HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 03-06-2014 - 6a 1
ORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: March 6, 2014
Action Agenda
Item No. 6-a
SUBJECT: MINUTES
DEPARTMENT: PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No
ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT:
Donna Baker, 245-2130
Draft Minutes
PURPOSE: To correct and/or approve the minutes as submitted by the Clerk to the Board as
listed below:
November 12, 2013 BOCC Work Session
November 14, 2013 BOCC Joint Meeting with City of Mebane
January 31, 2014 BOCC Annual Retreat
BACKGROUND: In accordance with 153A-42 of the General Statutes, the Governing Board
has the legal duty to approve all minutes that are entered into the official journal of the Board's
proceedings.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: NONE
RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends the Board approve minutes as
presented or as amended.
1
I Attachment 1
2
3 DRAFT MINUTES
4 BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
5 BUDGET WORK SESSION
6 November 12, 2013
7 7:00 p.m.
8
9 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a Work Session on Tuesday,
10 November 12, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. at the Link Government Services Center in Hillsborough, N.C.
11
12 COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Jacobs and Commissioners Mark Dorosin,
13 Alice M. Gordon, Earl McKee, Bernadette Pelissier, Renee Price and Penny Rich
14 COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT:
15 COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: John Roberts
16 COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: Interim County Manager Michael Talbert, Assistant County
17 Managers Cheryl Young and Clarence Grier and Clerk to the Board Donna Baker (All other
18 staff members will be identified appropriately below)
19
20 1. Cedar Grove Community Center Schematic Design Presentation
21 Jeff Thompson introduced this item and noted that Chair Jacobs and Commissioner
22 Price have worked alongside staff and the resident advisory workgroup. He thanked all of the
23 team members who have participated in the process.
24 Sue Florence spoke on behalf of the working group. She asked all residents to stand
25 so they could be recognized for their work on this group. She thanked the Board for the
26 professional knowledge and skill that was provided by staff and consultants throughout this
27 project.
28 Chair Jacobs said the Board appreciated all of the work that the residents and staff
29 accomplished.
30 John Thomas, with MBAJ Architecture, praised the advisory group for their efforts on
31 this challenging task. He reviewed the following PowerPoint slides:
32
33 Methodology
34 Informal Resident Advisory Work Group
35 - 7 Meetings over 3 Months
36 • Perceptions and Dreams
37 • Programming
38 • Concept Development
39 - 8 Concepts Explored
40
41 Existing Conditions Survey
42 - Through inventory of existing conditions
43 - Code compliance review
44
45 Existing Conditions (Aria) Photograph)
46 Existing Conditions (Park Master Plan Map)
47 Existing Conditions (blueprint)
48 Existing Conditions (blueprint)
49 Challenges
2
1 Septic Capacity
2 — 1,400 gals/day
3 Limited Occupancy
4 No Commercial Kitchen
5 Lot Coverage
6 — 12% Impervious Surface
7 Memorializing Community Significance
8 Historic Aesthetic
9
10 Proposed Solutions-schematic designs for next 8 slides
11
12 Occupancy
13 Septic Capacity
14 — 1,400 gals/day
15 Full Day Use (8 hours)
16 — 140 persons
17 Half Day Use (4 hours)
18 — 220 persons
19
20 Proposed Solution
21 Preliminary Cost Estimate
General Conditions $172,712
Selective Abatement & Deconstruction $294,881
Building Renovation $1,029,247
Site Work $253,255
Construction Subtotal $1,577,383
Contingency 8% $105,930
Professional Fees $173,500
Cultural &Archeology Study $5,000
Construction Testing & Inspections $15,774
Permits & Fees $2,000
Audio Visual Equipment $20,000
Signage $3,500
FF&E $94,643
Project Total $1,997,730
3
1
2 Mothballing of Classroom Wings (photo)
3
4 Mothballing
5 Objective
6 — Preservation of Existing Space
7 Minimum Scope
8 — Window Replacement
9 — Roof Replacement
10 — HVAC
11 — Fire Alarm
12 — Smoke Detection
13
14 Mothballing
15
16 Cost
17 — Additional Cost: $358,700
18 Mothball Cost: $579,900
19 Mothball Design Fees:$28,800
20 Less Deconstruction Budget: ($250,000)
21 Benefits
22 — Preserves 21,000 s.f. for future use
23 — Replacement Cost: $3-4 Million
24 — 1,100 s.f. Classroom available as Multi-Media Room in Project
25 — Preserves Historic Appearance
26
27
28 John Thomas said the charge was the development of the center section of the existing
29 building, which represents between 11,000 and 13,000 square feet. He said the simultaneous
30 charge was to look at the effect of mothballing the areas noted in gray on the maps, in case of
31 a need for future development.
32 He said the proposal is to keep or mothball all wings of the facility, and convert the
33 gravel lot to a paved lot, which will not change the impervious surface. He walked through the
34 proposed site plan blueprint. He said the memorial site out front would put back the old
35 flagpole along with information about the old school.
36 John Thomas reviewed the floor plan and said the goal is to create a lobby out of the
37 current outdoor walkway, and develop the cafeteria into three main spaces — a small group
38 room, a large group space, and a recreation room. He said the kitchen would be divided into a
39 church style kitchen with storage and two restrooms - one available to the kitchen and one to
40 the exterior ball fields.
41 He said the gym will be converted into a multipurpose room with some recreational
42 capabilities. He said the old stage will be closed off with folding walls to allow for use as an
43 exercise space.
44
45 Commissioner McKee arrived at 7:18 pm.
46
47 John Thomas said there will also be one additional room that was not in the original
48 charge. He said this room will be developed into a multi-media room appropriate for computer
49 use, tutoring, or classroom space.
4
1 He said the proposal also includes a facility manager's office, as well as an open front
2 entrance for an internet cafe.
3 John Thomas said the overall look of the building will be maintained. He said the brick
4 will be cleaned up, and new windows will be installed throughout the building.
5 He reviewed black and white sketches of each room described above.
6 He said the small group room, large group room and the recreation room can all be
7 opened up into one large meeting space.
8 He said the idea of the recreation room is to have a permanent pool and ping pong area
9 for youth and/or seniors in the area.
10 John Thompson reviewed the occupancy and use limitations for large groups. He said
11 the building would be fine for the intended day to day uses.
12 He said the objective of mothballing the other wings of the building is to preserve the
13 21,000 square feet of additional space for possible future use. He reviewed the minimum
14 scope measures, as listed on the slide, to preserve the space.
15 Commissioner Gordon asked how many people can be accommodated in the space if it is
16 fully occupied.
17 John Thomas said if the large middle room were filled, standing room only, according to
18 code, it could fit 290 people. He said the recreational activity use number is more like 15 or 20
19 people.
20 Commissioner Gordon asked what happens when someone wants to reserve the space.
21 She asked if this means this reservation cannot exceed 290.
22 John Thomas said that is correct. He said this is a limit that is put on as a result of the
23 septic condition.
24 Commissioner Gordon asked about the square footage of the project.
25 John Thomas said the renovation is a little over 13,000 square feet, including the extra
26 room, which is 1,100 square feet, plus the bathrooms.
27 Commissioner Gordon asked for the total breakdown, including the bathrooms.
28 John Thomas said it would be a little over 2,500 square feet.
29 Commissioner Gordon clarified that bathrooms had to be done.
30 John Thomas said if the wings came down at the natural break point, it would require
31 the construction of new bathrooms.
32 Commissioner Gordon asked if this is included in the estimate.
33 John Thomas said this was not included, as the recommendation was to mothball the
34 wings. However, he is confident that it could be done within the budget of$2 million. He said
35 the other option is to take down the wing down at a different junction.
36 Commissioner Dorosin asked about the sewer capacity. He questioned whether there is
37 any possible solution to the issue.
38 Jeff Thompson said in the mid 2000's the County acquired property across the street for
39 the purpose of creating additional leach field area to increase the septic capacity. He said the
40 estimated cost of this endeavor was about $800,000 to $1 million. He said there are new
41 technologies coming out, but these are not yet vetted by environmental health.
42 Commissioner Dorosin said he understands there is a goal to keep the aesthetics, but he
43 wondered if solar panels or green roofs have been discussed, considering the large flat roof
44 surface.
45 John Thomas said green roofs are not a possibility due to the weight being incompatible
46 with the current roof loading standard, but solar panels are a possibility.
47 Jeff Thompson said the photo voltaic solar does not have a good enough cost payback
48 benefit. He said these paybacks are still decades out.
49 Chair Jacobs said the Board had this same conversation 10 years ago regarding solar,
50 and the same objection was raised.
5
1 Commissioner Rich asked if there has been discussion about what the wings would be
2 used for in the future.
3 Jeff Thompson said there has been nothing discussed in the short term for these wings,
4 but there has been discussion of a possible future co-location of Emergency Services facilities.
5 Commissioner Rich said her concern is that the septic issue limits any future use.
6 Jeff Thompson said the current estimate is to save the space for possible use, without
7 spending operating costs. He said if there is a point where there is a use for the space then
8 there would be a significant cost required to upgrade the septic, but there would be not be a big
9 cost in the building itself if it is maintained.
10 Michael Talbert noted that there are 21,000 square feet of space to be mothballed. He
11 asked how much it would cost in today's dollars to renovate the space and bring it back.
12 Jeff Thompson said this would cost $75 to $100 per square foot.
13 Michael Talbert said this would require some work now to mothball, but the cost five
14 years from now to renovate at the current rate would be an additional $2 million, plus sewer,
15 which would push it up to the $3 million range.
16 Commissioner Pelissier said there was some discussion about having a park and ride lot
17 across the street. She asked if there had been any discussion about having it on the same side
18 of the street if the wings were not mothballed. She said people wanting to use the facilities
19 would have to cross a busy street to get to the park and ride lot.
20 Jeff Thompson said the board has had some conversation about this site being an
21 endpoint for a circulator route into Hillsborough. He said there have been no specifics yet about
22 how this would work.
23 Commissioner Pelissier asked if there was any discussion of doing geo-thermal for this
24 site.
25 Jeff Thompson said there is interest in doing geo-thermal; however the only site for
26 doing this is under the current septic field.
27 Commissioner McKee said he would like the title of this facility be the Northern Human
28 Services Center, because he would like to see services moved back up into that community.
29 He questioned whether it is more important to mothball space or to provide services to the
30 community. He noted that the library was taken out of this community, and he feels it is critical
31 to provide services, because this is an underserved area of the County.
32 He said this is not just a $300,000 mothball project, as it would still cost $2-3 million to
33 renovate in the future. He said this could provide a lot of services in the community that would
34 go with the current schematic.
35 Commissioner Price noted that the multi-media area is a library.
36 Commissioner McKee said he is referencing the space below the bathrooms that could
37 be used for additional space.
38 Jeff Thompson said the use of this room for programs was not discussed. He
39 acknowledged that the community center cost for programming would have to be addressed in
40 future discussions.
41 Chair Jacobs asked if there will there be a fire alarm in the wings.
42 John Thomas said this was not discussed, but it could be provided, along with sensors
43 on the doors.
44 Chair Jacobs said if the space is climate controlled and has some security, a
45 conversation could be had in the future about the potential use for storage. He said this would
46 be a good investment, as it would free up space in other County buildings. He said this would
47 make him more comfortable with this schematic design.
48 Jeff Thompson said an intruder alarm is standard.
6
1 Chair Jacobs said he feels that an internet cafe and a multi-purpose room seem
2 redundant in some ways. He said a multi-media room will have internet, and if there is an
3 interactive video screen in the cafe, it will probably have limited use.
4 John Thomas said the interactive display wall was not meant to function the same as a
5 laptop. He said this was to be more of a memorial to the history of the facility and the
6 community. He said the internet cafe was intended to be like a Starbucks. He said it was
7 intended to be more social, and the multi-media space would be more use based. He said
8 these uses would be things like distance learning, tutoring, and special classes. He said this
9 would be more of a dedicated use space.
10 Chair Jacobs questioned whether a Zumba class could be held on stage without the
11 noise bleeding into the internet cafe.
12 John Thomas said the acoustics in this space have not been examined yet, but this can
13 be mitigated later. He said the internet cafe is intended to be a lively and social space, not a
14 quiet space.
15 Chair Jacobs said the conference room may not be that quiet either.
16 John Thomas said he is confident the good acoustic privacy could be achieved in that
17 space.
18 Chair Jacobs asked if the south facing wall in the kitchen is movable.
19 John Thomas said no.
20 Chair Jacobs asked if the other three sections could be one large section if the walls
21 were moved.
22 John Thomas said yes. He said the intent was to have a catering kitchen, according to
23 health standards.
24 Commissioner Price said the multi-media space should be a quiet space, like a library,
25 for kids to do homework.
26 Chair Jacobs asked if the local librarians had looked at this multi-media design.
27 Jeff Thompson said yes. He said this facility would be on wireless access and there
28 would be capability to stream content and link back to the main branch.
29 Chair Jacobs noted that this is similar to the Cybrary.
30 Commissioner Dorosin confirmed that property is owned across the street. He said if
31 the wings were ever to be used, there would have to be an investment in accessing this, or in
32 bringing water and sewer to this additional property. He questioned whether the septic capacity
33 would be increased if one wing were taken down.
34 Jeff Thompson said there would still be some critical watershed issues to address and
35 there would not be a like for like return.
36 Chair Jacobs said it would be beneficial to know the capacity of the septic field across
37 the street, for a longer term view.
38 Commissioner Dorosin suggested that there be a plan for this other septic site, possibly
39 in the CIP. He suggested that the cost to bring septic to this parcel should be added in to the
40 mix. He likes the idea of keeping the wings, with the idea of expanding services, but it is critical
41 to keep the septic issue on the forefront.
42 Commissioner Price asked about the issue with the parcel across the street. She had
43 heard that the cost was high for the septic system because it was experimental.
44 Jeff Thompson said the "living machine" was the technology that had been discussed,
45 and this was very cutting edge. He said there were more services on site when this was
46 discussed, but services were on the decline. He said a decision was made to purchase the
47 land but not do the septic.
48 Commissioner Price asked what the major cost to bring septic would be.
49 Jeff Thompson said it would be the process of getting under the road and meeting
50 regulatory requirements for the use of 21,000 feet.
7
1 Chair Jacobs said it was not a productive conversation back then because it was
2 uncertain whether the system would work or would be allowed.
3 Commissioner Rich said she hopes the septic options will be investigated, but her
4 concern is that $359,000 will be spent to mothball the wings. She asked if this will be a onetime
5 cost, and she questioned the amount for yearly upkeep on the wings.
6 Jeff Thompson said this cost would serve to secure the wings and keep them minimally
7 intact. He said when the facility was fully empty the operating cost was around $100,000 per
8 year, so there will be some cost. He said there would be some additional cost to accommodate
9 storage.
10 John Thomas said some adjustments would need to be made to the fire alarm systems
11 if this is used as storage space.
12 Commissioner Rich said her concern is that these wings will be mothballed and then
13 forgotten about while annual costs are paid on them. She is uncomfortable with the uncertainty
14 of the use and she would like to come up with a solution for the wings.
15 Commissioner Pelissier said the driving factor is not the septic, but it is the question of
16 why this should be mothballed. She said the square footage of this site is more than the
17 Southern Human Services Center, and she questioned why this would be needed in a rural
18 area. She said this wing is not ideal for emergency services, and it would not be used for a
19 park and ride. She likes the plan, but she is not keen on the mothballing part.
20 Commissioner McKee said he would like to see this site developed and not continually
21 pushed back on the CIP. He said there is a dual service model already in Orange County. He
22 would like to see some of these services provided in this rural area of the County, and he would
23 like to shift the funding to use for this.
24 Commissioner Gordon agreed with Commissioner Pelissier about the uncertainty of
25 what all this space would be used for. She said the layout is already beyond the septic
26 capacity, and she does not feel it is a cost effective use to mothball these wings. She said the
27 ideas about repurposing the main space are good, but she would have to think a long time
28 before she would agree to mothball the other wings.
29 Ms. Florence spoke and said the perception in the northern end of the County is that the
30 services were removed from this site. She said many residents were hoping for services here,
31 especially Emergency Services. She noted that phase three of the park is the largest part of
32 the park, and it would need more septic space. She said there needs to be a decision about
33 this septic issue, and if septic cannot be expanded, then the third phase of the park would also
34 have to be abandoned.
35 Chair Jacobs said the Board wants to do more investigation on how to use the parcel
36 across the street; what the options are for septic; and how big the park and ride lot would be.
37 He said the Board is generally supportive of the design, but there are questions about the
38 possible use of the internal space and the provision of services. He said the board did a good
39 job of staying within budget, with the exception of the open room, septic and across the street.
40 He said the most disagreement is with the mothballing option. He said if staff thinks the
41 mothball area could be used for storage, then the cost effectiveness is good. He suggested
42 that this option be considered.
43 Commissioner Price clarified that the mothball idea was not to have it sit there for 15
44 years. She said the concern was to preserve the integrity and history of the building, and there
45 was also a hope that services would be brought back to the building. She said the preservation
46 of these rooms was intended to prevent having to rebuild the space to provide services.
47 Chair Jacobs said the flipside was that the Board of County Commissioners established
48 a budget, and the mothball takes this into another area of expenditure. He said the Board
49 needs more facts about the issues above, and this should be included as part of the CIP
50 discussion.
