legacy, Justice Facilities, and DTCC satellite campus. He is not convinced that the County can afford all of the sustainable design elements. He has no problem with the park and ride lot, senior centers, the jail, Twin Creeks, and West Ten Soccer Complex. He supports all of these and the staff can figure out how to do it. Commissioner Foushee agreed with Commissioner Halkiotis on moving forward. Commissioner Gordon made reference to Elementary #10 and the $1.25 million for water and sewer and the connector road and said that this is a small part of it. She would not want to pull this off. It needs to be moved forward. Regarding the Animal Services facility construction, it says at least $5 million. She would like to know what this amount would be. She agrees that they need to talk more about the satellite campus green building standards. Commissioner Gordon made reference to the West Ten Soccer Complex and said that she did not think that there was any money left in the voter-approved bonds. She thought that the $2 million had been used up. Rod Visser said that it has been allocated but not all expended - $733,000 has not been expended. Commissioner Gordon asked about the total cost and Donna Coffey said that the last estimates that they received were between $2.5 and $3 million. Commissioner Gordon questioned the financing for this and said that this needs to go on a bond referendum. Commissioner Halkiotis asked the staff to put together a brief analysis of all of the soccer money because he is confused. He said that if there is $733,000, then the two fields should be built. The other 3-4 fields can be put on a bond referendum. Chair Jacobs said that it is more cost effective to do them all atone time. Recreation and Parks Director Lori Taft is supposed to be making a proposal far some private funding. Commissioner Carey said that he is going to reserve his comment on each of the projects until the Board talks about the debt capacity target. Chair Jacobs said that this is a good segue into the next item. c) Other Considerations Related to Funding School Capital Projects Rod Visser made reference to page 3-A3 and the bar graphs that demonstrate the additional debt capacity. Chair Jacobs said that some discomfort has already been expressed about using a 9°I° revenue growth rate. Rod Visser suggested looking at the 7°lo growth scenario -pages 3-B1, 3-B2, and 3-B3. If the Board chooses to issue all of the debt, it would have to acknowledge upfront that there would be a 7.9-cent tax impact over the next three fiscal years. Commissioner Carey pointed out that they also have to consider the tax impact of the operational aspects of the projects. He wants to know about the tax impact of some of these so that he can have a better picture. Chair Jacobs said that there is a strategic plan for parks and custodial services and these can be plugged in. Commissioner Carey said that a 9°~ growth rate is too aggressive for him. He is comfortable with 7% since it is consistent with the last six years. Chair Jacobs asked Rod Visser to speak about the 15°!o debt capacity and how other counties deal with it. Rad Visser said that he agrees with Commissioner Carey that the 15% figure has served the County well. He thinks it has added to the County's financial strength. The Local Government Commission continues to urge local governments to use the 15°~ benchmark as a guideline. Discussion ensued about the other counties that have a 15°~ benchmark for debt capacity. Commissioner Halkiotis asked for more information because only 5 of 100 counties responded to the survey from Donna Coffey and of those, only 2 said that they had a debt capacity policy. Commissioner Gordan reiterated that she would like to see a 10-year report for capital projects with specifics on pay-as-you-go, bond, and alternative financing options for existing programmed projects and proposed projects. Bob Jessup spoke about Senate Bill 2009, which was passed at the last General Assembly. The people who worked together on this legislation included a school architectural firm and a couple of the larger school systems -Charlotte/Mecklenburg and Wake. The idea was to provide another method of financing the huge need in public school construction. CharlottelMecklenburg builds 10-15 schools a year and they have 10 sites under control at any time for the next 10 schools. This bill was designed to allow more flexibility in terms of letting the school boards have more responsibility for doing the projects. It would also allow for better focus on total life cycle costs of school buildings. It authorizes school boards to enter into developer-driven projects for schools. There have not been any projects completed under this legislation, but there are many counties that are actively looking at it. Commissioner Gordon asked how this helps because the County would still have the responsibility of funding. Bob Jessup said that it would help solve different problems in different localities. In some localities, it is finding the site and not the funding. In others, it is the conflict between operating and maintenance and a lease payment would be easier. It allows for negotiations to be done on a more private basis. Rad Visser said that they do not know how this will impact Orange County. Chair Jacobs