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Agenda - 09-17-2024; 8-a - Minutes
1 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: September 17, 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: May 30, 2024 Budget Public Hearing and Work Session Attachment 2: June 4, 2024 Business Meeting Attachment 3: June 6, 2024 Budget Work Session Attachment 4: June 18, 2024 Business Meeting FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated with this item. ALIGNMENT WITH STRATEGIC PLAN: There are no Orange County Strategic Plan Goals applicable to this item. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board approve minutes as presented or as amended. Attachment 1 1 1 DRAFT MINUTES 2 ORANGE COUNTY 3 BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 4 BUDGET AND CAPITAL INVESTMENT PLAN PUBLIC HEARING 5 AND WORK SESSION 6 May 30, 2024 7 7:00 p.m. 8 9 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a Budget and Capital Investment Plan 10 Public Hearing and Work Session on Thursday, May 30, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. at the Southern 11 Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, NC. 12 13 COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Jamezetta Bedford, Vice-Chair Sally Greene 14 and Commissioners Amy Fowler, Jean Hamilton, Earl McKee, Phyllis Portie-Ascott, and Anna 15 Richards 16 COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: None 17 COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: John Roberts 18 COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Bonnie Hammersley, Deputy County Manager 19 Travis Myren, and Clerk to the Board Laura Jensen. (All other staff members will be identified 20 appropriately below) 21 22 Chair Bedford called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. All commissioners were present. 23 24 1. Opening Remarks 25 Chair Bedford welcomed the public and read the public charge: 26 27 The Board of Commissioners pledges its respect to all present. The Board asks those attending 28 this meeting to conduct themselves in a respectful, courteous manner toward each other, county 29 staff and the commissioners. At any time should a member of the Board or the public fail to 30 observe this charge, the Chair will take steps to restore order and decorum. Should it become 31 impossible to restore order and continue the meeting, the Chair will recess the meeting until such 32 time that a genuine commitment to this public charge is observed. The BOCC asks that all 33 electronic devices such as cell phones, pagers, and computers should please be turned off or set 34 to silent/vibrate. Please be kind to everyone. 35 36 2. Presentation of Proposed Amendments to the County Manager's Recommended FY 37 2024-25 Budget 38 39 County Manager Bonnie Hammersley made the following presentation: 40 41 42 2 1 Slide #1 ORANGE COUNTY NORTH +CAROLINA FY2024-25 RECOMMENDED BUDGET & COMMISSIONER AMENDMENTS Public Hearing May 34, 2024 2 3 4 Slide #2 FY2024-25 RECOMMENDED BUDGET REVENUES Lkcenw.s xnd Pennklx B:1% Mkce3laneous APPwPria[ed Fund Balance 2.d% ■Property Taxes ■Sales Tax IF IF Transfers ■Licenses and Permits Q.3% miscellaneous ■Appropriated Fund Balance ■Charges for Services r Intergovernmental ■Transfers ©RANGECOUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 5 6 Bonnie Hammersley explained that revenues are used to operate county government 7 services. 8 9 3 1 Slide #3 FY2024-25 RECOMMENDED BUDGET Revenue Projections Sales Tax Projections Sales Tax has slowed to pre-covid levels of single digit percentage increases: - Point of Delivery-4% - Per Capita-3% Projected Increase =$1.6M State Hold Harmless Anticipated reduction = ($2.2M) ORANGE COUNTY NORTI I CAROLINA 2 3 Bonnie Hammersley said to put the sales tax percentage increase into perspective, last 4 year the revenue projection for sales tax was $8.1 million vs. $1.6 million this year. She said this 5 year, for the first time since it has been established, Medicaid costs surpassed sales tax revenue, 6 resulting in a reduction of$2.2 million. 7 8 Slide #4 FY2024-25 RECOMMENDED BUDGET Revenue Projections Property Tax Projections Property Tax Growth 2.45% =$5.3 Million Recommended Property Tax Increase: $0.0281-balance budget =$6.5M Current Tax Rate=$4.8353 per$100 valuation Recommended Tax Rate=$0.8634 per$100 valuation Solid Waste Fee Rate Reduction$142 to$138 •mom�� ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 9 4 1 Bonnie Hammersley said there is a recommended property tax rate increase to balance 2 this budget. 3 4 Slide #5 FY2024-25 RECOMMENDED BUDGET EXPENDITURES Ganarat G.--t Support Saran etas ..ity Ssm.sa 4.3% 6.4% 5.6% T,an5Fer5 to Other ■General Government Funds 1.9% t7arwfer for County U0 ■Support services se"I a 4'71 -Community Services ■Human Services w a Public Safety Durham Tech (Orange a Education campus) 0.3% a Durham Tech(Orange Campus) ■Transfer for School Debt Service ■Transfer for County Debt Service a Transfers to Other Funds ORANGE COUNTY NOWrH CAROI.TNA 5 6 7 Slide #6 FY2024-25 RECOMMENDED BUDGET K-12 EDUCATION—5% INCREASE CarrboroChapel Hill FY 2023-24 City Current Continuation Schools Expense Request Request Recommended Current Expense $60,158,538 $65,609,988 $67,914,988 $63,124,906 $2,966,368 Per-Pttpil $5,346 $5,889 $6,496 $5,666 $320 Special District Tay-1 $0.1.98 $0.198 $0.:198 $0.198 $0 FY 2023-24 Orange County Current Continuation Schools t Current Expense $42,784,038 $44,542,182 $47,647,282 $44,965,376 $2,181,339 Per-Pupil $5,346 $5,613 $6,004 $5,+666 $320 1-An increase in the Speciaf District Tax far CHCCS is not recommended GRANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 8 9 10 5 1 Slide #7 FY2024-25 RECOMMENDED BUDGET EDUCATION—5%INCREASE Durham Technical FY2023-7,4 I ounlyI' Community College Base quest i Budget 7e .__end I• Current Expenses $ 900,346 $ 1,157,360 $ 945,363 $ 45,017 Capital Outlay` $ 75,000 $ 100,000 $ 75,000 $ - Innovation Hub* $ 20,000 $ 20,000 $ 20,000 $ Back to Work Initiative*$ 100,000 $ 100,000 $ 100,000 $ - Durham Tech Promise* $ 200,000$ 200,000$ 200,000 $ Small Business Center Coordinator* $ 70,000 $ 70,000 $ 70,000 $ - Apprenticeship Coordinator* $ $,249 $ 8,755 $ 8,755 $ 506 'Funded in Article 46,outside of fere General Fund ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 2 3 4 Slide #8 FY2024-25 RECOMMENDED BUDGET EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION PACKAGE COUNTYi %Increase Total Compensation Adjurtment 4� $3,200,000 2 Living;Wage Adjustment 6% 575,000 Health&Dental Insurance 5% $640,000 Retirement Increase 6% $530,000 3Rcmove Matching Requirement for $75,000 40fk W I-Compensation adjustment include,Merit and 401Kadjustments of 4% 2 Living Wage Increase lit7ng nage ior temporary employees from$166V per hour to$17.d5 per hour 3-Allow-equitable distribution of 481K supplement ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 5 6 7 8 9 10 6 1 Slide #9 FY2024-25 RECOMMENDED BUDGET OUTSIDE AGENCIES Approved . lRecornmend Agencies Funded 42 52 38 3 Total � $ 1,037,016 $ 1,969,914 $ 884,439 $ 162,776 Q Beginning in FY 2024-25,the agencies that are eligible to bill Medicaid and receive Maintenance of Effort(MOE)funds will be moved to the MOE fund and will be managed by Alliance. There were seven(7)new agencies requesting funding of$144,000,four(4)new agencies were recommended to receive funding for a total of$22,500. ORANGE COUNTY NORTH.CAROLINA 2 3 4 Slide #10 FY2024-25 RECOMMENDED BUDGET FIRE DISTRICTS CURRENT EVWiL11'Vk1A"jk'z s TAX RATE INCREASE Cellar Grove $0.09 $0.00 50.09 (Chapel Hill $0.1387 $0.00 $0.1387 Damascus $0.1280 $0.00 $0.1280 Efland $0.1028 $0.00 $0.1028 I I"•• .I 1 •! Little River $0.0739 $0.00 $0.0739 Orange Grove $0.0827 $0.00 $0.0827 South Grange $0.0900 $0.00 $0.0909 Southern'Triangle $0.1280 $0.00 $0.1280 White Cross $0.1384 $0.00 $0.1384 ORANGE COUNTY N(lWTH CAROLINA 5 6 Bonnie Hammersley said in North Carolina, only Boards of County Commissioners have 7 the authority to approve tax rate increases, and three fire districts have requested fire district tax 8 rate increases. 9 10 7 1 Bonnie Hammersley and the Board review the proposed amendments to the 2 recommended budget: 3 4 Slide #11 FY2024-25 RECOMMENDED BUDGET OPERATING AMENDMENTS Budget General Amendment Sponsor - Dept AT i1cil(I ii Mii Revenue Expense Fund Page Total Emergency tmove Crisis Rtspons ()1'-I191 STAFF 1.44 Tcammcxpcnscsfrom {SI 3,Itur) 1Sl73,(KK)) Ser4zees General Fund Redirect addititm.tl 5IW,(W in anticipated ()PA101 Hamilton 61 rkpt on Aj,ing C:artfl11'o xls Donation $l(K1,(Kltl ($773,(Kt)) to fund existing Aging General Fund Expenses Increan Transfer from Economic VB to General Fund by 011•1102 Hamihon 134 Llevc1opmcnt- S164,050 to fund $164,054 ($437,(15[1) Visitors Bureau ongoing county rx rcsrs Reduce Trnasel and OP-403 I iamdtutt All Fund Wide Training 2%across the (59,156) (5446,246) hoard Reduce budgetary ()1'-()04 Hamilton 155 Finanec and stimatc fur county wide Admin Seri^ices trlrphnztr inflatitan to — 4%from 5/,, C} NGE C LINTY 5 6 Slide #12 FY2024-25 RECOMMENDED BUDGET OPERATING AMENDMENTS Budget General Amendment Sponsor Total lncrcat. CSP-()05 Hamilton 44 Fund Wide :tpproprlaumi a 511K1,4[10' Fund Balance in {$�fi1,246j General Fund McKee, Increase funding OP-f% Portie-Aseott 243 Outside Agencies to Porch- $15,000 ($546,206) and Bedford I lillsburuug;h McKee and Reduce funding OI'{ Bedford 243 Outside Agencies for OC(,wing (Sl(1,400) ($456,206) Wage A[cKcc and Increase Funding OP-068 Bedford 216 DSS for OCIM and 510,0(K) (5446,246) IFC:I-x'rstl zervice. Reduce Trangfer Purtic-Ascou Capital to County Capital OP-(09 and Bedford94 Investment Plan for Climate ($262,500) ($808,706) Change Grant FundingE ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 7 8 9 8 1 Slide #13 FY2024-25 RECOMMENDED BUDGET OPERATING AMENDMENTS Budget V, Amendment Sponsor Page DepT Amendment Revenue Expense _rud Total Fund hmctgrnrz Porric- 1[reusing Assisrancu OP-010 Mcott and 171 Housing Program $430,500 ($308,206) 13cdford w/OP-091,0P-006 &0P-1K)9 F.srablish my EH Portic- program design baicd 013-111 Ascott and 171 Housing on aPPruwd funding 5420,500 (5308,206) Bedford Icuels. Scc pmpnscd niidrtincs 1aclocr Adjust Tax Rate to balance budget with add?