Loading...
The URL can be used to link to this page
Your browser does not support the video tag.
Home
My WebLink
About
Agenda 02-06-24; 8-a - Minutes
1 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: February 6, 2024 Action Agenda Item No. 8-a SUBJECT: Minutes DEPARTMENT: Board of County Commissioners ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: Draft Minutes (Under Separate Cover) Laura Jensen, Clerk to the Board, 919- 245-2130 PURPOSE: To correct and/or approve the draft minutes as submitted by the Clerk to the Board as listed below. 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. Attachment 1: December 4, 2023 Business Meeting Attachment 2: December 12, 2023 Business Meeting FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated with this item. SOCIAL JUSTICE IMPACT: There is no Orange County Social Justice Goal impact associated with this item. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: There is no Orange County Environmental Responsibility Goal impact associated with this item. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends the Board approve minutes as presented or as amended. Attachment 1 1 1 DRAFT MINUTES 2 ORANGE COUNTY 3 BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 4 BUSINESS MEETING 5 December 4, 2023 6 7:00 p.m. 7 8 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a Business Meeting on Monday, 9 December 4, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. at the Whitted Human Services Center in Hillsborough, NC. 10 11 COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Jamezetta Bedford, Vice-Chair Sally Greene 12 and Commissioners Amy Fowler, Earl McKee, Jean Hamilton, Phyllis Portie-Ascott, and Anna 13 Richards 14 COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: None. 15 COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: John Roberts 16 COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: Deputy County Manager Travis Myren, and Clerk to the Board 17 Laura Jensen. (All other staff members will be identified appropriately below) 18 19 Chair Bedford called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. All commissioners were present. 20 21 Board Organization 22 a. Election of Board of Commissioners' Chair and Vice-Chair 23 24 Vote for Chair of the Board of Commissioners: 25 7 votes cast for Jamezetta Bedford (Commissioner Bedford, Commissioner Fowler, 26 Commissioner Greene, Commissioner Hamilton, Commissioner McKee, Commissioner Portie- 27 Ascott, Commissioner Richards) 28 29 Jamezetta Bedford was re-elected Chair of the Board of Commissioners. 30 31 Vote for Vice-Chair of the Board of Commissioners: 32 7 votes cast for Sally Greene (Commissioner Bedford, Commissioner Fowler, 33 Commissioner Greene, Commissioner Hamilton, Commissioner McKee, Commissioner Portie- 34 Ascott, Commissioner Richards) 35 36 Sally Greene was elected Vice-Chair of the Board of Commissioners. 37 38 b. Designation of Voting Delegate for all NCACC and NACo Meetings for Calendar Year 39 December 1, 2023-2024 40 Chair Bedford gave a description of NCACC duties for the voting delegate. 41 Commissioner McKee nominated Commissioner Portie-Ascott to serve as the voting 42 delegate for NCACC. Commissioner Hamilton seconded the nomination. 43 44 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 45 Chair Bedford gave a description of NACo duties for the voting delegate. 46 47 Vice-Chair Greene nominated Commissioner Richards to serve as the voting delegate for 48 NACo. Chair Bedford seconded the nomination. 49 50 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 51 2 1 1. Additions or Changes to the Agenda 2 Chair Bedford dispensed with reading the public charge. 3 4 2. Public Comments (Limited to One Hour) 5 a. Matters not on the Printed Agenda 6 George Gurley said he has a concern about a law that may be a state law or a local law. 7 He said the law is whether or not someone can be held on a 72-hour hold based on a letter of 8 someone from a church. 9 BJ Warshaw read from the following prepared statement: 10 "I'd like to speak tonight about the Chapel Hill Town Council's November 15th vote to amend 11 WASMPBA. They voted 8-1 to extend water and sewer services in the southern area of Chapel 12 Hill to unlock dense development opportunities. I ask that, before voting to amend WASMPBA, 13 the Board of Commissioners conducts environmental impact studies and comprehensive planning 14 to ensure sensible development. The water and sewer boundaries, alongside our Joint Planning 15 Agreements and the Rural Buffer, have stood the test of time to prevent sprawl and preserve our 16 watersheds. 17 Living in the ETJ is disenfranchising. We cannot vote for Mayor or Town Council. You are my best 18 direct representation. 19 Some history: When the Chamber last petitioned the Town in 2018, it was to designate the 20 Southern Area a "focus area" during the Future Land Use Map preparation. That proposal was 21 met with widespread opposition from residents, after which the Southern Area was not included 22 in the FLUM. 23 Fast forward to this past summer. The Chamber petitioned for something more drastic: amending 24 WASMPBA. 25 There was no response from the Town until September, when they scheduled two public 26 information sessions (one online, one in-person) with barely two weeks' notice. I received no 27 mailer, and I couldn't even attend, as I was out of town visiting family. Neighbors in Heritage Hills 28 couldn't attend the in-person session, because, ironically, they were meeting that night with 29 NCDOT about their flooding issues. Many others never even heard about the sessions. 30 The Town's YouTube recording of the online session promised another "public hearing" on the 31 issue. Instead, the Council was presented with the amendment to WASMPBA, and they voted in 32 favor. To myself and many of my neighbors, their minds seemed to already have been made up. 33 Explicitly, at that 11/15 meeting, Councilmembers rejected the need for a small area plan. They 34 want us to trust that the permitting process, down the road, will be sufficient to guide responsible 35 development. Forgive me for being skeptical. Especially when they also admit they have little to 36 no means to directly regulate home pricing or rents. Especially when the OWASA memo studied 37 such a broad number of potential new units —from 1170 to 2202 — one to two Southern Villages. 38 Especially when Councilmembers went from talking about duplexes all the way to discussing 39 quad- and six- plexes, or the possible need for adjoining commercial development. Especially 40 when watershed limitations and setbacks didn't even make it into the meeting materials. 41 My neighbors and I simply have no clear understanding around why WASMPBA must be 42 amended first. It's painted as a public health emergency. But the couple of people dealing with 43 unsafe wells are already working with the Orange County Health Department to tap into the 44 existing OWASA lines — without amending the WASMPBA. It's also been painted as a means 45 towards affordable and missing middle housing. But there's no transparency around who or how 46 development funds will manifest, nor how costs and home prices will be kept in check. 47 So, I humbly ask again that you hold off on bringing amendments to WASMPBA up for vote, at 48 least until: 49 • The County completes its comprehensive planning process 50 • The Town of Chapel Hill finishes its LUMO rewrite, so we know the precise zoning 51 changes planned for the Southern Area 3 1 We have reached a clear and transparent understanding of how our watersheds will 2 be protected 3 Thank you." 4 Terri Buckner provided 3 maps to the Board for reference and read from the following 5 prepared statement: 6 "Water supply watersheds are those watersheds that drain directly into a community drinking 7 water source. 8 According to Chapel Hill's Mayor and Planning staff, Chapel Hill's watershed drains to Jordan 9 Lake and has no impact on University Lake. I've attached three maps to this email. Chapel Hill's 10 water supply watershed is outlined in green on Map 1. It drains to Jordan Lake and is classified 11 as WS-IV. Map 2 is the state map of the eastern section of the University Lake watershed in 12 Carrboro which is a WS-ll (more sensitive). On Map 2, the eastern boundary of the watershed (in 13 pink) weaves in and out around Smith Level Road and then extends further east across 15-501 14 at the southern tip. 15 Several weeks ago, I notified Chapel Hill staff of the discrepancy between their map (Map 1) and 16 the state map (Map 2). Late last week they notified me that I was correct and shared the modified 17 map (Map 3). 18 The Chapel Hill LUMO is written using the WS-IV standards provided by the state in March 2023. 19 However, according to the state, if any portion of a water supply watershed is classified as WS- 20 II, then the entire area must be treated as WS-II. That's a difference of 70% built upon vs 30% 21 built upon for zoning. 22 The town staff have not yet weighed in on that claim. However, if it is true, it means that moving 23 the urban services boundary southward will not provide the level of density the Town Council is 24 expecting and creates a serious conflict between the desire for development in this area and the 25 desire to protect our drinking water supply. To me, getting that clarification is something that needs 26 to be investigated before any change to WASMPBA. 27 As a result of this new information, I request that you direct your staff to work with the state and 28 the town of Chapel Hill to determine if the entire area south of Southern Village needs to be 29 reclassified as WS-11 for zoning purposes. 30 Building dense development up to the edges of the WS-II zone puts our drinking water at risk. It's 31 easy to put a line on the map but harder to ensure that water follows those lines. For that reason, 32 1 believe we need some kind of transition area created along the borders of the WS-II lands. My 33 second request is that you direct County staff to work with town staff to set up a transition zone 34 between the WS-II and WS-IV lands to protect the more sensitive WS-II environment when 35 development does occur around 15-501. That protection is necessary to ensure "proper 36 management" of our water resources and to control the costs of drinking water treatment." 37 Andrew Lindstrom from Collins Creek Drive, spoke about the proposed Orange Grove 38 Waste Facility. He thanked the Board members, OWASA members, and the American Legion 39 Post for coming out to see the site for the proposed waste facility and hosting a public information 40 session. He said no one wants the facility at this location and said it will create a lot of problems 41 with traffic, will disrupt everything the community cherishes, and will cause issues for children at 42 the bus stop. He asked the Board to rescind this proposal. 43 Joyce McGuire said her land joins the OWASA biohazard field. She thanked the board 44 members for coming out to see the proposed site. She said there are traffic hazards on the road 45 now and the waste facility would exacerbate it. She said this would cause problems at the bus 46 stop. She said it would devastate their community. 47 Livy Ludington said she is concerned and disappointed about Chapel Hill's recent vote to 48 amend WASMPBA. She said she feels like the decision was rushed and there was pressure by 49 the Chamber of Commerce. She said they did not follow the planning process. She said she is 50 worried about the environmental impact of extending the urban service boundary without having 51 all of the information. She said there are traffic issue, but she is more concerned about the 4 1 environmental impact on the Jordan Lake and University Lake Watershed. She said she has been 2 working with the Triangle Connectivity Collaborative, formerly the Eno-Uni Collective, and they 3 are working to plan for biodiversity and making sure the wildlife is thought of in planning. She said 4 there are excellent maps and a strategic plan that has been prepared by state experts that she 5 would like the Board to review. She asked that it become part of the Comprehensive Plan and 6 asked to be on the BOCC agenda one night. She asked the Board to carefully consider all 7 information. 8 Claudia Fernandez said she lives in Heritage Hills and three homes in the neighborhood 9 have recently flooded and they are very close to her home. She said she is very concerned about 10 the building plans by the Town of Chapel Hill. She said that the flooding did not happen before all 11 of the building around them. She said she has joined the Southern Neighborhood Alliance, and 12 they are trying to be heard. She said she votes for the BOCC and has no vote in other elections. 13 She said the Town of Chapel Hill is discussing a plan that is bigger than Southern Village and this 14 will reduce the permeable surface and her home is downstream of this. She said she echoes the 15 concerns others expressed tonight. She said there is broad concern in the neighborhood. She 16 said that she echoes those concerns and Dogwood Acres is also part of the concerned citizens. 17 She said they do not want to be washed away. 18 Joshua Setzer said he lives in Collins Creek. He said that on 10/6 there was a letter from 19 the Orange County Solid Waste Department about potential drilling at a future date and no date 20 had been identified. He said that on Friday, three trucks appeared, and no notifications went out 21 and the website was not updated as the letter indicated, and they assume the drilling happened 22 without notification. He said that getting information about the project and how it affects the 23 community has been difficult and he wants there to be follow through with what is said will happen 24 and what actually happens. He said that a memorandum would be helpful so that everyone could 25 be on the same page with this project. He asked the Board to consider this as a future agenda 26 item. 27 Allyson Shaffer said she lives in Collins Creek. She said that the proposed site has caused 28 a lot of concerns about well water, unforeseen issues related to climate change, and traffic. She 29 asked the Board to find an alternative site that is not residential. 30 31 b. Matters on the Printed Agenda 32 (These matters will be considered when the Board addresses that item on the agenda below.) 33 34 3. Announcements, Petitions and Comments by Board Members 35 Chair Bedford advanced to item 4 on the agenda. 36 37 4. Proclamations/ Resolutions/ Special Presentations 38 39 a. Presentation from the Orange County Consumer and Family Advisory Committee 40 The Board received a presentation from Carol Conway, Co-Chair of the Orange County 41 Consumer and Family Advisory Council. 42 43 BACKGROUND: State legislation mandates that Alliance Health and each of North Carolina's 44 other behavioral health managed care organizations support and collaborate with an advisory 45 group of individuals and their family members. These groups are called Consumer and Family 46 Advisory Committees (CFAC's). Each county in Alliance Health's service area has its own CFAC. 47 Orange County's CFAC meets on the fourth Tuesday of every month. 48 49 State law charges each CFAC with the following responsibilities: 50 5 1 • Review, comment on, and monitor the implementation of the contract deliverables 2 between area authorities and NCDHHS, 3 • Identify service gaps and underserved populations, 4 • Make recommendations regarding the service array and monitor the development of 5 additional services, 6 • Review and comment on the area authority budget, 7 • Develop a collaborative and working relationship with the area authority's member 8 advisory committees to obtain input related to service delivery and system change issues, 9 and 10 • Submit to the State Consumer and Family Advisory Committee findings and 11 recommendations regarding ways to improve the delivery of mental health, intellectual 12 and developmental disabilities, substance use disorder, and traumatic brain injury 13 services, including statewide issues. 14 The attached Annual Report for FY 2023 describes the Orange County CFAC's goals and 15 accomplishments. 