8
1 Commissioner Price asked how much was put into the preservation of the Whitted
2 Building.
3 Chair Jacobs said this amount was $1.7 million.
4 Commissioner Price noted that this building sat for a period of time.
5 Chair Jacobs said this will be scheduled for discussion at a regular meeting in future.
6
7 2. Lands Legacy Action Plan for FY 2014-17
8 Rich Shaw, Land Conservation Manager with the Department of Environment,
9 Agriculture Parks and Recreation (DEAPR), presented the following overview and PowerPoint
10 slides:
11
12 November 12, 2013
13 Department of Environment, Agriculture,
14 Parks & Recreation
15
16 Lands Legacy Program
17 Conserving high-priority
18 natural & cultural resource lands
19 ✓ Voluntary
20 ✓ Partnerships
21 ✓ Funding (including $5 M grants)
22 ✓ 1,001 acres for parks & preserves
23 ✓ 2,030 acres private farms & natural areas
24
25 Changing conditions
26 ➢ Improving regional economy
27 ➢ NC Conservation Tax Credit eliminated
28 ➢ Reduced funding from the State
29 ➢ County parks & recreation master plan
30 ➢ County funds for conservation easements
31
32 Draft Lands Legacy Action Plan
33 Objectives for 2014-17
34 Continue current scaled-back approach
35 Complete projects already underway
36 Conserve significant natural areas
37 Establish/extend trails to link public places
38 Stewardship of existing properties
39
40 Draft Lands Legacy Action Plan
41 Priority Projects
42 Bingham Township Park
43 Upper Eno Preserve/Mtns-to-Sea Trail
44 Farmland easements
45 Jordan Lake Headwaters Preserve
46 Local Historic Landmarks (4 easements)
47
48 Lands Legacy Program
49 Protecting special places in Orange County
50
9
1 Rich Shaw said he would like to emphasize the importance of partnerships, especially
2 as funding has lessened. He said partnerships with OWASA, universities and local government
3 have allowed for the accomplishment of a lot of projects.
4 Referring to the slide on Priority Projects, he said Bingham Township is still on the radar
5 screen, though there have been some stops and starts. He said the goal with Mountains to the
6 Sea is to connect the Seven Mile Creek area into Hillsborough and the Riverwalk and
7 Occoneechee State Park.
8 Commissioner Rich asked how much has been invested in the Mountains to Sea Trail.
9 Rich Shaw said no land has been acquired specifically for the Mountains to Sea Trail,
10 though the state has used parts of their property.
11 Commissioner Gordon said the partnerships are important. She commended staff on
12 this effort, and said they have done a good job of making use of their funds.
13 Dave Stancil said the reason there is still $1.3 million in funding left is because of the
14 many partnerships.
15 Commissioner Price asked if the summary list of projects is in priority order.
16 Rich Shaw answered no.
17 Commissioner Pelissier said she is supportive of the plan. She questioned whether all
18 of the goals would be able to be addressed, given the limited monies. She asked about the
19 prioritization of projects.
20 Rich Shaw said a lot of this work is opportunity. He said some projects have been set
21 aside due to lack of interest, and it is important to go with the flow.
22 Commissioner Dorosin said he is so impressed with this project, and he would like to do
23 the same type of land acquisition for affordable housing. He said that same aggressive mind
24 set is needed.
25 Chair Jacobs expressed his appreciation for this program.
26 Chair Jacobs said he understands that OWASA has approached the County regarding
27 the possibility of taking over recreation at Cane Creek. He questioned whether Cane Creek
28 ought to be looked at as Bingham Township Park, with consideration of what uses can be made
29 available to the public without compromising water quality.
30 Stancil said staff is meeting with OWASA tomorrow.
31 Chair Jacobs asked about payment in lieu projects.
32 Dave Stancil said there are some payment lieu funds available for acquisition of land for
33 open space and for construction. He said the new master plan speaks about payment in lieu.
34 Chair Jacobs asked if there will be funds available that have not been budgeted.
35 Dave Stancil said yes. He said the Bingham project in particular has funds available.
36 Chair Jacobs said OWASA is no longer participating in conservation easements in their
37 watersheds. He questioned whether this should be posed to the AOG to see if the
38 governments would like to participate in protecting their own water supplies. He said the other
39 option is to ask the OWASA board to re-consider participating.
40 Chair Jacobs said the County has met twice with the Mayor of Durham to recommend
41 that the city participate in easements in Little River and other parts of Orange County. He said
42 the County is protecting Durham's water supply but the city is contributing nothing to preserve
43 it. Chair Jacobs said there is a new city manager and new council members who may be more
44 amenable to this concept.
45 Chair Jacobs suggested a formal proposal to the City of Durham's staff to meet with
46 County staff to talk about the inter-relation of storm water credits and whether the state is going
47 to actively protect Jordan Lake. He said Durham may want to work with the County to do more
48 to protect the water supply.
49 Dave Stancil said farmland conservation is a priority, and there may be opportunities in
50 the Little River watershed.
10
1 Chair Jacobs asked if anyone had any objections to writing a letter to Mayor Bell and a
2 similar letter to OWASA. There were no objections.
3 Chair Jacobs asked if there will be money available to provide signs for historic
4 landmarks.
5 Dave Stancil said this has been talked about over the years. He said this could be part
6 of the mix.
7 Commissioner McKee said the Board just got through pinching pennies on the Northern
8 Human Services Center project. He said the Board needs to keep priorities in mind, and the
9 priority for him is serving residents. He said the signage takes a second seat by comparison.
10 Commissioner Price said if prioritization needs to occur, there should be more emphasis
11 on water quality. She said this is more important than trails.
12 Chair Jacobs asked that when this item comes back to the Board, it includes the waiting
13 list for agricultural easements, as well as an estimate on how much additional funding would be
14 available for payments in lieu.
15
16 3. Space Study Update
17 Jeff Thompson reviewed the background information as listed in the abstract. He
18 presented the following PowerPoint slides:
19
20 Space Study Update
21 November 12, 2013 Work Session
22 Purpose:
23 — To update the BOCC on the Space Study according to the BOCC adopted space
24 study framework);
25 — To receive and discuss the space study update and provide guidance to the
26 Interim County Manager and staff in anticipation of the FY2014-15 goals,
27 planning, and budget processes.
28
29 Space Study Framework
30 BOCC Adopted 6-18-13
31 Characteristics:
32 — Tool for Analysis, Recommendations, and Resource Discussion
33 — Criteria and model for iterative and continuous space study
34 — Annual Budget Process Input
35 — Inform Board goals, planning and priorities
36
37 Guiding Principles
38 Co-Location
39 Consolidation
40 Owning
41 Building and Maintaining According to Sustainable Practices
42 Evaluating and managing facilities based upon relative cost and benefit analysis
43
44 Referring to the Guiding Principles slide, Jeff Thompson said the cost and benefit
45 analysis was done by staff, along with consultant ECS Carolinas. He said Wayne Fenton,
46 Assistant Manager of Asset Management Services, has led this effort.
47
48 Wayne Fenton reviewed the following slides:
49
50 Basis of Study
11
I Space use & needs assessment
2 — Observation
3 — Management & staff Input, interview, questionnaire
4 Physical assessment & inventory
5 — Thorough inspection & evaluation
6 — Maintenance and utility data/experience
7 — Identification of stressed and/or under-utilized assets
8
9 Scope of Study
10 Basis of study information analysis
11 — Short term assessment
12 — Longer Term assessment
13 — Consideration of BOCC goals, planning initiatives, and goals
14 Study suggestions and recommendations framed by:
15 — Guiding principles
16 — Defensible courses of action for stressed and under-utilized assets
17 — Providing exceptional facilities for County service delivery
18 — Recognizing, anticipating and planning for growth/contraction trends
19
20 Pete Dominico, with ECS Carolinas presented the following slides:
21
22 ECS Carolinas, LLP
23 Work with AMS staff to provide:
24 Space use assessment
25 Space use efficiencies, trends, needs
26 Physical facilities assessment
27 Facilities asset methodology & model
28 Groundwork for further analysis, staff& Board discussions
29
30 Space Use Assessment
31 Observation
32 Orange County generally follows proper use of space
33 General administrative office baseline:
34 250 usable square feet per employee;
35 Orange County is within reasonable variance of baseline
36 Use of office space as storage is the largest component of baseline difference
37
38 Physical Facilities Assessment
39 Observation, Operations Cost Inputs, Capital Needs, Relative Market Value
40 All Orange County general administrative office facilities are considered "Class B" or
41 "Class C'
42
43 Facilities Physical Assessment
44 Public asset "model conversion"to accepted commercial real estate valuation
45 standards
46 Cost > Relative Market Value = "Stressed Asset"
47 (Dep Value + Cap Need) > Replacement Cost= "Stressed Asset"
48
49 General Findings
50 Orange County has a reasonably efficient portfolio in both areas of study
12
1 Building program over the past several years has yielded results in line with BOCC
2 space goals
3 Adequate expansion spaces available
4 Some inefficient areas for discussion
5 More organized and programmed storage may address immediate space concerns from
6 the Department Directors
7 Southern Campus programming discussion needed in preparation for future budget
8 discussions
9
10 Jeff Thompson presented the following slides:
11
12 General Administrative Office Space
13 - Whitted Building
14 - Link Government Services Center
15 - Govt. Services Annex
16 Storage Assets
17 - 510 Meadowlands
18 - AMS North Campus
19 - Revere Road Campus
20 • EAC Records storage
21 • Former Car Wash facility
22 - Department Controlled Areas
23
24 Suggestions for Discussion and Feedback
25 Emphasize Department and County storage organization and policy (AMS can drive
26 this)
27 Consider uses for Whitted 2nd floor programmable space (potential Elections uses,
28 DEAPR uses, etc.) FY14-15 CIP
29 Consider more efficient uses for GSA, Link
30
31 Suggestions for Discussion and Feedback
32 Growth of Aging Programs to serve aging population
33 Embrace electronic records storage and management
34 Continue programming discussions for Southern Campus (SUP-modification request of
35 Chapel Hill expected in late Spring- early Summer)
36
37 Pete Dominico said this model will allow the County to plug in numbers to see how it
38 affects possible financial stressors and space use.
39 He said this model does not take into account the very specific entities that are
40 contained in the CIP.
41 Pete Dominico said the County as a whole is not far off in efficiency, though there are a
42 few individual buildings that are off. He said there were repeated requests for break rooms and
43 group space, and there are some areas that have inefficient storage use
44 He said the general administrative office facilities would be considered class B and class
45 C offices. He said these are all very nice spaces that are classified as class B because they
46 lack marble, granite and extravagant bathrooms. He said there are some assets that do not
47 have good commercially available rates, such as the courthouse, jails, and maintenance
48 facilities. He said a different analysis was done on these instead of a square foot rental rate.
49 He said this was done to determine a more accurate book value.
13
1 Wayne Fenton reviewed a circle graphic slide on stressed assets and resource
2 priorities. He said the goal was to see where uses can be improved to create the highest and
3 best value. He said the overlapping circles indicate areas where there is stress from a physical
4 assessment standpoint as well as the appropriateness of use.
5 Wayne Fenton reviewed the market value numbers from the table on page 43 of the
6 abstract. He said the Environmental and Agricultural Center (EAC) was the most stressed. He
7 said the original design of the building did not allow for much natural daylight, and the HVAC
8 system was not designed to heat and cool the building as it is currently laid out.
9 Jeff Thompson pointed out the market rental cost column on the chart, as related to the
10 square foot rate. He said the only building that falls into the stress category is the EAC. He
11 said this building is costing the County $11 per square foot, and the rental market value is only
12 $7-10 per square foot.
13 Wayne Fenton said there are assumptions, which are needed for taxes. He said if an
14 assessment is erroneous, it does not make the model more or less valid. The individual
15 assessments can be modified if necessary.
16 Commissioner McKee asked for an explanation of the annual costs per square foot.
17 Pete Dominico said this is the maintenance cost and the estimated depreciation.
18 Commissioner McKee asked what the cost of the rental space would include.
19 Pete Dominico said this is full service and would be all inclusive. He said this is why
20 some were estimated, in order to provide an apples to apples comparison.
21 Commissioner Gordon asked for clarification of stressed assets on page 43.
22 Pete Dominico said there were none in that category.
23 Commissioner Gordon referred to bullet 6 on page 5. She asked what this means and if
24 there will be an adopted intent.
25 Jeff Thompson said the intent is to inform the discussion in preparation for the CIP
26 process. He said the CIP is being submitted to finance in December, and the Board's
27 discussion and recommendations will help focus the staff's work in the CIP Process.
28 Commissioner Gordon questioned the adoption of projects prior to the annual CIP
29 process. However she said if this is just a definition of priorities, then that would be helpful.
30 She referred to the bottom of page 6 and asked if the areas that were not part of the
31 space study have been listed.
32 Jeff Thompson said no.
33 Commissioner Gordon referred to table 4 on page 23 and said asked for an explanation
34 of the meanings of the columns.
35 Pete Dominico said this table is the least defined item in all of commercial real estate.
36 He said an enormous amount of time was spent on this. He said there are guidelines to
37 classify space to lease out a building. He said that is what these numbers represent.
38 Jeff Thompson referred to page 13 of the abstract.
39 Commissioner Gordon asked for a more detailed explanation.
40 Jeff Thompson walked through an explanation of each column as it relates to the
41 Environmental and Agricultural Building.
42 Commissioner Gordon asked about page 26-27 and the Eurosport Soccer Center
43 parking lot repair. She asked if this large dollar amount for the cost is correct.
44 Staff could not answer that question at this time.
45 Commissioner Gordon questioned why buildings that are not very old would need to
46 have their HVAC systems replaced.
47 Pete Dominico said HVAC units are shown to have an expectant life of 15 years. He
48 said this is a 10 year capital plan, so any building that is greater than 5 years old will have a
49 replacement in this plan.
14
1 Pete Dominico said there are varying levels of definition in a capital plan. He said the
2 information in front of them is actuarial, and it takes everything into account. He said this
3 plan did not get down to designer specifics or what originally went into the buildings. He said
4 this is a general, apples to apples comparison of each building in order to allow for a cost
5 analysis. He said ECS does not say that the CIP should be based on this. He said there
6 might have been an error in the Eurosport Parking lot number, or this could be the correct
7 number to completely replace the parking lot. He said the option of doing maintenance or
8 spot repairs is not accounted for in these tables. He said these numbers are a very broad
9 guide to determine which buildings are stressed.
10 Commissioner Gordon said there are a lot of old buildings in the County which needed
11 renovations, but she did not expect to see such high dollar requirements for the newer
12 buildings.
13 Pete Dominico clarified that the costs listed are to replace items, and there is no
14 consideration of a simple repair cost.
15 Commissioner Gordon said she wants to underscore the fact that the programming at
16 the Southern Human Services Center needs to be examined, and then the appropriate
17 construction to provide more services there needs to be completed.
18 Commissioner Pelissier asked if there is a policy for storage that will encourage staff
19 and will save on the costs of buildings.
20 Wayne Fenton said this has not been developed yet, but it is one of the items being
21 discussed, and there is movement in that direction.
22 Jeff Thompson said there is a converging basket of record retention requirements and
23 different departments have different time frames. He said this makes it difficult. He said
24 electronic record retention is supposed to solve some of this, but that also has different
25 regulations.
26 Commissioner Pelissier said this was a very useful report, and the analysis was very
27 helpful for her to see.
28 Commissioner Pelissier said aging space needs is an area that has not been
29 addressed. She asked if there are methods to estimate what kind of increased space may be
30 needed for the aging population.
31 Jeff Thompson said information was gathered from every department regarding regular
32 service delivery to the aging population as time goes on. He said this is affecting everyone. He
33 said conversations have taken place about how to use this expertise to make long range space
34 plans for the general older population.
35 Chair Jacobs asked if there is a formula or mechanism for recording all of the different
36 types of storage needs in order to gain an idea of short and long term needs in each
37 department.
38 Jeff Thompson said that mechanism does not exist now, but things are moving in that
39 direction.
40 Chair Jacobs asked about the next steps for the Board.
41
42 Jeff Thompson said the next step for the Board is to provide guidance and prioritization,
43 since this feeds the CIP Process.
44 Chair Jacobs said the impetus for this study related to a building that was said to be
45 past its usefulness. He said one conclusion that needs to be made is the Iifespan of that
46 building, as well as the alternatives for uses. He asked if this will come back for discussion.
47 Jeff Thompson said the prioritization of a facility depends on the direction of the Board
48 of County Commissioners.
49
50 4. County Fair Working Group Report
15
1 Commissioner Dorosin introduced this item. He said the County fair idea was raised at
2 the retreat in 2013, and in June the Board authorized a preliminary work group. This group,
3 which included Commissioner Dorosin, Commissioner Price and many staff members, began to
4 look at costs, feasibility, and other factors. He said the group met several times over the
5 summer and moved forward according to their charge. He said they brought together a lot of
6 research and resources, visited a couple of sites, and held a public information session and an
7 online survey. He said over 400 people filled out the survey, and the overall responses were
8 positive. He said the feedback from the community meeting and the survey is included in the
9 materials.
10 Commissioner Dorosin said there was talk in June about attempting to make this project
11 a revenue neutral or revenue positive project. He said the committee believes there are
12 opportunities to reach that goal. He said this may not happen in the first year, but it would be
13 more realistic for this to happen within the first three or four years.
14
15 Dave Stancil reviewed the following PowerPoint presentation:
16
17 Orange County Fair Working Group
18 Report— November 12, 2013
19
20 Background
21 cQ Charged June 18 — Commissioners Dorosin and Price, Interim Manager and staff
22 cQ Met July 10-November 6
23 cQ Examined sites, other fairs, budgets, spoke to event representatives and NCDA County
24 Fairs coordinator
25 cQ Invited interested parties and public to Oct 30 Information-Sharing Session
26
27 Recommended Fair
28 cQ Spring 2015 - late-April
29 cQ Friday-Saturday ("soft" Thursday night?)
30 cQ Friday—schools?