$5106 from 0R099 STAFF All All Social J usticc fund. ($393,312) ($5,106) s0 Based on all Published mswndmcnts. \I.01-Vnil r- NORTH CAROLINA 2 3 4 Slide #14 FY2024-25 RECOMMENDED BUDGET OPERATING AMENDMENTS New proposed EHA award criteria- 1, riteria.1. Prioritize applicants at 30%of Area Median Income(AMI)facing life-changing events (death/illncSS Of primary earner,job loss). 2. Set a maximum assistance amount of 52,500. 3. Encourage combining our assistance with support from ocher ltrganizations(faith-based, etc.). 4. limit assistance to once per year. 5. Offer case management services to all applicants. ORANGE COUNTY NflWTH CAROLINA 5 6 Bonnie Hammersley said these criteria will apply to OP-011 if it is approved on June 6, 7 2024. 8 9 10 9 1 Slide #15 FY2024-25 RECOMMENDED BUDGET CIP AMENDMENTS Amendment Sponsor Budget Dept Amendment Revenue Expense Page lI'-(tSt I i L;I l\Is I[)date Ycar 2(I�A'2M-26) lnarn,lmrnr revenue source transfer frrtm Cardinal Reserve from 1,400,fNlff to 1,823,121 and ubsegoently reduce the debtg nancin amount by 423,129 IP-092 Staff cis '-Nfs educeYear3(M'2026-27) Amendment 'anility Acceesihility,Safety and Security I mprovements by 6,000 for Blackwood Farnt Park--Security Cameras due to mmedia€e need .IP-09.3 S tiff 55 Sustainahility Reduce Climate Change -$51,1(i -$51,16 ,lmcndnzent Mitq;ation Project in Year 1 202425)to$525,000. I`his difference is reflected in he Operating Budget for County Manager-SustainabilitY rivisi.onto support Count), ,,ide Climate Action Plan NGE LINTY ojeets 2 3 4 Slide #16 FY2024-25 RECOMMENDED BUDGET CIP AMENDMENTS Amendment Sponsor Budget Dept Amendment Revenue Expense page IP-094 Stiff 134 tanning& ipdate Mebane Dater Line mendment nspecdons 'xpansion Year 1(PY2024-25) ""nuc source from Article 40 ax Proceeds to Debt Financing Article 46 IP-001(tied to OP- rtie-!Ascott 55 ustainabihty Reduce Funding for Clirnate -5262,501 $262,50 04) and Bedford :rant Program—Reduction split 00/4 bcmcen School and :utnntunlV R)rtion ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 5 6 7 10 1 Slide #17 FY2024-25 RECOMMENDED BUDGET BU DGET PUBLIC 14EA RINGS DATE _dget and Capitalestr an E #lay44-&May 34 BUDGET WORK ! SehFwk y -fid Outside Ageneies May 46y r Suppert v General Government and May 28 Budget Amendments and Resolution of Intent to June 6 Adopt BOCC REGULAR MEETING DATE FY2024-25 Operating and CII'Budget Adoption June 18 ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CARt31_INA 2 3 4 3. Public Comments 5 6 Chair Bedford gave instructions for making public comments during the public hearing. 7 8 A motion was made by Commissioner Fowler, seconded by Commissioner Hamilton, to 9 open the public hearing on the budget and capital investment plan. 10 11 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 12 13 PUBLIC COMMENTS: 14 Mia Burroughs said she is a member of the Board of Directors for the Dispute Settlement 15 Center (DSC). She asked the Board to amend the budget to fully fund the Restorative Justice 16 Program. She said Restorative Justice is a long-overdue for Orange County courts. She said it 17 meets victims' needs and is widely supported by judges, district attorneys, and public defenders. 18 April Scales said she is an author and advocate and spent time in prison herself. She said 19 her experience has taught her that they need more options. She said that restorative justice is 20 needed in Orange County. 21 Layne Guiton, a staff attorney at Carolina Student Legal Services at UNCCH. She said 22 that she sees many situations that would have better outcomes with restorative justice. She said 23 that restorative justice is an invaluable tool in the justice system. 24 Debbie Everly said is the director of Orange County Living Wage. She thanked the County 25 Manager for recommending funding. She said they have lifted the wages of Orange County 26 employees by over 3 million dollars since they started the work in 2017. She said this boosts the 27 lives of the workers and is a direct way to break the poverty cycle. She said that they had their 28 first financial literacy workshop for employees and have plans for quarterly training. She said this 29 can be a big help to small businesses. She said they are looking at expanding their DEI training 11 1 and believe that this is about human services and paying people more allows them to live closer 2 to where they work. 3 Blair Pollock said he is retired from Orange County's Solid Waste Department. He asked 4 the Board to keep the Solid Waste fee intact in order to allocate money elsewhere in the budget. 5 He said taking away travel and training for employees is demoralizing and training is an integral 6 part of education. He said there hasn't been a Solid Waste newsletter in a while, and having two- 7 way communication with the public is the best way to ensure higher rates of recycling. He said 8 food waste collection is linked to climate improvement and waste reduction. He said the fee would 9 enable more restaurants to be added to divert food waste. 10 Ryan Lavalley said he is a resident, assistant professor at UNC, and community 11 occupational therapist. He said he moved into the county in 2014 and he has been led to stay and 12 work with older adults in his career. He said that he has been able to study and publish the work 13 at the Department on Aging. He said he opposes the amendment proposed for the Department 14 of Aging. He said that the number of older adults is growing. He said that the Master Aging Plan 15 money was leveraged to build a relationship with UNC Occupational Therapy. He said that the 16 low-income homes that are supported include over 85%of older adults and over half are disabled. 17 He said that the Department on Aging has led the way in thinking about how to include and serve 18 all members of the aging community. He said that money is planned to support specific and 19 concrete projects that he is sure will have lasting impacts. He said that the Department of Aging's 20 work with the MAP model is regarded across the state and country. 21 Leiha Edmonds resident and Ph.D. student at UNC. She said that she also opposes the 22 budget amendment to divert MAP money to the Department on Aging general budget. She said 23 that she was a research associate and has led research teams on Orange County's MAP. She 24 said it is not a plan that sits on the shelf after it is written. She said it is about partnerships and a 25 plan for the county to make it a more livable and age friendly community. She said that she has 26 seen how the strong foundation of the funds in the Department on Aging allows MAP funds to 27 build on infrastructure for new partnerships and programs. She said other counties want to 28 replicate Orange County's MAP and that this makes Orange County a very appealing place. 29 Linda Leikin said she is the Director of PORCH Hillsborough. She thanked Commissioner 30 McKee, Chair Bedford, and Commissioner Portie-Ascott for submitting budget amendments to 31 fund PORCH as an outside agency. She said food insecurity in Northern Orange County is 32 rampant. She said the funds are desperately needed. She said that 50% of students in Orange 33 County Schools are economically disadvantaged. She said that roughly 70% of 300 students are 34 unsure of where their next meal will come from at home. She said they go home and are unsure 35 if they will have a meal until they return to school the next day. She said the grant application 36 asked for funds for vegetables for the students. She asked the commissioners who did not 37 sponsor the amendment to consider voting in favor. She said there is a great need for this work. 38 She said that 95% of their families rely on them. 39 Erica Janko said she is a researcher at UNC Chapel Hill, an Orange County resident, and 40 has aging parents. She said that she opposes the proposed budget amendment to replace 41 General Aging Funds with donated money. She said this change would reduce the budget for 42 aging funds and limits staff flexibility. She said that flexible funding for aging services should be 43 increased, not decreased. She said statewide leaders use Orange County's plan as a guide for 44 their work in their own communities. She said that she has interviewed 45 aging older adults and 45 caregivers. She said they are grateful for the quality of aging services in Orange County, but there 46 still aren't enough services to meet the needs. She said that she volunteers at Our Place weekly. 47 She said they provide needed respite for caretakers and allow older adults with dementia a 1-1 48 volunteer programming. She said there is more demand than they can meet. She said the 49 program is only one day a week and there is a waitlist. She said she has interviewed multiple 50 graduates from Project EngAGE. She said the county is at a critical moment for Orange County. 12 1 Bridget Pemberton-Smith, a lifelong resident and there to represent the Pro-Bono 2 Counseling Network. She said they ask diverse mental health clinicians to donate 8 sessions a 3 year to provide therapy services. She said this is especially valuable to those that are uninsured. 4 She expressed gratitude for the recommended funding for the organization through the Outside 5 Agency funding process. She said they are looking at hiring their first fulltime employee to help 6 manage the scheduling. 