16 17 Carol Conway defined IDD (intellectual and/or developmental disabilities); AFL 18 (alternative family living); ICF (Intermediate care facility), and; SSI (Supplemental security 19 income). She said that her request to the Board today is for their support of the creation of deeply 20 affordable housing for adults with IDD. She said that she is the mother of a 36-year-old with a 21 very rare genetic disorder. She said that she also runs a group that has 300 families in a similar 22 situation. She said there is no standard data collection mechanism for the IDD community, but 23 there are estimates. She said no one collects the data. She said that 1% of those born in the US 24 have a developmental disability. She said that 75% of adults with intellectual disabilities still live 25 in a family home because there is nowhere for them to go. She said there are few services for 26 people with IDD after high school. She said that there are 17,000 on a waitlist across the state for 27 the Innovations Waiver. She said there are 225 in Orange County and the legislature gave the 28 whole state 350 and Orange County might see 1-2 spots. She said while waiting, there is an 29 eligibility for a program, but it is not enough hours to be helpful for caretakers. She said there is a 30 lack of DSPs---people are going without services because no one is willing to work for$11.50 an 31 hour in these conditions with no benefits. She said the Legislature gave the DSPs a slight wage 32 bump, but it is not meeting the target of$18 an hour but that will not solve the problem. She said 33 transportation for Orange County is pretty good but statewide it is a problem. She said that IDD 34 is lumped in with all other disabilities and gets lost in the affordable housing conversation. She 35 said that current options do not work and summarized why. She said typical affordable housing 36 providers target people earning above 60% AMI, not those with less than 30% AMI. She said 37 group homes are okay, but they have to have the innovation waiver to live in the group home to 38 provide the support. She said ICFs are designed for the severely affected ID population but there 39 is a huge waitlist, and they are being criticized for being too old school. She said that adults with 40 ID need permanent stable housing. She said that AFLs are like foster care, but that was designed 41 to be temporary care. She provided the following recommendations: give extra points for people 42 with disabilities, especially IDD. She asked that schools educate families about the innovation 43 waiver and be added to the waitlist as early as possible in the child's life. She asked them to 44 advocate with other state and local leaders about IDD. She asked the Board to grant some publicly 45 owned land to mixed-use housing for IDD and others with housing needs. She asked that schools 46 create vocational tracks to train more direct care workers. She said that the state supports this. 47 She said that the immigrants need to be welcomed. She said that they are in a population crash 48 and that once her generation is gone, there will be much fewer people and that immigrants will 49 likely be those that work in the fields that are needed. She said that Forsyth County spent 6 1 $150,000 for a study and that there was nothing new discovered through the study. She said the 2 BOCC does not need to spend any money on that. 3 Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked for clarification on the waitlist. 4 Carol Conway said the waitlist for the Innovations Waiver includes 285 in the county. She 5 said that provides services. She said there is no date on housing needs. 6 Commissioner Fowler said she has a son with autism. She said that all of this is 7 inconceivable, and she appreciates her continuing to advocate. She said they will keep pushing 8 the legislature. She said last year she was on the Alliance Board, and they opened up more seats 9 and there are now similar services for TBI. She said that they are not using all the slots they have 10 and are getting more slots at the state level than there is known need. She said she is serving on 11 IDAL (HOPE), and they are working on a pilot for housing in this area that could be spread to the 12 rest of the state. She said that is slow going. She said that the percentage of points serving for 13 disabilities and there needs to be more and how much more points they should get. She said that 14 she learned it is best to ask for 20%. 15 Commissioner Hamilton said she is the current representative on Alliance Health. She 16 asked her to reach out to her because she is still learning about all of the services. 17 Chair Bedford said Carol Conway runs PASSIVE and an email list. She said if anyone 18 wants to be added to learn more about the needs, to let her know and she will make sure they 19 get added to the list. She recently led a local forum with leaders and parents with children with 20 needs regarding housing. She said that the BOCC advocates every year with their legislative 21 delegation. She said that the county has$5 million available for affordable housing and nonprofits 22 to work with. She said that there is another $5 million in the years going forward for Affordable 23 Housing. She said that at 14, that is when the transition starts to occur for services. She said that 24 the children need to be placed on the waitlist for the Innovations Waiver as soon as possible. She 25 said anyone can get on the Innovations Waiver listsery on Alliance's website. She said that her 26 son is in the type of facility that there was contention amongst the state leaders on if they should 27 shut down or not. She said that Alliance has been very responsive to community needs. 28 Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked what type of housing she hopes will be created. 29 Carol Conway said she is advocating for ICF's, group homes, and affordable housing. 30 Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked what is meant by affordable housing. She asked if that 31 is an apartment living program. 32 Carol Conway said yes. 33 Chair Bedford said she will give information to Commissioner Portie-Ascott for the listserv. 34 35 The Board returned to Announcements, Petitions, and Comments by Board Members on 36 the agenda. 37 Commissioner Richards said since the last meeting, she attended the Orange Partnership 38 for Young Children, the Orange Partnership for Alcohol and Drug-Free Youth,the Justice Advisory 39 Council, and several other meetings with local partners. She said that when she came onto the 40 Board, her priorities were focused on youth and justice. She said that she is proud of the 41 accomplishments of the Board since she came on. She said when they go through this time of 42 year she starts looking back, and they have made great progress as a Board. She said they have 43 many accomplishments and said today was the first day of filing. She announced that she will not 44 run for re-election, but she has another year on the Board. She said she would like to focus on 45 the implementation of the strategic plan, opioid funding with a focus on youth prevention, and she 46 can be a free person in her advocacy in 2024 and will do so. She thanked all of Orange County 47 staff for their help and working with her during her time on the Board. 48 Commissioner Fowler said she does plan to file for re-election. She said she attended the 49 ABC Board meeting and they have hired a grant management company to streamline the grant 50 application process for non-profits and the application will be online in January 2024. She said 51 she had a SWAG meeting where they heard an update on the zero-waste plan and the SWAG 7 1 elected members' consensus was to recommend scenario 3 with a caveat that the BOCC 2 mitigates the cost for low-income. She said they will come to the BOCC at a later meeting. She 3 said that Robert Williams gave an update on the waste facility and said there are other sites being 4 investigated before recommendations are brought to the Board. She said that she met with a 5 liaison from BCBS, and they talked about the need for a behavioral health diversion facility. She 6 said that the Youth Behavioral Health Center is open now and accepting youth patients. She said 7 the retreat planning committee met and they plan to discuss the strategic plan, the schools 8 facilities plan, a budget preview, a tax implementation, and planning. She said that the Clerk to 9 the Board will send a survey out for any other items Commissioners may want to discuss. She 10 said that related to the public comments, she petitioned staff to investigate and bring forward 11 information on watershed 2 vs. watershed 4. 12 Commissioner McKee said there will be another informational meeting on broadband and 13 the community meetings will continue as broadband phasing continues over the next year. He 14 said it needs to be completed by December 2024 and they are moving forward rapidly. He said 15 that he is glad he gets to work with Commissioner Richards for another year and they will miss 16 her when she is gone. He quoted former North Carolina Secretary of State Thad Eure and said 17 the only upside of Commissioner Richards not being on the Board would be that returns to being 18 "the oldest rat in the barn." 19 Chair Bedford said she attended the Board of Health subcommittee meeting on equity. 20 She said there are disproportionate health outcomes for people of color and Latino members of 21 the community. She said they are working with Alliance on that. She said that the following day 22 at 1:30 pm, there will be an unveiling of a portrait of Pauli Murray at the Sportsplex and everyone 23 is invited. She said the Human Rights Commission sponsored the portrait. 24 Vice-Chair Greene said she will also be at the community meeting about broadband. She 25 said she is a member of a subcommittee with DCHC-MPO that is paired with the CA-MPO and 26 they continue to have in depth discussions about rail planning in the region. She said that it is 27 unlikely it will occur in their lifetime. She said that the MPOs are working well together along with 28 GoTriangle. She said that UNC is working to transition from coal sourced energy and will be 29 decommissioning the rail line when that occurs. She said they will come to the Board with more 30 information when that happens. She said she watched the Town Council's discussion about 31 WASMPBA and there is a rule that no more stormwater leaves the property after development 32 than it did beforehand. She said that Planning Director Cy Stober said a state law has overridden 33 Chapel Hill's development rule. She petitioned planning staff to investigate this and confer with 34 Chapel Hill staff and report back on what they understand the stormwater rules to be. 35 Commissioner Portie-Ascott thanked Commissioner Richards for her service and her work 36 for the youth in Orange County. She said she attended the JCPC meeting and was surprised by 37 data presented there and how Orange County compared to other counties across the state. She 38 said some areas of concern for her were that Orange County youth are more likely than their 39 peers to: have prior felony referrals, less likely to attend school, more likely to have five or more 40 unexcused absences, to have an association with gangs, to have previous alcohol and drug use 41 starting at under 12, more likely to have mental health problems and less likely to be treatment, 42 more likely to be unengaged in structured activities. She said the committee noted that the largest 43 barrier to the youth receiving treatment is transportation. She said that she is grateful to the school 44 staff for being welcoming and accommodating during her recent tours. She said it was helpful for 45 her to see some of the capital needs in person. 46 Commissioner Hamilton said Commissioner Richards has been an invaluable member of 47 the Board and she has helped bring them to where they are. She said she attended the Central 48 Pines Executive Committee Meeting and works to understand regional initiatives and is also part 49 of the retreat planning committee. She said that she will be running for re-election. 50 Commissioner Portie-Ascott said she also filed for re-election. 51 8 1 5. Public Hearings 2 None. 3 4 6. Regular Agenda 5 a. Orange County Public Schools Capital Needs Assessment Update 6 The Board received a final presentation of the Public Schools Capital Needs Assessment as 7 performed by Woolpert, Inc. 8 9 BACKGROUND: At the Board of Commissioners' March 21, 2023 Business meeting, the Board 10 approved a contract with Woolpert, Inc. totaling $984,561 to provide a: 11 12 • Comprehensive Facility Condition Assessment (FCA) 13 • Optimization Plan of Existing Space Utilization; and 14 • Examination of Prioritization Models, Benchmarking Best Practices and Scenarios for both 15 school districts that recognize the distinct structure of the County allocating funds to the 16 two school districts. 17 18 The products of this study will help the County and School professionals better plan, manage and 19 fund new construction and maintenance of the thirty-one(31)school campuses and administrative 20 offices for the two (2) school districts. 21 22 At the September 26, 2023 Joint Meeting of the Board of County Commissioners, Chapel Hill 23 Carrboro City Schools Board of Education, and the Orange County Schools Board of Education, 24 representatives of Woolpert, Inc. provided an update on their efforts that included a summary of 25 the comprehensive facility condition assessment, an optimization plan of existing space utilization 26 and several funding scenarios options. The three governing bodies provided feedback, comments 27 and direction to the firm upon the completion of the presentation. 28 29 Woolpert, Inc. will be providing a final presentation, with recommendations, on the Public Schools 30 Capital Needs Assessment, as the effort nears completion (Attachment 1). A timeline of follow up 31 items necessary to implement the plan is provided at Attachment 2. 32 33 Steve Arndt, Asset Management Services Director, introduced Jessica Goodell, Rob 34 Olson, and David Sturtz and they gave the following PowerPoint presentation: 35 36 Slide #1 GRANGE COUNTY 2023 NORTII CAROLINA LONG-RANGE ' APELHILL PLAN Ot �11J A(1FtC) OPTIONS ! ! 1 Board of Conimigsioners , 37 9 1 Slide #2 AGENDA Project Overview rip" • Assessment Findings • Funding Scenarios • Options r. • Recommendation • Project Timeline 2 3 4 Slide #3 PROJECTOVERVIEW FACILITY P031FOLIO 1 10-VUR UFCCVCLE RFFICIFRCT cows L'J 5 6 7 Slide #4 ASSESSMENT AR 8 � 9 10 1 Slide #5 CONDITION ASSESSMENT FINDINGS Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Orange County Schools TotalTotal 5-Year Need-S297.2 Million :1Million Total 10-Year F I' Need-$399.7 Million ReplacemeritValue-$1 Billion Replacement Average Average 10-Year FCl- i% PFO Utilization Districhvide 85%:range range F 11. >120% are undersized undersized lf � ._ 2 3 Chair Bedford asked the difference between replacement value and the ten-year need. 4 Jessica Goodell said that the replacement value is the theoretical cost to replace facilities 5 on the cost by square foot. She said that does not include site acquisitions or utilities. She said 6 the ten-year need is where the consultants went into the schools and charted the things that might 7 need to be replaced or things that might fail within the next ten years that would need to be 8 replaced. 9 Commissioner Richards asked if the replacement value includes optimal sizing of 10 classrooms or the existing. 11 Jessica Goodell said it is based on the existing square footage. 12 Commissioner Richards asked if the utilization at the ten-year projection considers 13 population and need plus the cost. 14 Jessica Goodell said that utilization is the number that is currently in the facility divided by 15 how many should be in the facility. 16 Commissioner Richards asked if it assumes the population stays flat. 17 David Sturtz said no. He said that the utilization numbers are based on the last official 18 enrollment number and the preliminary projections they were provided were reviewed. He said 19 they have been able to see the long-term trend is enrollment decline in CHCCS and flat enrollment 20 in OCS. 21 Commissioner Richards said that the only thing that gives her a little pause on that is that 22 her understanding is that there are a lot of students in OCS going to charter schools and that has 23 accelerated in recent years. 24 David Sturtz said projections were not in the scope to perform, but they do them relatively 25 often. He said that without doing the study he anticipates steady numbers simply based on his 26 observations and experience, but it was not part of the scope. 27 28 11 I Slide #6 FACILITY CONDITION INDEX(FCI) ro RATING SCALE • Ratio to compare dissimilar facilities ®EST • Indicator of facility health GOOD 10-20% • Higher the FCI the greater the need 2,_301% • FCI is only one factor in decision making rima PE4O 31-563h rx AVERAGE Ott ttaro _ yma * PCOR 51-65% few sx ,R is ,3n tat 'st REPLACEMENT Great tma I at CANDIDATE thm 65% ` sx iwa toz- zaat n+5 man m" mat nu. t�F 2 •• 3 Jessica Goodell said that currently the schools are in good shape but in the next ten years 4 the FCI more than doubles. She said if this gets out of hand now, they will be in a world of hurt in 5 the next ten or so years. 6 7 Slide #7 OF BEST PRACTICES & ONGOING CAPITAL RENEWALS ;ar 8 �'- 9 10 11 12 1 Slide#8 NATIONALFOR CAPITAL OUTLAY OF PUBLIC SCHOOL Grange[nuntp natlanal annual bucfpet a$34.9M OrtNge County madmal amwa4 buelplt s$MAN M Y� •I P P� �\ pY R; 4 � /� nF +e yF r� F at 1 ©—S.[•uney na6-1 aa.nual buagok=$17-dM GratV County YaHanal arcual bud6'at•SIMA1 `� -f10.0M &�=f7.A,M 4 ♦I 2 3 Jessica Goodell said that there are no national best practices, but the investment 4 percentages shown are a good practice and estimate based on current replacement value. 5 6 7 Slide #9 ONGOING CAPITAL RENEWALS WWI kul 2116 MN 2611 4111 M M 2611 1Mt M 26]1 11M M 2ki1 2161. 