31 cQ Blackwood Farm Park
32 cQ Evaluate after first run whether spring or fall
33 c�q Themes:
34 c�,3 Agriculture, local foods and restaurants
35 c�,3 Arts and local artists
36 c�,3 County's diverse history
37 c�,3 Education and youth
38 c�,3 Live music
39 c�,3 (Games)
40 Revenue/Costs
41 cQ Premature to come up with hard revenues/costs
42 cQ Range shown reflects variety of options
43 cQ Both costs and revenues tied to the scale of the event
44 cQ Scale (costs) and revenues linked together
45 cQ Large contingency due to first time / uncertainty
46
47 Cost/ Revenue Estimates (Chart)
48
49 Conceptual Budget
50 cQ Use as a planning tool
16
1 cat "Living" document
2 c�,3 study, editing, project planning, cost validation, funding
3 ca Should establish expectation of$185-200K minimum cost
4 ca Multiple potential revenue sources
5 ca Large cost drivers:
6 c�,3 Site access, environmental impact, site infrastructure, portable infrastructure
7
8 Goal
9 cQ Be Cost/Revenue-neutral by year 3 (2017)
10 cQ By year 1 if possible
11
12 Blackwood Farm (map)
13 Aerial Map
14 Festival Map
15
16 Strategic Plan Committee
17 cQ Create "Coordinating Committee for County Fair"
18 cQ Core group of organizations, interested parties and persons with expertise
19 cQ Allow flexibility for others to join as identified
20 cQ Should develop strategic plan for 2015 Fair
21 c�,3 Initial plan and budget expectations for FY 14-15 (March 2014)
22 c�,3 Detailed plan and management structure with three-year financial plan
23
24 Important Notes
25 cQ Important to coordinate with other events, livestock owners etc.
26 cQ Visitor's Bureau funding assistance
27 cQ Blackwood Farm — move up part of CIP?
28 cQ Need strong volunteer base
29
30 Recommendations
31 cQ Receive and discuss the report
32 cQ Identify any needed further information
33 cQ Consider whether to appoint Strategic Plan group (Coordinating Committee) in January
34 cQ If yes, ask Working Group to develop draft charge, scope of work and timeframe?
35 cQ Instruct Clerk to the Board on solicitation of potential appointments
36
37 Dave Stancil said Blackwood Farm was chosen as it is near the population center of the
38 County and it is between Chapel Hill and Hillsborough.
39 Dave Stancil said the idea was not to have a full fledged midway, but there is interest in
40 having a landmark ride, such as a Ferris wheel.
41 Dave Stancil referred to the cost/revenue estimates slide and said there is a big range.
42 He said a $60,000 event will be minimal and small scale. He said the other end of the range, at
43 $185,000, will bring in more activities, more equipment rental and more revenue potential.
44 He discussed the Blackwood Farm Map and the aerial photo, as well as the site map
45 from a past festival.
46 He noted that Blackwood Farm does not have a lot of existing infrastructure and it might
47 be necessary to look at a new entry road and consider moving these items up in the CIP.
48 Commissioner McKee asked for the number of hours staff have put into this planning
49 process.
17
1 Dave Stancil said this number is 100-105 hours collectively, and this does not include
2 individual time on side projects.
3 Commissioner McKee said, based on the hourly rate of the employees, there has
4 already been $2200 spent on staff planning time so far. He said with every other Board issue
5 there is an upfront working budget, and with this project that is reversed. He said he does not
6 think this fair can be done for $60,000 and possibly not even for $184,000.
7 He said he has spoken to several groups recently and he finishes by asking for opinions
8 on the County Fair. He said residents commonly ask why this would not be sponsored by a
9 civic organization; what the cost would be; and what impact this would have on Hogg Day or the
10 livestock show. He said he is not hearing the same responses Commissioner Dorosin
11 mentioned from the survey. He has some severe reservations about the County doing this and
12 how this will affect other organizations.
13 Commissioner Pelissier said she has some of the same concerns. She still wants to
14 know the costs of the infrastructure. She asked if the projected cost range includes the time of
15 current staff or only additional staff. She is unclear about what this cost includes and whether
16 this would take staff away from current projects. She questioned the dependence on a strong
17 volunteer base and whether not having volunteers would add to the costs.
18 Jeff Thompson said the opportunity costs of staff are not in. He said the volunteer
19 contributions are called out as a revenue line item. He said figures just came in from the Efland
20 Rodeo, which has a solid volunteer staff. He said this event ticketed $33,000 and their costs
21 were $25,000, which did not include staff time or volunteer time. He said all of these costs were
22 matched by corporate sponsorships. He said this means that the profit was $33,000, though
23 the staff and volunteers are not factored in.
24 Jeff Thompson said there was an attempt to budget for an event planner, but this does
25 not count the other workers.
26 Jeff Thompson said the rodeo has been in business for 25 years.
27 Commissioner Pelissier shared some comments she has received from the public. She
28 said those people who come to a meeting about the fair are typically the people who want a fair.
29 She said she has gotten phone calls from people who say they will not attend an event like this.
30 She said people have said they like the idea of a fair, but then they ask about the cost to the
31 County and the taxpayers, and this changes their opinion. She said others simply say the
32 County should be spending money on other things.
33 Commissioner Rich asked who finds corporate sponsors for the rodeo.
34 Jeff Thompson said he did not know.
35 Commissioner Rich asked if this would be the job of one staff person or the event
36 planner.
37 Dave Stancil said there are event planners that are able to handle both fund raising and
38 event planning.
39 Commissioner Rich said she spoke with staff at the Visitor's Bureau (VB). She said the
40 VB board has not discussed this yet, but the $10,000 certainly fits into what they do. She said
41 the goal was to put this money toward someone coordinating the event. She noted that there
42 are about 31 fairs or festivals every year, and the Visitors Bureau is not offering money to every
43 fair or event in the County. She said she hopes to get some feedback after the meeting this
44 month.
45 Commissioner Rich asked if there has been any discussion about combining this fair
46 with another established event.
47 Commissioner Dorosin said this had been discussed. He said one of the goals is for
48 this fair to be a countywide event. He said most of the County events are much more discrete
49 in their appeal and outreach, and they are not countywide. He said this can be discussed, and
50 the group is happy to try and do this.
18
1 Commissioner Rich said everyone had received an email from Margaret Cannell who
2 has been working on Hogg Day for years. She said it would not be a good idea to have
3 something in the spring that would be too close to Hogg Day. She does not want to invade on
4 this event or stress the amount of people that would attend either event.
5 Commissioner Gordon said her concern has to do with the venue. She said Blackwood
6 Farm is not in the CIP until years 6-10, and there have already been discussions about current
7 debt capacity. She is concerned that this venue does not have any infrastructure at this point.
8 Commissioner Price said she has gotten feedback, and residents are excited about the
9 opportunity to bring people together around one countywide event. She said it would be great
10 for people in the northern part of the County. She said there were people who came to the
11 meetings feeling very skeptical about the fair who were contributing ideas by the end of the
12 meeting. She said the community building aspect is central.
13 She said one of the positive aspects of having it at Blackwood Farm is the opportunity to
14 put the farm to use and to show off one of their County assets.
15
16 Chair Jacobs summarized that there is some support for moving ahead, but the
17 following questions and issues need to be addressed:
18 • Hear feedback from Visitors Bureau
19 • Explore the opportunity to partner with another event
20 • Use of an event planner needs to be nailed down ( He feels this position is
21 underestimated)
22 0 Address the venue issue and how to invest in Blackwood Farm
23 • Costs need to be made clearer
24 • Timing
25
26 He suggested that it is not yet time to appoint a working group, since the majority of the
27 Board is not committed yet. He said the next step would be to get more details on the finances
28 and timing.
29 Commissioner Dorosin said the reason the information was not more detailed was
30 because the group wanted the Board of County Commissioners' input before moving ahead too
31 far.
32 Chair Jacobs said the Board needs more information before providing direction. He said
33 the group should go back and respond to the Board's concerns and then a decision can be
34 made about whether to move forward.
35 Michael Talbert asked if there are any more questions that need to be answered. He
36 said he did not hear any consensus on whether the Board really wanted to have a fair.
37 Chair Jacobs said he would like to know more about the survey results. He asked what
38 would be done with this information and how it could be incorporated into the decision making
39 process.
40 Commissioner Price said the group decided not to present this as a done deal. She
41 said various ideas have been fleshed out, including the idea a fair should run for at least three
42 days. She said this would especially be required to attract midway rides. She said these types
43 of discussions have been had, but the group did not want to dictate these decisions to the
44 Board, without feedback first.
45 Chair Jacobs said he feels the Board has given responses and posed some questions
46 and concerns that need to be addressed.
47 Commissioner Pelissier said if infrastructure is put in for a fair at Blackwood Farm she is
48 concerned about how this would affect the park in the long run.
19
1 Commissioner Price said this was discussed, and the thought was that the infrastructure
2 needed for the fair would go toward what was needed for the park. She said one example is
3 the entry road, which would serve both the park and the fair.
4 Commissioner Dorosin said the idea was just to move the park plan up.
5 Commissioner Pelissier said she would like staff to tell exactly how this fits into the park
6 plans.
7 Commissioner McKee said he attended the information session. He agreed that there
8 were some enthusiastic recommendations, but there were also some concerns about this fair
9 affecting the existing events in the county. He said there are concerns about conflicts with
10 Hogg Day, as well as the 4-H livestock show that has been held in April for the past 60 years.
11 He said this livestock show requires a high number of volunteers, as will the fair. He said his
12 concern is that this will take a lot of paid county staff.
13 Commissioner McKee questioned what would be moved back for the CIP dollars, and
14 what will not be provided that is being provided now. He asked if the idea is to have a tax
15 increase in order to accomplish the additional spending. He said this would only apply if a
16 large amount of money is spent, but there is no framework to know how much money this will
17 be. He is concerned about just the cost of the road being put in. He can foresee the
18 infrastructure price going as high as a million dollars.
19 Chair Jacobs said it is not realistic that this will ready in 18 months, because this is
20 County government, and the wheels move slowly. He said a realistic schedule needs to be set.
21 He said the group did a great job of getting to the point of the hard questions being asked.
22 Michael Talbert said the group can meet again, and the information will probably come
23 back in to the Board in January. He said a timeline will happen. He said there will be capital
24 improvements to the site and the amount depends on the size and scope. He said the entire
25 scope of the fair has not been defined. He asked if this is what the Board wants to see.
26 Chair Jacobs said yes.
27 Michael Talbert said the group can come back with size and scope and complexity in
28 January. He agreed that 18 months is not realistic.
29 Chair Jacobs said this is not meant to discourage the group, but now the questions are
30 getting more serious.
31 Commissioner Dorosin said all of the concerns raised by the Board have already been
32 discussed in the committee meetings. He said there is an event almost every weekend in
33 Orange County, so there is always a conflict. He noted that a successful event was held at
34 Blackwood Farm two years ago with no additional infrastructure.
35 He said this event could start off small scale and grow. He said he does not agree that
36 the County shouldn't put money into the event. He feels this event is important and is of value
37 to the community
38
39 5. Redesigned County Logo
40 Michael Talbert said there was a recommendation by the Board to get a review
41 committee together to look at the logo. He said the committee included Commissioner Price
42 and Commissioner Rich, and logo options were reviewed. He noted the preferred option, as
43 well as the other options being put before the Board.
44 Commissioner Price said the point was to have something clean and simple that
45 conveyed something about Orange County. She said the committee looked at what parks and
46 recreation had used and then made some modifications. She said this logo depicts the Eno
47 River that runs through Orange County, as well as the County's concern for agriculture, green
48 space, and walking. She discussed the other logo options.
20
1 Commissioner Rich said she prefers the darker orange color. She said this shows the
2 sky, the river, and the mountains. She said the committee did discuss the comments about the
3 last logo and tried to consider these in the process.
4 Carla Banks said the goal was to create one unified symbol for Orange County that
5 would give everyone an identifiable connection by focusing on the landscape.
6 Commissioner Gordon asked where the logos originated.
7 Commissioner Rich said there were some logos from the design team, and then things
8 were cut and pasted together. She said aspects were pulled from what Carla Banks used last
9 time and free lancing was done.
10 Commissioner McKee asked if the logo is always done in color or if it is ever printed in
11 black and white.
12 Carla Banks said once a logo is approved, there will be a black and white and a color
13 option.
14 Commissioner McKee said he printed it in black and white, and it fades out.
15 Commissioner Rich said the official black and white version will be done in grayscale.
16 Chair Jacobs said it looks like a 1920's woman's hat. He said it does have a nice sense
17 of flow and the colors are interesting.
18 Commissioner Rich said most of the county logos have a free flowing design now
19 instead of the seals.
20 Commissioner Gordon said it would be better to just have Orange County and the line
21 with the darker colors. She said she did not know what this logo meant.
22 Commissioner Pelissier said she liked what was proposed.
23 Chair Jacobs thanked the committee for working on this. He said this will be added to a
24 future agenda for a decision.
25 There was some discussion about the different options and the removal of the line.
26 Chair Jacobs said all of the options can be put on the agenda for a vote.
27
28 6. Planning for January 31, 2014 Board Retreat (No Abstract or Other Materials
29 Provided)
30 Chair Jacobs solicited volunteers and said he would like for this committee to meet twice
31 before December 10tH
32 Commissioner McKee, Commissioner Pelissier, Commissioner Gordon and Chair
33 Jacobs volunteered.
34 Chair Jacobs said the chair would narrow it down to three Board members by the end of
35 the week.
36 A motion was made by Commissioner Rich seconded by Commissioner Pelissier to
37 adjourn the meeting at 10:37 pm.
38
39 VOTE: UNANIMOUS
40
41 Barry Jacobs, Chair
42
43 Donna Baker, CMC
44 Clerk to the Board
1
I Attachment 2
2
3 DRAFT MINUTES
4 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
5 MEBANE CITY COUNCIL
6 JOINT MEETING
7 November 14, 2013
8 5:30pm
9
10 The Orange County Board of Commissioners and the City of Mebane met in a joint
11 meeting on Thursday, November 14, 2013 at the West Campus Office Building in Hillsborough,
12 N.C.
13
14 COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Jacobs and Commissioners Mark Dorosin, Earl
15 McKee, Bernadette Pelissier, Renee Price and Penny Rich
16 COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Alice Gordon
17 COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT:
18 COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: Interim County Manager Michael Talbert, Assistant County
19 Managers Clarence Grier, Cheryl Young and Clerk to the Board Donna Baker (All other staff
20 members will be identified appropriately below)
21 MEBANE CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Glendel Stephenson, and Council
22 Members, Mayor Pro-Tem Patty Philipps, Tim Bradley, Ed Hooks, Jill Auditori
23 MEBANE CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSENT: Everette Greene
24 MEBANE CITY COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: City Manager David Cheek and Assistant City
25 Manager Chris Rollins (All other staff members will be identified appropriately below)
26 OCS SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Donna Coffey Chair and Geri Martin,
27 Superintendent
28
29 Welcome, Call To Order, and Opening Comments
30 Chair Jacobs called the meeting to order. He said he is pleased to have these
31 meetings, and he feels this has helped to build a good relationship between the city and
32 County.
33 Mayor Stephenson said the city and County have had a good relationship for many
34 years, especially with the joint economic development projects. He said the industrial park is
35 going to help this take off. He said the future of Mebane is tied to great extent to Orange
36 County, and the city is going to grow in that direction. He said there will need to be a lot of
37 cooperation and collaboration.
38 Chair Jacobs said that Commissioner Gordon could not make it this evening due to a
39 prior commitment, and Commissioner Price will need to leave early to attend a prior
40 commitment.
41 Introductions were made.
42
43 1. Economic Development & Infrastructure Update
44 Orange County Economic Development Director Steve Brantley passed out Hi-chew
45 candy from the Morinaga Company.
46 He said County staff is having the opportunity to meet with land owners, realtors, and
47 the Mebane City Manager, and he is seeing lots of new prospects in the pipeline for the
48 Mebane area. He said this is encouraging, and it is happening in part as a result of the
49 announcement of the Morinaga project. He said his office and the planning department have a
50 good working relationship with the City of Mebane.
2
1
2 Commissioner Dorosin arrived at 6:08.
3
4 Steve Brantley said Morinaga made an announcement in September that outlined the
5 purchase of the 21 acre site and the plan to eventually employ 90-120 people, invest up to $48
6 million, and produce Hi-chew.
7 He thanked the Commissioners and the City of Mebane for the public hearings and the
8 vote in favor of the zoning. He said the next step is for Morinaga to close on the property. He
9 said the company executives had recently made a visit and met many city and County officials.
10 He said a commemorative candy dish has been sent to Japan, with seals from Orange County
11 and Mebane.
12 Steve Brantley said he just received Hi-chew t-shirts and he would be distributing those
13 to all.
14 He said the Morinaga announcement has created more interest in Orange County since
15 the infrastructure is coming together. He said other interested people are inquiring about co-
16 location on adjacent parcels, and stronger interest is predicted moving forward.
17 Craig Benedict spoke about the infrastructure of water and sewer in this area. He
18 reviewed a map and said there is a $4 million project under construction at this time, and $2
19 million of large gravity sewer is going in close to the Morinaga site. He said this was put into the
20 ground preemptively, and Morinaga will eventually be able to tie into this line. He said there is
21 also a $1 million line going in near Buckhorn. He said there are dividends in the entire Mebane
22 area from this infrastructure. He said this was one of their first large projects done with the
23 quarter cents sales tax.
24 He said potential clients are impressed to see work already happening in this corridor.
25
26 2. Water& Sewer Availability and Future Plans
27 Craig Benedict said there is another system in design for Efland. He said this is for the
28 sewer flow in Efland, and the design is to flip the flow to pour into another gravity system. He
29 said this will allow for more development around the Mt. Willing Road interchange. He said it
30 will take several years for the flow to be changed.
31 He said part of the inter-local agreement will be the intent of Mebane to pick up these
32 customers in Efland. He said the County has matched the rate for Efland customers to reflect
33 the Mebane out of town rate in order to make a seamless transition.
