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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 05-09-2013 APPROVED 9/5/2013 MINUTES BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BUDGET WORK SESSION May 9, 2013 7:00 p.m. The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a Budget Work Session on Thursday, May 9, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, N.C. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Jacobs and Commissioners, Alice M. Gordon, Earl McKee, Bernadette Pelissier, Renee Price and Penny Rich COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Commissioner Mark Dorosin COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Frank Clifton, Assistant County Managers Michael Talbert, Clarence Grier and Deputy Clerk to the Board David Hunt (All other staff members will be identified appropriately below) NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE. 1. Continuation of Review and Discussion of the Manager's Recommended FY2013-18 Capital Investment Plan (CIP)cc Chair Jacobs called the meeting to order at 7:01 PM. Frank Clifton said that debt service for the County represents 17.3 cents on the tax rate this year. Commissioner McKee arrived at 7:03 PM. Frank Clifton said the budget is about the same level as 4 years ago in terms of the general fund. The County has a very good bond rating. The plan is to deliver the Manager's Recommended Budget on May 21 st based on these discussions, with no tax increase. He said this is probably the last year of no tax increase. Chair Jacobs said this is the third time the County Commissioners have discussed the CIP. He went through the items at the County Commissioners' places: - Agenda item from March 19th on the SAPFO - CHCCS summary of State budget reductions over a five-year period - A memo from CHCCS on a potential school site at the Greene Tract - A memo from OCS on a number of topics: student membership projections and some disputed SAPFO projections Paul Laughton from Financial Administration made this presentation. Discussion ensued on the order of items to discuss. Emergency Services Meadowlands: Paul Laughton made reference to page 13 of the CIP notebook and briefly explained this project. Northern Human Services Center: Chair Jacobs asked about the schedule for this project. Jeff Thompson said the award for the design contract comes back on June 4 th Commissioner McKee asked if there was a plan to use the wings on this facility. Jeff Thompson said there is no programming, but there is discussion about the cost benefits of doing so. Commissioner Price asked about the possibility of a library/cybrary. Also, EMS could use this space. Frank Clifton reminded the Board that this project is at $2,000,000 now. Any significant changes from the plan will increase this. He also clarified that the discussion about an EMS station would be a separate building entirely. Seymour Center: Paul Laughton said there is nothing in the next five years for this project. Southern Orange Campus future planning: Paul Laughton said this is for the future planning of this campus area. Frank Clifton said there are no specific guidelines at this time for this area. This will not affect the budget for this year. Southern Human Services Center: Paul Laughton said this expansion includes a dental clinic in year 4. This is $6.65 million in year 4. Chair Jacobs asked about the operating costs of the dental clinic in this part of the County. Frank Clifton said the Health Department is having discussions with Piedmont Health about having an operating agreement where the County provides the facility and Piedmont provides the staff. Southern Library: Paul Laughton said that the other parts of the funding besides the planning have been pushed out for a year. This is explained in Attachment B. The reason it was pushed back is because the debt service was too high for year 5. Commissioner Price asked to flag this and said she would not like to push this back a year. Commissioner McKee said he thinks the $600,000 should be pushed back also. Commissioner Gordon said she would be willing to flag it because she does not understand completely why it was pushed back. Commissioner Pelissier said she does not want to delay the $600,000 because it sends a message to Carrboro that this is being delayed. Chair Jacobs made reference to an email from him about 130 W. Main St. and the property behind this, the Butler Property. The Board of Alderman discussed library options for these two properties. The Board can discuss this at the proper time. Frank Clifton said it is all about timing of debt. Commissioner Price said since it is not known regarding the type of facility, then these numbers are hypothetical. Link Government Services Center: Paul Laughton said there is nothing new in this project in the next five years. HVAC Projects: There are three items in this for the next two years. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the $20,000 for Efland Community Center and it was answered that it was for equipment replacement. Chair Jacobs said this should be flagged and moved up because this is needed in 2013-14 instead of 2015-16. Affordable Housing: There is $170,000 for year one, which is for future impact fee reimbursements. Commissioner Pelissier said she recalls asking Habitat to let the County know about the new home projection. Chair Jacobs said that there is no bond money dedicated to affordable housing at this time. He said one of the things that is being suggested in following up from the retreat is to have some goals about affordable housing and promote it and be more aggressive. Information Technology: Year one has $650,000 for equipment; $250,000 for library software; and $50,000 for BOCC initiatives. There is $450,000 for the out years. Chair Jacobs asked about streaming the Board meetings and it was answered that this technology is included in the CIP. Register of Deeds Automation: This is consistent with previous years. There is $75,000 for next year and $80,000 in the out years. Animal Services Facility: Year four has $100,000 for an emergency power generator. Commissioner McKee asked if this was a replacement of an existing generator. Frank Clifton said that a lot of buildings have been made generator ready and this is a strategic need. Paul Laughton said Emergency Services is looking at potential grant funds also. Proposed Jail: Site related planning costs are included for 2013-14 of$250,000. This is for a 250-bed facility. Construction cost estimates range from $80-120,000 per bed. Year 3 and 4 include design work estimates and year 5 includes construction costs. Frank Clifton said the State authorized a 50-year lease on the land for this, which is 6.8 acres. The property is on the eastern side of NC 86. All of this property is State-owned property. Whitted Building: Attachment A addresses this item. This is $1.4 million. Commissioner Price asked how flexible the $1.4 million was. Jeff Thompson said the number could be tightened up after the design. Energy Bank: This provides funding for projects that reduce energy/water demand at County facilities. This is $50,000 for the next two years. Environment and Agriculture Center: This allocation is in year 5 and is $1.3 million. Commissioner McKee made reference to the entrance on the east side where there was water coming under the door after the rain. Commissioner Price asked if the building was ok right now. Jeff Thompson said the building needs upfitting. The business case is weak to invest in the building at this time. Chair Jacobs said the Blackwood Farm is also an option and these two projects are intertwined. Commissioner McKee asked if there were two HVAC systems in that building and it was answered yes, there are multiple systems. All of the systems would not have to be replaced. It was answered that the issue is the way the air is distributed. It is difficult to keep everyone comfortable in this facility. Jeff Thompson said in the February work session there was a discussion of space planning with the Department of Environment, Agriculture, Parks and Recreation (DEAPR) Government Services Annex: This has $350,000 for HVAC replacement in year 5. Commissioner McKee asked if there was a plan for what to do with this building. Frank Clifton said there have been discussions about this. There is a discussion soon about space studies. He said it is probably time for another thorough analysis. Historic Rogers Road Neighborhood Community Center: There was $650,000 appropriated this year and nothing else appropriated for the out years. Viper Radio System: The appropriations in the out years are for the towers over the next 5 years. Frank Clifton said there is a study underway about the best location for the towers. Commissioner McKee said for years Emergency Services has gotten the short end of the funding stream, and the result of that was increased response time. He wants to make sure Emergency Services stays ahead of the curve. Commissioner Pelissier said she heard a presentation yesterday about the VIPER system and asking the State to expand the system. She asked if the State allows the expansion of the VIPER system, if this would allow the State to build towers. Jim Groves said most of the activity would be in the western part of the State. Commissioner Pelissier said they were told it was from the east to the west. Frank Clifton suggested not waiting on the State for this. Communication System Improvements: This was Attachment D. The Board approved Budget Amendment 8-A on March 19th for the purchase of radios. Budget Amendment 8-B was also approved to purchase 11 P25 compliant radios. Emergency Services Substations: This is for 4 substations on County property. There is $875,000 in year 1, 3 and 5. Commissioner McKee asked Jim Groves to speak to the Phelps Road Station. Jim Groves said Medic 5 has been co-located with Orange Rural Station 3. It has been a good fit. They will continue to work to find locations that will further reduce response times. Commissioner McKee said Carrboro and Eno may also be interested in joint locations. He thinks the Board of County Commissioners should send a clear message that this is an opportunity for Orange County to realize a significant savings. He is content to leave the $50,000 for next year, but he does not see building a stand-alone station next year because it defeats the purpose of the co-location. He suggested removing the $875,000 for next year. Chair Jacobs asked about the costs of the substations and said these numbers seem too high. He asked staff to come back with a realistic system for the following budget years. The consultant recommended something way out of the range of the County's budget. Commissioner Price asked for numbers for co-location for next year. Commissioner McKee said the Emergency Services Work Group did not recommend standalone stations at this time. Commissioner Gordon suggested taking this item out. Frank Clifton suggested bringing back a couple of options to the Board. Commissioner McKee said the Board needs to give a clear signal that co-location is the preferred option. Blackwood Farm Park: There are large amounts