7 George Barrett, executive director of the Marion Cheek Jackson Center and director of the 8 Orange County Affordable Housing Board. He thanked the Board for renewing the LHA program. 9 He thanked the Board for their commitment to affordable housing. He thanked them for releasing 10 the first $5 million of CIP funding for affordable housing. He said this is making a tremendous 11 impact on the community. He asked that this be sustained over 10 years. He said this need only 12 continues to grow. He said that they want them to consider the disproportionate impact the bond 13 tax increase will have on the low-income population. He said that a tax increase can have the 14 impact of forcing families out of their homes. He said that as they think about uses, he asks them 15 to think about the connection between school success and having safe, affordable homes for 16 students. He said that teachers need to be able to afford to live where they serve. He said that 17 education will not work without affordable housing for the participants. 18 Jackie Jenks said as the other co-chair of the Coalition said that she agrees with 19 everything that George Barrett said. She said that on behalf of IFC, she wanted to express 20 gratitude for the continued partnership with the county. She said the work intersects with the 21 county in critical ways every day. She said that they work daily with the street outreach team and 22 work together on cold weather pop-up shelters. She said that IFC didn't close doors a single day 23 during COVID. She said it was one of the only places people could go who didn't have a place to 24 call home and receive a host of services. She said that their contributions have decreased to pre- 25 pandemic levels, but the needs have not. She said they are having to reduce expenses 500-700K 26 a year. She said that this year, they will need to close Community House during daytime hours. 27 She said that they continue to struggle to make sure they have enough pantry items and fresh 28 foods for those that shop. She is grateful for the amendment put forward for food purchasing and 29 asked for support. 30 Kathy Atwater said she is a staff member of the Marian Cheek Jackson Center and a 41h 31 generation resident of the Northside Community. She expressed gratitude for reinstituting the 32 Long-time Homeowners' Assistance Program. She said that the need for the residents to stay in 33 their homes is vital. She said they want to be able to remain there. She said there are residents 34 that have been there for over 100 years, and this is a resource for them to be able to stay. She 35 said that the property tax increase will really help residents be able to stay in their homes. She 36 said the home repair programs are also helpful. She said it is very important to keep funding 37 available for the LHA program. 38 39 A motion was made by Vice-Chair Greene, seconded by Commissioner Fowler, to close 40 the public hearing. 41 42 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 43 44 At this time the budget public hearing portion of the meeting ended, and the Board transitioned to 45 a work session. 46 47 4. Advisory Board on Aging —Appointments Discussion 48 The Board discussed appointments to the Advisory Board on Aging. 49 50 BACKGROUND: The Advisory Board on Aging suggests policy and makes recommendations to 51 the Board of Commissioners and the Department on Aging while acting as the liaison between 13 1 older adults of the County and County government. It is charged with promoting needed services, 2 programs, and funding that impacts older residents. 3 4 The Board of County Commissioners appoints all twelve (12) members. 5 6 The following individuals are recommended for Board consideration: 7 NAME POSITION TYPE OF EXPIRATION DESCRIPTION APPOINTMENT DATE TERM Jerry Ann Cheeks Second Full Term 06/30/2027 Gregory Dr. Tracey At-Large First Full Term 06/30/2027 Holsinger 8 9 If the individuals listed above are appointed, no vacancies remain. 10 11 Tara May introduced the item. 12 The Board agreed by consensus on the recommended applicants. 13 14 5. Agricultural Preservation Board —Appointments Discussion 15 The Board discussed an appointment to the Agricultural Preservation Board. 16 17 BACKGROUND: The Agricultural Preservation Board is charged with promoting the economic 18 and cultural importance of agriculture in the County, and to encourage voluntary preservation and 19 protection of farmland for future production. 20 21 The Board of County Commissioners appoints all 15 members, including eight (8) At-Large 22 members, and one (1) member from each of the seven (7)Agricultural Districts in the County. 23 24 The following individuals are recommended for Board consideration: 25 NAME POSITION TYPE OF EXPIRATION DESCRIPTION APPOINTMENT DATE TERM Anjail Taylor At-Large Second Full Term 06/30/2027 Elizabeth At-Large Second Full Term 06/30/2027 Hooten Manley Palmer At-Large First Full Term 06/30/2027 (reappointment) Noah Rannels High Rock/Efland First Full Term 06/30/2027 Voluntary Agricultural District (move from at- largeposition) Michael Hughes White Cross Second Full Term 09/30/2026 Voluntary Agricultural District (move from at- large osition Mary Beth Miller At-Large Partial Term 06/30/2025 14 William Totten Schley/Eno Voluntary First Full Term 06/30/2027 Agricultural District Y" 2 If the individuals listed above are appointed, the following vacancy remains: 3 POSITION EXPIRATION VACANCY INFORMATION DESIGNATION DATE At-Large 06/30/2027 Will become vacant with move of Michael Hughes 4 5 Tara May introduced the item. 6 The Board agreed by consensus on the recommended applicants. 7 8 6. Animal Services Advisory Board 9 The Board discussed appointments to the Animal Services Advisory Board. 10 11 BACKGROUND: The charge of the Animal Services Advisory Board is to advise the Board of 12 County Commissioners on matters of concern regarding animal issues and animal services in 13 Orange County, and to work with the Animal Services Director on various policy concerns and 14 issues regarding County animal services. 15 16 The Board of County Commissioners appoints all thirteen (13) members with representation from 17 various related fields and municipalities. 18 19 The following individuals are recommended for Board consideration: 20 NAME POSITION TYPE OF EXPIRATION DESCRIPTION APPOINTMENT DATE TERM Annie GoldbergAt-Large First Full Term 06/30/2027 Deborah Hill Town of Carrboro First Full Term 06/30/2027 (reappointment) Michael Town of Chapel Hill First Full Term 06/30/2027 Delafield reappointment 21 22 If the individuals listed above are appointed, the following vacancy remains: 23 POSITION EXPIRATION VACANCY INFORMATION DESIGNATION DATE Town of 06/30/2027 Vacant since 03/21/2024 Hillsborough 24 25 Tara May introduced the item. 26 27 The Board agreed by consensus on the recommended applicants. 28 29 15 1 7. Arts Commission -Appointment Discussion 2 The Board discussed appointments to the Arts Commission. 3 4 BACKGROUND: The Arts Commission recommends strategies to promote the artistic and 5 cultural growth of Orange County, advises the Board of Commissioners on matters involving the 6 arts, and acts as the granting panel for funding programs available to individual artists and non- 7 profit groups sponsoring arts projects in Orange County. 8 9 The Board of County Commissioners appoints all fifteen (15)At-Large members. 10 11 The following individual is recommended for Board consideration: 12 NAME POSITION TYPE OF EXPIRATION DESCRIPTION APPOINTMENT DATE TERM Celia Gibbs UNC Student One Year Term 06/30/2025 Representative 13 14 If the individual listed above is appointed, the following vacancy remains: 15 POSITION EXPIRATION VACANCY INFORMATION DESIGNATION DATE At-Large 03/31/2027 Vacant since 03/31/2024 16 17 Tara May introduced the item. 18 The Board agreed by consensus on the recommended applicant. 19 20 8. Economic Development Advisory Board —Appointments Discussion 21 The Board discussed appointments to the Economic Development Advisory Board. 22 23 BACKGROUND: The Economic Development Advisory Board works cohesively with the 24 County's Economic Development staff and other economic development partners to position 25 Orange County as a competitive location for business opportunities. 26 27 The Board of County Commissioners appoints all ten (10) members, with representation from 28 various fields. 29 30 The following individuals are recommended for Board consideration: 31 NAME POSITION TYPE OF EXPIRATION DESCRIPTION APPOINTMENT DATE TERM Elise Tyler Tourism Second Full Term 06/30/2027 Dr. Jane Saiers Agriculture Second Full Term 06/30/2027 Estella Johnson Core Business Second Full Term 06/30/2027 Community Emilee Collins Core Business First Full Term 06/30/2027 Community Joy Mercer Entrepreneur First Full Term 06/30/2026 Lisa Ka lie Non-profit Agency First Full Term 06/30/2027 16 1 If the individuals listed above are appointed, the following vacancy remains. 2 POSITION EXPIRATION VACANCY INFORMATION DESIGNATION DATE Core Business 06/30/2027 Vacant since 05/09/2024 Community 3 4 Tara May introduced the item. 5 The Board agreed by consensus on the recommended applicants with the addition of John 6 Kim to fill the remaining Core Business Community vacancy. 7 8 9. Historic Preservation Commission —Appointments Discussion 9 The Board discussed appointments to the Economic Development Advisory Board. 10 11 BACKGROUND: The Historic Preservation Commission is charged with undertaking an 12 inventory of properties of historical, prehistorical, architectural, and/or cultural significance. It 13 recommends areas to be designated or removed as "historic districts" and reviews and acts upon 14 proposals for alterations, demolition, new construction, etc. 15 16 The Board of County Commissioners appoints all seven (7)At-Large members. 