10M • System replacements based _ � j on expected useful life "' � � • Failing to address will increase deferred maintenance backlogs u :1£1n1Y Imp SIP, 5±5Y SiI IY mm Sllnl 111-W MIMI '}3]'r pErl'rp,/-Man i1.aY i¢1Y mlr $10.pM nv � 9t 53 5.OM — .. 1 'f$25.PM 75M ■ ■ 5�5.pM $YS.OM � $10.[,M S42M . sS.bM a sa.oM M1 Pnc q M FRv MMU lien "M 51u4 5:14 MV "1111 57.x4 5111 U. V. VA ffilY WIN STAY MV an 8 I - 9 10 13 1 Chair Bedford asked the consultants to explain what minimum and PRV means. 2 David Sturtz said the PRV is the present replacement value. He said that it is similar to 3 figuring out when a maintenance or repair cost is more than a certain percentage of the 4 replacement cost, it might be time to consider replacement rather than repair. He said that they 5 identiifed that$27.5 million should be budgeted per year. He said they recommend this is updated 6 every 5 years. 7 Commissioner McKee asked if $27.5 million is above and beyond what is being spent 8 now. 9 David Sturtz said no, that is the total and would include what is being spent now and it is 10 a sum of the identified defencieis. He said this is only for ongoing capital renewals and does not 11 include new builds. He said it is for repairs only. 12 Commissioner McKee said he realizes this is just to keep them afloat. He said that if they 13 increase the funds to spend what is recommended, they will need to have a .5 or .6 cent tax 14 increase per year. 15 David Sturtz said that the Commissioners have a big challenge in front of them. 16 Commissioner Fowler said the budget includes $53.7 million for Chapel Hill High School 17 and it was just rebuilt. 18 David Sturtz said they will get into detail on the individual recommendations slide. He said 19 you can always expect the high schools to be more expensive. He said the larger schools, even 20 if newer, need major work on systems in the 20-25 year mark. 21 Chair Bedford said $72 million was just invested into Chapel Hill High School. 22 Commissioner McKee said that it was at least $50 million of rebuild and replace so they 23 will be curious at what needs to be done at the projected cost. 24 David Sturtz said he imagines, without looking at the details, is the legacy part of the 25 building having HVAC, roof, and mechanicals and those usually reflect the large numbers. He 26 said the truth is, you probably wont spend every dime in year 15 in a projection like this. He said 27 it assumes the life is 20 years on HVAC, and at that 20 year mark, it projects as due. He said this 28 assumes zero deferred maintenance on the needs. He said if it can be deferred, then great. 29 30 Slide #10 31 32 14 1 Slide #11 OPTIONS DEVELOPMENT • Utilization • FC a • Portables • Site constraints • Educational Adequacy , • Survey _ • What investments are best for students and best value in the long-term? 2 3 Rob Olson said that he comes from a 20-year background in education, and he always 4 approaches from a "what is best for the kids" standpoint. 5 6 Slide #12 f ` 1 1 OPTIONS RETURN ON INVESTMENT COST PER YEAR X TIINIELINF = TOTAL INVESTMENT f COMFORTABLE 0 (4 +'i&SAFE Addresses No changes No changes No new or _$44 gallon r S21 million 20% to{,lhssroone to student rerwvat-d SyNrs of facility needs spaces capacity schools CDMFORTABLE � J 01-01h&SAFE, PLUS 1D-YEAR Addresses No changes No changes No new or ®' FACILITYN#EDS ALL to classroom to student renovated logs favi lily nr-rds spwc e.il).xity schools COMFORTABLE 8 SAFE, 'U�1 PLUS UPGRADED 2upgraded �SSdmllllon � ®$5411 �lliur ll1 to Years LEARHINGTOOLS R""Atin" naspacechanges R'[IbliWfllt Mev schools scud 9ft A% COMFORTABLE Rpi a SAFE, ii 1 upgraded 7 -yb7rnillion �!� PLUS NEW learn) tools CONSTRUCTION Rrncwatioros rq� Repf C Cent New 1S Years and ei tht-sPle schools classroom spaces schoGls llv4wM5�h h[���gthP?C=ij' fininMC�uuyia(SV,rSs 7 8 Chair Bedford asked what is meant by learning tools. 9 15 1 Rob Olson said it could be whiteboards, furniture, fixtures, equipment or other school 2 equipment. He said that he has heard it described as if you turn a building upside down, everything 3 that would fall out would be a learning tool. 4 Chair Bedford said she was under the impression that their schools have top of the line 5 learning tools. 6 David Sturtz said they do. He said they scored on average, a 9 of 10 in terms of everything 7 they would want to see in a classroom. He said the deficiencies are space and the significant 8 undersized classrooms, especially in the elementary schools. 9 Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked if the space issues at elementary schools is because 10 more kids are coming in with more needs. 11 Rob Olson said that is some of the space needs and making things accessible so that kids 12 can get around. He said that classrooms need different spaces than other rooms. He mentioned 13 that kindergarten rooms usually have bathrooms in them. 14 Chair Bedford said it is not children with special needs, it is just that older schools did not 15 have offices for learning specialists, ED teachers, occupational therapy, etc. She said they just 16 did not exist when the schools were built. She said that is why so much more space is needed 17 now. 18 Rob Olson said they hope to see learning change in the way that it has but they want to 19 provide the space that is necessary without having to have instruction in hallways. 20 21 Slide #13 RECOMMENDATION 22 23 16 1 Slide #14 RECOMMENDATION (OPTION D) • Enhanced teaching and learning environments • advances educational outcomes and opportunities • improved school utilization • provides flexible spaces for multiple learning styles • Updated classroom spaces and learning tools meet modern education standards • Right-sized portfolio creates operational efficiencies • Investing in community attracts and retains residents 2 W 3 Commissioner Richards asked if any assumptions were made for preschool 4 accommodations. 5 David Sturtz said they did not make any strategic change for preschools. He said that 6 would mean that the early childhood center is planned in capital needs. He said if they plan to 7 spread and push-in, it will increase the utilization of elementary schools 5%-10%. He said that 8 some specific schools are overutilized and some are underutilized. 9 Rob Olson said that until the state is at a funding standpoint for preschool children, the 10 Board would want to account for the cost of providing preschool. 11 Chair Bedford said new school construction indicates that there will be two new preschool 12 classrooms in each school. 13 David Sturtz said it is accounted for in the budget of renovated and replaced schools. He 14 said that the budget is projected by taking the latest construction and the gross square footage is 15 multiplied by the estimated construction cost. 16 Commissioner McKee said some Orange County schools are at capacity and some are 17 above. He said that would call for some redistricting, but asked if they recommend building the 18 school first before redistricting. 19 David Sturtz said the context of his comment was about the longevity of redistricting. He 20 said when you build a new elementary school, boundaries have to be adjusted because it adds a 21 new zone. He said so rather than redistricting twice, if they are able to do construction first, then 22 it would just be once. He said some schools have extra capacity, but it is not evenly geographically 23 spread so it would make transportation changes necessary and likely impossible. 24 Commissioner McKee asked if it would be a new school or replacing a school. 25 David Sturtz said they are recommending one new school for the western part of the 26 county. 27 Commissioner McKee said that unless the student population increases significantly, then 28 they are serving the same number of students in three schools and one is still undercapacity, and 29 maybe two. 30 David Sturtz said if he could recommend building a new school within the next three years 31 and plan the boundaries of that school before it comes online, then it should be a solution that 32 should not have to be revisited. 33 Chair Bedford asked if there would be a school taken offline. 17 1 David Sturtz said that a new school is needed on the western side and within the life of 2 this plan, perhaps a school is taken offline. He said it would be likely be further east. He said at 3 that point, you would close and then redistrict again. 4 Commissioner McKee said that there is a meeting going on elsewhere now that is 5 contentious, and it is about redistricting. 6 David Sturtz said it is never fun, but if you can do it once, that is recommended. He said 7 to walk Hillsborough Elementary after a rain and see the major capital needs that are needed. 8 Commissioner McKee said this Board has to focus on how they will fund these needs and 9 not force the lower income residents out because of tax raises. 10 David Sturtz said they do not like to give reports that sit on a shelf. He said what they have 11 presented is a very expensive plan. He said that he does not see big enough strategic changes 12 that would get them out of paying for these large expenses. He said that they have proposed 13 thinking about affording it over time and revisiting every five years. He said if it could be executed 14 in fifteen years, which would be fantastic but if it is longer, then it needs to be planned for success. 15 He said the piling up of deferred maintenance reaches a billion dollars, but it shows a whopping 16 capital need, and it is growing regardless of the effort from the Board. He said that it is an uphill 17 battle in North Carolina because of the amount of state funding compared to the level of need. He 18 said that does not erase the need; it just makes it harder. 19 20 Slide #15 RECOMMENDATION PHASE 1 (1-5 YEARS) - Alien facility capacity with enrollment • Consolidates one FS at CHCCS CRAPEIHILL-CARRMOROGin SGINUS • Construct New ES west OCS MmL, [P .m r¢4.Minl S,j Rr�rrS. pia Srhnnl _ Sr11u La[¢f 1111'v.E9 malldah _ i13X LmnF.Le y:-T.h-LS swvalldY¢ 51.4X 41:'I'3M 5'i.a"rd c-L.."' .11 �h w,PH."t,Noetlx 53T-dX WMM45 NPI—m Sr 1 S`L.SX !".0X9 Idaqy 91e 3X ■CI-KCS •QCS a�l7allf.>rr b ORANGE COUNTY SCHOOLS Cw IIy ES{Pa¢AIY NMUILSi Rapl nu¢5[/ctil a..0 4..ES 57Sum M Ikt:-v4hf5 ILr. uY.Me¢i.i - Irl mwxvh.,nl i, 0 I ACEOIIMY Cpm RGNPflIFJRITY NEWSMOOL flEPLACEME1Rf MswHoxPs ram •-_ ' LEAS 5iiGOS PaRnwaifpAutlem, XeRlKeme+Stlmal 1<T 21 22 David Sturtz said that McDougle would become just an elementary school and be a hub 23 for all of the dual language programs in the elementary and middle schools. He said then the new 24 middle school is reconfigured, and all of this can be done without temporary classrooms. He said 25 that Chapel Hill High School has expensive needs and they settled on the high priority needs. 26 27 18 1 Slide #16 RECOMMENDATION PHASE 2 5- 10 DEARS) • Improve educational adequacy d,'HAPEL NTLI C�RRO$Rp CITY$Gllppl$ • Address condition needs Nhoenlr Madsen, .—l- WTM C h a�el Hl6 Nph Iq gh Pngrlty W—k 510.9M E¢'xwsES Rrnawlign 5,28-9'.11 Mgvfs Genre ES Rsngwlign S1L9M $153.Y.Lr R J NES Rrnawtlnn g8.Li1 E CIn IHil N9 Rnwanllgn $21.2M rliiiia.x:5 0..FI.r.r..s.•nl4 hed ST15M ICHCCS ■CC5 184-SM 171 51MURANIECUIINTTSCNCULS E:Imd{o-nrk.s ES Adeq—N $2 3H $242M Gtaay EnnStk E'. Kghi—WWWK $1.9M '$1d79M rauwr.nrs Nash rnnryy liaek Stall lel q ee_Wrk ES 16kh WipH(y NNMq SLL7M CedarlalrlP nS mlh Min#Y Needs $0w AOEOOACV ON R[NIIITY RENOVATION REPLACEMENT 4~—D�0-4 BaoM UZ SCHOOL �eNF fRl.a m3iod saEx9w rwnapart .Ovggrtm Mth *.h 7r>flrily31iX -- -- �;. cm-Lim- 2 em 2 3 Commissioner Fowler asked if the mobile units would be replaced or if they would still be 4 there. 5 David Sturtz said the mobile units can come offline as the population declines. He said 6 that getting rid of them is more challenging than one might think because once they have a space 7 of their own, it is hard to go back into the school. 8 Commissioner Fowler asked if would be consolidated. 9 David Sturtz said that option was looked at, but at this stage there is no clear and present 10 direction. He said that in this case, consolidation may not be the appropriate term because it is 11 two separate configurations that could be a consolidation or a conjoining. He said that Estes Hills 12 is done after construction, and they did not prescribe what should be done with it. He said that in 13 this phase, it just goes away. 14 15 19 1 Slide #17 RECOMMENDATION PHASE 3 (10- 15 YEARS • Improve educational adequacy HdIL-CIVflA�gf�CIiY 5CH091S Address condition needs p9APCL K'oUwVeLswt r+r.•1 gsxxy r}rRemY.L: �',Pena3�tvnn $IkW�., g[Pv7RsdE5$ RenagEon g12a.1'�i 1n3 1 F --b- US19A 11D.11 V 09ANGECOGNTI'SCHELS - w+IwirePcraP t11�5amntywew 9anr tib g6h6Ek4W bM16rEg6�1 5� r.[nrlbiNll NN krnran8a11 i�hlEY Rcpel SLR.]M 51 rFA HIGH PRWnrrf AENOIATTON NEEDS C? c.r rr_ 2 3 4 Slide #18 F9�.1R SIRI1I�NP lEl 2{iP3 M W Zan M 263N 2431 M2 ?W3 299 296 EW6 2W7 2W6 2039 6nromE5 m+gcrod what ner 5+1eexlee f5 lonnSneM � - : .- '•. _ _. _ :- _ fI"W nu em5c me flw . n m x9Ln exmryHerm fei.3Pe - - urvNx+mm�iebtl 3!1 W do uc •qw'i fhAgu YE41e-imtl prnwnl WNxe+�rn 1[bd g3AW y b paW uwd:F'S nen e e fIW xr>n�r ux furN...m..l s.lntl Fe1.W h!.t xmr£% Pnme:.ry bhiW nxzelp Pi.Nan:+ wN.c>men�gn.d snW. TUM $MN 551.3N S969N M9N 9U57111 WN elrrl>trin�P :pv:in<r e-«m searN - - - eph.,ro[s •m...o ise :e m.r s •a..eo iv!. .H.e ee• Sex31u _ - wsh.pelanhns lV pNlhw wi un srintl q!!. � � y vlede:P.ele rs sdeyu..r. inree _ Q. 6raiyhwn[5 �:uxy rewm SAN : fdTM N MPhts n�hl•.iu-ry MA 9rt1M I - M� Oepu[nm hE attl MIN $I" 9T.?I1_ 831610 W40 sm 1N S1N5211 $6369F M[do-!4e[3 u5 Rnnexvr Sf a,Eu Llwr AES Wu.e4w i1LYw MMsIIa ES %meroo. 4faaY Y1NYE5 Rkweuou! 1t1.IN 3seaell FS p.aeeh^° §tf W WN[SmeCt�h^ Xkh wlre+Mxa foto A�..54w W+h,ui 4e•oreur- 'rSaW TRU SM910 ! 591.610 Swim S47m U&IM s157N"519'a 5 Elm 6 David Sturtz said this is not a readable slide, but it shows how the plan was constructed 7 and laid out. He said that the high priority needs he has been talking about are shown on this 8 slide. 9 10 20 1 Slide #19 BENEFITS Yal 2 3 4 Slide #20 CONTEXT FOR THE RECOMMENDATIONS • State of North Carolina contributes significantly less than the national average to local district capital needs* • National average for state contributions to local district capital outlay = 229` • NC averages 10% • NC contribution to orange County school capital outlayav'eraged 5%from 2015-present • IVC districts average half the long-term debt per student, • Likely compounded by the lack of state investment, • Long-term debt is the standards means for major capital investment • NC has the third lowest investment in M&O per square feet of schools in the nation • This context increases the local burden on NC counties to fund school facilities yet does not change realities of the need "FrI❑ado-,M�iy.2L2I 5tote of C7m 5n5ooi�Amertrds W[-13 PtrBPic 5cxw1 FncrJrrres 7071.[M1L shrnoton,O.t.21st Century Srboo(Fund. ;°r 5 6 David Sturtz said that he met with finance staff before the meeting. He said he wanted to 7 be prepared because this is an incredibly difficult task. He said the state contributes only 5% to 8 Orange County and that the national average is 50%. He said that NC has the third lowest 9 investment in maintenance and operation per square foot in the nation. He said that increases 10 the local burden, but it does not change the reality of the need. 11 12 21 1 Slide #21 BENEFITS Strategic investment • Removing high investment facilities through cansoridations • Replacing schools addresses condition and adequacy of oWe€/outdated facilities • Improve portfolio age FINAL AFJ70fItIEN11111TION-fAS75 PEA STHJiTEAY 1WEA 15 YFAAS 5:5'!SM Address capacity CHCCS consolidating Elementary Schools ■i'.HlCS ■C1L5 $ Orange adding Elementary Schoot at wrest side • Improve educational adequacy Ld Replace small outdated spaces • Gain operational efficiencies M 51"M S4661A y A 5-035M • Consolidation elementary schools CHCCS sya3L-M D�V- • Opportunity to expand dual language program atee w C&EXOT[ No WIM NEW iMM REpw&Tue HERMU m SMIL FFR��ririri '.r ♦4 2 3 David Sturtz said that they would not be doing their job if they denied the reality of the 4 need. He said that the strategic investments that are recommended are spread over 15 years. 5 6 Slide #22 QUESTIONS WOOLPEPT 7 8 Chair Bedford asked what the assumptions were about inflation. 9 David Sturtz said normal inflation planning is 3% a year over the next seven years and 10 then they plan to the midpoint. He said phase one was planned at 3% and then the midpoint was 11 set afterwards. 12 22 1 Commissioner Fowler said 6% a year was planned for Chapel Hill High School and actual 2 inflation was around 30%. She asked how is 3% adequate. 3 David Sturtz said 3% is a low number but it is what average was prior to COVID. He said 4 that inflation can be adjusted and acknowledged that 3% is low, but it includes hard and soft costs. 5 He said if higher inflation needs to be modeled, it can be. 6 Commissioner McKee said he appreciates what the consulting team has done. He said 7 he is not interested in taxing residents out of the county. He said the Board will have to find some 8 middle ground. He said that he lived through 20-25 years of increases and that he remembers 9 what that did to homeowners. He said they are sitting in an old school building, and it was made 10 to be very nice and useful. 