34 Craig Benedict said water demand also has to be considered. He said Mebane has a
35 joint water system with Graham, and Orange County has certain allocations with Jordan Lake.
36 He said the County is in the process of deciding how to get water from Jordan Lake to some of
37 their future economic development projects. He said consideration is being given to what is
38 most financially feasible for the County and Mebane in terms of water supply.
39 Craig Benedict said the dialogue has improved with Orange/Alamance Water Systems.
40 He said this partnership is still an unknown, and there is still work to be done. He said the
41 areas south of Efland that are not serviced by Orange/Alamance would be serviced by the City
42 of Mebane.
43 Tim Bradley asked if it was feasible to take water from the Haw River instead of Jordan
44 Lake.
45 Craig Benedict said that hasn't been considered but it could be an option. He said it
46 would have to go through multiple providers, but the County is paying a consultant to look at the
47 alternatives for water supply.
48 Jill Auditori asked what additional costs would be incurred by Mebane for the sewer
49 project.
50
3
1 Craig Benedict said the sewer project is all Orange County funding, and it is coming
2 from the quarter cent sales tax. He said a good portion of this goes toward infrastructure. He
3 said once these lines are completed, ownership will be turned over to Mebane. He said there
4 will be a maintenance cost at this point, but with the quality construction and gravity flow, it will
5 be minimal. He said this infrastructure will allow for future development.
6 Commissioner Dorosin asked about the direction of the gravity flow.
7 The engineer from Mebane said Efland is being pumped to Hillsborough, and the
8 Gravelly Hill pump station is currently being pumped to Mebane. He said the purple area on the
9 map is being pumped to Mebane. He said there are some gravity sections noted in green.
10 Craig Benedict referred to the map and indicated the flow direction of much of the
11 sewer. He said the attempt is to create as much gravity flow as possible. He said the corridor
12 planning requires the flow be intercepted in certain areas where it is captured and sent west.
13 He reviewed more flow and station information from the map.
14 The engineer from Mebane said the water network will be good shape. He said there
15 will be a need in the future to put a water network in the areas noted in green on the map.
16 Craig Benedict said the sales tax in Orange County has its limitations. He said if more
17 sales tax can be leveraged in the future, hopefully it can be reinvested into this infrastructure.
18 Assistant City Manager Chris Rollins said more lines are also needed for fire flow.
19 Mayor Stephenson asked how many acres would be readily usable.
20 Craig Benedict said the main sewer system is about 9 months out from approval. He
21 said there are two 400 acre parcels that are zoned. He said this area could be marketed now,
22 as it would also take about 9 months for a project to come here.
23 Mayor Stephenson asked how much of the green area is owed by Mr. Wilson.
24 Craig Benedict said Mr. Wilson owns about 50 acres, and his sister owns about 50
25 acres. He said if the frontage road can be continued toward Mattress Factory Road, it would
26 increase the ability to market that area. He said there are owners in that area who are
27 interested in marketing their property.
28 He said there are lands with existing sewer systems behind the Petro. He said Orange
29 County has rezoned 80-100 acres behind Petro, and these acres are ready and available.
30 Chris Rollins said the other thing to remember in that green area is that there are other
31 small water and sewer extensions that will be needed as other projects are considered. He said
32 there is land being considered for development adjacent to Morinaga, but this may require
33 water and sewer to be extended a little bit.
34 Mayor Stephenson asked if the residents living in the green area are amenable to
35 selling.
36 Craig Benedict said yes. He said contact was made with these residents to gauge this.
37 Craig Benedict said some of the zoning districts are very structured, but businesses
38 today often combine office, research, light manufacturing, applied research and warehousing all
39 in the same building. He said some of Orange County's zoning codes are a little archaic, and
40 the County is discussing how to have zoning districts that allow for today's business operation.
41 He said if Orange County had not proceeded with the office/institutional pre-zoning, this may
42 have delayed the zoning and the deal with Morinaga.
43 Chris Rollins said it would be good if Orange County and Mebane's zoning were the
44 same.
45 Craig Benedict said the County will begin the conversation with their planning board and
46 the Board of County Commissioners to look at new zoning. He said Mebane can be included in
47 this conversation.
48 Chair Jacobs said similar efforts have been made with Hillsborough.
4
1 Chair Jacobs said the green area on the map came about as a result of a joint work
2 group that included Mebane officials Everette Green and Council Member Philipps. He said this
3 area used to be agriculture/residential, and this zoning was changed.
4 Chair Jacobs said there is already a water line from Durham to Hillsborough. He said
5 this means the water is already halfway there. He asked if the group looking at Jordan Lake is
6 also looking at the possibility of Haw River to provide water east, as opposed to South.
7 Craig Benedict said they are asking all groups requesting an allocation of water to justify
8 why that is the best alternative, versus development of a reservoir.
9
10 Commissioner Price left at 6:38.
11
12 Craig Benedict said Orange County is not looking at the Haw River at this point, though
13 many options are being considered. He said before all is said and done, there will need to be
14 more specific inter-local agreements with Durham, Mebane and Hillsborough. He said the
15 purpose of this will be to prove to the state that the allocations are reasonable and feasible.
16 Chair Jacobs asked how People for Progress are doing.
17 Craig Benedict said sewer is being provided for the northern Buckhorn area, and it is
18 being operated by Mebane. He said there is paperwork to be done to formalize the transfer,
19 but there is infrastructure already in place through some grants.
20 Tim Bradley said the reason he had asked about Haw River was because he did not
21 want to involve another treatment center. He felt it would be less expensive for the residents in
22 the long run.
23 Chair Jacobs said it is feasible to form an entity with Mebane and say that this entity
24 would like to access water from Haw River. He does not know that anyone has pursued this
25 yet.
26 The engineer from Mebane said staff is waiting to hear the results of the feasibility study
27 before moving forward.
28 Craig Benedict said there have been delays with the Jordan Lake plan as they wait to
29 see how much water is vied for by local governments.
30
31 Orange County Schools Superintendent Geri Martin arrived at 6:43 pm.
32
33 Chair Jacobs asked if the people on North Buckhorn Road have started hooking up yet.
34 Craig Benedict said yes. He said there is a seamless way for this to happen. He said
35 addresses have been earmarked so that connection fees are paid for that area. He said there
36 are adjacent areas that have the potential for development.
37 Chair Jacobs asked about the Perry Hills area.
38 Craig Benedict noted this area on the map. He said this area is on well and septic and
39 only 40-50% of it is developed due to soil restrictions for the small lot sizes. He said the area is
40 difficult to service with sewer.
41 Commissioner Dorosin asked if the Buckhorn residents were hooked up for free.
42 Chair Jacobs said Mebane waived the fees.
43
44 3. Transportation
45 a) Mattress Factory Road Study
46 Craig Benedict showed the road crossing on a display map. He said Orange County is
47 now a full member of the Burlington Graham MPO, and Chair Jacobs has a seat on that board.
48 He said this board has studied this interchange as a basis for understanding that Mebane Oaks
49 Road is in an overcapacity situation, partially due to Tanger Outlet Mall. He said there is even
5
1 discussion that the Buckhorn Road interchange could be over capacity by 2016 or 2017.He said
2 Orange County can now participate in these discussions.
3 He said the state is looking for more highway projects. He said the game plan, given
4 the new scoring system, is to go with the traffic flow, and put these projects where the County
5 might get some impact. He said DOT will be extending a frontage road, and this type of master
6 planning frontage road system will improve the criteria to move it up the DOT rating chart for an
7 interchange in the future. He said the County should start thinking about planning around that
8 interchange now to insure that a building doesn't get in the way of a future frontage road.
9 Craig Benedict said larger development projects like Morinaga can cause these types of
10 interchange improvements to accelerate.
11 Ed Hooks said there is already a huge industrial presence off of Mattress Factory Road.
12 He said future growth will generate pressure on the state.
13 Chris Rollins said local funding will also help to move these projects up the chart.
14 Patty Philipps asked if there were going to be improvements to Buckhorn Road.
15 Craig Benedict said this has been added to the list of priority projects. He said it is more
16 powerful for cities and Counties to compare lists and work together.
17 Chair Jacobs said the County recently met with division DOT staff and lobbied for
18 points.
19 Craig Benedict said big employment, industrial zones, and interchanges are going to be
20 focus areas under the new formula.
21 Chair Jacobs said Buckhorn Road is also a priority under the Triangle Rural Planning
22 Organization.
23
24 b) Transit Plans - Fixed Route Bus Service
25 Craig Benedict provided an overview of public transit. He said this is being funded by a
26 half cent sales tax for public transit between Orange County and Durham. He said the modes
27 will include a light rail system; a bus rapid transit system; an Amtrak system in Hillsborough that
28 would use the heavy commuter rail; and a local bus service, which is the topic tonight. He said
29 the monies are in the tax for an additional bus service in Chapel Hill to connect to the rail,
30 Durham, and the Triangle, as well as bus service by Triangle Transit to connect Mebane,
31 Efland, Hillsborough and Durham.
32 Craig Benedict said there will be potential future stops in the economic development
33 zones, such as the Buckhorn area. He said an east-west route from Mebane to Hillsborough to
34 Chapel Hill and/or Durham is being developed. He noted that there is currently a Triangle
35 Transit circulator bus in Hillsborough, and the plan is to tie into this.
36 He said this is one aspect of cross County transportation. He said recent research has
37 provided information on how many people work at Duke and UNC. He said there are over 750
38 residents in the Mebane zip code and almost 750 that work at UNC or the University. He said
39 there are another 300 in the Efland zip code. He said if even 2 percent of these people used
40 the transit system, it would fill up a good size bus.
41 Craig Benedict said this is still in the planning stages, and this is new to the Mebane/
42 Efland area, so it is an educational process. He said a transit system could also attract
43 businesses to this area.
44 He said Mebane will be kept informed of the monies that are available. He said all
45 money from the half cent sales tax that is allocated to the transportation system will be
46 ratcheted up over the next 4 to 5 years. He said it is difficult to phase in bus systems, so the
47 money may be held for a year until a robust system can be put in place.
48 Commissioner McKee noted that there has been some discussion by Triangle Transit of
49 running this express route down 1-85 rather than Highway 70. He said this would have an
6
1 impact on the park and ride located in or near Mebane. He said he would like to keep the route
2 on Highway 70 in order to facilitate the needs of those citizens.
3 Craig Benedict said it was the intention of the Board of County Commissioners, by
4 keeping it on Hwy 70, to capture residents in Efland and Cornelius Road. He said at some
5 point, the bus could get on 1-85 as the last leg of the route. He said outreach has shown that it
6 is something new for rural populations to have a bus service they can use for work or medical
7 service.
8 Commissioner Pelissier said Triangle Transit staff has been looking at this and they
9 have found that over half of the riders come from Hillsborough; 1/3 of them come from Mebane;
10 and only about 7 percent come from Efland. She said there are two routes that might have to
11 be planned for. She said one of these would be regional routes planned in collaboration with
12 the counties and Triangle Transit. She said the other option would be to have local routes
13 within the county that run all day long and provide more stops than an express route.
14 Chair Jacobs said the County has been meeting with Hillsborough for a long time, and
15 the town is insistent on not creating more traffic through their downtown area from north to
16 south. He said there would need to be a local route in addition to an express; otherwise people
17 will funnel through Churton Street. He said this will have to be part of the balancing act; and it
18 may require more participation by Orange Public Transit to make sure the local route happens
19 in conjunction with the express.
20 Chris Rollins said there is currently no public transit in Alamance County. He said there
21 has been talk about getting this going.
22 Commissioner Rich asked if there is any bus service available to the students at Elon.
23 Chris Rollins said Elon has its own bus service that goes around the campus and to
24 local shopping and the downtown area. He said this is funded by Elon.
25 Jill Auditori noted that anyone can ride the Elon bus for free.
26 Jill Auditori asked about the timeframe for this transportation plan.
27 Craig Benedict said money is received each year from the half cent sales tax and
28 vehicle registration fees. He said, based on this, Triangle Transit will tell them what funding is
29 available for use in the upcoming fiscal year. He said some of the funding has already been
30 used to expand existing routes in the Chapel Hill area. He said the County will be making
31 proposals in January or February of next year, and implementation will probably be near June
32 or July of 2014. Commissioner McKee asked where Piedmont Authority Rural
33 Transportation (PART) terminates.
34 Chris Rollins said PART does not have anything in Mebane. He said there is a park and
35 ride in Graham that has the service down 54 to Chapel Hill.
36 Commissioner McKee asked if there are any future plans to bring this to Mebane.
37 Ed Hooks answered yes.
38 Craig Benedict said there is a lot of infrastructure work that will take some time to
39 complete. He said the County is being cautious not to roll something out before it is ready.
40
41 0 Mebane Bike and Pedestrian Plan
42 Chris Rollins said Mebane is working with the Burlington Graham MPO, and a
43 consultant has been chosen to start this project moving forward. He said Mebane has done a
44 good job of building sidewalks, but they have never had a comprehensive pedestrian plan. He
45 said the goal is to start looking at greenways and pedestrian projects.
46
47 d) Transportation Improvement Plans
48 Craig Benedict said one of his staff members, Abigaile Pittman, works closely with the
49 Burlington Graham MPO and has mentioned Orange County's projects to them. He said there
50 has been a focus on discussing the Mattress Factory Road interchange, and there are attempts
7
1 being made to get high rankings in that area. He said he hopes the Burlington Graham MPO
2 will need to look further east as they fund projects toward Orange County. He agreed with
3 Chair Jacob's opinion that it is better to have impact in a smaller MPO in terms of
4 representative weight.
5 Ed Hooks said the impact of their voting weight should be an advantage with projects
6 like the Mattress Factory Road project.
7 Chris Rollins said the Highway 119 project is supposed to stay on schedule and start
8 construction in 2015. He said this will become the main entrance to the Mebane industrial park.
9 Craig Benedict noted that Orange County and Mebane are both in NCDOT division 7,
10 which is nestled with the Triad division 9. He said this requires them to look west when
11 considering monies.
12
13 4. Parks and Recreation Master Plans
14 Department of Environment, Agriculture and Parks and Recreation Director Dave Stancil
15 said both Orange County and Mebane are doing master plans for parks and recreation. He
16 said the County's plan is designed to look to the year 2030, which coincides with the
17 comprehensive plan adopted in 2008. He referenced page 18 of the abstract, which contains a
18 copy of the hand out given to attendees at the most recent public input session. He handed out
19 copies of a map of the County parks.
20 He said Orange County is nearly done, after 15 months of work to try and produce a
21 vision for the future. He said much of the hand out contains the possible findings of the
22 assessment, such as collaboration between the County and towns, and the idea of school
23 parks.
24 He said staff is finishing up their recommendations and service areas. He said the
25 western part of Orange County is pretty well served. He also noted that the survey showed that
26 people want more trails.
27 Dean Ray, Director of Parks and Recreation for the City of Mebane, said the town is
28 developing its very first master plan. He said a phone survey was recently completed, and
29 citizens expressed a desire for open spaces; walking and biking trails; indoor facilities; picnic
30 shelters and playgrounds. He noted that Lake Michael is a regional park in the master plan.
31 He referenced the map handout and noted the red line that goes around Lake Michael Park.
32 He said this goes 3.94 miles around the park, and the plan for phase two was to complete this
33 trail. He would like to talk with Orange County staff about assistance with completing this trail
34 on one side of the lake.
35 Commissioner Rich asked about the layout of the trail on the lower part of the lake.
36 Dean Ray said this side of the lake is on a hillside.
37 Chair Jacobs said that the County survey showed that people want to connect County
38 trails and greenways with town trails and greenways. He asked about the proximity of Orange
39 County trails to Mebane and Lake Michael.
40 Craig Benedict said the McGowan Creek corridor was part of the Efland Cheeks master
41 plan, and there were two parts that included the McGowan Creek Preserve and the Efland
42 Community Park. He said if this could be continued upstream, the headwaters of Lake Michael
43 and McGowan Creek almost touch, so that would be the game plan. He said part of the other
44 Mountains to Sea Trail (MTST) plan would have connected this.
45 Dave Stancil said the Seven Mile Creek Preserve/Occoneechee Mountain/Riverwalk
46 would the next closest network, and this is part of the MTST.
47 Dean Ray said the N.C. State Foundation on the Hawfields side may have several acres
48 coming available for lease to the City of Mebane. He said this is a possibility for an open space
49 park that would be considered a district park in their system.
8
1 Dave Stancil said it is important for a County parks plan to mesh with what is going on in
2 the towns.
3
4 5. School Facility Plans
5 Craig Benedict said there is a large portion of Mebane in Orange County that is growing
6 residentially, and this is adding numbers to the school system. He said, because of this, the
7 County would like to landbank property that has public water and sewer for use as a future
8 school site to serve western Orange County and eastern Mebane. He said it would be better to
9 do this now than to be left scrambling for limited sites later.
10 He said the challenge is that schools can only be located where there is public water
11 and sewer, so everything is nestled primarily around Hillsborough. He said it was suggested
12 that three zones be looked at for potential land banking. He said the County actively looks at
13 and projects for school populations each year. He said development projects can change those
14 projections very quickly.
15 Craig Benedict reviewed the three potential zones on the map. He said these zones are
16 determined by populations. He said research of available sites showed zone 2 to have the
17 best possibilities. He said there are not a lot of sites out there, as schools require 20-25 acres
18 of useable land. He said the goal would be to find a site with flexibility for dual use in the future.
19 He said a staff report will be provided in the next month or so, with approval from the
20 new superintendent, and this will be brought to the elected officials in Mebane and Orange
21 County.
22 Orange County Schools Board Chair Donna Coffey said she appreciates being here to
23 be part of the conversation. She said the district has seen slow growth in the last few years, but
24 there was growth of over 200 students this year. She said the growth in the County indicates a
25 need to plan for sites sooner rather than later.