17 18 The following individual is recommended for Board consideration: 19 NAME POSITION TYPE OF EXPIRATION DESCRIPTION APPOINTMENT DATE TERM Rob Golan At-Large First Full Term 03/31/2027 20 21 If the individual listed above is appointed, no vacancies remain. 22 23 Tara May introduced the item. She noted that there was a mistake in the abstract, because 24 there is one remaining at-large vacancy at this time. 25 The Board agreed by consensus on the recommended applicant. 26 27 Regarding possible changes to the recommended budget, Chair Bedford said there will 28 be a new deadline of June 4th at 5:00 pm for Commissioners to submit additional amendments. 29 30 10. Adjournment 31 32 A motion was made by Commissioner Fowler, seconded by Commissioner Hamilton, to 33 adjourn the meeting at 8:10 p.m. 34 35 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 36 37 Jamezetta Bedford, Chair 38 39 Recorded by Tara May, Deputy Clerk to the Board 40 41 42 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 June 4, 2024 6 7:00 p.m. 7 8 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a Business Meeting on Tuesday, June 4, 9 2024, 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 and 12 Commissioners Amy Fowler, Jean Hamilton, Earl McKee (arrived at 7:02 p.m.), Phyllis Portie- 13 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 7:00 p.m. All commissioners were present 21 except Commissioner McKee. 22 23 Chair Bedford said that a proclamation would be read in honor of Bonnie Hammersley's 24 upcoming retirement. 25 26 Commissioner McKee arrived at 7:02 p.m. 27 28 The commissioners read the following proclamation in turn: 29 30 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 31 32 PROCLAMATION RECOGNIZING AND EXPRESSING GRATITUDE TO 33 BONNIE HAMMERSLEY, 34 RETIRING ORANGE COUNTY MANAGER 35 36 WHEREAS, Bonnie Hammersley, after 10 years of dedicated service to the Orange County 37 community, is retiring July 17, 2024; and 38 39 WHEREAS, prior to joining Orange County in 2014, Ms. Hammersley served as County 40 Administrator for Muskegon County, Michigan for 5 years, and in several positions in Dane 41 County, Wisconsin for over 21 years; and 42 43 WHEREAS, during Ms. Hammersley's tenure, the county opened the Rogers Road Community 44 Center; the Orange County Northern Campus, home to the Bonnie B. Davis Environment and 45 Agricultural Center, a new parks operations base, and a new county detention center; the Eno 46 Arts Mill; and Blackwood Farm Park; and 47 48 WHEREAS, Ms. Hammersley led the county through two revaluations, the development of a long- 49 range financial plan, the transition of mental health/SUD/IDD services to Alliance, an exemplary 50 response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the administration of American Rescue Plan Act 51 funding; and 2 1 WHEREAS, Ms. Hammersley has throughout her tenure thoughtfully executed the county's 2 funding responsibility to its two school districts with county per pupil funding consistently in the 3 top four in the state, funding a nurse in every school and a school resource officer in every 4 secondary school, overseeing a $120 million school bond passed in 2016, and adding over $72 5 million capital funding, leading to an independent study of school facilities; and 6 7 WHEREAS, Ms. Hammersley has taken leadership regarding the county's role in the creation of 8 affordable housing, from managing a $5 million housing bond passed in 2016 to allocating $15 9 million of capital funding to housing over 10 years, to giving personal direction to the Housing 10 department in a time of administrative transition; and 11 12 WHEREAS, Ms. Hammersley has been a key part of the county's economic development 13 program, which generated over 1,700 new jobs and $545 million in investment from new and 14 expanding industries, and awarded over $3 million in grants to local farms and small business 15 operators, while also advocating for environmental conservation, farmland preservation, and 16 protection of headwaters; and 17 18 WHEREAS, under Ms. Hammersley's guidance, the county developed the One Orange 19 Countywide Racial Equity Framework with the Towns of Carrboro, Chapel Hill, and Hillsborough, 20 which is designed to uncover and address implicit biases in our jurisdictions to ensure that race 21 is no longer a predictor of life outcomes in our community; and 22 23 WHEREAS, Ms. Hammersley has been involved in many other notable county projects, such as 24 the development of the local housing voucher program; the formation of the Criminal Justice 25 Resource, Community Relations, and Transportation Services departments; the county-wide 26 broadband installation project; the establishment of Durham Tech Promise Scholarships with 27 Durham Technical Community College; the creation of the county's first Climate Action Plan; and 28 the planning and groundbreaking for the Southern Branch Library; and 29 30 WHEREAS, Ms. Hammersley elevated the organization by encouraging a positive workplace 31 culture and demonstrated a commitment to residents, staff, county partners, and the Board of 32 County Commissioners; and 33 34 WHEREAS, Ms. Hammersley's leadership on behalf of Orange County and the region has been 35 critical in extraordinary times; and 36 37 WHEREAS, Ms. Hammersley's integrity, vision, knowledge, collaborative spirit, and compassion 38 will be sorely missed; 39 40 NOW THEREFORE, we, the Orange County Board of Commissioners, do hereby recognize and 41 express deep appreciation and respect for the services rendered by Bonnie Hammersley to the 42 Orange County community, and wish her well in her retirement. 43 44 This the 4th day of June, 2024. 45 Jamezetta Bedford, Chair Earl McKee, Commissioner Amy Fowler, Commissioner Anna Richards, Commissioner 3 Sally Greene, Vice-Chair Phyllis Portie-Ascott, Commissioner Jean Hamilton, Commissioner 1 2 A motion was made by Commissioner Fowler, seconded by Commissioner Hamilton, to 3 approve a proclamation recognizing and thanking Bonnie Hammersley for her service to Orange 4 County. 5 6 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 7 8 Several former commissioners were also in attendance at the meeting, and they 9 participated in a group photograph with the current Board and County Manager Bonnie 10 Hammersley. 11 Bonnie Hammersley thanked the Board for their support and for the proclamation. 12 13 1. Additions or Changes to the Agenda 14 Chair Bedford read the public charge: 15 16 The Board of Commissioners pledges its respect to all present. The Board asks those attending 17 this meeting to conduct themselves in a respectful, courteous manner toward each other, county 18 staff and the commissioners. At any time should a member of the Board or the public fail to 19 observe this charge, the Chair will take steps to restore order and decorum. Should it become 20 impossible to restore order and continue the meeting, the Chair will recess the meeting until such 21 time that a genuine commitment to this public charge is observed. The BOCC asks that all 22 electronic devices such as cell phones, pagers, and computers should please be turned off or set 23 to silent/vibrate. Please be kind to everyone. 24 25 2. Public Comments (Limited to One Hour) 26 a. Matters not on the Printed Agenda 27 Chair Bedford reminded those in attendance of the procedures for making public 28 comments. 29 Benny Cecil said he is the Gov Deals contractor for Orange County. He asked for 30 clarification on which department is currently overseeing Gov Deals. He said he gets about 10% 31 of sales for the county. He said that he has not been getting titles for reselling county vehicles. 32 He said he would like to know what is happening with Gov Deals, and he said that if the county 33 takes it in-house it will result in a lot of extra work for employees. 34 Soteria Shepperson said she is a co-founder of Grow Your World. She thanked the Board 35 for their support of the organization's opioid awareness exhibit. She said it will also be exhibited 36 in Carrboro. She said recently a teen administered Narcan to someone experiencing an overdose 37 and saved that person's life. She said they received a grant of $2,500 from the outside agency 38 funding program, but that they need more to meet the needs in the community. 39 Sophie Suberman of Grow Your World encouraged the Board and community to continue 40 to grow and work together to solve problems and be creative when facing challenges. 41 42 b. Matters on the Printed Agenda 43 (These matters will be considered when the Board addresses that item on the agenda below.) 44 45 4 1 3. Announcements, Petitions and Comments by Board Members 2 Commissioner Richards said the ABC Board and Partnership for Young Children Boards 3 discussed budget decisions and that process is underway for funding. She said that some growth 4 in ABC revenues has slowed down, so they are having some issues supporting organizations in 5 the community. She noted that it was Pride Month and would be celebrated across Orange 6 County. 7 Commissioner Portie-Ascott wished everyone a happy Pride month. She said that she 8 attended the Research Triangle Regional Partnership Board of Directors meeting. She said the 9 goal of that group is to market the Triangle to national and international organizations. She said 10 that all those efforts are focused on ag-tech and strengthening food technology. She said that the 11 Research Triangle said it is establishing itself as a leader in the ag-tech industry. She said they 12 will focus on life sciences and bio-manufacturing. She said she attended the Orange County 13 Advisory Council meeting and met Alex Kissinger, the new area extension agent for livestock and 14 she also met two new summer interns. 