11 David Sturtz said that middle ground is practically the top priority in both districts. He said 12 if phase one needs to be 10, 15, 20 years, that it needs to be top priority. 13 Commissioner McKee said that they are in a catch 22. 14 David Sturtz said they have worked with others on revenue streams. He said that frankly, 15 they need help from the state coming in. He said that he understands they are in a conundrum. 16 He said major renovations, major construction, and bumping up the maintenance and operations 17 spending as much as they can. 18 Travis Myren said on December 12th the Board will run scenarios through debt models 19 and provide the tax equivalent analysis. He said they will show how that impacts debt to general 20 fund policy. 21 Commissioner Richards said at that point there will be a not to exceed number and then 22 they can go back and reprioritize to see what fits. 23 Chair Bedford said in early April the County Manager's CIP budget will be considered. 24 Commissioner McKee said the last time the Board talked about bonds there was a $125 25 million limit. He said it was difficult because they had to decide if they focus it all on schools or 26 how it would be used. He said it ended up the need was so great for the schools, they majority 27 focused on using it at all for the schools. 28 Chair Bedford said it would be nice to see the schedule again to see revenue from 29 economic development. 30 Travis Myren said revenue assumptions are built into the debt model and they will go 31 through all of those assumptions. 32 Commissioner Hamilton thanked the Woolpert team for the presentation. She said a plan 33 is needed to try to start digging the county out of a hole. She said that she wants to get the full 34 number so the community can understand how much it really costs. She said that the Board still 35 needs to advocate to the state for more investment in school capital needs. She said this report 36 helps them make decisions while having all of the information. She said that investing in children 37 saves money in the future on other items. She said this starts them on the road to meet the needs 38 of children. 39 Chair Bedford asked if Phases 1 and 2 were part of option D. 40 David Sturtz said the difference between option C and D is timing. He said that once there 41 is a hard number to plan to, they can funnel down option D within that time. 42 Chair Bedford said she wants to see the state of the facilities conditions report. She said 43 she would also like to see the background report. She said that would help her understand the 44 recommendations better. She asked if they looked at taking Glenwood offline and place housing 45 for teachers there. 46 David Sturtz said no. 47 Chair Bedford asked if they would be willing to sit with a group of commissioners to go 48 over needs at each school. 49 David Sturtz said they could do a remote meeting. 50 23 1 PUBLIC COMMENTS: 2 Rani Dasi from the Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools Board of Education said one of the 3 things that has been missing is information and now they have that. She asked the 4 Commissioners to move quickly because the longer they wait, the more expensive it becomes. 5 She said they need to think creatively about funding sources. She said that when they rebuilt 6 Chapel Hill High, there were three buildings that were not touched at all so when you get 15 years 7 out, that brings needs from the new part and the older parts of the building. 8 9 7. Reports 10 None. 11 12 8. Consent Agenda 13 14 • Removal of Any Items from Consent Agenda 15 • Approval of Remaining Consent Agenda 16 • Discussion and Approval of the Items Removed from the Consent Agenda 17 18 A motion was made by Commissioner Hamilton, seconded by Commissioner Fowler, to 19 approve the consent agenda. 20 21 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 22 23 a. Minutes 24 The Board approved the draft minutes from the October 10, 2023, October 17, 2023, and 25 November 2, 2023 BOCC Meetings as presented. 26 b. Motor Vehicle Property Tax Releases/Refunds 27 The Board adopted a resolution to release motor vehicle property tax values for five (5)taxpayers 28 with a total of five (5) bills that will result in a reduction of revenue. 29 c. Property Tax Releases/Refunds 30 The Board adopted a resolution to release property tax values for seven (7)taxpayers with a total 31 of twelve (12) bills that will result in a reduction of revenue. 32 d. Late Applications for Property Tax Exemption/Exclusion 33 The Board approved fourteen (14) untimely applications for exemption/exclusion from ad valorem 34 taxation for fourteen (14) bills for the 2023 tax year. 35 e. Orange County Waterstone EMS Station Memorandum of Understanding 36 The Board approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)for the Orange County Emergency 37 Medical Station and Orange Rural Fire Department co-location Waterstone facility located at 350 38 College Park Road, Hillsborough and authorized the County Manager to execute the MOU, 39 subject to final review by the County Attorney, and any subsequent amendments on behalf of the 40 Board. 41 f. End Point Protection — Managed Detection Response CrowdStrike Contract Renewal 42 The Board approved the three-year contract renewal with Carahsoft Technology Corporation 43 (Carahsoft) and Crowdstrike in the amount of $357,829.88 over three years and authorized the 44 Manager to execute all necessary contracts as well as any future amendments. 45 g. Schools Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (SAPFO) —Approval of Membership and 46 Capacity Numbers 47 The Board approved and authorized the Chair to sign the November 15, 2023 Membership and 48 Capacity numbers provided at Attachment 1, as submitted by each school district. 49 h. Approval of a Professional Services Contract with BGE, Inc. for the Lake Orange 50 Perimeter Survey 24 1 The Board approved and authorized the Chair to execute the final professional services 2 agreement with BGE, Inc. (Attachment 1) on behalf of the Board, contingent upon final review of 3 the professional services agreement by the County Attorney; and authorized the County Manager 4 to execute any subsequent professional services agreement amendments with BGE, Inc., on 5 behalf of the Board, up to the approved and available CIP budget amount and subject to final 6 review by the County Attorney. 7 i. Changes in BOCC Meeting Schedule for 2024 8 The Board amended its meeting calendar for 2024 to hold the Assembly of Governments meeting 9 at the Southern Human Services Center at 7:00 pm on January 23, 2024, and the Legislative 10 Breakfast at the Whitted Human Services Center at 8:30 am on March 21, 2024. 11 j. Boards and Commissions—Appointments 12 The Board approved Boards and Commissions appointments as reviewed and discussed during 13 the November 9, 2023 Work Session. 14 15 9. County Manager's Report 16 Travis Myren reviewed the information items in the packet and highlighted the 17 memorandum from Solid Waste. 18 19 10. County Attorney's Report 20 John Roberts had no report for the Board. 21 22 11. *Appointments 23 None. 24 25 12. Information Items 26 27 • November 14, 2023 BOCC Meeting Follow-up Actions List 28 • Tax Collector's Report— Numerical Analysis 29 • Tax Collector's Report— Measure of Enforced Collections 30 • Tax Assessor's Report— Releases/Refunds under$100 31 • Memorandum — Equity and Inclusion Update 32 • Memorandum — Update on Waste and Recycling Center Consolidation 33 34 13. Closed Session 35 None. 36 37 Adjournment 38 39 A motion was made by Commissioner Fowler, seconded by Vice-Chair Greene, to adjourn 40 the meeting at 9:46 p.m. 41 42 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 43 44 Jamezetta Bedford, Chair 45 46 47 Recorded by Tara May, Deputy Clerk to the Board 48 49 Submitted for approval by Laura Jensen, Clerk to the Board Attachment 2 1 1 DRAFT MINUTES 2 ORANGE COUNTY 3 BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 4 BUSINESS MEETING 5 December 12, 2023 6 7:00 p.m. 7 8 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a Business Meeting on Tuesday, 9 December 12, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, NC. 10 11 COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Jamezetta Bedford, Vice-Chair Sally Greene 12 and Commissioners Amy Fowler, Jean Hamilton, Earl McKee (arrived at 7:16 p.m.), Phyllis 13 Portie-Ascott, and Anna Richards 14 COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: None. 15 COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: John Roberts 16 COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Bonnie Hammersley, Deputy County Manager 17 Travis Myren, and Clerk to the Board Laura Jensen. (All other staff members will be identified 18 appropriately below) 19 20 Chair Bedford called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. All commissioners were present, 21 except for Commissioner McKee. 22 23 1. Additions or Changes to the Agenda 24 None. 25 26 2. Public Comments (Limited to One Hour) 27 28 Chair Bedford read the public charge: 29 30 The Board of Commissioners pledges its respect to all present. The Board asks those attending 31 this meeting to conduct themselves in a respectful, courteous manner toward each other, county 32 staff and the commissioners. At any time should a member of the Board or the public fail to 33 observe this charge, the Chair will take steps to restore order and decorum. Should it become 34 impossible to restore order and continue the meeting, the Chair will recess the meeting until such 35 time that a genuine commitment to this public charge is observed. The BOCC asks that all 36 electronic devices such as cell phones, pagers, and computers should please be turned off or set 37 to silent/vibrate. Please be kind to everyone. 38 39 a. Matters not on the Printed Agenda 40 Andrew Lindstrom said he was there to speak out against the proposed waste facility at 41 Orange Grove Road and Highway 54 intersection. He said his home is 2,000 feet away from the 42 proposed facility. He said he feels obligated to speak out on behalf of his community against the 43 proposal. He said he's lived over half of his life in Orange County. He said he has lived in 4 44 different residences in 34 consecutive years in the county. He said he does so because he wants 45 a higher quality of life. He said he wants better planning, better schools, better roads, better 46 services, more predictability and more transparency. He said it is more expensive, but it was well 47 worth it up until this point. He said the community is shocked and saddened that their quiet rural, 48 residential community may be forced to have an industrial waste handling facility inserted into a 49 space that is zoned rural residential. He said it will bring the devaluation of their homes and a 50 host of safety, traffic, pollution, and noise concerns. He said they strongly feel that a better site, 2 1 that doesn't impact a large residential community can be identified. He asked that the Board 2 withdraw this proposal. 3 Jessica Sheffield is the executive director of Eno River Association. She said they've been 4 working for nearly 60 years in the watershed to protect the natural, cultural, and historical 5 resources it provides to Orange County. She invited the Board to take a hike with the organization 6 on January 1, 2024 at 2 p.m. She shared the 2024 Eno River Association calendar with the 7 Board. She said the theme for 2024 is to highlight those who use the river. 8 Terri Buckner thanked the Board for asking staff to investigate the water supply watershed 9 boundary issue. She said that at the end of September, the storm water group came out to meet 10 with her and her neighbors to learn more about their growing storm water problems and what 11 actions they can take to mitigate the flooding. She said that they were great and did not talk 12 down to the community members and gave them helpful information. She said they have a 13 trusting relationship. She said that same night the Town of Chapel Hill held their in-person 14 information session on the water and sewer boundary extension. She said she could not 15 participate in that session, but was able to participate in the first forum, which was held over Zoom. 16 She said the forum contained very little information and was attended by fewer than 15 individuals 17 who were not employed by the town. She said after a very short presentation on WASMPBA 18 [Water and Sewer Management, Planning, and Boundary Agreement] the floor was open to 19 questions. She said one of the questions was whether the town plans to annex the affordable 20 housing community planned for the town-owned land south of Dogwood Acres and Southern 21 Community Park. She said the response was that voluntary annexation is generally part of that 22 kind of development. She said the town has not informed impacted residents of any annexation 23 plans associated with WASMPBA or the expansion. She said that a recent email to the Town 24 Council from Ralph Karpinos, the now retired long-time town attorney, makes clear that 25 annexation would be a likely next step. She provided copies of his email to the Board and asked 26 that the email be entered into the county's record for future reference: 27 Dear Mayor and Council Memb m: I write to offer one comment about the possible policy changes to allow extension of water and utility services between the present Town limits and the Orange/Chatham County border. I have not followed your discussion in detail on this subject.but,if this issue has not been raised before.I want to suggest that the Council consider making a condition of the extension of water and sewer service in this area that the property owners agree to and submit valid petitions for their properties to be annexed to the Town so that residents may receive all Town services and so that property owners may contribute to the provision of those services through Town ad valorem property taxes. Thank you for your service to the Town. Sincerely, Ralph Karpinos Town resident 28 112 Braswell Road 29 She asked the Board to not consider the town's request to expand the urban services boundary 30 until the county's comprehensive planning process is complete, and changes to the town's LUMO 31 [Land Use Management Ordinance] have been adopted, including an accurate water supply 32 watershed map with zoning aligned to the state standards that protect drinking water. 33 BJ Warshaw read from the following statement: 34 I'd like to first quickly thank you all for hearing us speak about WASMPBA at the last Board of 35 County Commissioners meeting, particularly Commissioner Fowler and Commissioner Greene 36 for recommending that County Staff conduct further research on the southern area watersheds 37 and environmental regulations. Those of us who live in the area had asked for an environmental 38 impact study before the Town Council voted on the extension and the watershed mapping error 39 we raised with you is evidence in favor of that request. 40 I'm glad that the County will be researching this issue, such that everyone—residents, developers, 41 and governments alike — can understand precisely what type of development would be allowed 42 in this area under the March 2023 rules, presuming we abide by state watershed protection 3 1 regulations. Without that information, Chapel Hill's too-vague plans of dense development along 2 15-501 are missing key data points which may, indeed, impact the suitability of extending urban 3 services. 4 Until the watershed issue is resolved, we can't know what kind of development will be allowed in 5 the Southern Area. The reason I, and others, have been requesting comprehensive planning and 6 environmental study is to have better insight around what works well for our community's growth 7 needs as well as the environment, our drinking water, wildlife, traffic and infrastructure, and the 8 livelihood of current residents. 9 I'm a member of the Southern Entryway Alliance, a small group of neighbors concerned about 10 development and its impacts, who have been communicating with you all for some time. We've 11 been trying to keep folks aware of the proposed WASMPBA amendment, but it's challenging and 12 time-consuming work. We have an email list with over 100 subscribers, most of whom live in the 13 Chapel Hill or Carrboro ETJs, and who have expressed deep concern to us about Chapel Hill's 14 recent WASMPBA amendment vote. Please remember that the Board of County Commissioners 15 remain the best and only direct representatives for those of us living in the ETJs. We are 16 collectively hoping for much better clarity around proposed development, before you decide to 17 take up the Town's request to amend the water and sewer boundaries. 18 Thanks in advance for your continued attention to this issue. 