26 Craig Benedict said the economy has turned a little bit, and development is increasing.
27 He said the impact of this growth could dramatically change the student projections. He said it
28 takes 4-5 years to find land, create designs and get a school built.
29
30 6. Other
31 a) White Furniture Update
32 City Manager David Cheek said White Furniture is an old furniture store site established
33 in Mebane in the 1800s. He said the 300,000 square foot space has been sitting empty for
34 years, hoping for development. He said the current developer is out of Durham, and they have
35 recently been invited to apply to HUD for market rate apartments. He said developer is working
36 through the application process, and the town is hopeful this will come to fruition. He said this
37 would be good for downtown and would create a lot more activity. He referenced the plans on
38 the last page of the abstract.
39 David Cheek said the downtown is already thriving and there are currently 4-5
40 renovations happening.
41 David Cheek said the White Furniture Development would require HUD to guarantee the
42 loans. He said the renovation plans are projected at $25-30 million. He said the fact that this is
43 a historic property only allows it to be taxed at half that value, but this amount would still be a
44 significant boon.
45
46 b) Orange/Alamance Line Issues
47
48 Craig Benedict said this line has been resolved to a large degree, but the Morrow Mill
49 Road and Mill Creek areas could not be resolved with Alamance County. He said these two
50 sites would be a different process, and they would be addressed in the 2015 legislative session.
9
1 He said the County is figuring out how to engage the residents in those areas. He said there
2 are 32 lots affected in that area.
3 He said the school bus routing to these areas is problematic, as well as emergency
4 services.
5 Ed Hooks said the Mill Creek residents want to be in Alamance County. He said their
6 representatives in Alamance County are interested in having this discussion with Orange
7 County.
8 Craig Benedict said the reason these areas were more problematic was because
9 Alamance County was concerned about their western property line.
10 Chair Jacobs said the Board did make an overture to the Alamance County
11 Commissioners this year, but it was premature.
12
13 c) Potential Bond Issuance
14 Michael Talbert said the Board of County Commissioners has begun discussions about
15 a bond referendum for November 2014 or May of 2015. He said the Board is considering a
16 bond of around $100 million that would potentially include a new jail; middle school #5 for
17 Chapel Hill; elementary school #8 for the County; improvements to older schools; and other
18 County projects like Lands Legacy. He said this is in early discussions. He said the County
19 has attained a triple-A bond rating, and they do not want to jeopardize this. He said the
20 preliminary estimate on a $100 million issue would be about a 4 cent tax increase.
21 Chair Jacobs said the last bond was in 2001, and this was for schools, recreation, senior
22 centers, and affordable housing. He said the senior centers are up and expansions are already
23 being requested. He said the schools have more need than even the $100 million could cover,
24 so this is just a start.
25 Chair Jacobs said there had been a suggestion from Tim Bradley in the past about
26 working together on agricultural preservation. He said this might be part of the work in the
27 Lands Legacy Program. He suggested a presentation to the Mebane City Council at a future
28 meeting. He said a lot of state and federal money has been leveraged for this successful
29 program and it has been a relatively low cost per acre for Orange County.
30 Michael Talbert noted that the bond would be a 20 year bond.
31 David Cheek said bids are currently being taken for a new fire station off of Mebane
32 Oaks Road. He said this will improve fire protection in the economic development district. He
33 said estimated completion of construction will be October of 2014.
34
35 The meeting was adjourned at 8:02 pm.
36
37
38 Barry Jacobs, Chair
39
40 Donna Baker, Clerk to the Board
41
42
1
I Attachment 3
2
3 DRAFT
4
5 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
6 PLANNING RETREAT
7 Solid Waste Administrative Offices
8 January 31, 2014
9 8:30 a.m.
10
11 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a Board annual retreat on Friday,
12 January 31, 2014 at 8:30 a.m. at the Solid Waste Administrative Offices in Chapel Hill,
13 North Carolina.
14
15 COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Barry Jacobs and Commissioners Mark
16 Dorosin, Alice Gordon, Earl McKee, Bernadette Pelissier, Renee Price and Penny Rich
17 COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: John Roberts
18 COUNTY STAFF: Interim County Manager Michael Talbert, Assistant County
19 Managers Clarence Grier and Cheryl Young and Clerk to the Board Donna S.
20 Baker (other staff will be identified below)
21
22
23 Welcome/Continental Breakfast
24
25 Facilitator (Rod Visser) — Introductions/Ground Rules
26
27 Introductions were made.
28
29 Rod Visser explained his role as facilitator:
30 • Assist the commissioners in having the most effective discussion and outcomes
31 possible from their retreat
32 • Employ an acceptable set of ground rules to assist commissioners in having
33 effective conversations
34 • Be, and be perceived to be, substantively neutral
35 • Bring process expertise to the table, NOT subject matter or management expertise
36 • Help commissioners manage their time to accomplish their agenda to the maximum
37 degree possible
38 • Ask clarifying questions when it is helpful and appropriate to do so
39 • Assist commissioners in making adjustments to their agenda, as needed
40 • Assist Board and staff in developing mutual understanding about agreed upon next
41 steps and follow up actions, if any
42 • Act as timekeeper, and keep the board aware of it, but for each agenda topic, the
43 board will decide how to spend its time and what direction they will provide to staff;
44
45 He then reviewed the ground rules below, as developed by Roger Schwarz at the
46 School of Government (this information was included in the agenda attachment
47 "Memorandum - Proposed Ground Rules for January 31, 2014 Retreat'
48
49 Core Values Underlying Ground Rules
50 ➢ valid information
51 ➢ free and informed choice
52 ➢ internal commitment
53 ➢ compassion
54
2
1 Ground Rules for Effective Groups
2 1. Test assumptions and inferences.
3 2. Share all relevant information.
4 3. Use specific examples, and agree on what important words mean.
5 4. Explain your reasoning and intent.
6 5. Focus on interests, not positions.
7 6. Combine advocacy and inquiry.
8 7. Jointly design steps and ways to test disagreements.
9 8. Discuss "undiscussable" issues.
10 9. Use a decision-making rule that generates the level of commitment needed
11
12 The Board agreed to work under the ground rules today, including the intention to make
13 decisions by consensus where possible, and by majority vote where necessary. Rod
14 Visser indicated his intention to adhere to the ground rules as well, and asked Board
15 members to indicate to him if they believe at any time that he is not doing so.
16
17 Chair Jacobs expressed appreciation to Commissioners Gordon, Pelissier, and Rich,
18 and to the Manager and staff, for their work in putting together the agenda for the
19 retreat.
20
21 Rod Visser gave background information on the process by which the retreat agenda
22 was constructed by the planning committee, to provide context on how the retreat topics
23 and objectives were developed.
24
25 Commissioners agreed that the retreat agenda developed by the retreat planning
26 committee, Manager, and staff was a reasonable starting point for the retreat.
27
28
29 1. Budget/Capital Investment Plan/Bond Referendum
30
31 A. Budget Drivers/Revenue Estimates/Fund Balance Estimates
32 (Clarence Grier— Presenter& Rod Visser)
33
34
35 Clarence Grier gave the following update on the 2014-15 projected budget funding
36 issues:
37
38 Original budgeted revenue for the current fiscal year was $182.5 million. He sees that
39 as a good starting point for the upcoming fiscal year. Anticipated adjustments to that
40 base figure include:
41 • $2.6 million in property tax revenues, based on projected growth of 1.5%
42 • Sales tax revenue growth of$1.3 million, based on the economy recovering, which
43 will bring the County up to what it collected last year
44 • No major increases in licenses and permits, charges for services, miscellaneous
45 revenue, intergovernmental revenue, or investment income
46 • Plan to use excess fund balance above 17%, which will be about $5.7 million. This
47 includes about $2.1 million in 2012-13 fund balance and about $3.5 million that will
48 come from this current year's projected year end fund balance.
49
50 This brings total expected adjustments to revenues of just over $9.5 million. Estimated
51 revenues for 2014-15 would be about $192.1 million.
52
53 Expenditures start out at about $187.7 million. Anticipated major adjustments include:
54 • Health insurance increases of about $350,000
3
1 • Adjustments in retirement contribution rate - originally thought it might go down .10%
2 but there has been recent talk that it might go up 10%; will have to find that out later
3 in the budget process
4 • Full year funding for staggered addition of some employees during the current year -
5 $638,000 for salaries and benefits
6 • Keeping current compensation plan, allowing for 2% adjustment - $2 million
7 • Adjustment for projected growth in both school systems (Chapel Hill Carrboro - 154;
8 Orange County— 90); about 250 new students, based on current per pupil funding of
9 $3,269, that equates to $817,000
10
11 With adjustment for school growth, new debt service for the Culbreth science wing and
12 the auxiliary gym, and other items, education spending would be at 48.62% of the
13 budget; considering everything like social workers and Sheriff's deputies, the total is
14 about 49.6%.
15
16 Preliminarily, total expected adjustments to expenditures would be $4.4 million on a total
17 anticipated budget of$192.1 million, with no budget shortfall or anticipated property tax
18 increase. Things that could affect this number include Affordable Care Act requirements
19 to fund certain services, certain recycling options under consideration, and funding
20 requests that will be coming later from the school systems.
21
22 Commissioner Dorosin asked if the compensation adjustment means that everyone gets
23 a raise.
24
25 Clarence Grier said yes, but that's based on what they did this year. The number could
26 go up, down, or be taken out completely. He also clarified that the sales tax figure cited
27 earlier of$1.3 million reflects anticipated growth over the $16 million budgeted this year.
28 The County expected actual receipts this year to be about $18 million. He also
29 confirmed that using $5.7 million of fund balance would likely leave fund balance at a
30 little above 17%, as he expected to be at about 20% at the end of this fiscal year if
31 things stay the way they are.
32
33 Michael Talbert said the County had set aside funds the past two years to address post-
34 employee benefits and would consider doing that again in this next budget. The County
35 has about $6 million set aside against a liability of about $64 million (that is a balance
36 sheet consideration).
37
38 Clarence Grier said he expects the current bond ratings will at least be maintained, if not
39 go up. The County is in a good financial position, a good budgetary position. The only
40 caveat he offered was that sooner or later the County will have to address the use of
41 fund balance, which equates to about 3.5 cents on the current tax rate. At some point
42 they will need a tax increase to take care of the fund balance, but he does not foresee
43 that in this upcoming year.
44
45 Chair Jacobs asked him when was the last time they had a general tax increase and
46 Clarence Grier said 2008. Discussion ensued about when other taxes such as the
47 Chapel Hill-Carrboro district tax had been raised. Commissioner Jacobs said the point
48 is, for the vast majority of Orange County residents, there has only been one general
49 property tax rate increase and that was when the school system needed funds to open
50 an elementary school.
51
52 Michael Talbert reiterated that the 1.5% increase reflected "natural" growth such as new
53 vehicles on the road and new construction coming on line. There will not be a
54 revaluation of real property until 2017.
55
4
1 Clarence Grier explained that changes in the collection of vehicle property taxes (now
2 being done by the State in association with motor vehicle registrations) are causing
3 collection rates to go up from 89-90% to 95-96%, maybe even 98% this year. He said
4 as of now, RMV collections exceed last year by $1.3 million.
5
6 Michael Talbert said these are early numbers based on December figures and will
7 change some as they go forward. There will be another 3 months of revenue data to
8 work with later in the budget process.
9
10 Chair Jacobs recalled long-standing discussions over the years in the School
11 Collaboration Group about pursuing equity in school funding by lowering the Chapel Hill-
12 Carrboro school district tax rate and using general funds instead. He said it is worth
13 having that balancing act discussion every year.
14
15 Commissioner Rich asked what happened to those who do not pay taxes and whether
16 the County forecloses on their homes. Clarence Grier said they try to avoid foreclosures.
17 He confirmed that the County has a system to assist people.
18
19 Michael Talbert said the figure for school funding of 48.1% is a target that has been
20 around for 10-20 years. The County sometimes goes over that, but if it looks like the
21 number would come up short, the County increases funding to meet the target. They
22 are forecasting they will be above that target just with normal growth, without
23 considering an ADM (average daily membership) increase or a school debt service
24 increase.
25
26 Commissioner Price asked about how the national economic situation affects the
27 County's numbers.
28
29 Clarence Grier does not see much fluctuation in our budget. Property tax collections
30 have stayed the same or gone up over the past 4 years as the economy has recovered.
31 He does not foresee any problems with the revenue streams that the County controls.
32
33 In response to Commissioner Dorosin's question, Clarence Grier said the 48.1% target
34 does not include the local district tax.
35
36 The Board agreed that they had accomplished the following objective established for
37 this segment of the retreat agenda:
38
39 Objective: That the Board obtains a comprehensive understanding of the
40 County's projected revenue estimates and anticipated budgetary
41 impacts on Fiscal 2014/2015.
42
43
44 B. Budget Goals Fiscal 2014/2015 (Rod Visser)
45
46 Rod Visser explained that the objective for the next segment of the retreat agenda is for
47 the Board to identify those Budget Goals for Fiscal 2014-15 about which the Board has
48 consensus.
49
50 The Board agreed to spend 15-20 minutes generating ideas, without immediately
51 evaluating them, then discussing the list to see if there might be 3 or 5 or 15 around
52 which they might have consensus. The following list of ideas for possible budget goals
53 was developed:
54
55 Budget Goals
5
1
2 0 Defending the quality of public education
3 0 Ensure our safety net services
4 0 Funding sewer construction and hook ups in Rogers Road area
5 0 Continue improvement in public safety
6 0 Give priority to funding core county services ( before discretionary services)
7 0 Support broad range of economic development– new and existing
8 businesses ( make sure to support infrastructure)
9 0 Ensure Information Technology Department approach is state of the art for
10 Board of County Commissioners, citizens, transparency
11 0 Resources to download agenda items individually rather than en masse
12 0 Reducing inequities in funding between two school districts, even if it means
13 raising the general property tax (since one school system has a school district
14 tax)
15 0 Targeted funding to address child poverty (e.g. increase childcare
16 subsidies)
17 0 Address hunger issues with children (additional subsidies)
18 0 Address inequities through long term plan
19 0 Sound land use planning
20 0 Re-visit school funding equity as means of challenging the Board's
21 assumptions
22 0 Consider jail alternatives, maintain funding for drug treatment court
23 0 Address school to prison pipeline
24 0 Consider limit to viability of tax increase
25
26 Rod Visser noted that there are some inherent conflicts among some of the ideas the
27 Board has just generated that the Board will have to talk through. He expected that
28 there would be consensus around some subset of these. He also tested the assumption
29 that even for those issues around which there is NOT Board consensus, the Board
30 discussion is useful to the Manager and staff regarding how they put together the
31 Manager's recommended budget.
32
33 Michael Talbert said that is very accurate, but while these ideas are excellent, he is not
34 sure they can address them all in one year. The goal of this section is what does the
35 Board want to accomplish next year. To Commissioner McKee's earlier point, if they
36 undertake new initiatives not included in the basic budget estimates presented earlier,
37 they may need a tax increase.
38
39 Commissioner Gordon said some are general goals and then more specific goals-quality
40 education is a goal they do now—a general goal. She wants to be sure that undertaking
41 any of these ideas as goals does not adversely affect the 14 goals they adopted in
42 2009.
43
44 Chair Jacobs said he agreed with Commissioner Gordon's general point, and explained
45 that he used the word "defend" for education because what the State is doing requires
46 us to make extra efforts to maintain what we are already doing and that may impact how
47 much money we have for other things. He picked the word "defend" because it's not a
48 normal situation - public education is under attack.
49
50 Commissioner McKee noted as an example that he does not foresee pulling social
51 workers back out of schools, so that is one area where there will need to be an increase
52 in educational funding.
53
6
1 Rod Visser noted that is hard to think in the "here and now" of all the implications of
2 each of the ideas generated. He asked the Board to consider if it is okay for the
3 Manager and staff to come back and notify you if they become aware of circumstances
4 that make a goal Commissioners may identify now either inadvisable or less advisable
5 or conflicting with the previously established 14 goals.
6
7 Commissioner Gordon said she thinks she has answered her own question - they are
8 identifying emphases for next year. If conflicts with general goals are identified, they will
9 deal with that during the budget process.
10
11 Discussion ensued about how to go about identifying consensus budget goals based on
12 the list just generated by Commissioners.
13
14 Commissioner Dorosin suggested they prioritize from among the identified goals.
15
16 During a scheduled 15 minute break in the agenda, the Clerk compiled electronically the
17 ideas generated on the flip charts and provided a printed copy of the list of potential
18 budget goals to all Board members.
19 The Board settled on the idea that each Commissioner vote for their 5 top priorities and
20 leave the other ideas unmarked on their sheet. Not voting for a particular idea does not
21 mean they disagree with the goal just that it is not among their highest priorities. Staff
22 will tally up the individual Commissioner votes and report that information back during
23 the afternoon session. If time can be carved out of the remainder of the agenda, the
24 Board would like to discuss the priority goals, but Michael Talbert indicated even just
25 having the rankings of priority goals would be valuable to him and to staff.
26
27 Michael Talbert reiterated that the County has three multi-year strategic plans in place
28 already approved by the Board — Library, Information Technology, and Emergency
29 Services. Staff will continue to implement those plans unless the Board tells them to
30 stop. He suggested the Commissioners consider that in making their rankings.
31
32 Commissioner Price wondered if that means that her idea about state of the art IT
33 needs to be considered.
34
35 Michael Talbert said that as far as the strategic plan, no, but to Commissioner Gordon's
36 point about simplifying the agenda download process, he suggests that being a work
37 session topic between now and the budget wrap-up. They are doing the process
38 differently now than in 2012 and that has implications for people that do it online versus
39 those that receive paper. There may or may not be budgetary impacts, for example if
40 specific software would need to be purchased, and there would be timing impacts.