15 Commissioner McKee said he participated in the hiring of Bonnie Hammersley and that 16 from the moment she was hired, she earned the trust of the Board. He said that he vividly 17 remembered that process and that one applicant rose to the top immediately, and that was her. 18 He thanked Bonnie Hammersley for the trust and how well she handled herself during that 19 process. 20 Chair Bedford said there is a public design workshop for the Greene Tract at Morris Grove 21 on Friday from 9-5. She said that on Friday, June 14 the county will celebrate Juneteenth with 22 several events throughout the day. She petitioned the Board to align funding of outside agencies 23 with the county's strategic and comprehensive plans. She said that she hopes this could happen 24 during the fall. She said it is flexible and she is open to all ideas on how to approach this. 25 Vice-Chair Greene said several members of the Board attended an event at the Weaver 26 Community Apartments. She said they are the recipients of a grant from Urban Sustainability 27 Solutions, and they came to help with better stormwater management. She said that the grant is 28 from the Federal Clean Water Act. She said they received $69,000 from the community climate 29 action grant fund. She said they will create an afterschool internship for high schoolers to create 30 and build cisterns. 31 Commissioner Hamilton thanked the residents and stakeholders have come to speak to 32 them about the budget and the bond. She said that this is an exercise in democracy that is very 33 important. She said her approach to the budget is informed by her background. She said that she 34 has a Ph.D. in Economics and taught economics for a few years. She said she is a social worker 35 specializing in aging and has a master's in social work. She said she is concerned about the 36 pressure of raising taxes to provide the services. She said she is optimistic about revenues, but 37 they do not know for certain. She said they have a sense of their expenditures. She said that 38 when she looks at the budget, she is trying to look ahead and think of ways to limit tax increases 39 but also meet the needs of the community. She said some of the priorities for her is protecting the 40 most vulnerable. She said there are residents at the edge. She said she also looks at things that 41 have an impact on the most residents. She said it is important to support employees. She said 42 that in this environment, you must pay to be competitive. She said that she was also looking at 43 investments that provide a long-term benefit. She said it is in the spirit of thinking differently, her 44 amendments were submitted. She said that they must look across departments. She said that 45 investing the children, is investing in all of them, including seniors. She said that the bond will do 46 that. She said that she will be a retiree and looks at the fact that the children today are the best 47 educated they can be so they can be ready for the global economy and the seniors. She said she 48 is passionate about making those investments and the bond specifically is a process. She said 49 they have focused on issues around the need with the workgroup, the commissioners have 50 focused on the funding, the school boards have focused on the plan and the thing that is important 51 to her is that the consultant's principals are key so they can get a benefit now and for the future. 5 1 Commissioner Fowler said that since the last meeting she attended the DCHC-CAMPO 2 meeting along with Chair Bedford. She said they revealed models for highway travel and flexibility. 3 She said she attended the Weaver Community open and saw the stormwater improvements and 4 was excited about the synergy of community improvement. She said that she attended Chapel 5 Hill Pride Promenade. She said she attended the Climate Council and had the opportunity to meet 6 sustainability staff from the municipalities. She said that it was a productive meeting. She thanked 7 those in attendance who wanted to speak about the needs of the schools and those that had sent 8 their concerns via email. She said that the schools need updates. She said that the school 9 systems will be responsible for programming. She said CHCCS has a board meeting on Thursday 10 night, and they will discuss more specifics about the plans. She thanked Bonnie for her leadership 11 and wished her the best in her upcoming endeavors. 12 13 4. Proclamations/ Resolutions/ Special Presentations 14 None. 15 16 5. Public Hearings 17 a. Public Hearing on a Proposed Bond Order Authorizing $300 Million in County General 18 Obligation School Bonds, Subject to Voter Approval 19 The Board conducted a public hearing on a proposed Bond order authorizing $300 Million in 20 County General Obligation School Bonds, subject to subsequent Board approval and voter 21 approval. 22 23 BACKGROUND: Since the presentation of the Woolpert School Facility Study in December 24 2023, the Board has considered at several meetings plans to respond to the funding needs 25 described in the study and how to balance school capital needs, other County capital needs and 26 the resources available. 27 28 At the January 19, 2024 Board Retreat, the Board made the determination to start the bond 29 authorization process based on a referendum amount of$300 million in County general obligation 30 school bonds for both school districts. 31 32 Based on revisions as noted in the Manager's Recommended FY 2024-34 Capital Investment 33 Plan (CIP), the County's assumptions for repaying the $300 million in proposed County general 34 obligation school bonds and related interest are estimated to have a tax rate equivalent impact of 35 3.41 cents per$100 of valuation, with all that increase scheduled for the County's 2025-26 Fiscal 36 Year. 37 38 At its April 2, 2024 Business meeting, the Board adopted a preliminary resolution stating its intent 39 to apply to the North Carolina Local Government Commission (LGC) for the LGC's approval of 40 the bonds (the LGC is a division of the State Treasurer's office that must approve substantially all 41 local government borrowing). The County has published a notice of this intent as required by law, 42 and the LGC has accepted the County's application. At its May 7, 2024 Business meeting, the 43 Board introduced the Bond Order (similar to the required first reading that is sometimes required 44 for an ordinance) and called for tonight's public hearing. The Notice of the Public Hearing was 45 published on May 22, 2024, in both The Herald Sun and the News of Orange County newspapers 46 as required by law and consistent with the County's usual procedures. 47 48 Following the public hearing, the Board will be asked to take final action to adopt the Bond Order 49 at the Board's June 18, 2024 Business meeting. The Board will also then be asked to consider a 50 required resolution to set formally the details of the referendum. 51 6 1 In any event, the Board must complete its formal authorization process before the summer break 2 to allow the County Board of Elections adequate time for ballot printing and other organizational 3 matters for the referendum. At this point, the Board can reduce the bond amount, but the Board 4 cannot increase the amount unless the process re-started. 5 6 SECURITY FOR BOND REPAYMENT: A general obligation bond, as proposed, is not secured by 7 any physical collateral. Instead, the County promises to levy property taxes in whatever amount 8 is necessary to provide for repaying the bonds, including the interest on the money borrowed 9 through the bonds. 10 11 Gary Donaldson, Chief Financial Officer, made the following presentation: 12 13 Slide #1 ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA General Obligation School Bonds Public Hearing Board of County Commissioners Business Meeting June 4, 2024 14 15 16 Slide #2 Background • School Capital Needs Taskforce recommended School Facility Study to prioritize both School District facilities with Facility Conditions Index as a key measure. • At the Board of Commissioners Retreat on January 19.2024.the County approved moving Forward with a funding plan for County and School Facility Needs.Funding for this plan includes: A$300 million General Obligation School Bond Referendum and additional Pay- Go School Funding of$100 million. Projects Based Approach identified as basis for fund allocation between both districts. • New State Law requires Go Bond Ballot to include Total Debt Service(Principal and In(erest)and GR Bond Tax Rate. Prior Bond Ballots had included the Principal amount. • Local Government Commission has reviewed the County Plan of Finance and Debt Policies with Staff,Financial Advisors and Bond Counsel to ensure compliance with the new State Law. • Four separate Board Actions required from April 2 through June 18,2024- ORANGE COUNTY NOR I'II C'A 01 INA 17 1 Slide #3 Total Tax-Supported Dent to Assessed Value and Debt Service to General Fund Revenues Tax Rate Breakdown of Capital Improvement Alan Year Debt to AY OS t0 GF Tax Rate Base cIP: Revenues Equivalent 2.790 2024 1.64% 13.60% 2025 1.66% 13.09% - School Pay-Go: 2026 1.2196 12.83% 8.886 2.680 2027 1.44% 14.18% - 2028 1.54% 14.59% School 2029 1.71% 16.19% GO Bonds: 3.410 2030 1.58% 18.34% 2031 1.51% 19.67% 2032 1.67% 19.01% 2033 1.55% 19.32% 2034 1.34% 19.89% 2035 1.21% 18.89% - Total Impact 8-886 ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 2 3 4 Slide #4 Annual Debt Service Payments on Existing Debt $40,000,000 635,000,000 530,000,000 $25,000,000 520,000,000 515,000,000 510,000,000 $5,000,000 2024 2025 2026 2017 2028 2029 1030 2031 2032 2033 2034 2035 l County Annual Debt Service ■Schools Annual Debt Service ■Durham Tech Annual Debt Service ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 5 6 7 8 1 Slide #5 Annual Debt Service Payments on Existing and Proposed CIP Debt 540.666,000 Srt0,666.660 520,666,atw S60,000,000 $50.600,000 - 546,66o,000 $30,000,006 $20,066,660 510,666,060 dmh&km S N N N 00 O M ") fn N � 4 R � 4 0 It 10 00 Ln D 0 U) O O d O O O O O © O O © O O © G N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N ■Existing Debt Service ■Proposed CIP Debt Service Proposed School GO Bond Debt Service ORANGE COUNTY NORTH.CAROLINA 2 3 4 Slide #6 Additional Scio FY GO Bonds Add'[School Pay-Go Total 2024 2025 - - 2026 10.000,000 10,000,000 2027 100,000,000 10,000,000 110,000,000 2028 1.0,000,000 1.0,000,000 2029 100,000.000 10,000,000 110,000,000 2030 - 10,000,000 10,000,000 2031 10.000,000 10,000,000 2032 --- 1100,000,000 10,000.000 110,000,000 2033 10.000,000 10,000,000 2034 10.000,000 1.0,000,000 2035 - 10.000,000 10,000,000 Total 300,000,000 100,000,000 400,000,000 ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 5 6 7 8 9 1 Slide #7 General Obligation Bond North Carolina General Obligation Financing Key Provisions General Obligation Bonds - Voter Approval Required;exception for Refunding and Two-Third Bonds Securlty Pledge-Full Waith,craditftaxing power of the County Maturity Term-20 years statute permits 40 years Senior position and takes priority to all other County Limited Obligation Bonds and Installment Notes. Source of repayment-Property Tax Finances;.Buildings,School Facilltles and Renovations with long useful Ills Ratings-Aaa1AAAJAAA by Moody's.Standard&Poor`s and Fitch Ratings - LGC approval required ORANGE COUNTY NOR'i'H C 7 ROI,f NA 2 3 4 Slide #8 AAA GO Bond Ratings from the Three Nationally Recognized Rating Agencies ■ Orange County has maintained AAA ratings from Fitch, Moody's and Standard & Poor's the past ten years. • One of few counties with this distinction nation-wide. ■ AAA rating designation allows for lowest possible borrowing rates. ■ Prior three rating agencies'analyses have cited; ❖ Stable tax and economic base. ❖ Strong financial performance and financial policies. ❖ Regular monitoring of budget versus actuals with quarterly financial reporting to the Board. ❖ Long-term financial modeling and proactive operating and debt management strategies. ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 5 6 7 10 1 Slide #9 Go Bona and C I P Total Tax Rates Home 3.41 GO Bond Tax Rate Per 8.88 CIP Total Tax Rate Per Value $100 Assessed Value $100 Assessed Value $100,000 $34.10 $88.80 $200,000 $6820 $177.60 $300,000 $102.30 $266.40 $400,000 $136.40 $355.20 $500,000 $170.50 $444.00 ORANGE COUNTY NORTH.CAROLINA 2 3 4 Slide #10 Bond Referendum Key Dates Tentative GO Bond Ran januaFy 19,2024, BeaFd RetF Staff and Fi..ming Team Meets,.rift.F e @ FebFuaFy 13, 202 PiRgRo Not to ExGeed$300 molime F r-st Reading AUthOF'Zing the Bond Gr4de May 7,2024, Gu6iness Meeting Held Public Hearing June 4,2024,Business Meeting Second Reading-Take Final Action on June 18,2024, Business Meeting Bond Order Band Education Committee Summer-Autumn 2024 Y 5 Band Referendum November 5,2024 6 7 11 1 Slide #11 2024 SAMPLE BALLOT Orange County school 8onds (For Oranue CounLy Schools and chapel Hill-C rrbo ro My Schools) Additional property taxes may be levied on property located in Orange County In an amount sufficient to pay the principal ofand Interest on bonds If approved by the following ballot question. Shall the order authorlaing$300,000,000 bonds plus Interest to pay capital costs of provlding school facilities and paying related costs and providing that additional taxes may be levied in an amount sufficient to pay the principal of and Interest on the bonds,as adopted by the County's Board of Commissioners on lune 18,2024,be approved,In light of the following: [1]The estimated cumulative cost over the Tire of the bond,using the highest Interest rate charged for similar debt over the last 20 years,would be $480.360,000. [2]The estimated amount of property tax liahility increase fop,each one hundred thousand dollars[$100,000]of property tax value to service the cumulative cost over the life of the bond provided above would be$34.10 per year. l 1 YES NO ©RANGE COUNTY NOJITkl CAROLINA 2 3 4 Slide #12 2016 BALLOT Orange County School Bonds Shall the order authorizing Orange County general obligation bonds in the maximum amount of$120,000,000 plus interest to pay capital costs of providing school facilities and paying related costs, and providing that additional taxes may be levied in an amount sufficient to pay the principal of and interest on the bonds, as adopted by the County's Board of Commissioners on May 5, 2016, be approved? [] YES 7NO ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 5 6 Vice-Chair Greene asked if it is true that they can phase in a tax rate increase. 7 Gary Donaldson said yes. 8 Vice-Chair Greene said they could phase it in based on how much they need at a given 9 time. 10 Gary Donaldson said yes. 12 1 Chair Bedford said it is the best estimate at this time and the law requires the highest 2 interest rate in the last 20 years so this is the best estimate for now. 3 4 A motion was made by Commissioner Fowler, seconded by Commissioner McKee, to 5 open the public hearing. 6 7 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 8 9 PUBLIC COMMENTS: 10 Leah Milks said she is with the McDougle School PTA. She said that they are not there 11 to speak out against the bond, but they would like to see changes to the plan so they can get the 12 community on board with that. She said they worry that the proposal is fiscally irresponsible 13 because it is not an efficient or effective use of funds because it focuses only on facilities. She 14 said it does not take into consideration the student or town population growth. She said it does 15 not consider the impact on teachers, students, transportation costs or logistics. She said that by 16 focusing on rebuilding schools, they disregard the value of investments and interrupt students. 17 She said the school requires an auditorium rather than a complete rebuild. She said that would 18 leave room to update the school with an auditorium and could build a dual language school 19 elsewhere. She said that there is no capacity to relocate McDougle. She said this offers no 20 assurance of the school reaching capacity in the future and maintaining unused classrooms on 21 the middle school side of campus would be a waste of taxpayer funds. She asked them not to 22 ignore the data. She said that Woolpert's plan for Culbreth ignores the building upgrades and 23 renovations that is unreasonable for this type of funding. She said that due to these limitations in 24 the plan, she asked that they seek more information prior to voting on the plan. 25 Karin Crozier, also representing the PTA, discussed equity and equal access to education. 26 She said the school district has a racial equity decision making process that involves many 27 partners. She said it is even used when developing a book fair, but it appears that the process 28 was not used when developing the capital outlay plan. She said that the consulting firm was paid 29 to assess buildings and facilities, but they do not see evidence that the same care and 30 expenditures went into the process to understanding the impact on the black, Latino, and non- 31 white families. She said that the proposal combines the Spanish dual language program and that 32 would mean that some students will face an unreasonably long commute to school. She said that 33 this would create the biggest elementary school in the district and potentially create many 34 negative consequences. She said that some families may choose a district school over a large 35 school across town, and this would mean that many Hispanic families would face unintentional 36 segregation. She said that this plan has many kids moving from school to school in a few years 37 and this would potentially create an ever-changing atmosphere of peers, teachers, and staff. She 38 said that they know the importance of community, stability, and positive relationships for all kids. 39 She said that the towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro show a strong commitment to closing the 40 equity gap. She said that she understands that the commissioners are not in charge of districting, 41 but she said they all have a responsibility to make sure that the children are cared for. 42 Heather Kennealy, also representing the PTA, said they also represent people in the 43 community and teachers. She said that they submitted a letter that summarizes their concerns, 44 and her part is transportation. She said that the plan from CHCCS decimates the two largest walk 45 zones. She said that there will be increased buses and the need for bus drivers. She said you 46 must think of this as a shell game when you move students around. She said it will be detrimental 47 to the climate. She said it contradicts district policies on walk zones. She said that it will increase 48 kids'times on buses and decrease their time families. She said the Board of Commissioners can 49 require a change of the school board because they have the funds. She said that there should 50 be financial projections with the increased cost, increased climate erosion, negative impacts to 51 the most vulnerable, and proper evaluation of town investment in walk zones. 13 1 Heather Thompson said that the Board holds the money and has the leverage to require 2 the school board to produce an alternative plan that solicits community input. She said that the 3 plan should also correspond with the towns and meet the goals of the community. She said that 4 a lot of work needs to be done on the plan, and it is not ready. She said that she is unsure that 5 the proposed committee will be asking for input. She said they want the bond and the betterment 6 of the schools but there are better options out there. She suggested that dual language students 7 at Frank Porter Graham be moved to the Lincoln Center campus since that office space is already 8 leased. She said that they should move adults, not children. 