in year 3 for the Agriculture, Environment and Parks Center and year 4 would be for park construction. Frank Clifton said one of the thoughts was the possibility of a county fair. Blackwood Farm would be a logical site for this. There is public water and sewer on this site. Commissioner McKee questioned the expense of this. Frank Clifton said the County has purchased lots of land and has not built facilities yet. Dave Stancil said the master plan was adopted by the Board several years ago. The master plan in 2005 included a footprint for a parks and recreation office. The idea here is to have this facility as an Ag Center. Chair Jacobs said the adopted Master Plan should be shared with the Board of County Commissioners before making decisions on this site, especially for the new members. When this was discussed in the past, there was some discussion about how this project in the CIP went from future years to being built right away. Commissioner Gordon said the way she remembers it is that this would have the park, operations base, and environmental education center. She does not remember the Ag Center being a part of it. Chair Jacobs said if the Revere Road building is not adequate anymore, then the proposal is that the functions in there that are agriculture related would be moved to this facility, which is why the Ag Center is now on this plan. Dave Stancil agreed. Commissioner Price said she is concerned about changing the plan. She said she remembers nothing about making this a government complex when she was on the work group. Commissioner McKee said this would represent decentralization from Hillsborough. He said this de facto makes a decision to close down the Revere Road facility. This concerns him. Chair Jacobs said it is clear that more analysis is needed on this item. The space needs study will be done in two weeks and more information will be available at that time. He suggested just focusing on the $100,000 for this year and deferring the rest until more discussion has occurred. Commissioner Gordon said she does not want office space at Blackwood Farm. The County Commissioners agreed that more discussion needs to take place. Chair Jacobs suggested discussing the remaining three huge ticket items and leaving the rest to later. Commissioner McKee noted that the Eurosport Soccer Center has also rapidly escalated in scope and cost. Conservation Easements: Paul Laughton said the $250,000 for these years includes grant matching funds of $125,000. The Board agreed to keep this the way it is. Eurosport Soccer Center: This project has changed. Year three would be the conversion of one of the fields to artificial turf. Dave Stancil said this is an idea for investment and change. Commissioner McKee said he is in favor of this, given the success of the tournament here and the income it brought to the County. Commissioner Gordon said it would be a good idea to have a different method of bringing projects to the Board. She said these are large projects that have been added. Chair Jacobs suggested dividing up the discussions into Pressing Projects and New Projects instead of trying to sort through them all at the same time. Frank Clifton pointed out the $2.4 million from Lands Legacy was a bond approved debt. Chair Jacobs suggested revisiting that next year. Commissioner Gordon said this should be left in because there was voter authorization for $7 million, of which this $2.4 million is a part. She said to keep the commitment to the voters; it should be spent within Lands Legacy. New Hope Preserve: This calls for low-impact amenities that will be built in phases as shown in the table. Dave Stancil said Durham got a grant and $125,000 is the County's share. Year 2 has $75,000 for land purchase. Twin Creeks: This does not have any new money in the next five years, but has some in the out years. The current year has $600,000. Dave Stancil said the developer of the property to the south is revisiting the site. Frank Clifton said the cost of access to the park will more than double if the developer drops out. Chair Jacobs said he thinks Carrboro may be amenable to revisiting the size and the necessity of the parkway. Schools: Paul Laughton made reference to page 84, the School Capital Projects, and said this was also addressed on Attachment C. This is consistent with the joint meeting with the school boards on April 25th. This summary shows the impact of delaying Middle School #5 for two years and including the Culbreth Science wing. Chair Jacobs said he received an email from Commissioner Dorosin who said he tended to be inclined to support this project if there was some guarantee that it was directly related to deferring middle school capacity for a certain number of years. Commissioner Rich said she researched the science wing at Culbreth Middle School since the last meeting and she is in favor of this wholeheartedly. She would like to see this move forward, especially since there is no running water in the science wing. Commissioner Gordon said the point is the labs are inadequate and the school system has put its own money into the design. This is the right thing to do. She reviewed some of the debt capacity numbers to show that the debt service capacity picture was improved. Commissioner Pelissier and Commissioner Price expressed support for this funding. Chair Jacobs said this has been sitting for 20 years and now it has come up at the same time the County is funding an elementary school and a middle school. It strikes him as unfortunate timing because $80 million will be spent in one system and only a