19 Julie McClintock read from the following statement: 20 One reason Orange County and its towns have experienced fewer growing pains than other 21 neighboring Counties is because we've planned ahead. Orange County engaged in joint planning 22 when they passed the 1986 Joint Land Use Plan and the WASMPBA agreement. Good joint 23 planning has allowed our County to protect its rural roots, grow urban densities without sprawl - 24 in an orderly sustainable way that protects our water supply watersheds. 25 It was alarming that the Chapel Hill Council proposed to modify the WASMPBA agreement in 26 November without any common understanding about what they wanted to accomplish when 27 utilities were added. What happens could vary from acres of townhouses to Bluehill - like 28 apartment buildings-to something else. We really have no idea, nor do the folks living in southern 29 Orange County. 30 Chapel Hill's action was taken in an illogical order. Why not allow full input of residents and 31 affected parties to comment on land use changes as part of the County's new Land Use Plan? 32 Why not allow Chapel Hill to complete its land use revisions as part of the Complete Communities 33 framework when there is a clear plan to propose? Utility map changes can follow. 34 These are all reasons why the Orange County Commission should await these outcomes and not 35 make premature changes to the joint planning boundary agreement. 36 Where did this utility agreement come from? 37 Julie McClintock continued her comments by stating that she was the OWASA Board Chair at the 38 time. She said that in the 1990's OWASA was starting to respond to public health emergencies 39 and requests to put in water and sewer. She said that infrastructure development was starting to 40 break down the land use plan. She said the local governments got together to create a plan for 41 where they would put water and sewer. 42 Julie McClintock continued reading from the following statement: 43 No one knows the consequences of placing utilities in a water supply watershed without studying 44 it first. Based on OWASA's calculations, as many as 2,200 residential units would turn Southern 45 Orange County from rural to urban overnight without any guarantee of BRT funding, missing 46 middle housing or a traffic free corridor enabling patients to get through to UNC hospitals. 47 A person identifying himself as Madden thanked the Board for what they do. He asked 48 the Board how they would they like some more money. He said before the US Constitution was 49 ratified, representatives came to Hillsborough and voted not to ratify the US constitution because 50 it wasn't good enough at the time. He wanted to know if it would be possible to appeal to historians 51 from outside of Orange County who would like to come visit and learn more about that and 4 1 possibly spend money. He said that he was informed that the magistrates, particularly in 2 Hillsborough, have too many requests to perform marriage ceremonies because it is an idyllic 3 location with plenty of parking. He said it brings in more money than it costs. He said that 4 magistrates are turning away people with marriage licenses from counties other than Orange or 5 Chatham because they don't have time to respond to all of the requests. 6 7 (Commissioner McKee arrived at 7:16 p.m.) 8 9 Scot Shepard said he lives in the Collins Creek neighborhood and wanted to speak on the 10 proposed solid waste facility process. He said it was hard to figure out where things were, and 11 he wants to know where things are going next. He said there are people doing work on the land 12 in the proposal. He asked what the status is and if they don't know, when will they know. 13 14 Chair Bedford said that the Board typically does not respond to public comments, but that 15 there was an information item in the agenda packet for the December 4, 2023 BOCC business 16 meeting that had an update on the solid waste facility proposal. 17 18 b. Matters on the Printed Agenda 19 (These matters will be considered when the Board addresses that item on the agenda below.) 20 21 3. Announcements, Petitions and Comments by Board Members 22 Commissioner Fowler had no comments. 23 Commissioner Hamilton said she attended the Alliance board meeting. She said that local 24 management for Alliance will be expanding with the addition of Harnett County. She said she 25 officially filed for re-election to the Board of County Commissioners. 26 Vice-Chair Greene said she along with several others attended the dedication of the Pauli 27 Murray mural on the side of the Sportsplex building, which was sponsored by the Racial Justice 28 Commission and the Office of Equity and Inclusion. She encouraged everyone to see it. She 29 said she and Commissioners McKee and Portie-Ascott attended a meeting of Justice United 30 where the topic was Lumos and broadband implementation. She said there were representatives 31 from Lumos who did a good job answering questions about the status of the implementation. She 32 said she and Commissioner Fowler attended the Master Aging Plan quarterly meeting. She said 33 the Department on Aging won an award from AARP. She said there is planning between the 34 DCHC MPO and the Capital Area MPO to develop the next metropolitan transportation plan called 35 Destination 2055. She said that the public can submit input and ideas at Destination2055nc.com. 36 Chair Bedford wished everyone happy holidays. 37 Commissioner Richards said she went to the Behavioral Health Task Force quarterly 38 meeting, where they received an update on the diversion facility and mental health plans. She 39 said she went to the Family Success Alliance advisory meeting, where they received a 40 presentation by Safe Kids Orange County. She said they have a gun cable lock program for gun 41 safety, a new safe driver program, and a medication disposal program. She said they have 42 educated 625 Orange County Schools students on fire and burn safety. She said she was very 43 happy to see on the consent agenda an amendment for the Housing Choice voucher program. 44 She said they are adding money because they have placed more housing clients on vouchers 45 than anticipated, which she congratulated them for. 46 Commissioner McKee said community meetings for Lumos will continue to occur as the 47 project moves through different phases. He wished everyone happy holidays. 48 Commissioner Portie-Ascott said she and Vice-Chair Greene and Commissioner Fowler 49 attended the Habitat for Orange five-year strategic planning presentation. She said since 1984 50 they have built over 350 homes and repaired over 250 in Orange County. She said they have a 51 plan to serve more families and advocate for housing access. She said their goal is to build 140 5 1 new homes and repair 200 homes in the next 5 years. She said she met with Kevin Leonard, 2 Executive Director of the NC Association of County Commissioners [NCACC] and received an 3 orientation on the different steering committees. She said that the Presidential Task Force's 4 theme for the next year is"One More Thing." She said that the President of NCACC is challenging 5 counties to do "one more thing" to help save the lives of those suffering from substance abuse 6 disorder. She said he discussed the legislative goals process, which will take about 6 months to 7 complete. She said Orange County is encouraged to approve a resolution establishing a goal for 8 the association to work on. 9 Commissioner Fowler said she was impressed by the Master Aging Plan and how well 10 organized it was and how the meeting was run. She said she served on the Housing group. She 11 said one idea they came up with was the inclusion of universal design in the county's affordable 12 housing rubric. She petitioned the affordable housing collaborative to add that to the rubric. She 13 said Habitat for Orange has big plans for the county. She said she volunteered for Toys for Tots 14 along with Commissioner Portie-Ascott. She said it was a joyful couple of hours. She wished 15 everyone happy holidays. 16 17 4. Proclamations/ Resolutions/ Special Presentations 18 None. 19 20 5. Public Hearings 21 None. 22 23 6. Regular Agenda 24 a. Opioid Advisory Committee Settlement Use Recommendations and Approval of Budget 25 Amendment#4-B 26 The Board: 27 1) received an update on the Opioid Advisory Committee and recommendations from the 28 Committee regarding the use of Opioid Settlement Funds that support Option A of the 29 Memorandum of Agreement(MOA)on the Allocation and Use of Opioid Settlement Funds 30 in North Carolina; 31 2) approved the resolution regarding the expenditure of Opioid Settlement Funds; and 32 3) approved Budget Amendment#4-B. 33 34 BACKGROUND: In July 2021, a bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general announced the 35 National Opioid Settlement — a historic $26 billion agreement that will help bring desperately 36 needed help to communities harmed by the opioid epidemic. The State of North Carolina and all 37 100 counties, including Orange County, joined the agreement. Orange County is expected to 38 receive $6,799,780 over an 18-year period. 39 40 In September 2022, the BOCC approved the appointment of the Orange County Opioid Advisory 41 Committee with the following charge: 42 • Discuss opioid-related health concerns and issues impacting the residents of Orange 43 County; 44 • Advise the Board of Commissioners on options to expend funds to prevent opioid abuse 45 and remedy opioid impacts; 46 • Plan and host an annual meeting open to the public to receive input on proposed uses of 47 the settlement funds and to encourage collaboration between local governments. 6 1 The Board also voted on Option A for the use of the settlement funds per the NC Memorandum 2 of Agreement Opioid Settlement. 3 In January 2023, Orange County received an additional payment of $44, 629 from the National 4 Opioid Abatement Trust II (NOAT II). NOAT II is separate and distinct from the National 5 Distributors/Janssen settlements. As of August 2, 2023, Orange County has received six (6) 6 deposits for the Opioid Special Revenue Account in the amount of $1,337,170.67. The total 7 allocation for Fiscal Year 2023-24 is $435,750.00. Fiscal Year 2024-25 allocations (Year 2 of 8 Lantern Project, Freedom House and NC FIT) equal $374,902. A total of $526,518.67 remains 9 for new opioid mitigation strategies. 10 11 The Opioid Advisory Committee met on August 14, 2023, and September 11, 2023, and received 12 and discussed a total of five proposals for use of Opioid Settlement Funds in Orange County. 13 New funding requests include: 14 Reintegration Support Network (RSN) 15 ► $265,316 for a 2-Year Period ($132,658.00/year) 16 OC-EMS Post-Overdose Response Team (PORT) 17 ► Option 1- $1,060,132.75 (3-Year Period) 18 ► Option 2 - $846,047.13 (3-Year Period) 19 ► Option 3 - $582,378.50 (3-Year Period) 20 Grow Your World 21 ► $186,770.64 (Year 1); $192,170.64 (Year 2) 22 ► $378,941.28 for a 2-Year Period 23 Transition Support & Recovery 24 ► $165,170 (Year 1); $165,630 (Year 2) 25 Harm Reduction Coordinator 26 ► $108,025/year for a 2-Year Period 27 28 The Opioid Advisory Committee created a Funding Subcommittee to review each proposal in 29 detail using the following criteria: 30 Must address one of the 12 mitigation strategies listed in Option A of the Settlement MOA 31 ► 1. Collaborative strategic planning 32 ► 2. Evidence-based addiction treatment 33 ► 3. Recovery support services 34 ► 4. Recovery housing support 35 ► 5. Employment-related services 36 ► 6. Early intervention 37 ► 7. Naloxone distribution 38 ► 8. Post-overdose response team 39 ► 9. Syringe Service Program 40 ► 10. Criminal justice diversion programs 41 ► 11. Addiction treatment for incarcerated persons 42 ► 12. Reentry programs 43 Program serves Orange County residents; population served 44 . Government entity, 501 c3, Non-profit Community Partner 45 • Equity Impact 46 • Evidence-Based Practices 47 • Project Need (Orange County Data Supported) 48 • Experience & Organizational Capacity 49 0 Budget & Budget Narrative 7 1 The Advisory Committee recommends the following use of Opioid Settlement Funds: 2 3 Reintegration Support Network (RSN) 4 ► $20,000.00 — 1 Year 5 OC-EMS Post-Overdose Response Team (PORT) 6 ► Option 2 - $846,047.13 (3-Year Period) 7 ► $244,020.00 /1St year 8 Grow Your World 9 ► $20,000.00 — 1 Year 10 Transition Support & Recovery 1 1 ► $20,000.00 — 1 Year 12 Harm Reduction Coordinator 13 ► $108,025/year for a 2-Year Period 14 15 The total dollar amount of Opioid Settlement Funds appropriated across the above named and 16 authorized strategies is $412,045. 17 18 FINANCIAL IMPACT: Budget Amendment #4-B recognizes $455,617 in new revenue for the 19 Opioid Settlement Fund and authorizes projects for each of the named and authorized strategies. 20 It also creates four (4) new time limited positions — three (3) Emergency Medical Services (EMS) 21 Post-Overdose Response Team Members through December 31, 2026, and one new Harm 22 Reduction Coordinator in the Health Department through December 31, 2025. 23 Opioid Settlement Fund($64,200) - Fund#27 Revenues for this project: Current FY 2023-24 FY 2023- FY 2023- Amendmen 24 24 t Revised Opioid Settlement Funds $881,554 $455,617 $1,337,171 Total Project Funding $881,554 $455,617 $1,337,171 Appropriated for this project: Current FY 2023-24 FY 2023- FY 2023- Amendmen 24 24 t Revised Evidence-based Addiction Treatment (Lantern $164,862 $173,105 $337,967 Project Recovery Support Services (Freedom House) $122,188 $128,297 $250,485 Reentry Program (NC FIT) $70,000 $73,500 $143,500 Naloxone Distribution $14,500 $0 $14,500 Student Health Action Coalition (SHAC) Syringe $64,200 $0 $64,200 Service Program Reintegration Support Network (RSN) $0 $20,000 $20,000 Post-Overdose Response Team (PORT) $0 $244,020 $244,020 Grow Your World $0 $20,000 $20,000 Transition Support & Recovery $0 $20,000 $20,000 Harm Reduction Coordinator $0 $108,025 $108,025 8 Unallocated $445,804 ($331,330) $114,474 Total Costs $881,554 $455,617 $1,337,171 1 2 Quintana Stewart, Public Health Director, made the following presentation: 3 4 Slide #1 ORANGE COUNTY, NC OPIOID ADVISORY COMMITTEE december 12, 2023 5 6 Slide #2 SIC Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) • The VIOA governs the allocation,use,and reporting of certain opioid settlement funds in North Carolina. • To comply with the MOA,a local government receiving opioid settlement funds must do the following: • A.Establish a fund.A local overnment receiving opioid settlement funds must secure them in a specialrevenue fund.TheseTunds are subject to audit and cannot be commingled with other funds. • B.Authorize spending.Before spending opioid settlement funds,a local government must authorize the expencliti ire of such funds.This must take place through a formal budget or resolution that includes certain details including the amount,time period,and specific strategy funded. • C,Understand and follow the o tions.A local government must spend opioid settlement funds on opioi reme cation activities authorized under option A oroption B as detailed in the MCA. • 11.Re irk s endin and impact.A local government that receives, spends,or holds opioid sett ement un sduring a fiscal year must file an annual financial report within go days of the end of the fiscal year.(This report is required if funds are received or held,even if they are not spent.)A local government that spends opioid settlement funds during a fiscal year must file an annual impact report within go days of the end of the fiscal year_ • E.hold annual meeting.The MOA requires that each county receivingopioid settlement funds at ho east one annus meeting open to the public,with all municipaties in the county invited to the meeting.The purpose of the meeting is to receive input from municipalities on proposed uses of the opioid settlement funds and to encourage collaboration between local governments. https:/lncdoj.govlwp-content/uploadS12022/oa/NCACC-web-version-Final-Opioid-MOA-.pdf 7 8 Quintana Stewart said this slide shows their agreed upon deliverables. 9 1 Slide #3 Grange County Opioid Advisory Committee Charge • Discuss opioid-related health concerns and issues impacting the residents of Orange County, • Advise the Board of Commissioners on options to expend funds to prevent opioid abuse and remedy opioid impacts, • Plan and host an annual meeting open to the public to receive input on proposed uses of the settlement funds and to encourage collaboration between local governments. 2 3 4 Slide #4 Current Opioid Settlement Funding Orange County has received 6 total Deposits for the Opioid Special Revenue Account: • June 30, 2022 - $2611244.68 • November 15, 2022 - $295,555.44 • November 15, 2022 - 2801123.59 • January 31, 2023 - $44, 629.84 • July 20, 2023 - $163,816.78 • August 2, 2023 - $291,800.34 TOTAL $11337,170.67 5 6 Quintana Stewart said Orange County has received six deposits. 7 8 10 1 Slide #5 Payment Timetable .. �irange puri^.:. Pdynl@Y.LS 0-1,T+11 6-O'anY ate. i Next Deposit: Tuyrllerre Tat��e �s�g� Summer 2024- $548,423 CW .=n 'rlixoK 2 3 Commissioner Richards asked if there was a public meeting in 2023. 4 Quintana Stewart said no and that they have to have one before June 30, 2024. She said 5 they have not spent any funds at this time. She said the report had been completed. 