9 Katie Rankin said her child went to McDougle Elementary and had a good experience. 10 She said that her son started kindergarten in the pandemic, and it was so obvious that they had 11 joined a special community. She said they met new friends and volunteered as a family. She said 12 now they have two kids at McDOugle. She said her family is very active in the McDougle 13 community and looks forward to the school events. She said that the reason they are part of the 14 community is because of the proximity of the school near her home. She said she is an hourly 15 worker and if she is not at work, she is not earning money. She said the only reason she has been 16 able to be such a part is because of the location. She said that she worries about how the breakup 17 of McDougle and Estes Hills will affect the community and families that are already struggling to 18 be involved. She said she wants all children to learn in a safe building, but the school is more than 19 the sum of its buildings. She said staff will not stick around to find out if they are redundant in the 20 plan. She said kids need teachers that care for them. She said that she does not think the 21 disruption is necessary. She said she knows there is money needed but she cannot support this 22 bond as it is presented. 23 Samantha Corney said they love their teachers. She said that she loves a good ROI, and 24 she is unclear about the return. She said that schools are not just buckets for widgets and long- 25 term goals need to be thought of. She said they need to be thinking about what students need 26 years from now. She asked the Board to please protect their communities. 27 Alice Gordon left written comments with the Clerk to the Board. 28 Daniel Head said his children attend Estes Hills he said he plans to vote no on the 29 proposed bond referendum even though they recognize the need to support the school systems. 30 He said it is not ready in the form it is in. He said he has concerns about environmental 31 sustainability, and it is vital to maintain school walk zones that have been established. He said 32 tearing down the schools that children walk to and busing them across town does not make sense 33 when compared to the climate protection policies. He said the plan lacked input from community 34 members. He asked the Board to pause the process and get further input. 35 William McCall said his family moved to Chapel Hill in 2020 based solely on the strength 36 of the public school system. He said they now have two children and the things that brought them 37 there are going away. He said that the plan calls for his local school, Estes Hills, to be taken 38 offline. He said that the timeline is too vague, and it could be between two or ten years. He said 39 the neighborhoods are built on these schools and Estes Road was rebuilt to be able to handle the 40 traffic. He said that the town improved the walkability of Estes Drive, and many children walk to 41 school. He said that the current low enrollment at Estes Hills is an asset and ability to hedge 42 against future growth. He said that they would be better served for high capacity rather than less. 43 He said that the bond referendum is a raw deal for his family. He said that they get higher taxes 44 and the loss of their school. 45 Aron Woolman said that strong community ties bring those at the edges of the community 46 in and the plan that is place right now destroys community ties. He said there will be massive 47 effects to those most vulnerable. He asked the commissioners to hold the CHCCS Board of 48 Education accountable until they can fully understand the effects that the plan will have on various 49 aspects of the community. He said that destroying walk zones will make the neighborhoods less 50 desirable, lower home values, and there is already a war on public education and if this passes, 51 it makes the voucher option very desirable to his family because it might cause less disruption for 14 1 his family. He said that the plan will likely increase traffic in the community, which will cause safety 2 issues. He said that the plan will increase cyclist and vehicle traffic accidents on Old 86. He said 3 it would add 2000 more cars in Hillsborough and he said a cyclist will be killed and children may 4 potentially be hit due to the increased traffic. He said if they must delay the bond for two years to 5 have 50 years of excellence, then please do so. 6 Carl King said he is a parent at Estes Hills. He said he appreciates the balance the Board 7 must take with the state starving the education budget and the county being placed in a position 8 with funds for the school system but no jurisdiction to make decisions for education. He said the 9 plans have changed over the last two weeks. He said the first plan was to rebuild Estes Hills. He 10 said the second plan is now to just close Estes Hills. He said that he knows the plan is in flux. He 11 asked the Board to work with the CHCCS district to align with the Town of Chapel Hill's Complete 12 Communities Plan. He said that there will be 400 units built in Arora and the other direction on 13 Estes Drive, there will be 300 more. He said they are now looking at taking away that school. He 14 said that they have had disruption with Estes Drive work, and they are grateful for that because 15 they tried for years to get sidewalks. 16 Felice Reddy said she is a parent at Estes Hills. She said that she is also a PTA member. 17 She said in her research, she looked into California schools and it has been shown that closures 18 exacerbate inequities. She said when schools are closed, it leads to disengagement in the 19 neighborhoods and then there are fewer homes purchased in the area. She said that enrollment 20 will go up, and there should be a school maintained or coming in the future. She said that also in 21 her research, she found best practices for school closures. She said they can provide ample 22 opportunities for engagement before, during, and after the closures. She said they should also 23 identify and share values for closures. She said that she agrees with Carl King's comments 24 regarding Chapel Hill's Complete Communities Plan. 25 Ryan Oakes said that his family lives close to McDougle and moved to their neighborhood 26 because it was in a school walk zone. He said that hiring bus drivers is very difficult right now, 27 and he doesn't understand how the district will find enough people to bus 2000 more children. He 28 expressed concerns about how the construction plans are proposed. He said there are thousands 29 of residents that will be misplaced and forced to commute to school. He said that he works in 30 transportation and that his biggest struggle is hiring enough CDL drivers. He said that major 31 renovation projects and concurrent school activities are not mutually exclusive. He said that this 32 company helped the Town of Holly Springs and all of this was done while children were in school 33 He said it is not necessary to tear a building down to fix the HVAC. He said that the commissioners 34 should ask the CHCCS Board of Education for the long-term financial viability and impacts of this 35 plan. 36 Anna Jefferson said she is a parent of a McDougle Elementary student. She said the 37 consultants operated within their scope of work, but that the plan was not a holistic assessment. 38 She said there is a misalignment between the investments that have been made in infrastructure 39 and climate action commitments. She said that there is a bus driver shortage, and it almost 40 upended the school system only one year ago. She said that there is equity and mental health 41 impacts for students. She said that they have not talked about walking and biking to school and 42 the impact that has on a child's development. She said that there was an article in the Washington 43 Post about why kids do not bike to school. She said that school districts relocated their schools 44 on the edges of communities in the 1970s. She said that it is a concern now. She said that she 45 wants to help support the schools but cannot get to "yes" unless there is a different plan. She 46 asked the commissioners to hold the purse strings until there has been meaningful engagement 47 with the communities. 48 Sheila Flack said her children attend McDougle Elementary. She said there is a strong 49 sense of community and focus on consideration of environment in which schools are placed. She 50 said the schools are the core for Chapel Hill and Carrboro. She said that proximity to the 51 neighborhood they serve and other factors critical to our children have not been considered. She 15 1 said the impacts will have lasting impacts for years to come and the decision to build a new middle 2 school for McDougle School is fiscally and environmentally irresponsible. She asked why a new 3 middle school is needed. She said that no middle school has capacity concerns and begs to ask 4 why it is being recommended. She said it sets a dangerous precedent. She said other plans were 5 presented by Woolpert that were more urgent. She said that the basis of the plan lacks 6 transparency, disrupts the community, and takes away funds from where they are needed the 7 most. 8 Erik Guste said that the consultant's study focused on needs and improvements. He said 9 it did not focus on strengths. He said his family moved to their neighborhood so his children could 10 attend McDougle. He described how his children go to school each day together and can support 11 each other. He said that the impact of breaking up siblings will mean that people have to take 12 their kids in different directions each day. He said that the impact on the community will be dire. 13 Erin Jackson said she is an Estes Hills parent. She will have two children there in the next 14 year. She said investing in children is investing in the future. She said that she understands that 15 the commissioners are only responsible for the purse strings and not the specific plans. She said 16 she is requesting transparency on how the plan will work and what stipulations will come with 17 bond approval. She said that she wants to know more about what the facilities aspect contains. 