41 Those are important discussions to have.
42
43
44 C. Capital Investment Plan - Fiscal 2014/2015 Changes -Additions
45 & Deletions 2014/2015 (Paul Laughton & Michael Talbert & Rod
46 Visser)
47
48 Rod Visser explained that the objective for the next segment of the retreat agenda is
49 that the Board obtains a full understanding of projects included in the Capital Investment
50 Plan for Fiscal 2014/2015, the financial impact for Fiscal 2014/2015, and provide
51 direction on any changes to the Capital Investment Plan for Fiscal 2014/2015.
52
53 Paul Laughton (Finance and Administrative Services) provided a detailed review and
54 answered Commissioners' questions about the CIP information included at Attachment
55 1 b, pages 9-12 of the retreat agenda packet. He said the Board only approves the first
7
1 year funding in the CIP, and that this is a planning tool. Staff wanted to show what they
2 currently have in the Cl P for 2014-15, $27.9 million. However, because the Culbreth
3 Middle School science wing was funded entirely in 2013-14, the $27.9 million figure will
4 drop by about $4.1 million.
5
6 Paul Laughton noted a planned $2,000,000 allocation for Northern Human Services
7 Center. Michael Talbert explained that this would be a February work session topic so
8 the Board could discuss whether they want to add wings.
9
10 Commissioner Jacobs noted that the cancellation of this week's work session would
11 require re-prioritization of future work session topics. Michael Talbert noted that staff
12 would come back to the Board with recommendations about how to cascade missed
13 work session topics onto 3-4 future scheduled work session agendas.
14
15 Michael Talbert noted that they had contracted with an outside consultant on a radio
16 tower coverage study that would be coming back to the Board soon on a work session
17 agenda.
18 Commissioner Dorosin inquired if this would be the end of spending on this or would this
19 be a recurring capital improvement.
20 Michael Talbert noted that this topic would come back regularly as population grows and
21 technology changes. Commissioner Rich asked if this includes changing from 800MHz
22 to 700 MHz systems. Michael Talbert indicated that is being investigated and would be
23 addressed at the upcoming work session. They are also investigating how they might
24 partner with the State's VIPER system, to include other County services such as Animal
25 Services and bus services, so as not to have to build a separate system.
26
27 Commissioner Pelissier said they need to get information about the new radio systems
28 as they relate to a new program called FirstNet, which related to communication for
29 safety purposes.
30
31 Paul Laughton noted that 2014-15 includes $2.4 million for the Lands Legacy Program
32 to replace 2001 approved bond authorization that had lapsed.
33
34 Commissioner Dorosin asked if that money would actually be spent in 2014-15 and
35 whether it would be limited to purchasing land.
36
37 Paul Laughton noted there is about $1.5 million available right now, and that Dave
38 Stancil expects much of that will be expended this year and next.
39
40 Michael Talbert explained that in the past, lands legacy funds have been used for the
41 purchase of land banking or property and/or for conservation easements. It can be used
42 for both purposes but it would be a Board decision on how to move forward. He
43 explained how the bond funds had lapsed, and that the Board is under no obligation to
44 allocate this money, other than that voters had previously approved such funding.
45
46 Commissioner Rich noted that at their last Board meeting, the Board had approved a
47 Lands Legacy Action Plan and that she assumed the Board would not change anything
48 in that plan.
49
50 Commissioner Jacobs said that a Parks Master Plan is coming forward in May that may
51 change the way they look at these issues. He said that different attorneys may interpret
52 things differently, but he understands that Lands Legacy funds cannot be used for
53 conservation easements because such properties are not open to the public. Some
54 bond money did go to park development, but that's specifically what they told voters
8
1 they would do. He mentioned that finding appropriate land to buy is a challenge -
2 several properties are being looked at in the Upper Eno and Bingham Township.
3
4 Michael Talbert added that such purchases are leveraged with other funds coming in.
5
6 Paul Laughton summarized that the County portion of the CIP for 2014-15 on page 10
7 totals about $6.9 million.
8
9 Commissioner Jacobs raised several questions and flags. They had deferred talking
10 about the development of Blackwood Farm until after they had talked about the space
11 needs. He said they don't have a placeholder for that yet, but based on their last board
12 meeting, there may be some interest in moving that item up. He questioned the
13 $400,000 for future planning for Southern Human Services Center. He said, not that
14 they don't need it, but concerns about protection from the Chapel Hill development
15 process led to a more adversarial relationship than they have now. He does not want to
16 base public policy on trying to get through the process before more regulations kick in.
17 Millhouse Road does not have a concept plan. The County needs a group, whether with
18 Chapel Hill and/or Carrboro, or other partners, and talk about their vision for this land
19 and get the public involved, then spend money on it. Lastly, he would like to elevate
20 handicapped accessibility, both inside and outside County facilities. Funding is included
21 in various budgets, and it is happening slowly, but he would like to have higher visibility
22 for this in the CIP.
23
24 Paul Laughton said they have talked with Asset Management Services about this topic
25 recently. They have met with all staff about their CIP requests as of now, but they have
26 not yet met with the Manager, so they are still going through projects with departments.
27 They won't receive the schools' CIP until Feb. 7th (CHCCS) and OCS on Feb. 11th.
28
29 Michael Talbert added that the Southern Orange campus is a long range planning issue,
30 with three separate building sites that required individual special use permits and
31 processes. They are trying to get the development rights for the long term and be able
32 to plan for the next 20 years.
33
34 Commissioner Rich asked about a development agreement process versus a SUP
35 process for the site.
36
37 Michael Talbert explained that the Town Council initially instructed staff to work on a
38 development agreement, but later changed their minds to a special use process that the
39 County is currently working under and moving forward on. There is no specific building
40 in the SUP, but building sites with infrastructure the County wants to put in.
41
42 Commissioner Rich suggested running the Millhouse Road property through the
43 Intergovernmental Parks Work Group.
44
45 Commissioner Gordon said she thought they should leave in the $400,000 for Southern
46 Human Services site planning.
47
48 Michael Talbert explained how planning money might be used and gave an example of
49 perhaps moving a road later if needed because the Seymour Center site expansion
50 would be constrained by the existing road. He said planning for infrastructure would
51 give them flexibility for the future.
52
53 Paul Laughton noted there is no funding included at this point for the affordable housing
54 impact fee reimbursement. That is something they look at every year—there is
9
1 $170,000 in the current year. He will be meeting with Tara Fikes on this, so the Board
2 might see a change on this when the CIP is presented on March 11.
3
4 Paul Laughton explained in more detail the allocations to Special Revenue Fund
5 projects on page 10 of the retreat agenda packets. He said to date the County has
6 collected about $4.2 million in Article 46 sales tax revenue and spent about $1.1 million
7 for schools and economic development. CHCCS has their funding going to technology
8 and repairs identified in their assessment of older facility needs. OCS has allocated its
9 funds for their One to One initiative for laptops. Total Article 46 funding budgeted for
10 2014-15 is about $2.7 million. Paul thinks staff may need to come back to the Board at
11 some point to reconsider the percentages allocated to make sure there are enough
12 allocations to cover debt service.
13
14 Commissioner Dorosin inquired about the small business investment grant line item and
15 how that differs from incentives.
16
17 Commissioner McKee says there will be a meeting next week — he will get a printout
18 regarding what has been going on. Paul Laughton said nothing has been spent on
19 business investment grants and no Article 46 funds have been spent for small business
20 loans either. Paul will get the definitions of these to Commissioner Dorosin.
21
22 Given time constraints for this agenda item, the Board agreed to go through the rest of
23 capital projects by exception, dealing only with projects about which they have questions
24
25 In response to a question from Commissioner Price, Chair Jacobs explained how the
26 Board had adopted a policy based on recommendations from Economic Development
27 Director Steve Brantley about how Article 46 proceeds might be divided up into various
28 pots. Paul Laughton cited various percentages or percentage ranges approved by the
29 Board, with the largest being 60% allocated for debt service.
30
31 Commissioner Rich asked what, if any, are the procedures for having a long term plan
32 for solid waste. It seemed that they discuss solid waste on an ad hoc basis, a little bit at
33 a time. She said they will do an injustice financially to the County if they don't think
34 about it long term.
35
36 Paul Laughton said each area has a breakdown each year where improvements are to
37 be and the funding allocated, for example for solid waste convenience center
38 improvements. The Sanitation portion has a good plan for improvements, for example
39 for large pieces of equipment. Recycling improvements depend on policy decisions
40 remaining to be made.
41
42 Commissioner Rich said she is thinking about the future and different ways to handle
43 trash.
44
45 Michael Talbert said they do not have a strategic plan for solid waste. They continue to
46 meet to examine new technologies. They closed the landfill a year ago and the interlocal
47 agreement essentially lapsed at that point. They are trying to reinitiate that with their
48 recycling efforts. There is not a master plan on what to do with solid waste in 5-10 years.
49 They will continue to look at options. Right now, everything is going through Durham as
50 the Board approved. That is a temporary short term solution —there is no long term
51 solution. He thinks they are probably not going to site a new landfill.
52
53 Chair Jacobs said the managers are trying to work on a 5 year plan to work together. A
54 strategic plan is predicated on having partners first. The Board asked the Manager and
10
1 staff to try to develop a new agreement to succeed the old one, but that's when Chapel
2 Hill decided to bid itself out separately.
3
4 Commissioner Rich asked when does the short term solution become the long term
5 solution. She said she wondered when the County would think about being more
6 responsible for our own trash as opposed to sending it to Durham. She noted that there
7 may not be an answer to that right now.
8
9 Commissioner Pelissier said they do need the partnerships because Orange County by
10 itself generates so little. She agreed with the Manager that they will not site another
11 landfill in Orange County. There is a lot of technology out there being developed that is
12 not ready yet. For a county of our size, there isn't a clear answer out there. She said
13 they may need to partner with others, not just the local towns but maybe Durham.
14
15 Chair Jacobs said he and others met with the Durham City Mayor last year and that they
16 had explored alternative technologies — both with and without Orange County waste -
17 and decided they were not big enough. He said they need to find a regional solution.
18 It's easy to say the County is not doing enough, but the problem is finding technology
19 that is cost effective and environmentally sound, without even getting into siting issues
20 that will be awesome, especially for a regional facility. He thinks a good thing for the
21 Board to do at this point is to list out what should be the steps and check with the Towns
22 to see if they are on board with the steps we have articulated.
23
24 Commissioner Rich said she wanted to know if technology is not ready for them, this is
25 the year they should check into it again. Her concern is that right now they don't have a
26 plan.
27
28 Rod Visser asked the Board to consider whether they feel the objective for this segment
29 has been met, recognizing there will be some changes to come when the Manager's
30 recommended CIP is presented. Paul Laughton confirmed there would be some
31 changes related to water and sewer and with solid waste as it relates to the timeline for
32 the Eubanks Road SWCC and High Rock Road SWCC. Some numbers will change in
33 CIP as they are still meeting with staff. The CIP includes a large Phase 1 expansion of
34 the SportsPlex at $950,000.
35
36 Rod Visser asked if any member of the Board feels strongly about providing direction to
37 staff about making any change to any project as presented.
38
39 Commissioner Dorosin inquired if the EPA matter gets resolved on Rogers Road and
40 the Board decides to go forward with funding the sewer, would that be folded into the
41 CIP or some other way, assuming there is consensus that there are no more
42 impediments to moving forward and we want to proceed expeditiously
43
44 Michael Talbert said the short answer is "yes". The managers are working on a plan, as
45 instructed by the task force, on how to make this happen and how to make this work.
46 He believes the County and Chapel Hill are on board with funding 43% shares
47 (Carrboro's share would be 14%) and with moving forward on at least initial planning for
48 sewer, including engineering. He sees longer term CIP funding — not next year, but
49 maybe two years out—for funding for actual construction.
50
51 Commissioner Dorosin inquired do they have resources to start or would there need to
52 be adjustments to this CIP.
53
54 Michael Talbert said funding would be in the general CIP. They would have to evaluate
55 resources and priorities. They have the money to do the planning stages. In two years,
11
1 though, if the Towns don't go along, the County could not come up with $7-8 million
2 without cutting something back. Those discussions have not yet occurred, however.
3
4 In response to a comment by Chair Jacobs, Paul Laughton confirmed that today's
5 agenda item is just for 2014-15 projects because that's what the Board concentrates on
6 approving funding for next year's CIP. The remainder of the CIP is for long range
7 forecasting and planning that you evaluate every year. He will bring to the Board's
8 attention any deviations from planned funding in the out years when they present the
9 CIP on March 11.
10
11 Rod Visser tested the assumption that this session is an opportunity for Commissioners
12 to give the Manager and staff a "heads up" now regarding any changes in the CIP they
13 would like to see, but that does not forestall their bringing up other changes that occur to
14 them six weeks from now in March.
15
16 Michael Talbert said he saw two issues on their list of possible budget goals that have
17 potentially large capital impacts: education and Rogers Road sewer.
18
19 Commissioner Price asked about the confidence level staff has in projections of lottery
20 proceeds.
21
22 Paul Laughton said that they provide to the schools the estimates that they receive from
23 the State. He noted that the State used to provide counties with $176 million in annual
24 lottery proceeds but that number is now down to $100 million. Orange County is only
25 getting about $1.3 million in lottery funds now. At peak, he believed the County received
26 about $2.3 million in lottery funds.
27 Commissioners and Manager indicated that they were satisfied that they had met the
28 objective set out for the CIP portion of the agenda.
29
30 D. Bond Referendum - Debt Capacity, Property Tax Impact, Bond
31 Rating (Clarence Grier— Presenter& Rod Visser)
32
33 Rod Visser explained that the objective for this segment is for the Board to review
34 possible Bond Referendum timelines, amount of a referendum, and the Board practice
35 of utilizing bond task forces, and provide direction to staff.
36
37 Clarence Grier reviewed possible options/funding/debt service for a possible $100
38 million bond referendum, to be held at the Board's discretion. Key figures are included
39 in the spreadsheet on page 13, Attachment 1-c, of the Board's retreat agenda packet.
40
41 Clarence Grier said they have been discussing a $100 million bond to be paid back in 20
42 years, as required by the Local Government Commission (LGC). Debt service on $100
43 million would be approximately $6.7 million, or 4.18 cents on the current tax rate. He
44 reviewed current outstanding County debt and bond ratings (Fitch —AAA; Standard &
45 Poors —AAA; Moody's —AA1 with a positive outlook).
46
47 The assumptions built into the spreadsheet include $100m in staggered issues every
48 two years of$40 million in 2015-16, then $30 million two years later, then the final $30
49 million two years after that. Bond approval date is assumed as November 2015 — if not
50 done in November 2014, there is no primary in May 2015 so must wait until November
51 general election for a bond referendum vote. He reviewed the spreadsheet for current
52 debt and potential new County jail debt service. He pointed out that in this scenario,
53 maximum outstanding debt would come in FY2020-21 with a tax rate effect of about 3.8
54 cents. To stay within County policy limiting debt service expenditures to15% of the
55 General Fund, expenditures in that fiscal year would have to increase to about $221.3
12
1 million. He noted that if real property growth and sales tax growth continued with
2 current projections, we would need about .28 cents on the tax rate to be able to cover
3 the $221.3 million in expenditures.
4
5 In response to Commissioner McKee's question, Clarence Grier confirmed that he
6 assumed that the projected growth in revenues is not consumed by other expenses.
7
8 Clarence Grier explained how CIP and possible new jail debt are incorporated in the
9 spreadsheet. He noted options of how some of the $300 million in capital needs
10 identified by the two school systems' assessments might be addressed with a $100
11 million bond. Discussion ensued about how jail debt service might be addressed
12 through an alternative financing mechanism and not be included in a bond referendum,
13 as it might be considered a controversial element that might lead to failure of a bond
14 referendum. Clarence Grier reiterated that this particular scenario is just for illustrative
15 purposes — no decisions have been made yet about a bond referendum.
16
17 Commissioner Price asked about school needs and the need to build a new school.
18
19 Michael Talbert said the schools had done their facility assessments and included some
20 remodelings and additions of older schools, which may push out some of this further in
21 time so that a new school might not be needed for 2, 5, or 10 years..
22
23 Commissioner Pelissier asked if there are longer term items in their CIP with debt
24 service that are excluded in this scenario.
25
26 Clarence Grier said all is included in the CIP Debt Service column. He wanted to show
27 them how a $100 million bond referendum would affect their debt capacity going
28 forward. The components of a bond referendum have not been decided.
29
30 Chair Jacobs said he expected the school systems to come back to the Board with a
31 couple hundred million dollars worth of proposed upgrades for health & safety reasons,
32 structural reasons, and capacity reasons. There might be discussion of perhaps three
33 separate $70million bond packages. They are looking to expand capacities of existing
34 facilities, for example the new Culbreth Middle School wing. He noted the current plan
35 for a new jail is for a 300-bed capacity, but it could start out as a phased project.
36
37 Clarence Grier confirmed this, that the full capacity cost would be $30,250,000, saying
38 that if they cut it in half, then debt capacity would go up.
39
40 Chair Jacobs remarked on a visit he and Commissioner Pelissier made to the Guilford
41 County Jail that had been built in pods that can be phased in over time.
42
43 Clarence Grier cautioned that these estimates are based on current interest rates. If
44 future rates rise, additional debt capacity will be lowered. That is why it is so important
45 to maintain their high bond ratings to keep the cost of borrowing as low as possible. He
46 also noted that a $100 million bond would represent half of the County's annual
47 operating budget.
48
49 Michael Talbert emphasized that even though debt service estimates are conservative,
50 so are their budget estimates. With revenue growth of 1.5-2%, they are coming out of
51 the great recession. He hoped that they will get to 3, 4, or 5 per cent at some point. He
52 indicated that Clarence Grier has provided estimates on a very conservative basis.