6 7 Slide #6 Option A- High-Impact Opioid Abatement Strategies l.Collaborative Strategic Planning 2.Evidence-based addiction treatment 3.Recovery support services 4.Recovery housing support s.Employment-related services 6.Early intervention 7.Naloxone distribution s.Post-overdose response team 9.Syringe Service Program io.Criminal justice diversion programs 3a.Addiction treatment for incarcerated persons 3.2.Reentry Programs https:llwww.morepowerfulnc.orglwp-content/uploads/20211-io/Exhibit-A-to-NC-MOAa.pdf 8 9 10 11 1 Slide #7 As of June 6, 2023, BOCC Approved Funding Recommendations Lantern Project • July 1,2023—June 30,2025 • $164,862.00 (Year 1);base funding +5%(Year 2) Freedom House • July 1,2023—June 30,2025 • $122,188 (Year 1);base funding +5%v(Year 2) NC FIT Program July 1,2023—June 30,2025 • $70,000 (Year 1);base funding +5%m(Year 2) County Vending Machines/First Responders • July 1,2023—June 30,2024 • $14,500 UNC SHAC • July 1,2023—June 30,2024 • $64,200 TOTAL ALLOCATION TO DATE FOR FY 2024—$435,750.00 REMAINING FUNDS-$901,420.67 2 3 4 Slide #8 Fiscal Year 2025 Commitments Lantern Project • July 1, 2024 — June 30, 2025 • $173,105.00; base funding +5% (Year 2) Freedom House • July 1, 2024 — June 30, 2025 • $128,297.00; Mase funding +5% (Year 2) NC FIT Program • July 1, 2024 — June 30, 2025 • $73,500.00; base funding +5% (Year 2) TOTAL ALLOCATION FOR FY 2025—$374,902.00 REMAINING FUNDS - $526,518.67 5 6 7 12 1 Slide #9 New Funding Requests Reintegration Support Network(RSN) • $265,316 for a 2-Year Period ($132,658.00fyear) OC-EMS Post-Overdose Response Team (PORT) • Option 1-$1,060,132.75(3-Year Period) • Option 2-$846,047.13(3-Year Period) • Option 3-$582,378.50(3-Year Period) Grow Your World • $186,770.64 (Year 1) ; $192,170.64 (Year 2) • $378,941.28 for a 2-Year Period Transition Support& Recovery • $165,170.00 (Year 1); $165,630.00(Year 2) Harm Reduction Coordinator • $108,025,007year for a 2-Year Period 2 3 Quintana Stewart discussed the challenges for the current round of funding. She said 4 the previous process was sustaining previous programs, but the second round was a change in 5 the process. She said that they are aware of the unintended consequences by moving forward. 6 She said they would not be recommending any further funding until they have had the public 7 meeting and had more discussion. 8 9 Slide #10 Funding Subcommittee Criteria for Consideration of Funding • Must address one of the 12 mitigation strategies Fisted in Option A of the Settlement MOA • Program serves Grange County residents; population served (Intentional effort to support programs serving youth) • Government entity, 501c3, Non-profit Community Partner • Equity Impact • Evidence-Based Practices • Project Need (Orange County Data Supported) * Experience & Organizational Capacity • Budget & Budget Narrative 10 11 Quintana Stewart said the first round had a small group and they voted as a whole 12 committee. She said there was not a formal application process for the second round. She said 13 some meetings became tense. She said the subcommittee met in October and created the above 14 criteria for funding. She said they looked for programs that served Orange County residents and 15 youth. 16 13 1 Slide #11 Funding Recommendation Reintegration Support Network(RSN) • Option A,Strategies 3,and 6 (Recovery support services&Early Intervention) • Funding Period—January 1,2024—June 30, 2024 • Funding recommendation -$20,000.00 • Provider—Reintegration Support Network • Description of Activity— • Increase the number of specially trained mentors(Certified Peer Support Specialist and/or Recovery Coach Academy Certified)providing evidence-informed support to youth experiencing challenges related to substance use,mental health,and justice-involvement. • Adapt an evidenced-based,adult peer-support model to meet the unique needs of youth in Orange, Durham,Chatham,and Alamance Counties.RSN uses speciallytrained mentors(NC certified peer support specialists,or Recovery Coach Academy trained]to interrupt the daily systemic and structural pressures that create?aps in opportunities for youth(ages s3-2o)especiallythose with challenges related to mental health,substance use,and/orjuvenile Justice involvement. • Per the proposal narrative/budget,the committee would like to support some of the operating expenses and contractual needs. 2 3 Quintana Stewart said that overhead costs were not an eligible use of settlement funds, 4 which affected the amount of funding that could be recommended for Reintegration Support 5 Network. 6 7 Slide #12 Funding Recommendations OC-EMS Post-Overdose Response Team (PORT) • option A,Strategy 8(Post-Overdose Response Team) • Funding Period—Januarys,2024—December 2026 • Funding recommendation -$244,020.00/3.st year(Option 2-$846,047.13 for a 3-Year Period) • Provider—Orange County Emergency Services • Description of Activity— • Development and implementation of a PORT within the geographic constraints of Orange County, NC;funds will support staff salary,supplies and needed software. • PORTs are specialized teams that respond to opioid overdoses In real time or within 24-72 hours of the overdose event.Upon imp]ementation,the OC-EMS PORT will meet individuals where they are at in their addiction by providing harm reduction resources, linkage to treatment services,and medication-ass I sted treatment(MAT)induction and administration. • This service will be available to all eligible individuals that OC-EMS interfaces with during EMS incidents and will be provided as a referral for collaborating departments,emergency departments,organizations and the community at-large.PORTS have become the standard of care in past-overdose services nationally and locally,with 41 North Carolina counties currently having an active PORT in place. 8 9 Quintana Stewart said Orange County EMS is applying for funding from other sources, so 10 the compromise was to recommend funding for the first year while the department seeks other 11 funding. 12 13 14 1 Slide #13 Funding Recommendations Grew Your World eOption A, Strategy 6 (Early Intervention) Funding Period —January 1, 2024 —June 30, 2024 Funding recommendation - $20,000 *Provider — Grow Your World Description of Activity — •Provide materials and training to youth-serving community members to equip them to better support youth facing the opioid crisis. • Per the proposal narrative/budget,the committee would life to support the naloxone, CPR ancFMentaI Health First Aid community training program. 2 3 Quintana Stewart said that the Grow Your World proposal had activities that were not 4 specific to opioid use mitigation. She said they tried to pull out parts of the proposal that funds 5 could be used to cover. She said there were parts they could use and they were able to cover 6 those for two years. 7 8 Slide #14 Funding Recommendations Transition & Support Recovery Collaboration • Option A, Strategy 3 and 12 (Recovery Support Services and Reentry Programs) • Funding Period —January 1, 202'4—June 30, 2024 •Funding recommendation - $20,000.00 • Provider—Transition & Support Recovery Collaboration -Description ofActivity— •The Transition Recovery and Support Collaborative(TSRC) is a five-partner mutual effort to provide direct Recovery SuP ort5ervices and Reentry Programs to those with opioid use disorders, related substance use disorders and other comorbidities. TSRC's role is to collaboratively augment and extend clinical and other traditional evidence-based addiction treatment services for these disorders and comorbidities. The Collaborative is led by Wounded Healers of North Carolina(a 501(c)(3)). • Per the proposal narrative/budget,the committee would like to support the purchase of the Reentry Peer Support Specialist Curriculum from Texas. 9 10 Quintana Stewart said it is a collaboration and not just one program. She said it is a five- 11 partner mutual collaboration. She said they will purchase training to train other peer support 12 specialists. 13 15 1 Slide #15 Funding Recommendations Harm Reduction Coordinator •Option A, Strategy 3. (Collaborative Strategic Planning ) • Funding Period—January s, 2024—December 31, 2025 • Funding recommendation - sio8,02S/year • Provider—Orange County Health Department • Description of Activity— •The Orange County Opioid Program Manaqer(Harm Reduction Coordinator) will be responsible for overseeing the deveTopment, administration budget, grant management, and reporting for Oran e County's Opioid Settlement Prograrn. This position will work with closely with Orange County staff and community partners involved in community overdose prevention education, harm reduction,treatment opportunities and recovery support. they will ensure all reporting requirements are met for the opioid Settlement Fund and pursue additional resources to advance this work. 2 3 Quintana Stewart said her department was requesting funds for a new employee to 4 manage the opioid settlement program. 5 6 Slide #16 BOCC Funding Recommendations REMAINING FUNDS after FY xa 5 Commitments r4zG,5=_P..t Reintegration Support Network(RSN) • $20,000.00—1 Year OC-EMS Post-Overdose Response Team(PORT) • Option 2-$846,047.13(3-Year Period) • $244,020.00115k year Grow Your World • $20,000.00—1 Year Transition Support&Recovery $20,000.00—1 Year Harm Reduction Coordinator • $108,025.001year for a 2-Year Period Total Allocation-$412,045.00 Remaining Funds- $114,473.67 7 8 9 16 1 Slide #17 Additional Committee Deliverables Plan the Annual Community Meeting •The MOA requires that each county receiving opioid settlement funds hold at least one annual meeting open to the public, with all municipalities in the county invited to the meeting. •The purpose of the meeting is to receive input from municipalities on proposed uses of the opioid settlement funds and to encourage collaboration between local governments. 2 3 Quintana Stewart said there was a significant need in the community and that there was 4 a desire to begin allocating funds quickly. She said that they are going to pause and create a 5 plan for future funds. 6 7 Slide #18 Additional Committee Deliverables •Set Date for next RFP Process •Advertise time frame for Proposals (August- September 2024) •Develop application to include Evaluation Process and Criteria, Eligibility, and any project requirements; •Develop Training Material for Applicants; schedule training webinars. •Strategic Planning •Sequentia'l Intercept Mapping for Substance Use Disorder s 9 10 17 1 Slide #19 • A • 2 3 Commissioner Richards asked how long it would take to get an employee to manage the 4 process. 5 Quintana Stewart said she wasn't sure because several surrounding counties have the 6 position and she does not think it would take too long. 7 Commissioner Richards discussed the timeline and asked if there was a way to either compress 8 the cycle or wait and get the strategic part first before more funding is allocated. 9 Quintana Stewart said yes and that it could be done together. 10 Commissioner McKee asked if new organizations can participate in future funding 11 requests. 12 Quintana Stewart said yes. 13 Chair Bedford asked how hiring a coordinator is not administrative overhead. 14 Quintana Stewart said it is listed on the deliverables in the MGA and included for the 15 county. 16 Commissioner Fowler asked if prior awardees would have to apply again for year three. 17 Quintana Stewart said yes. 18 Commissioner Fowler asked if they require reports from the recipients to see how the 19 funds are being spent. 20 Quintana Stewart said yes that is a requirement for the award. 21 Commissioner Hamilton asked who looks at the outcome measures that are reported to 22 the county. 23 Quintana Stewart said that would be part of the coordinator's job. She said it would be 24 reported to the state and back to the committee. She said that the metrics are also in the contracts 25 for those organizations that are funded. 26 Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked Quintana Stewart to review the formula for deciding 27 how much each organization would receive. 28 Quintana Stewart said there wasn't a formula. 29 Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked how $20,000 was decided for Grow Your World. 30 Quintana Stewart said it was based on the allowable requested expenses. 31 Commissioner McKee asked if the coordinator position would be more than part time. 32 Quintana Stewart said yes because they will be working with all partners and making sure 33 that efforts are not being duplicated. 34 Commissioner Richards asked how the committee was formulated and how the roles were 35 determined. 36 Quintana Stewart said the committee is appointed by the Board. She said that a 37 subcommittee was created to review applications and then their analysis was brought back to the 38 full committee. She said there is another subcommittee that works on the public meeting. 18 1 Chair Bedford asked if the curriculum being purchased by the awardee can be shared with 2 other partners or if part of the purchase includes a license. 3 Quintana Stewart said the organization purchasing the training would have to answer that. 4 She said that she gets the impression it is licensed since they must pay for it. 5 6 PUBLIC COMMENTS: 7 Edward Scott said he works with several organizations but is there to speak for Wounded 8 Healers of North Carolina. He said that they applied for funding. He said that reentry program 9 funding is critical. He said it provides resources for housing, mental health, treatment, healthcare 10 and even more. He said they did not receive funding for their application. He said they need 11 money to be able to help individuals coming out of incarceration. He said that funding for reentry 12 has been proven to reduce the recidivism rate. He asked for increased funding for Wounded 13 Healers of North Carolina. 14 Tom McQuiston said his son was addicted to opioids at 17. He died of a drug overdose at 15 age 18. He contended that the limited amount of funds awarded to the re-entry program were 16 intended for the purchase of curriculum materials. He said that the re-entry program had 17 proposed that they purchase those out their own funds, which means that the program essentially 18 receives zero funding. He said they have worked for years with hardly any support. He said this 19 was an opportunity to fund programs that work. He said someone who comes out of prison is 18 20 times more likely to die of an opioid overdose. 21 Lucy Battles said she was in support of the three community organizations Grow Your 22 World, Reentry Housing, and Reintegration Support Network. She said she is in long-term 23 recovery from opioid addiction. She said she is an employee of RSN. She said that her daughter 24 receives tutoring support from Grow Your World and her daughter's main request is that she gets 25 to keep going. She said her brother has been incarcerated multiple times and is an addict. She 26 has tried to get him reentry assistance. She said all of the agencies work to help the community 27 end the school to prison pipeline and to help people like her daughter not go down the same path. 28 She asked for more funding. 29 Terence Johnson said he is the executive director of the Re-integration Support Network. 30 He said he had a bad experience with the advisory committee, but Quintana Stewart did a great 31 job. He said that she set clear criteria for what is being reviewed. He said that tonight was the 32 first time that they had received direct feedback on their proposal. He said when the Board looks 33 at the process, they should consider if it aligns with their values. He said the Board should 34 consider the outcomes. He said most of the funding is being used for county supported programs. 35 Doug Peterson, president of Re-entry House Plus, said it is their goal to work with men 36 and women during their transition from incarceration back into society. He said they have a 37 residential home that houses five men in Hillsborough. He said that they also hold classes that 38 offer success while in transition. He said that it is run by two men that were previously 39 incarcerated. He said that it engages participants in a reentry program that helps them develop 40 self-worth and they can stand against opioid abuse and addiction. He said that it also helps 41 patients that are prescribed opioids to educate them on the danger of addiction. He said they 42 have been in operation for four years. He said they are looking for funding for a paid employee. 43 Mr. Peterson's time expired during his comments. Chair Bedford asked that the comments be 44 emailed to the Board. 45 Ran Hamner said he is vice present of the Re-entry House. He said that there are literally 46 hundreds of thousands of people incarcerated across the country and 97% of all those 47 incarcerated today are going to come back to our communities. He said absent a place like Re- 48 entry house, they face a very familiar road back to their old habits, addictions, and new struggles. 49 He said 40% of those that do not receive support will wind up back in prison within one year. He 50 said that 80% of graduates from the Re-entry House never go back into incarceration. 