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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 03-23-2015 APPROVED 4/7/2015 MINUTES BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Legislative Breakfast March 23, 2015 8:30am The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a breakfast meeting with the Orange County Legislative Delegation on Monday, March 23, 2015 at 8:30am at the Solid Waste Administrative Offices in Chapel Hill, N.C. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair McKee and Commissioners Mia Burroughs, Mark Dorosin, Barry Jacobs, Bernadette Pelissier, and Renee Price COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Penny Rich COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: John Roberts COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Bonnie Hammersley, Assistant County Manager Cheryl Young, Clerk to the Board Donna Baker, Interim Finance Director Paul Laughton, Assistant to Manager for Legislative Affairs Greg Wilder (All other staff inembers will be identified appropriately below) LEGISLATIVE DELEGATION PRESENT: Senator Valerie Foushee, Representative Verla Insko, Representative Graig Meyer Chair McKee called the meeting to order at 8:50 a.m. and said that Commissioner Rich would be unable to attend due to illness. Chair McKee distributed a draft resolution that Commissioner porosin brought forth at the Board of Commissioners' meeting on March 17th meeting, and which the Board adopted, stating that the Orange County Board of Commissioners is opposed to, and urges the General Assembly to reject any legislation, that seeks to exempt any government employee or agent from fulfilling their constitutional duties, including but not limited to guaranteeing the right to marry for same-sex residents of North Carolina; and that if this discriminatory legislation should pass, the Orange County Board of Commissioners directs the County Manager and County Attorney to collaborate with other governmental entities and community partners to directly participate in any litigation seeking to challenge such legislation. Senator Foushee said that the Clerk to the Board had forwarded this resolution to the Legislative Delegation. Chair McKee asked on behalf of the Board for the Delegation to support this resolution going forward. Commissioner porosin said he thought it was important that the Board get out in front of this issue since the Senate had already approved it; and if it comes to litigation then Orange County would support litigation. Chair McKee said the Board had prioritized their legislative items and referred to their agenda package with their priorities listed and discussion ensued on the various issues. PRIORITY DISCUSSION TOPICS EDUCATION • Smart Start and NC Pre-K Representative Insko suggested that staff look at best practices and evidence based programs. She said if they put more money in smart start then they would need to take money out of other programs and that all of these types of funding are in danger of being cut. It is currently underfunded now Chair McKee said Orange County continues to increase funding for this program and they are concerned about keeping child care available in Orange County; same concerns for Medicaid expansion and health care issues. Commissioner porosin said is there any chance of progressive legislation being passed. Representative Insko said "zero". Representative Insko said 95% of the bills they pass — pass unanimously. She said but in order to undo the damage that has been done in the past they have to have more revenue. Chair McKee said that the League of Municipalities and NCACC are both against the sales re-distribution bill. HUMAN SERVICES- • Child Care- discussed above • Expansion of Medicaid Program Commissioner Price said NCACC is going to be lobbying the legislature but rather than say expansion they are using the word "reform" to make it more accessible to all. The concept is the same though. • Mental Health Representative Insko said there is a bill to turn the money from the alcohol and drug treatment centers to the MCOs (Managed Care Associations) to help fund those in the community who need help. But that they need a year of planning at least. Representative Insko said if they are going to move more toward evidenced based practices, then counties need to show the legislators that these evidenced based programs save lives and money and use that to challenge the legislators. Senator Foushee said their talking points during the legislative session are that they need to show how to pay for programs without raising taxes. If they are going to implement programs then they have to be paid for somehow since the revenues are not coming in as they once did. Commissioner Burroughs said she read that the state's job data is poor related to other states. Representative Insko said another issue is that they will need to find ways to fund road improvements. Commissioner Jacobs North Carolina is one of the few states where the counties don't have to pay for secondary roads. He suggested that state study be done on DOT standards. An example is that they are not requiring much from developers such as for traffic lights. Senator Foushee asked for Commissioner Jacobs to send information about this issue to them by email. Representative Insko said our roads are one of our best economic development tools. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the issue of making people pay a rate per mile; many Orange County employees would have to pay more because they cannot afford to live in Orange County Representative Insko said that could be fixed that with a tax credit. Representative Meyer said it would probably be a flat fee. OTHER PRIORITIES • Broadband Chair McKee said he and Representative Meyer had spoken about this prior at the community broadband meeting on March 6 and that this was an issue statewide. Chair McKee said other than grants, is there anything else the state can do related to the broad band issue to help expand coverage in Orange County. Representative Meyer said in the legislative branch - he has heard little or nothing about broad band for rural areas. There seems to be a lack of willingness to give municipalities the authority to oversee broadband. He said is not sure if they will see much of a legislative solution. Representative Meyer said this is where you need the governor for his leadership since he represents everyone. Representative Insko said it should be an issue for the Department on Public Instruction since it is also about education since children cannot get a signal at their homes in order to do their homework online or access resources on line. Representative Insko said what the Commissioners hear about the broadband issue from their NCACC meetings. Commissioner Price (NCACC representative) said they hear about the broad band issue all the time and NACo is also attentive and supportive of broad band for rural areas. Representative Insko said then they as Board and NCACC as a state organization should put pressure on at the state level. Representative Meyer said he has talked with representatives from AT&T and Time Warner to join them at the table for this discussion and they said they would. He said he had heard of a wireless provider in Chatham County that is interested in providing broad band in the southern part of the county as well as Piedmont Electric who is interested in becoming a player at the table. He is coordinating this issue with Bonnie Hammersley and IT Director Jim Northup. Representative Meyer said it is important to know that if the Board wants to solve this issue for Orange County that Orange County is going to have to come up with funding solutions and manpower. E-911 Funds Land, Water and Agricultural Preservation Funding Chair McKee asked the Delegation was there support for funding for agricultural preservation activities. Representative Insko said not that she has heard but they will not know until the Governor's budget comes out. Commissioner Jacobs said he has heard that the Governor is proposing more budget cuts for parks. Commissioner Burroughs asked when the Legislature anticipates seeing the Governor's budget. Representative Insko said the Governor's office usually waits until tax returns to see what revenues they will have before finalizing any budget decisions. She said last year they were below projected revenues. Chair McKee said that the Board of Commissioners' added some additional issues to their standard Statewide Issues Resolution and a few are below: Raise Age for Juvenile Jurisdiction in Criminal Court Senator Foushee said this issue would probably pass the Senate. Representative Meyer said this bill has a good chance to be passed for misdemeanors. Commissioner Burroughs said what can they as a Board of Commissioners do to support their Legislative Delegation. Senator Foushee said Orange County needs to continue to lobby at the state level and to move out of their "comfort zones". Senator Foushee said they don't need to just send emails but to actually come out and talk to legislators — both their own and others. And if you are not in someone's district, then they are unlikely to read your emails. Senator Foushee said referencing them as their Orange County Legislators when talking to outside district legislators is appropriate. Representative Insko said they need to build coalitions within the legislature and to take the advocacy approach. Senator Foushee said there is a going to be established a County Commissioner Caucus. Commissioner Price said NCACC has talked about coalitions coming together across the state for shared interests. Chair McKee asked the Delegation to please let the Commissioners know if there is anything that would adversely affect Orange County. Senator Foushee said currently there is a bill in the Senate about raising the living wage but she said she doubted it would pass Representative Insko said the suggested school calendar flexibility issue is getting a lot of attention. Chair McKee said another issue is eminent domain. Commissioner Jacobs said he was concerned and was opposed to adding language to a constitutional amendment on eminent domain that extends any further preemption of county authority to regulate the placement of telecommunication towers. Classification of Flavored Alcoholic Beverages (Alcopops) Chair McKee said this states their support of legislation to properly classify flavored alcoholic beverages (alcopops) as distilled spirits rather than malt beverages Representative Meyer said this is an issue of marketing to minors. He said that they have not seen much progress to limit the ability to market by private companies. Commissioner Pelissier said it is a classification issue. Commissioner Pelissier said the brands start as a distilled spirit and they add the word Malt so that it doesn't get classified correctly. Chair McKee reviewed other items that the Board would like legislative support: • Abolish State Death Penalty Representative Meyer said he has talked to republicans but don't know if they are going to co-sponsor anything. • Priority School Issues — Support legislation to address the following three issues related to schools: a) * Provide local school systems with calendar flexibility; b) * Provide full funding for State allotments including Average Daily Membership (ADM) growth; c) Provide full funding for Driver Education. Representative Meyer said there has been some public discussion about cyclists and safety in Orange County and there is a bill in the house about cycling safety that may be of interest to Orange County. Chair McKee asked if the Manager had any comments. County Manager Bonnie Hammersley said the broad band issue is one issue that staff is working on and she has been talking with surrounding counties; childcare subsidy issues; temporary staff issues for NCFAST—that temporary staff should become permanent staff. The meeting adjourned at 10:05 a.m. Earl McKee, Chair Donna Baker, Clerk to the Board