53
54 The Board discussed concerns and implications of holding a referendum at different
55 scheduled elections in 2014, 2015, or 2016. Reluctance was expressed about holding a
13
1 referendum in an expected low turnout election. There was some desirability of pursuing
2 a November 2014 referendum, but significant concern that there would be inadequate
3 time to address all the steps needed for a successful bond referendum, including
4 partner, stakeholder, and citizen involvement in the process.
5
6 Michael Talbert said that to pursue a November 2014 referendum, the Board would
7 have to make major decisions on this between now and summer. The Board can take it
8 as information today and add it to a work session on March 11, but if they need a task
9 force they need to make decisions today about that.
10 Chair Jacobs said they could add a work session between now and March 11 to discuss
11 this, if need be.
12
13 Michael Talbert said it is feasible to address this again on March 11, but he agreed with
14 Commissioner Dorosin that the longer they push this out, they have by default decided
15 not to do this in November 2014.
16
17 Commissioner McKee said it took about 18 months in 2001 to put a bond referendum in
18 place.
19
20 Commissioner Pelissier said they have not even discussed affordable housing yet; they
21 need time to prepare and educate the citizens on this topic in a bond. She noted the
22 first time they put up the quarter-cent sales tax for a vote, they had inadequate time to
23 educate voters about the issues. The second time we were better prepared. She does
24 not think they can realistically do it in November 2014.
25
26 Commissioner Gordon said she has experience in bond referendums, both ones that
27 passed and failed. It is her judgment, based on successful bond referenda, that the
28 more deliberate a process there is of getting stakeholders on board, and taking time to
29 educate voters, then the more likelihood of having a better chance of success.
30
31 Rod Visser said that as the facilitator he has heard a lot of disappointment that they
32 want to do this but do not feel there is enough time to do it right for November 2014. It
33 sounds like they are providing guidance to the Manager and staff that they should not be
34 jumping through "hoops" to try to get everything done for a November 2014 bond
35 referendum. He asked if anyone disagreed that is a fair reading of the discussion just
36 held. No one stated disagreement, but Chair Jacobs suggested that they could take the
37 February 11 work session for staff to bring information about what would be involved in
38 developing a November 2014 bond referendum back to the Board of County
39 Commissioners. It may be premature because of things beyond our control, but he is
40 hesitant to vote either yes or know without the Board knowing what is involved.
41
42 Rod Visser pointed out that what Chair Jacobs proposed also represents a decision and
43 asked the Board how they feel about that. He heard a request that staff pull together
44 some of the things they have discussed today about timelines and impacts and getting
45 partners together and bring that information back for the February 11 work session.
46 Then the Board could consider at that point whether the writing is on the wall that
47 November 2014 is out of the question, or whether it could get done. This would be a
48 deliberate postponement of that decision until after the Board gets more information.
49
50 Commissioner Rich said she preferred Commissioner Jacobs's approach. Unlike
51 Commissioner Gordon, she has not lived through one of these bond referenda. They
52 know a number from Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools but they haven't heard anything from
53 the Orange County Schools.
54
14
1 Rod Visser asked if there is anyone uncomfortable with that proposal from Chair
2 Jacobs, or does that seem workable to the Board and the Manager.
3
4 Michael Talbert said he thinks it is workable, but cautioned he did not know how much
5 information they would have from Orange County Schools. They will do the best they
6 can with what they have.
7
8 Rod Visser said he is heard reluctant skepticism but a willingness to get more
9 information and take another look at it on February 11. Michael Talbert confirmed that it
10 would be fine to discuss other related topics like task forces on February 11 as well.
11
12 The Board agreed to get the information on this date.
13
14 The Board took a half hour break for lunch.
15
16
17
18 2. Goals for Strategic Communications Plan
19
20 A. Presentation (Todd McGee, Director of Public Relations — NCACC)
21
22 Todd McGee, Public Relations Director for the North Carolina Association of County
23 Commissioners, made a presentation titled "County Communications", based on a set of
24 PowerPoint slides that are included with the background materials for this meeting of the
25 Orange County Board of Commissioners.
26
27 Todd McGee explained that in his capacity as President of the National Association of
28 County Information Officers (an affiliate of the National Association of Counties), he was
29 involved last fall in carrying out a non-scientific survey about what counties are doing to
30 communicate with their citizens. The survey instrument was sent to county managers in
31 about a dozen states. They received over 200 responses and felt they had received a
32 representative cross-section of the country and a pretty good idea of what is going on
33 out there.
34
35 Commissioner Rich asked if we know whether people are reading the newspaper itself
36 or online.
37
38 Todd McGee said he recently looked into this and found that 55% of people say they get
39 their news primarily from television; 20% say they get their news online; 10% report they
40 get the news from hardcopy newspapers; and perhaps 5% get their news from social
41 media. He noted that the percentage getting news primarily from newspapers could be
42 higher than 10% as some portion of those getting it online are likely getting it from
43 newspaper websites.
44
45 Commissioner Pelissier asked if there is any data showing how many people follow
46 national news versus local news.
47
48 Todd McGee said surveys he has seen do not differentiate between local and national
49 news, and he noted the challenge for local governments in making themselves heard in
50 this environment.
51
52 Commissioner Rich said that there are a number of citizens who attend Orange County
53 meetings and blog from them. She observed that you cannot control their message,
54 which may not necessarily be the message the Board is trying to convey. The blogs
55 may just reflect opinion from someone who considers themselves a media person.
15
1
2 Todd McGee said that reflected the power of the Internet— it is important for
3 commissioners to be aware that is out there, as bloggers may not be following the
4 ethical rules of journalism. He said that a consideration for commissioners is how they
5 will treat bloggers. Will they treat them as regular media, providing them with media
6 packets or a seat in a designated media area. They cannot control what they write, but
7 if you have a good communication plan in place, you can respond a lot more quickly to
8 any misinformation they may put out.
9
10 Todd McGee referred to the top slide on page 4 of the handout which shows a bar graph
11 regarding all county responses to the question "who on your staff is/are responsible for
12 media relations and communications with the public?" Todd McGee noted that only
13 about 25% of counties have a dedicated Public Information Officer (PIO) position.
14 Almost half cite the county manager/administrator as having media/communications
15 responsibilities.
16
17 The bottom slide on page 4 of the handout shows responses to the same question for
18 counties in Orange County's population size range. In this group, nearly 60% have a
19 dedicated PIO position, and less than 40% rely on the manager/administrator for this
20 function.
21
22 Todd McGee said that with regard to news releases, he believes in a philosophy of"less
23 is more". If you send out press releases on every issue, he believes that decreases the
24 likelihood that media will read what you send out. If you limit it to really important things,
25 they may pay more attention.
26
27 Todd McGee said the Knight Foundation did a white paper on "what is needed to have
28 an effective communications environment". The slide at the top of page 7 of the
29 handout provides the following list of eight essential elements:
30
31 • Government information available online
32 • Commitment to transparency
33 • Quality local journalism
34 • Opportunities for citizens
35 • Public library
36 • Ready access to critical community information
37 • Wired local schools
38 • High-speed Internet access
39
40 Todd McGee said he believes the environment in Orange County is ripe to succeed with
41 a communications plan.
42
43 Todd McGee said that a few months ago NACIO did a webinar for members that walked
44 them through writing a communications plan. He said his slides at the bottom of page 7
45 and on page 8 of the handout borrow liberally from what was shared:
46
47 • Take stock of internal elements
48 — County Mission Statement
49 — Existing Communications Plan
50 — Board's adopted goals/strategic vision
51 — Existing Communications Policies (social media)
52 — Crisis Communications Plan
53 — Existing Communications Channels
54
16
1 Todd McGee noted the importance of a county's website as an existing channel not only
2 to provide information to citizens, but also to learn (e.g. from statistics about page visits)
3 about what kinds of information citizens are most interested in. Then a county might
4 figure ways to feature that information more prominently.
5
6 In response to a question from Commissioner Gordon, Todd McGee clarified that a
7 "crisis communication plan" should be part of your overall communications plan. He
8 said two choices are to either: take an existing plan and tweak it; or, start from scratch.
9 If you decide to start from scratch, these are the elements that should be included.
10
11 Michael Talbert noted that while doing research on this topic, he found an entity that had
12 a full plan, but that decided to do a separate strategic communications plan around
13 dealing with the great recession. He cited this as an example of an event in your
14 community that may warrant something special. Todd McGee observed that a bond
15 referendum such as the Commissioners discussed earlier in the day might be an
16 example of that type of special event.
17
18 Commissioner Price asked where a county typically puts a crisis communication plan.
19
20 Todd McGee said that in an active crisis, it is important to have one speaker. Who that
21 person is depends on the nature of the crisis (e.g. Sheriff, Emergency Management
22 Director, Public Health Director). He said it is important to spread the word through as
23 many channels as possible.
24
25 • Take stock of external elements
26 — Identify Partners
27 — Survey Citizens
28 — Local media
29
30 • Set goals and objectives
31 — Tie goals to mission and values
32 — Objectives should be specific and measurable
33 — Determine strategies for each goal
34
35 Rod Visser asked if Commissioners had any further questions about things that Todd
36 McGee had specifically addressed in his presentation, or did not address.
37
38 Commissioner Rich asked about what a social media policy entails. Todd McGee said
39 that you have to plan for how you will use social media before you get involved. The
40 worst thing you can do is start a Twitter feed or Facebook page, update it like crazy for a
41 month, and then forget about it. A plan would identify appropriate channels to use and
42 who would be responsible for keeping them updated. Consider whether you have
43 countywide accounts/pages or whether individual departments may have them.
44 Consider whether to use the county seal on all — it is a great branding opportunity.
45 Consider whether you allow public comments, and if so, what do you do with them.
46 Twitter should be updated at least 2-3 times per week. You may get away with updating
47 Facebook only 1-2 per week. Remember you can use social media to push
48 notifications. More than 50% of mobile phone users have Facebook on their phones. A
49 notification about a tornado, for example, could be put on a county Facebook page and
50 pushed to all those phones.
51
52 This concluded Todd McGee's presentation.
53
54
55 B. Discussion/Plan Outline (Todd McGee & Rod Visser)
17
1
2 Rod Visser drew the Board's attention to the stated objective for this portion of the
3 retreat - that the Board review and discuss a County Strategic Communications Plan
4 outline and provide direction to staff. He explained the context within which the
5 objective for this segment of the retreat agenda was developed by the retreat planning
6 committee. The consensus view was to look at this topic today "at the 30,000 foot level"
7 and not to get "too far down in the weeds" with the level of detail today. It did not seem
8 feasible to try to sit down and write a strategic communications plan in 1.5—2 hours.
9
10 Rod Visser said that the challenge the committee gave to Michael Talbert was to craft
11 the outline of a strategic communication plan and to list the basic elements that should
12 be included in that framework. He did that and included it as Attachment 2a on pages
13 14-15 of the retreat agenda packet. The packet also includes sample communications
14 plans at Attachments 2c through 2f that Michael Talbert researched, from four
15 jurisdictions: Hickory, NC; Clayton, MO; Red Wing, MN; and Prince William County, VA.
16 The agenda packet also includes at Attachment 2b a 1999 proposed Orange County
17 Board of Commissioners Strategic Communications Plan.
18
19 Rod Visser asked Commissioners in light of those four sample plans, any independent
20 research they may have done, Todd McGee's presentation, and the 1999 plan, what
21 reactions do they have to the outline Michael Talbert drafted. He said that during the
22 retreat planning meetings, Michael Talbert had suggested desirable next steps of putting
23 together a County Communications Team to work on fleshing out the details of the
24 framework. That team might include County staff from various departments who are
25 already involved in public information and outreach efforts. The idea would be for the
26 Manager to work with that group to bring back a fully fleshed out strategic
27 communications plan along an established timeline for the Board to approve and
28 implement.
29
30 Michael Talbert added that there are several communications principles listed in today's
31 packet that the communications team would keep the Board abreast of. Not only would
32 the team develop the plan, but after implementation they would monitor it and develop
33 changes needed as social media and technology changes, bringing it back perhaps
34 once a year for any needed Board approved changes. He sees the draft as a
35 suggested starting point.
36
37 Rod Visser suggested as a possible way to proceed that he record on flipcharts
38 Commissioner reactions to Michael Talbert's draft, as well as any other specific
39 elements or characteristics not mentioned in that framework that they would like staff to
40 consider including in a fully written communications plan. He asked if that would be a
41 useful approach or if there were other alternative ideas on how to proceed.
42
43 The Board then spent about 40 minutes discussing matters related to a strategic
44 communications plan and developed the following list of comments and observations
45 that should be considered as the plan is developed:
46
47 What is the role of the Board of Commissioners in a strategic communications
48 plan? Presumably, at least approval of the plan
49 What is the purpose of the plan
50 Periodic check-in by the Board on how the plan is going after implementation
51 Board members as "ears" of the community can give feedback as part of the
52 team
53 With regard to tools, we need to go out to where the people are — currently we
54 expect them to come to us
18
1 Red Wing, MN communication philosophy (p 68 in agenda packets) —we should
2 include philosophy as a section of the plan
3 Communication is a two way street; not just broadcasting; also receiving
4 negative feedback and demonstrating that you have heard and considered that
5 feedback
6 Consider the social part of communications — how to frame issues based on
7 social science research
8 More goals are needed in the outline: crisis, controversial/fast breaking issues (p
9 16); target audiences
10 Goal for enhanced communication between the County and municipal
11 governments and school boards in Orange County
12 Target audiences include the General Assembly, regional boards, and
13 government entities
14 Example of meetings from which Triangle Transit Authority or Triangle J Council
15 of Governments discussions should be communicated to the Board of
16 Commissioners and feedback the other way
17 Reduce "siloed" communications
18 After action reports (safety net funding example) may highlight a specific issue—
19 consider more detailed communications as well
20 More deliberate (vs. ad hoc) response to issues and citizen queries (avoiding
21 personally identifiable information)
22 May have to use all methods to capture attention of the most people possible
23 Example of the Rockingham County Kettner Award for outreach to rural parts of
24 the county that may not rely on technology
25 The best press releases include a personal element with testimony from
26 someone who benefitted
27 "Kids won't answer their cell phones but they will respond immediately to text
28 messages"
29 Be selective in the use of press releases to preserve the efficacy of those you do
30 send out
31 Make sure county employees get press releases so they can be knowledgeable
32 for their neighbors
33 Use different tools for different target audiences
34 Keep the plan simple at the beginning
35 Identify communications team - include commissioners
36 Team should include departmental staff members who are already pushing info
37 out
38
39 Following this discussion among Commissioners, Michael Talbert outlined a general
40 timeline and process that he envisions at this time. He is thinking of coming back in a
41 fairly quick period, possibly 1-3 months, with a still fairly broad outline. He would involve
42 the Public Affairs Director Carla Banks and what he perceives to be the team, get their
43 input in terms of all the different target audiences we are trying to reach. They would
44 identify all the different outlets we could use and start categorizing to see how we could
45 put those together. This would still be a fairly high level outline that the Board could
46 approve and tell the team to go find strategies to make it work. Almost all the plans you
47 have seen are homegrown. There is not a consultant who does this. They arrive out of
48 necessity at the local government.
49
50 Discussion ensued about the timing of when the strategic communications plan item
51 would come back for further Board consideration, taking into consideration the
52 "cascading" of work session topics that would be taking place over the next several
53 months, as discussed earlier in the day. Commissioner Gordon advocated that the item
54 come back at the April 8 work session. A majority of the Board members agreed to
55 have the Manager make recommendations about which outstanding work session
19
1 topics, including the strategic communications plan, should be addressed at which work
2 sessions over the next few months.
3
4 The Board took a 15 minute scheduled break.
5
6
7 3. Economic Development Incentive Guidelines
8 (Steve Brantley- Presenter& Rod Visser)
9
10
11 Rod Visser drew the Board's attention to PowerPoint slides (Attachment 3a) and
12 spreadsheets (Attachment 3b) that Economic Development Director Steve Brantley had
13 provided for inclusion in the retreat agenda packets. The stated objective for this
14 segment of the agenda was that the Board review and discuss Economic Development
15 Incentive Guidelines and provide direction to staff.
16
17 Steve Brantley said that he and his staff had spent 5 months researching what other
18 parts of North Carolina do with economic development incentives. Their research was
19 focused primarily on business recruitment, encompassing corporate headquarters,
20 research & development (R&D), warehousing, and the like, on par with the recent
21 Japanese success.
22
23 He said that most large projects like Morinaga include an incentive component in the
24 decision-making process, whether with the company or site selection consultant. The
25 prospect of incentives (or not) can affect a decision even to make a first visit to a
26 potential site. People's reactions to incentives range from repugnance to ambivalence
27 to acceptance as a part of doing business. The reality is that when trying to put
28 businesses in the County's economic development districts of the caliber of Morinaga,
29 it's a normal part of the site selection process.
30
31 Steve Brantley discussed various aspects of State incentives, including matching
32 requirements. He explained that incentives have a number of uses, including providing
33 a competitive advantage. He provided additional detail about the AKG North America
34 and Morinaga America Foods projects reflected on the slide on page 110 of the agenda
35 packet. He described the formula for calculating incentives, and explained that they are
36 not a rebate of property taxes, which is not allowed under North Carolina law. When
37 conditions are met, incentives are paid to the company in the form of a performance
38 grant.
39
40 In response to a question from Commissioner Rich, Steve Brantley explained how
41 counties and municipalities can be in competition with each other for projects and how
42 they must coordinate with the State on packaging incentives.