19 1 Kelly Fox said she wanted to show her support for Grow Your World and the other re-entry 2 youth organizations. She said she is involved with Grow Your World and helped organize a 3 summer camp. She said as an educator, she has seen the need for providing opportunities for 4 children. She said she thinks that more children are affected by opioids than we might realize. 5 She said they are surrounded by opioid addicted parents. She said that early intervention is 6 needed. 7 Avergine RL spoke in support of Grow Your World. She said that prevention for 8 adolescents and youth that use opioids is necessary. She said students work together and create 9 a family when they are with programs like Grow Your World. She said she has three children and 10 she said she volunteers with Chapel Hill. She said when children are paid attention to, they grow 11 up better. She said that everyone in Orange County helps make little parts better. 12 Bridget Pemberton-Smith said she works in art therapy, and they do amazing work. She 13 said she has an intimate understanding of what it takes to run a nonprofit. She said that a major 14 struggle for non-profit is paying employees an adequate wage. She said she has always felt her 15 staff was underpaid and she asked that the Board review allowing the funds to be used for 16 capacity building. She said that the children are the youngest victims of the opioid epidemic. She 17 said this problem needs a lot more than a Band-Aid. 18 Shady Kimzey is an art mentor with Grow Your World. She read from the following 19 statement: 20 1 am currently working with Grow Your World on an opioid abuse awareness project. I saw the 21 impacts of over-prescription as a child. I had to be the adult in the room. That is just one reason 22 that it matters to me to speak on this issue. In this collaborative project with GYW we have worked 23 with the community on each component, using art to get our message across. For DEAH Day of 24 Service at UNC, I worked with community members to create a 4 foot by 6-foot two-tone face 25 created entirely of child-safety pill bottle lids, to put a face to the opioid crisis. I then worked with 26 a justice-involved high school student in an art mentorship, where we wrote out DBT skills that 27 help us manage our mental health. 28 DBT is a behavior skills therapy that is used in substance abuse treatment and has a special 29 protocol that is effective for those with substance use disorder called DBT-SLID. 30 American Addition Centers use DBT because "DBT clients showed reduced substance abuse, 31 and they were more likely to continue therapy than those in traditional treatment." 32 1 am now working on part 2 of that project, which is getting those DBT skills into the hands of 33 teenagers and community members through interactive art projects that are still in process. Art 34 is not only an effective method for spreading awareness, starting conversations, and informing 35 the public, but the community members participating are engaging in positive social and emotional 36 activities that relieve stress and build a sense of purpose. 37 Shady Kimzey showed a list of helpful skills created by one of her students, such as taking a night 38 walk, stargazing, making art, talking to someone, cooking, or going for a car ride. She said these 39 skills keep people from going into distress and prevent people from engaging in destructive 40 behaviors. 41 Shady Kimzey continued her statement: 42 According to the Mayo Clinic, risk of opioid addiction is greater for people who: 43 • In their teens or early 20s. 44 • Have a personal or family history of substance misuse 45 • Are living with stress, including being unemployed or living below the poverty 46 line 47 • Have a history of problems with work, family and friends 48 • Have a history of taking part in crimes or having legal issues, including DUls 49 • Have serious depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder 50 • Have a history of physical or sexual abuse 51 • Take part in risky or thrill-seeking behavior 20 1 • Perform poorly in school 2 • Use tobacco heavily 3 These are all populations that I have worked with personally through Grow Your World. 4 We talk with our community one-on-one about these issues. 5 Shady Kimzey asked that the Board increase funding for Grow Your World. 6 Veronica Petrick said Grow Your World has helped her child with anger management, 7 improving her grades, and getting her back on track. She said that the organization has 8 encouraged her daughter to avoid getting involved with drugs. She said Grow Your World teaches 9 her daughter skills that she cannot. She said she appreciates what Grow Your World has done 10 for her family and wants those opportunities for other families. She said that Grow Your World is 11 consistent with reaching out and providing opportunities for her child. 12 Courtney McWilliams said she is the program manager for Grow Your World. She said 13 one thing that stands out for her is that they do not just give tools to families and then send them 14 on their way. She said they continue to check in and work with families. She said $10,000 to 15 purchase materials is absolutely absurd, to say the least. She said she spent 10-20 hours a week 16 volunteering with Grow Your World and there are dozens more doing the same thing. She said to 17 expect community members to have full responsibility, bear the brunt of the effort, and the 18 financial burden, but the county can pay for their staff did not make sense to her. She said there 19 are dozens of volunteers and dozens of families who work to take care of their community and 20 put resources back into the community. She questioned whether the county could say the same 21 thing. She said they cannot grow and change unless they are given the instructions to do so. 22 She said in order to support children they need to keep checking in with them. She said many 23 volunteers work with families at Grow Your World. 24 TJ Mundy said she is a volunteer with Grow Your World. She read the instructions for 25 how to use Narcan during an overdose. She also read the instructions for how to use Naloxone, 26 which is administered through the nose. 27 Sophie Suberman continued to read the instructions for administering Naloxone. She then 28 read advice for self-care for those who have administered Narcan or Naloxone. She said that she 29 would distribute Narcan to anyone in attendance who would like to have it. She said there is no 30 prevention anymore. She said anything they do to build communities cannot happen in a one- 31 time moment. 32 Will Elmore said the work that all of the organizations do is priceless. He said the funds 33 are not enough to get the job done. He said he has worked shoulder to shoulder with people 34 overdosing, people who have relapsed, people who have come out of incarceration. He said they 35 need more funds to do the work. 36 Kari Hamel asked the Board to schedule another meeting to make sure all of the applicants 37 have a rubric in advance and an understanding of the criteria. She asked for a public presentation 38 on the rubric as they make these important decisions. She said the three organizations under 39 discussion are the ones getting people to shelter and helping children stay in an academic setting. 40 She said transparency is making sure everyone has quality information, and it did not happen this 41 time. She asked the Board to schedule another meeting and make sure the providers have the 42 rubric. 43 44 Commissioner Portie-Ascott said that the county and nation face a loneliness and isolation 45 crisis. She said that transparency is important to the Board and that the process is important. She 46 said there was a breakdown this time. She asked if there was a way to take another look at the 47 process. 48 Commissioner Richards said she is concerned about the process and the lack of firm 49 criteria that was understood by the community. She asked the Board to consider what they can 50 do to pause and regroup. She said there are always things they can and cannot pay for based 51 on what's allowed and what's not. She said that the community indicated a lack of understanding 21 1 about the criteria and that bothers her. She said she has a concern about funding county 2 programs instead of community programs. She said the PORT program sounds like a good 3 program. She noted that other county programs have already been funded with opioid settlement 4 funds. 5 Commissioner Fowler asked if there is legal clarity on the use of funds. 6 John Roberts said the MOA with the state does not define administrative or operational 7 costs. He said the prohibition comes from documents from the Attorney General's office. He said 8 according to the Attorney General they are not allowed to expend funds on those types of costs 9 other than the first priority under option A. He said that option was not listed in the proposals that 10 were rejected by the committee. He said that the only definition is the dictionary and that includes 11 employment, salary, benefits, and those items. He said that is the extent of the clarity. 12 Commissioner Fowler said it seemed to her that they need a program manager to create 13 the rubric and that it is included in the RFP so the applicants can be aware. She said that she 14 thinks that should be acted on so they can move the process forward. 15 Chair Bedford asked Quintana Stewart if they could pause in funding. 16 Quintana Stewart said those programs in the first round of funding have already been 17 allocated. 18 Commissioner Fowler said she was only interested in pausing on allocating funds that 19 were up for consideration at the meeting. 20 Chair Bedford clarified that it was for funding for the new round and not the first and said 21 she agrees that funding should be allocated for the coordinator position to assist with the process. 22 Commissioner McKee asked how much money is left in the social justice fund. 23 Bonnie Hammersley said about $90,000. 24 Commissioner McKee said the county often funds positions through different funding 25 sources. He asked if$60,000 could be reallocated from the Social Justice Fund to fund the Harm 26 Reduction Coordinator, and then each of the other community organizations receive an additional 27 $20,000. He asked if the opioid funding could be revisited each budget year and more funds 28 allocated to the coordinator position as it is available. 29 Bonnie Hammersley said that is possible. 30 Commissioner McKee said he supports the PORT organization, but these community 31 organizations are boots on the ground. He said he would like to find more funding for these 32 projects. 33 Bonnie Hammersley said there are remaining funds in the Opioid Fund that have not been 34 expended. 35 Chair Bedford said that it would have to be the other way around, because several of the 36 requests were not allowable expenses. She said the$60,000 would have to come from the Social 37 Justice Fund and go to the community organizations. 38 Vice-Chair Greene said that is her thought too. She said it would be ok to take funds from 39 the Social Justice Fund to give to those organizations. She said it was unfortunate that there was 40 a process issue and she appreciates the effort. She said it was unfortunate that the NCACC did 41 not come through with their promised funds. She said she supports the coordinator position and 42 the PORT proposal. She asked if they could go with the original amount and then hope for the 43 grant award to come in. 44 Quintana Stewart said the $244,000 amount is not the full amount because it did not have 45 the vehicle added. She said if they could have the vehicle included that would be the preference. 46 Vice-Chair Greene said she was in favor of the coordinator position, the PORT proposal 47 and adding extra funds for the community organizations. 48 Commissioner Hamilton said this situation underlines the lack of overall funding in the 49 country for mental health and substance abuse programs. She said they struggle with how to 50 divide the available funds. She acknowledged that the process is not ideal. She said she is open 51 to the ideas expressed by the rest of the Board. She said she saw the benefits of pausing. She 22 1 said there are lots of needs, and their job is to balance and try to get the most needs met with the 2 funds that they have. 3 Commissioner Richards said the process was not ideal and to be fair, she thought that 4 there should be more information shared with the public and give everyone who applied another 5 chance after viewing a rubric. She said that she thought there needed to be a coordinator. She 6 said she worries about the other groups that weren't recommended at all. 7 Chair Bedford said she has concerns that if there is a pause, that the three community 8 organizations will get nothing. She said she has concerns of duplication of efforts with the 9 Transition-Support Network. She said she wants to move ahead with the harm reduction 10 coordinator, and then turn it over to the committee. She said Grow Your World did not seem 11 directly tied to opioids. She wanted community organizations to think about other options for 12 funding, such as ABC funding, DSS foster care funding for afterschool, and the non-county 13 agency funding program. She said the county has to focus on the mandated services and 14 requirements first and determine if it is pertinent to the work the county is doing. She also 15 suggested seeking funds from Orange County Arts Commission and Juvenile Crime Prevention 16 Council (JCPC). 17 Vice-Chair Greene said in rethinking everything, she would like to support the 18 recommendation as is, and then everyone can reapply for future funding. She said they can then 19 clearly identify what additional things they can fit into the grant. 20 21 A motion was made by Vice-Chair Greene, seconded by Chair Bedford, to approve the 22 resolution regarding the expenditure of Opioid Settlement Funds and to approve Budget 23 Amendment#4-B. 24 25 Commissioner McKee asked if Vice-Chair Greene would consider adding an amendment 26 to add $60,000 from social justice funds for those three agencies. 27 Vice-Chair Greene and Chair Bedford said no. 28 Commissioner Portie-Ascott said she struggles with approving the motion and would still 29 like to pause. 30 Commissioner Fowler clarified that PORT requested a vehicle but that is not included in 31 the motion. 32 Chair Bedford said they would all have to apply again. 33 Commissioner Fowler said they are approving just one year. 34 35 VOTE: Ayes, 4 (Chair Bedford, Vice-Chair Greene, Commissioner McKee, Commissioner 36 Fowler), Nays, 3 (Commissioner Portie-Ascott, Commissioner Hamilton, Commissioner 37 Richards) 38 39 MOTION PASSES 40 41 Bonnie Hammersley noted that it was after 9 p.m. and suggested that the Board consider 42 item 7-a at a later date. 43 44 Commissioner Hamilton made a motion to amend the agenda and postpone item 7-a due 45 to the lateness of the hour. Commissioner McKee seconded the motion. 46 47 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 48 49 23 1 b. Community Climate Action Grant (CCAG) — FY 2023-24 Project Selection for General 2 Applicants and Schools 3 The Board: 4 1) received the grant project funding recommendations from the Commission for the 5 Environment (CFE) and the Human Relations Commission (HRC) for the FY 2023-24 6 Orange County Community Climate Action Grant Program; and 7 2) considered approving funding for the recommended Community Climate Action Grant 8 projects for FY 2023-24 as outlined in the attached report. 9 10 BACKGROUND: As part of the FY 2019-20 budget, the Board of Orange County Commissioners 11 (BOCC) created the Orange County Climate Action Fund dedicated to accelerating climate 12 change mitigation actions in Orange County. This decision was motivated in part to help the 13 County meet the climate change mitigation goals set by the Board in recent years: 14 • Reduce greenhouse gas emissions community-wide by 26 percent by 2025 (from 2005 15 levels). 16 • Transition to a 100% renewable energy-based economy by 2050 17 • Newly adopted Climate Action Plan (November 2023) 18 19 For the 2023-24 funding cycle, $564,085 in funding was budgeted to support climate action 20 projects that will benefit Orange County residents both socially and financially. Following the 21 direction of the Board of Orange County Commissioners (BOCC), the process for soliciting and 22 selecting projects to receive funding was conducted through a formal Community Climate Action 23 Grant (CCAG) program. 24 25 For this grant cycle, the BOCC reserved half of the total funding for this grant program 26 ($282,042.50)to be awarded to projects submitted by either of Orange County's two public school 27 districts. The remaining half ($282,042.50) was to be made available to all other eligible general 28 applicants in this round. 