made reference to the blue cover sheet and said that the Hillsborough Historic District Commission may be asking for changes in the glass wall to add brick, which could cost some additional money. He asked Ken Redfoot from Corley Redfoot Zack to speak about what will be proposed and the cost. He asked about the Animal Services Facility relocation and the existing access road and if Chapel Hill is going to let Orange County put in a gravel road. Purchasing and Central Services Director Pam Jones said that they have talked with the University and they are very amenable to the ideas from the County. She will check on this specifically. Ken Redfoot said that they are in the process of responding to the Historic District Commission. They will know within about a week about the cost implications. Commissioner Halkiotis suggested having a discussion about when various boards and commissions review County plans and where this stops. He said that he found Kathleen Turner's comments in the paper last week very supportive of the existing plan. Now there are other people asking for things that are cost prohibitive and a line must be drawn. He wants to move this project along. Chair Jacobs said that it would be useful to keep a running tab of the additional costs caused by this process. d }Next Steps Rod Visser said that staff would review the materials and identify which project ordinances to bring forward on September 12tH Pam Janes made reference to the blue sheet and said that there was a new development on the Central Orange Senior Center, in that the group had looked at putting the adult day health center into the Sportsplex and that prompted a change in the design. The vestibule area of the adult day health center is prompting continued review by the Town of Hillsborough. They have to go back to the Board of Adjustment on this. Commissioner Carey suggested that when the staff goes back for calculations that they proceed as if the 15% debt threshold stays in place. He would also like to see same estimate of the operational impact of these projects coming online within the next two years. Commissioner Gordon endorsed the 15°~ threshold. Commissioner Carey also asked to factor in the impact of the lottery proceeds. Donna Coffey said that they expect the first deposit of lottery proceeds in October. 2. Lands Legacy Action Plan for FY 2006-08 Environment and Resource Conservation Director Dave Stancil said that this is the draft action plan of what has been identified through conversations with advisory boards and previous action plans for the next two years of Lands Legacy. He made reference to the status report {Attachment 1 b) and said that it has been five years since the first action plan, and since that time they have been able to protect 1,700 acres of future park sites, natural areas, wildlife habitat, watershed buffer lands, prime farmland, and cultural and archaeological sites. They have contributed financially to acquisition and conservation of another 1,100 acres. They have been able to leverage a lot of money -almost $4 million to date. He thinks that they have made a lot of headway towards erasing the parkland deficit that was referred to in 2001. Regarding challenges, there are a lot of unprotected natural heritage sites and there is a long list of farmers interested in participating in the farmland easement program. He made reference to page 10 and reviewed the table of priorities: Bingham Township Park, Farmland Easements, Jordan Lake Macrosite, Seven Mile Creek Preserve, Upper Ena Riparian Buffers, New Hope Preserve and Trails, University Natural Areas, and Faucette's Mill Historic Area. Commissioner Carey asked how firm the estimates are for the costs in the first table and Dave Stancil said that they are general estimates. They realize that there are more projects than they have funds. Commissioner Foushee made reference to page 2 of the advisory board comments, and the comment by the Commission for the Environment about continuing to explore potential pilot project to restore or reconstruct a piedmont prairie site. Dave Stancil said that there might be same funds available to help recreate some of the piedmont prairies, which were fairly common about 200 years ago in North Carolina. Commissioner Halkiotis said that the Jordan Lake Macrosite is a commendable undertaking and he asked the Board to consider asking the staff to send this action plan material to Chatham County Commissioners and encourage them to preserve land. Commissioner Gordon and Chair Jacobs said that they support the plan. Chair Jacobs said that, since there is an improved relationship with Orange-Alamance Water, he suggested that at the next Eno Confluence in October, that they discuss whether Orange-Alamance is willing to work with the County in conservation easements along McGowan Creek. Chair Jacobs asked staff to put in a Manager's Memo or an agenda where they are with payment-in-lieu. He thinks that one of the questions has to do with a 20-year old plan. If the County has achieved most of the plan, then he wants to know what's next. A motion was made by Commissioner Halkiotis, seconded by Commissioner Gordon to adjourn the meeting at 9:58 p.m. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Barry Jacobs, Chair Donna S. Baker Clerk to the Board