43
44 He explained that staff had surveyed the 40 jurisdictions annotated on the map on page
45 111, where they personally know individuals on staff and their way of operating. They
46 asked these jurisdictions generally what they do regarding incentives for a project like
47 Morinaga. Only 6 out of 28 counties and 4 out of 12 municipalities have written formal
48 incentives policies; the majority has unpublished guidelines to allow them to set a
49 performance agreement and broad latitude to confidentially determine grants. Most
50 operate in a manner similar to what Orange County has done, which is a percentage of
51 the taxable value of that project paid back to the company as a grant. Details for each
52 jurisdiction surveyed are included in the spreadsheets at pages 118-121.
53
54 Steve Brantley explained a handout he provided regarding the Town of Carrboro's
55 incentive agreement with Hampton Inn. That agreement will result in a probable
20
1 payment by the Town of$475,000 over a 5 year period. His calculation is that the Town
2 incentives reflect 86% of taxable value, which is above the County's precedent to go as
3 high as 75%.
4
5 He then commented on the map of North Carolina counties at page 115 that shows how
6 each county is categorized as being in Tier 1, 2, or 3 with regard to applicability of State
7 incentives. He gave an example about State Job Development Investment Grants
8 (J DIG), which the State reserves for "the largest of the large" — projects that will create
9 200 or more jobs. He explained the table on page 116 that demonstrates how Orange
10 County, being in Tier 3, is at a competitive disadvantage with regard to JDIG incentives
11 compared to Tier 2 competitor counties (e.g. Alamance and Granville) and Tier 3
12 competitors (e.g. Vance and Caswell). He said that incentive policy at the County level
13 can help close that gap.
14
15 Steve Brantley said that during the past 2.5 — 3 years, the Economic Development office
16 and County Manager have looked at each business project as they have matured from a
17 first site visit to being a real possibility of landing that company, looking at what might be
18 an appropriate incentive, and discussing that in closed session with the Board when
19 appropriate. He noted that a company wants an answer quickly—they don't want a
20 public process or a 3 week wait. He said that he needs to be able to have a ballpark
21 answer that he can quote and have the Manager check with the Board as appropriate.
22
23 Steve Brantley said that the County's practice of providing performance grants at a
24 maximum of 75% of taxable value for 5 years is in keeping with other jurisdictions. It is
25 not too generous, and is in the median of incentives formulas. This concluded Steve
26 Brantley's presentation.
27
28 Michael Talbert reiterated that it is really important to have flexibility in what we are
29 doing and how we are doing it, and for Steve Brantley to be able to answer a company
30 almost immediately. He said they also must consider the disadvantage of being a Tier 3
31 county - that will make a difference for some projects. Some people may be willing to
32 live in Orange and work in Alamance— others may not. He thinks the Board needs to
33 decide whether they want a formal policy or some fairly broad guidelines.
34
35 Commissioner Jacobs said that they should acknowledge some bottom line parameters
36 that Orange County already has - pay a living wage, low water usage, and provide
37 employee health insurance. If commissioners have other concerns about a project that
38 they would like to raise, we need to create an opportunity for them to do so.
39
40 Commissioner Pelissier raised a question about whether dealing with projects on a case
41 by case issue constitutes a policy, as she understands from the School of Government
42 is required.
43
44 Steve Brantley said there are communities that create incentives based on certain
45 business clusters, such as aerospace or health care. He said that among the conditions
46 for State incentive grants are that companies provide employee health insurance and
47 not only that they pay a living wage, but an average salary equal to 100% of the average
48 wage in that county. Since Orange County has the highest per capita wage in North
49 Carolina, it is harder for companies considering Orange County to meet the prevailing
50 wage requirement of the State incentive programs.
51 The Board discussed incentives considerations for 15-20 minutes and compiled the
52 following list of comments, questions, and feedback for the Manager and staff:
53
54 Do we have a policy by default, and if so, is that insufficient?
21
1 • Avoid a policy that is so formal, so "down in the weeds", so restrictive as to
2 eliminate Orange County from even initial consideration — maintain flexibility
3 • Staff comes back to the Board before extending offers — internal non- published
4 guidelines are working
5 • Talk about Orange County's competitive advantages - two excellent school
6 systems and quality of life
7
8 Michael Talbert summarized what he thought he heard the Board say/discuss. That
9 every company that comes will be asking for incentives; but we don't have established
10 policies or guidelines, but informal guidelines, and it sounds like that's where we are
11 headed. He said that Steve Brantley is very conscious of Orange County values when
12 he is approached by businesses. The value Orange County brings to a project is huge
13 in terms of"sense of place", but it is a competitive process. He would like feedback for
14 him, Steve Brantley, and the next manager that they have informal direction in place
15 about how they are going to approach projects. If that is fair and equitable and
16 Commissioners like what they have seen so far, they will continue down that path. If the
17 Board wants to change that, to let staff know now.
18
19 Rod Visser asked if there is anything commissioners want the Manager and staff to
20 consider doing differently, or should they continue on. He noted that there were no
21 suggestions from Commissioners about doing anything differently.
22
23 Chair Jacobs asked Steve Brantley to come back with a memo explaining Article 46
24 sales tax Special Revenue Fund pools of money for economic development initiatives.
25 Steve Brantley said they have not used a business investment grant yet.
26
27 Chair Jacobs noted the County's willingness to assist existing businesses to expand in
28 Orange County. He asked how the county makes this known to them and how we
29 provide outreach to existing businesses.
30
31 Steve Brantley mentioned several approaches they are making to do collaborative
32 outreach, but acknowledged the need to do a better job in this regard.
33
34 At the conclusion of the economic development incentives discussion, Rod Visser asked
35 David Hunt to distribute to Commissioners a handout that compiled their responses from
36 the morning exercise to prioritize potential 2014-15 budget goals. He indicated an
37 intention to return to that document for discussion if there is time remaining after the
38 final scheduled retreat agenda topic.
39
40
41 4. Poverty — County's Role — Direction (Nancy Coston and Tara Fikes —
42 Presenters & Rod Visser)
43
44 Rod Visser said that during the retreat planning committee discussions, he sensed an
45 urgency to talk about the topic of poverty, but also a sense that it is difficult to address
46 because it is such a big topic— it may be an issue more of managing poverty than
47 eliminating poverty. The committee settled on asking staff for updates on current
48 programs the County has to deal with the impacts of poverty. The objective for this
49 segment of the agenda is for the Board to discuss the update on poverty and provide
50 direction to staff.
51
52 Social Services Director Nancy Coston said that a third of families slipped into poverty at
53 one time or another during the year. DSS sees that in Orange County with the many
54 people living on the brink. She said that he BOCC has done a lot to help DSS with those
22
1 kinds of cases. She mentioned a variety of programs that keep people from sliding into
2 abject poverty, mainly Food & Nutrition and Medicaid.
3
4 Nancy Coston said that a lot of their work is crisis oriented. She acknowledged the
5 additional $100,000 the Board approved this year for Emergency Assistance, with most
6 of that going towards rents and utilities at number two. Some counties don't provide
7 much or any of this funding.
8
9 Nancy Coston said she thought the Skills Development Center had been very effective.
10 The Work First program for Subsidized Employment was very helpful for folks
11 transitioning after losing jobs, although those funds are no longer available. DSS has
12 been in the process clearing the child care subsidy wait list. She said the fact that there
13 are 12,000 Medicaid families and 6,200 Food & Nutrition households in Orange County
14 demonstrates there is a lot of need.
15
16 Nancy Coston described how the Adolescent Parenting program works. She noted that
17 one of the huge risk factors for not becoming financially self-sufficient is having a
18 second child before completing high school (or having one child and NOT finishing high
19 school).
20
21 Housing Director Tara Fikes referred to the information in Attachment 4b at page 123
22 about 2014 Housing & Urban Development (HUD) Department income levels related to
23 housing affordability. She said that a large number of residents are paying more than
24 50% of their income for rent (which should not be more than 30%). Utility costs are a big
25 part of housing costs.
26
27 Tara Fikes then referred to the information on pages 124-125 pertaining to what hourly
28 pay would be needed to provide a housing wage. In North Carolina, in order to afford a
29 two bedroom apartment at an average monthly rent of$737, a person would have to
30 earn $14.17 per hour. With the higher average housing cost in Orange County, that
31 figure would be $16.13 per hour.
32
33 She explained several HUD programs that focus on assistance with rental housing: the
34 Section 8 voucher program administered by the County: and the low-rent conventional
35 public housing program administered by the Town of Chapel Hill. Those two programs
36 involve nearly 1,000 units of housing. There are also have about 14 apartment
37 complexes throughout Orange County that were built using various forms of federal
38 funding — most are in Chapel Hill and Carrboro and 5 of those are designated for the
39 senior population.
40
41 Tara Fikes said that is not enough - there is an acute need for rental housing in our
42 community. Most apartment construction in the last few years has been at the luxury
43 level that the average worker is not able to afford.
44
45 Commissioners and staff discussed the child care subsidy waiting list. Nancy Coston
46 said they started the wait list about 20 and did not take anyone off it for a year and a
47 half. She said they finally received some federal dollars after the State decided what
48 their budget would be so they could take some people off the list by September. Then
49 the federal shutdown happened, and not only could we not take people off the list, they
50 were threatening not to pay the folks already on. Now DSS is working to clear the wait
51 list. When they have a stale waiting list, people's circumstances change as time passes
52 and the clearing of the list can be misleading. She said that if you don't clear the wait
53 list at least once a year (by sending letters out to applicants), it can become an almost
54 unworkable situation.
55
23
1 Commissioner Dorosin referred to the list of services provided to low-income families
2 that was included as Attachment 4c at page 126. He noted that a lot of these are based
3 on state and federal funding administered by the County. He is interested in knowing
4 where Orange County can put their own resources to address these issues. Child care
5 subsidies are a great example. Do we need a county-funded Section 8 type housing
6 program or county funded public housing, He is looking for real targeted ways that
7 Orange County can address these issues and make an impact. He said that we ought
8 to be able to find a way to get to the 5,000 kids who are living in severe poverty in this
9 county.
10
11 Nancy Coston said that for people at the brink, more funding for child care subsidies,
12 rental housing assistance, and occasional emergency assistance would stabilize a
13 number of families. She noted the challenge of sustaining people in decent, affordable
14 housing where they have sufficient income to keep paying the rent.
15
16 Tara Fikes added that what they hear in the community is about the need for funds for
17 more rental assistance. She suggested that they consider providing incentives for the
18 private market to provide affordable housing units.
19
20 Chair Jacobs said that he would like us to do some creative thinking about creating
21 rental opportunities for people. He noted the tendency for landlords to consider people
22 in Section 8 housing as stigmatized — perhaps it would seem to be more benign if they
23 were working through Orange County. He said he was struck in discussions with the
24 school systems by how many kids are in free or reduced lunch programs.
25
26 Chair Jacobs said that a starting place might be programs that worked that no longer
27 have funding. He said that he wonders why we stopped Wheels for Work. Nancy
28 Coston said that several years ago, DSS was obliged to make an $800,000 cut in their
29 budget—Wheels to Work was a victim of that. He suggested that perhaps the County
30 could look into donating retired County vehicles.
31
32 Chair Jacobs asked for a more complete list of what programs they had that worked in
33 the past but that they could not afford anymore, to see if we can afford it now. He said
34 that picking up federal and state programs may be more ambitious than we can afford,
35 but if she wanted to propose that, he would be willing to listen. He said he is interested
36 in what might keep people out of jail who can't afford to pay bail so they can stay with
37 their families and at their jobs so they can keep up their housing payments.
38
39 Commissioner McKee asked Nancy Coston to also bring back figures for job training.
40 Nancy Coston noted the importance of job fairs and reattaching people to employment
41 even if temporary. She remarked that statistics show that the longer people remain out
42 of the job market, the harder it is to get hired regardless of the skill level they had
43 before.
44
45 Commissioner Pelissier asked what have been the federal and state cutbacks the last
46 few years. She said that if you put in child care subsidy money, you can't do it for just
47 one year. She cited the need to understand with additional funding, what the County
48 would be committing to and how that funding would fit into state and federal funding.
49 She also mentioned that she expects that there will be some child poverty initiatives
50 coming from the Board of Health.
51
52 Commissioner Rich asked how cuts in federal long-term unemployment benefits will
53 affect this situation. She said we need to look at public/private partnerships so the
54 whole community owns the poverty issue, not just governments. She said if they talk
24
1 about raising taxes, people like teachers could be on the brink. The Board needs to be
2 careful and creative as they think through all of their options.
3
4 Commissioner Dorosin said he is reluctant to think they are going to take on poverty—
5 that is why he narrowed it down to "child poverty." He said that if we focus, we can
6 begin to address the most severe aspects and make a tangible difference. He said that
7 we need a laser approach at the start, rather than a shotgun approach.
8
9 Chair Jacobs said every government has its own housing plan without any coordination
10 with the non-profits and other governmental entities, including UNC. He wanted to
11 address this as they talk about affordable housing and a possible bond referendum. He
12 said the presence of the University is one of the reasons for the shortage of housing,
13 and that maybe it would be possible to converse with the new Chancellor about "low
14 hanging fruit."
15
16 Commissioner Gordon said they should try to figure out something that makes a
17 difference, and that children would be a good place to focus. She emphasized the
18 importance of the resources they spend on education.
19
20 Commissioner McKee said he agreed on selecting a priority to focus on, but whatever
21 they do has to be interconnected with the entire problem.
22
23 Commissioner Rich said she brought this topic forward for inclusion in the retreat
24 agenda because of the Assembly of Governments discussion and the formation of a
25 group to work on affordable housing. She said that we can't do it alone —we have to ask
26 for help and to have some sort of group that encompasses all of the players.
27
28 Chair Jacobs asked if Nancy and Tara had the list of information items requested during
29 this discussion. Nancy Coston said yes, and that she assumed the Board would want to
30 know the costs associated with those things.
31
32 Commissioner Price asked if staff had any idea how many people have left the County
33 because of the cost of living. Nancy Coston said she does not think they have any
34 numbers that track that.
35
36 Commissioner Dorosin urged staff to think not just about programs we have or have
37 had, but also to think of things they have not tried before (e.g. take County owned land
38 and build a manufactured housing park). He said we should think about it as broadly as
39 possible rather than be constrained in our thinking.
40
41 Commissioner Price said that what she thinks seems to work is when governments
42 support community organizations.
43
44 The Board decided to briefly discuss the tally of the top 5 goals from the list of potential
45 2014-15 budget goals that had been identified earlier in the retreat. Each commissioner
46 had individually voted in priority order - #1 to #5. By assigning 5 points for each #1 vote,
47 4 points for each #2 vote, and so on, the tally of the top goals was as follows:
48
49 1. Defending the quality of public education —22 points
50 2. Ensure our safety net services— 16 points
51 3. Funding for sewer and hook ups in Rogers Road area (construction) -14 points
52 4. Targeted funding to address child poverty i.e., increase childcare subsidies - 9 points
53 5. (tie) Support broad range of economic development— new and existing businesses (make
54 sure to support infrastructure) —8 points
55 5. (tie) Consider limit to viability of tax increase — 8 points
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2 Commissioner Rich said she does not want to discard the other ones.
3 Commissioner Gordon agreed, and said that all of the goals suggested by the
4 Commissioners should at least be considered.
5 Rod Visser said the assumption he would test is that the feedback that the Manager and
6 staff have received from this exercise is useful because it IS prioritized. He said that
7 you can see what the highest priorities are, and there are other things on the list that are
8 still desirable, but you have to take into consideration available resources.
9
10 Michael Talbert said that is a fair assumption. His quick reaction is that there are three
11 goals that are clearly everyone's highest that he and staff will move forward with. He
12 said they will deal with the others in priority order— if they are on the list, maybe they
13 don't get funding next year, but they don't disappear.
14
15 Rod Visser asked for the Board to take a few minutes to reflect on the retreat and to ask
16 themselves what went well, and what did not go so well or what they might do
17 differently. He explained his reason for asking is that it might be useful in planning next
18 year's retreat or future work sessions.
19
20 Commissioner McKee said the opportunity to be able to rank budget goals was a good
21 thing.
22
23 Commissioner Dorosin said he thought it would be helpful to share everybody's budget
24 goal rankings. He noted his next comment not as something that didn't go well, but as
25 something that didn't go enough - an opportunity for them to dialogue with each other.
26 He wanted to spend less time on budget (that can be addressed in other ways) and
27 more time about poverty. He wanted a chance to engage and test each other's
28 assumptions. There should be more time for dialogue, and they should be selective
29 with regard to the time allocated for presentations.
30
31 Chair Jacobs said he agreed with Commissioner Dorosin up to a point and that
32 periodically they need to review what their goals are. He said they are operating on
33 goals and objectives from 4-5 years ago and this Board needs the opportunity to work
34 on those. They do not have enough informal conversation —other settings like regular
35 meetings, public hearings, and work sessions don't lend themselves to that. He would
36 like to get some feedback from staff on what they discussed and what the "marching
37 orders" were. Rod Visser said he expected the minutes would record that in detail.
38 Chair Jacobs said he wanted to see actual follow-up so they don't wonder if they
39 accomplished anything beyond feeling good about what they said.
40
41 Commissioner Rich said she wanted to make sure they have next steps listed. She
42 feels they lacked that at the end of last year's retreat even though they had some really
43 robust conversations. She wanted to follow through the entire year on those
44 conversations.
45
46 Commissioner Pelissier agreed with Commissioner Dorosin that the Board does not
47 have a lot of interaction that helps them gel as a group. She thinks they had some good
48 outcomes today, but there were so many topics it felt like a long work session. She
49 feels both satisfaction and not.
50
51 Commissioner Gordon said the statement she will make demonstrates that things went
52 both well and not so well. She said that some topics required a two-step process that
53 involved getting information, with some time to process that information, before making
54 a decision. They tried to do both on a lot of topics today. She said they need to lay out
55 the decision points before having the discussion.
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2 The meeting adjourned at 4:20 p.m.
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6 Barry Jacobs, Chair
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9 Donna S. Baker
10 Clerk to the Board
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