29 30 The Community Climate Action grant program received eleven (11)applications in this round from 31 a variety of general applicants representing non-profit and public organizations whose total 32 requests added up to $614,540. Two (2) projects totaling $557,959 were submitted from the 33 Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools and Orange County Schools districts. 34 35 Grant applications were completed over the summer and reviewed and scored by the Commission 36 for the Environment (CFE) and the Human Relations Commission (HRC). In fall 2023, each of 37 these Commissions voted to forward their final scoring and comments to the BOCC. 38 39 The following is a rank-order summary table of the combined project scoring and 40 recommendations. More details on each project are available in Attachment 1: 41 24 General Applications: Total Name Project Name Description Amount Recommended Rank Score out Requested Funding level of 26 Points Supplemental Habitat's Home Preservation Habitat for Humanity weatherization program support. $55,000 $55,400 1 21 Urban Sustainability Growing More than Create a Green Infrastructure Solutions Rain Gardens workforce Development $69,156 $69,156 2 21 Apprenticeship Program LED Lighting Upgrade for Town of Chapel Hill LED Lighting Upgrades Hargraves Community Center $95,000 $0 3 20 Basketball Court Hillsborough United Church of Christ Solar Panel Project Rooftop Solar Installation $10,000 $14,400 4 20 Binkley Baptist Church Let There Be(clean energy)light! Install 50 solar panels $49,446 $49,036 5 18 Rooftop solar on EMPOWERment Rooftop solar installation $134,562 $61,623 6 18 PEACH apartments Club Nova Big Impact Small Support Installation of $37,227 $37,227 7 17 Footprint garden,greenhouse,terrace. Eco-Institute at Community Garden Expand Community Garden Sanctuary Farm Cooperative Cooperative and create a $50,800 $0 8 17 new Training Program Haven for Outdoor Solar Powered Shelter with The Arts Center Eco-Classroom 16 places to charge up, $41,729 $0 9 17 explore,create,and learn. St.Thomas More EV Charging Station Catholic Church EV Charging Station Installation $22.434 $4 10 16 Triangle EC clan The a is for Equity. Discount&Bike with Voucher g � q �° Pilot Program $50,000.00 $0 11 13 School Applications: Total Name Project Description Amount Recommended Rank Score out Requested Funding Level of 26 Points Chapel Hill Carrboro LED Lights LED Campus Lighting $270,000 $94,014 1 17 City Schools Changeover Orange County 54 Panel Solar Pedestal with Schools Solar Battery Storage $2$7.959 $188,029 2 11 1 2 3 * All projects were placed in rank order by CFE and HRC voting. 4 5 Attachment 2 provides a status summary including estimates of GHG emissions avoided annually 6 from projects that have been approved by the Community Climate Action Grant program to date. 7 8 Amy Eckberg, Sustainability Projects Manager, made the following presentation: 9 10 25 1 Slide #1 GRANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA Community Climate Action Grant (CCAG) Project Selection FY23-24 December 12, 2023 2 3 4 Slide #2 CCAG Background • /4 cent property tax for climate action approved beginning in FY 19-20 • First year projects run by County entities • FY20-21 and future projects open to community through grant program • Scoring and eligibility guidelines created by the BOCC • Projects prioritized with social justice and racial equity benefits • Community focus 5 6 7 Slide #3 CCAG Eligibility Guidelines • Non-profits, public entities, and small businesses • All funds spent in Orange County • Must have legal standing to receive funds • Ongoing projects eligible if expanding or accelerating • Replacement and repair projects are eligible if not likely to be funded within 5 years 8 26 1 Amy Eckberg said the guidelines are pretty straightforward. 2 3 Slide #4 CCAG Scaring Criteria • 26-point scale • Social Justice and Racial Equity (Cpts) • GHG emissions reduced (4 pts) • Efficient use of Funds (4 pts) • Capacity of Applicant (3 pts) • Local Economic Development (3 pts) • Amount and Duration of Engagement (3 pts) • Time to complete (3 pts) *Ail applications are reviewed and scored by the Commission for the Environment and the Human Relations Commission 4 5 6 Slide #5 New This Year • Extensive community outreach APPLY ������ �mrtG aintP�agram wmq cvn..m..m.,pmr�•mae,�r ro,M, Applications must • 13 applications—most ever be received by received in one grant cycle �� ��• ° ^�'aP Avge¢t 78,2023. r tl�r • Both school districts submitted 166.ifl g applications IXnn AA • Wide variety of projects—solar,weatherization, 'LED lights, community gardens and green infrastructure projects involving youth • CCAG"Success Stories"page continues to grow on website - Projects highlighted in our Climate Connection newsletter and other medial channels • Almost$1.2 million in grant funding requested ($564,085 available—t/2 for community and Mor schools) 7 8 9 10 27 1 Slide #6 2023 Project Highlights uuuncni5 _— • Town of Chapel Hill planting 80 trees in Northside Free Trees for Northside neighborhood this fall "° "°°^°°"'°"'�'°°•'�"' __ _ aw°�d..•^,,,,•�•=gin°„mss.°.<a° Orange County project helps • Town of Chapel Hill completed �; "�, •°ohomeowners with energy new LED lights project at Cedar efficiency upgrades Falls Multipurpose field • Chapel Hill installed accessible EV charger at Eubanks park F, and ride • Solar installed on renovated d-. ArtsCenter building; bike rack, e-bike and EV charging station chargers also installed _ l;llr Jailit Car Bret • NCSEA's Neighborhood Energy _.»� . 14aw Ar1^4 m.ic=f•cility to F,nld xatl Resilience energy efficiency project featured on WUNC; t", served as model and inspiration ' � � ''� - for EECBG grant funding award 3 4 Slide #7 FY 23-24 CCAG — Timeline Summer Fall 2023 December 2023 CC.AG CFE d 2023 Application HRC Review BOCC Period •r- Approval -A 5 6 Amy Eckberg said they hope to get the projects started at the beginning of the year. 7 8 28 1 Slide #8 General Applications:. total Name PrpJcti Name Description Am unt Recommended Rank Score out Requested Funding level 0f 26 Points Habitat for Humanity Supplemental Habitat's Home Preservation $55.000 SSS.DOO 1 21 Weathe,4.11on program support. Create a Green Urban Sustainability Growing More than Infrastructure Workforce $64.156 $64,156 2 23 S.lutions Rain Gardens Development Apprenticeship Program LED UChting Upgrade for Town of Chapel Hill LEO Lighting Upgrades Hargraves Community $95.000 $O 3 20 Center Basketball Court Hillsborough Uri Solar Panel Prol— Rooftop Solar lnstallati.n $10,000 $10,000 4 20 Church of Christ ere B,(clean n Binkley Baptist Gh Urnh Let Thrte'")Light! Itall 50 solar panels $49,046 $49,036 5 YS solar on EMPOWER—rt "p-'—EACH oPoftop EACH apartments Rooftop wlarimtallat3.n $134,562 $411623 6 18 Big impact small 5uppoit Installatl on of club Nova Footprint garden,gr—hou.a, $32,227 $57,2.27 7 ]7 terrace. Foo-Institute at Com mun lty Garden Expand c.m .Ity Garden Sanctuary Farm Co.perative Cooperative and create a $50.8m $O 8 ]] w Training Program Haven for Outdoor Solar Powered Shelter with The Arts Center 16 placesto charge up, $41.729 $O 9 17 Eco-Cla ssroam explore,create,and learn. St.Thomas More EV Charging Station EV Charging Station §22,030 $0 10 i6 Cath.Ilc Church Installation Triangle ECycling The a is for Equ lty. DISCOUm e61ke WIFh VOuchar $SO,000(b SU 11 13 Pilot Program School Applications: total DescrlPSlon AmountT endd Renk ScoreoutReq VestedFunding Level o}24 points Chapel Hill Carrboro LED Lights CED Campus Ughting I $270,000 $94,014 I 1 1 City Schools angeover Orange County Solar S4 Panel Solar Pedestal wit h §287,959 $]88,029 2 ]1 Schools Battery Storage 2 3 Vice-Chair Greene asked why the Town of Chapel Hill was ranked third, but received zero 4 funding. 5 Amy Eckberg said they liked the project but the town has received several hundred 6 thousand dollars over the years and there were so many new applications, they wanted to provide 7 the opportunity to other applicants. She said they might have resources that other groups might 8 not have. 9 Commissioner Fowler asked why Orange County Schools received more than the Chapel 10 Hill Carrboro City Schools. 11 Amy Eckberg said it was because this is the first time Orange County Schools has applied 12 and Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools has received a large share of funds over the years. 13 Commissioner Fowler asked why several scored 17 and only one received funding. 14 Amy Eckberg said greenhouse gas emission reduction was a factor in the decisions and 15 that is true for this one. 16 Commissioner Hamilton said it's important to spread around funding, but she also wants 17 to consider impact. She said she looks at the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. 18 Amy Eckberg said that reductions in greenhouse gas emissions is ranked 4 in the rubric. 19 Commissioner Richards said she was pleased to see the higher number of applications. 20 Chair Bedford said with the Inflation Reduction Act, non-profits will file a 990T and if they 21 are paying people living wages, it is between 6%-30% cash back from the US government. She 22 said that whoever ends up owning the solar at the end is the one that has to file the tax return and 23 get the cash back. She had asked if EMPOWERment and churches had factored that into their 24 budgets. 25 Amy Eckberg said she does not know about EMPOWERment but the other two had it 26 factored in. She said she would make sure EMPOWERment knows about this. 27 28 A motion was made by Chair Bedford, seconded by Commissioner Hamilton, to approve 29 funding for the recommended Community Climate Action Grant projects for FY 2023-24. 30 29 1 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 2 3 The Board took a brief break for three minutes and reconvened at 9:35. 4 5 c. BOCC Boards and Commissions Assignments 6 The Board selected the boards and commissions Board members would like to serve on in 2024. 7 8 BACKGROUND: BOCC members serve on various County and County-related boards and 9 commissions. On an annual basis, BOCC members indicate their desire to continue serving on 10 specific boards or commissions or their desire to make changes. 11 12 Tara May, Deputy Clerk to the Board, introduced the item. 13 The Board made the following boards and commissions selections: Board Name 2024 Commissioner(s) ABC Board Commissioner Richards Alliance Health Board of Directors Commissioner Hamilton Board of Health Commissioner Fowler Board of Social Services Commissioner Greene Burlington/Graham MPO Transportation Advisory Commissioner Richards-Member Committee Commissioner Fowler-Alternate Commissioner Hamilton-Member Central Pines Regional Council Commissioner Greene-Alternate Central Pines Rural Planning Organization (CPRPO) Rural Transportation Advisory Commissioner Portie-Ascott-Member Committee formerly TARPO TAC Commissioner Fowler-Alternate Climate Council Commissioner Fowler Cooperative Extension Leadership Council Commissioner Portie-Ascott Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Commissioner Bedford-Member Planning Organization Board Commissioner Fowler-Alternate Durham Tech Board of Trustees Commissioner McKee Family Success Alliance Advisory Council Commissioner Hamilton Fire Chief's Association of Orange County Commissioner McKee Go Triangle Board of Trustees Commissioner Greene Commissioner Bedford-Member Go Triangle Special Tax Board Commissioner Hamilton-Alternate Go Triangle Transit Advisory Committee Commissioner Hamilton Healthy Carolinians Commissioner Bedford Commissioner Fowler-Member Intergovernmental Parks Work Group Commissioner McKee-Alternate JCPC (Orange County Juvenile Crime Prevention Council) Commissioner Portie-Ascott Jordan Lake One Water Coalition Commissioner Richards 30 Commissioner Greene Justice Advisory Council Commissioner Bedford Commissioner Fowler Legislative Issues Work Group (LIWG) Commissioner Hamilton Orange County Behavioral Health Task Force Commissioner Richards Orange County Local Government Affordable Housing Collaborative Commissioner Portie-Ascott Orange County Partnership for Young Children Commissioner Richards Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness Commissioner Portie-Ascott Piedmont Food Processing Center Commissioner Bedford Research Triangle Regional Partnership Executive Board Commissioner Portie-Ascott Commissioner McKee Solid Waste Advisory Group (SWAG) Commissioner Fowler Commissioner Richards Strategic Communications Work Group Commissioner McKee The Chamber For a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Directors Commissioner McKee UNC Coal Transition Project Commissioner Bedford Commissioner Greene-member Upper Neuse River Basin Association Commissioner Bedford-alternate Visitor's Bureau Advisory Board Commissioner Richards 1 2 A motion was made by Commissioner Fowler, seconded by Commissioner Hamilton, to 3 approve the assignments for BOCC boards and commissions. 4 5 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 6 7 7. Reports 8 a. Discussion on School and County Capital Planning and Financing Scenarios 9 This item was removed from the agenda and will be taken up a later date. 10 11 8. Consent Agenda 12 13 • Removal of Any Items from Consent Agenda 14 • Approval of Remaining Consent Agenda 15 • Discussion and Approval of the Items Removed from the Consent Agenda 16 17 A motion was made by Commissioner McKee, seconded by Vice-Chair Greene, to 18 approve the consent agenda. 19 20 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 21 22 31 1 a. Minutes 2 None. 3 b. Property Tax Release/Refund 4 The Board adopted a resolution to release property tax value for one (1) taxpayer with a total of 5 one (1) bill that will result in a reduction of revenue. 6 c. Late Application for Property Tax Exemption/Exclusion 7 The Board considered one (1) untimely application for exemption/exclusion from ad valorem 8 taxation for one (1) bill for the 2023 tax year. 9 d. Fiscal Year 2023-24 Budget Amendment#4 10 The Board considered approving budget, grant, and capital project ordinance amendments for 1 1 Fiscal Year 2023-24. 12 e. North Carolina Governor's Highway Safety Program: Orange County Sheriff's Office 13 Police Traffic Services and Approval of Budget Amendment#4-A 14 The Board: 15 1) adopted a Resolution recognizing federal funding for police traffic services to the Sheriff's 16 Office; 17 2) authorized the Chair to sign the Resolution; and 18 3) approved Budget Amendment#4-A. 19 f. Approval of Participation in Conservation Easement—Terry Road Farm, LLC 20 The Board approved participation in and the co-holding of a conservation easement in conjunction 21 with Triangle Land Conservancy for the Terry Road Farm property. 22 g. Amendments to the Orange County Staff Working Group (SWG) By-Laws and Operating 23 Procedures 24 The Board approved amendments to the Orange County Staff Working Group (SWG) By-Laws. 25 h. Approval of the Orange County Transportation Services Public Involvement Plan 26 The Board approved the Orange County Transportation Services (OCTS) Public Involvement 27 Plan. 28 L Computer Surplus Declaration and Donation to Triangle Ecycling 29 The Board approved and authorized the Chair to sign a resolution declaring items listed in the 30 abstract as surplus and authorized the donation of those items to the non-profit Triangle Ecycling. 31 j. Request for Road Additions to the State Maintained Secondary Road System for Red 32 Maple Lane and Eno Ridge Drive in the Cates Landing Subdivision 33 The Board approved a recommendation to the North Carolina Department of Transportation 34 (NCDOT) and the North Carolina Board of Transportation (NC BOT) concerning a petition to add 35 Red Maple Lane and Eno Ridge Drive in the Cates Landing Subdivision to the State Maintained 36 Secondary Road System. 37 k. Construction Contract with HGS, LLC T/A RES Environmental Operating Company, 38 LLC for the Gravelly Hill Middle School (GHMS) Stormwater Wetland Retrofit Project 39 The Board approved a construction contract in the amount of $286,820.84 with HGS, LLC T/A 40 RES Environmental Operating Company, LLC for the Gravelly Hill Middle School Stormwater 41 Wetland Retrofit Project. 42 43 9. County Manager's Report 44 Bonnie Hammersley said they could set up separate meetings to go over the information 45 in item 7-a before the January 16, 2024 meeting. She said they would also extend that invitation 46 to the schools. She wished the Board a happy holiday. 47 48 10. County Attorney's Report 49 John Roberts said he would send a brief overview of the administrative overhead cost 50 requirements for the opioid settlement funding and would make sure that information is shared 51 with non-profits before the next opportunity for opioid settlement funding. 32 1 11. *Appointments 2 None. 3 4 12. Information Items 5 6 • December 4, 2023 BOCC Meeting Follow-up Actions List 7 • Memorandum Regarding Other Post-Employment Benefits Cash Flow 8 9 13. Closed Session 10 None. 11 12 Adjournment 13 14 A motion was made by Commissioner Fowler, seconded by Commissioner Hamilton, to 15 adjourn the meeting at 10:10 p.m. 16 17 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 18 19 Jamezetta Bedford, Chair 20 21 22 Laura Jensen, 23 Clerk to the Board 24 25 Submitted for approval by Laura Jensen, Clerk to the Board