quarter of that being spent in the other system. This is a question of equity. He agrees with the merits of this project, but he wants to hear from the Orange County Schools. Commissioner Gordon would like to ask staff to include the Culbreth science wing in the revised CIP as shown in Attachment C. Chair Jacobs asked if there was enough debt capacity to do the Cedar Ridge High School auxiliary gym and the classroom wing. Paul Laughton said that by moving the middle school two years, in year 6 and 7, the debt capacity may be over. Commissioner Gordon pointed out that the year 5 and 6 scenario has improved. She said the Cedar Ridge projects have not been moved. Chair Jacobs said he was arguing to look at the whole picture, but Commissioner Gordon is saying to proceed with this project at this place in the CIP. He suggested putting it on the list of things to be left in the CIP as it is in Attachment C. Michelle Brownstein, CHCCS Board Chair said a water pipe, for example, could not be just added, because this is not allowed anymore with older buildings. Addressing required code issues is driving the higher cost. Paul Laughton made reference to Attachment C and the projects for Cedar Ridge High School. Both of these projects are requested for year 2 — auxiliary gym and classroom wing. SAPFO does not have Elementary #8 for the 10 year period. Chair Jacobs made reference to the letter at the County Commissioners' places from the Chair of the OCS Board. The OCS board had another engagement tonight. Orange County Schools staff person Pam Jones spoke to the adjustments in the cost estimate for the gym. The person that came up with the numbers is no longer with the school system and no one knew how these numbers were originated. The current numbers are more accurate. Commissioner McKee asked how this impacts the debt capacity. Financial Services Director Clarence Grier said there is enough capacity for the first five years. After that, it is questionable. Commissioner McKee said he is concerned that Orange County has close to the highest tax rate in the state. Chair Jacobs said the expansion of Cedar Ridge is based on a disputed assumption about SAPFO. He said the Board of County Commissioners is committed to $37 million for one school system and $3 million for the other. This has nothing to do with his support for CHCCS, but these are huge ticket items and the equity is not even being discussed. Frank Clifton said there is also a disagreement with the SAPFO from the CHCCS. There is an argument about the projections being too low. This creates a problem for the County in that the school systems bring priorities and some are "unfunded priorities." The science wing is "unfunded." Commissioner Rich said these children in this middle school are not able to learn like others in the County because of lack of this science wing. Commissioner Pelissier said she is concerned about how these projects affect the debt capacity. Commissioner McKee said he is supportive of the science wing. He is content to set at year two the auxiliary gym. He said he will not support an increase in property taxes this year because the tax increase was the '/2-cent sales tax in November, in his opinion. Pam Jones said there is $300,000 in the school budget to do the planning for the auxiliary gym. Chair Jacobs said he could not disagree more with what Commissioner McKee said because the County Commissioners fought for years and years so that the Orange County needs are treated equally to the school needs. He said Commissioner McKee said the County has used its debt capacity and will defer the County needs, and he strenuously objects to that. He said the County needs should be equal to the school needs. Chair Jacobs went through the list of things the Board agreed to keep in the budget: - Leave the $600,000 for the Southern Branch Library - Move up $20,000 to this year for the Efland Community Center - For the Whitted Building, move up to $1.5 million - For the standalone substation, move out $850,000 from this fiscal year and reevaluate what the substations cost - For the Blackwood Farm, take the $100,000 that is in there and use that as an analysis of the interplay with the Revere Road site - Lands Legacy— leave the $2.4 million in the 2014-15 and leave $125,000 for the conservation easements - Leave the $600,000 for this year for Culbreth Middle School and endorse the project Commissioner Gordon said this is a five-year CIP and this is not just approval for year one. She would like to go on record that the Board is approving the CIP, which has five years. Chair Jacobs said the Board is giving direction and not specifically approving all of this. 2. Fiscal Year 2013-14 Budget Drivers Clarence Grier shared the budget drivers: - Medical Health Insurance increases — up to 8.5% $0.23 million - Retirees Health Annual Funding Requirement $5.3 million - Emergency Services Requests $1.78 million - School Districts Budget Requests — up to $8.5 million TOTAL budget drivers/impacts $15.81 million Clarence Grier said there are also compression issues with employee compensation. Frank Clifton said the summary is the budget will come to the Board with no tax increase. The full impact will come the next fiscal year. He said both school systems have asked for additional funding and all but two fire districts will ask for an increase if their fire taxes. A motion was made by Commissioner McKee, seconded by Commissioner Rich to adjourn the meeting at 10:24 p.m. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Barry Jacobs, Chair David Hunt Deputy Clerk to the Board