18 She asked if teachers and parents were a part of this process. She said that the plan as is will 19 decimate the community. 20 Mark Siegal said he agrees that the schools need more funding and facilities, and he 21 would be more than happy to support that with taxes, but not the way it is being proposed. He 22 said that the plan ignores the effect on the environment, the impact of the bus driver shortage, 23 and the removal of the walk zones and community. He said that it why they bought their home 24 where they did. He said less than 1/3 of the kids require bussing to get to school. He said he 25 cannot imagine the same sense of belonging if they had to bus their kids to different schools. He 26 said that if they have a middle schooler and elementary schooler then they must go to two different 27 areas. He said he understands that they are not in charge of the plan, but a better plan needs to 28 be presented before folks like him can get behind the bond and support it. 29 Meredith Niess said her children attend Estes Hills. She said she supports a bond to help 30 facilities and costs over the next decade. She said her concerns are that the plan only considers 31 facilities, costs, and enrollment modeling that may have flaws. She said that it did not consider 32 other elements of the community. She said she is bothered by the lack of communication and 33 coordination with the Town of Chapel Hill's Complete Communities Plan. She said the people that 34 were involved with that were not in communication with the consultants. She said Estes Hills has 35 a highly effective and loved principal and low teacher turnover. She said that she has developed 36 a wonderful sense of community. She said the heart of a school is not in a building and she said 37 that none of these plans take that into account. She said that she is not comfortable moving 38 forward with a plan without heart. 39 Deanna Vecchio said she is a teacher and resident. She said that she is concerned about 40 how the bond will be utilized. She said that the plan submitted by the school district lacked the 41 voice of families and staff. She strongly encouraged this bond to be reconsidered until it can be 42 shown how it will impact the wider community. 43 Laura Saucedo said she is a teacher in the CHCCS district. She said they found out about 44 the plan through one slide, and it felt like it was just swept under the rug. She said they did not 45 have a say in any of it. She said that so many kids walk to school now and the bus system is 46 broken, and they have a shortage. She said her students have been late many times due to 47 buses. She said that many staff members are looking for other options because they do not know 48 what the future holds for them. She said that her school is more than just a school and there is a 49 very tight community that she is not ready to lose. She asked the Board to protect the schools 50 and the children's mental health. She asked them to please protect what they have built. She said 51 that she will be voting no on the bond referendum. 16 1 Rachel Kline said she is a teacher at McDougle Elementary. She said that there have been 2 many concerns discussed, especially the impact of displacing the most vulnerable ones. She said 3 that as a teacher she is all for funding schools. She said there is an impact on the children with a 4 safe and comfortable environment. She said there is a high likelihood that she and her fellow 5 teachers will not be able to continue working together. She said she has a wonderful team of 6 people that she works with. She said it is challenging for schools to find teachers and it will be 7 hard to hire high quality equity focused teachers when they are unsure of their future. She said 8 that the plans suggest that they will get to stay but there is no definitive answer on how. She said 9 there is no set plan for how they will be distributed as staff. She asked the Board to ask the 10 CHCCS district to look into the plan and make the adjustments necessary. She said that until they 11 are sure that this plan puts equity first, she will vote no on the bond. 12 Kari Hamel said neither Orange County nor the school districts have adequate internal 13 controls to reasonably protect the taxpayer's investment on the bond. She said that there is other 14 debt that does not get talked about either. She said that she has expressed concerns and asked 15 questions that have not been responded to on the 2016 bond. She said that some of those 16 questions are about change orders and disregarded disclosure requirements about those change 17 orders. She said that the county's accountability over the school system and other funding 18 recipients is abysmal. She said that there are recent revelations of overtime abuses and subsidy 19 amounts to the Soccer.com center that may be more than half of what is allocated to non-profit 20 direct service providers in the county. She said that the Soccer.Com center is next to the school, 21 and she read an excerpt from the capital outlay policy that the commissioners have the intent to 22 evaluate all new schools for all future community uses including parks and recreation facilities. 23 She asked if the two elementary schools that are planned will be designed and constructed the 24 same and will the elementary schools also be constructed at the same time to save funds. She 25 asked why a debt oversight committee has not already started to meet to review current debt 26 spending in anticipation of the bond plus the additional non-voted debt. She said that the Gravely 27 students had no math teachers for over a year. She said that there should be a debt committee. 28 She said the collapsed light-rail project and the impact on Orange County taxpayers has not 29 resulted in any oversight to spending or policy changes in the county. 30 Mary Lobo said she is an Estes Hills parent. She said that they moved to the neighborhood 31 and loved the school being so close. She said that there is a real sense of community. She said 32 there are negatives to consolidation besides economics. She said when the schools are bigger, it 33 becomes less personal. She said that Estes has started a "bike bus" and a "traffic garden" that 34 are bike and pedestrian friendly for the kids. She said facilities are not all there is to a school. She 35 said that people want to support schools but that a lot of people feel that if they vote for the bond, 36 they are voting to close their school. 37 Joe Hicken said he is a McDougle Elementary parent. He described what makes a 38 community in a school. He said this is the first time that the community has been heard or listened 39 to. He said it is concerning to provide all of this cash. He asked if it was the facilities of the schools 40 or the people that made the impacts on them as adults. He said that his neighbors look at the 41 plan and scratch their heads. He said it erodes fundamental aspects of community. He asked 42 the Board to use formal and informal instruments at their disposal to communicate that they should 43 be intentional about plans and not bake in uncertainty. He said they could build an Orange County 44 that really is excellent in comparison to the rest of the state. 45 Kendall Schenkenberg said she grew up in Chapel Hill and had the greatest education. 46 She said she moved back to the area to give her kids the type of growing up that she had. She 47 said her kindergartener is slated to attend Carrboro Elementary and Frank Porter Graham 48 Elementary, both of which are slated to close. She asked the Board to talk to the Orange County 49 School Board and ask them to change the plan and to find a better way to support children. 50 Liam Kennealy said he is a student at McDougle Middle School. He said that he would not 51 be able to walk to school and that he would have to be bussed when there are already issues with 17 1 bussing. He expressed concerns about the effects of busing on students. He is concerned about 2 how the proposed changes will affect his teachers and their relationships with students. He said 3 that while he attended McDougle Elementary, he was excited about going next door to middle 4 school. He said he is concerned about the kids currently at the elementary school who might not 5 get that opportunity. 6 Cassie Rice said she has children at Glenwood Elementary. She thanked the Board for 7 pursuing the bond. She said it will affect everyone in the district, not just those in attendance at 8 the meeting. She expressed support to the CHCCS school board for ensuring that the best 9 decisions are made for children and for those who do not have the ability to speak at these kinds 10 of meetings. 11 12 A motion was made by Commissioner Fowler, seconded by Commissioner McKee, to 13 close the public hearing. 14 15 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 16 17 Due to the length of the meeting, at this time the Board agreed by consensus not to 18 conduct a closed session at the end of the meeting and would take up the topic at a future meeting. 19 20 b. Zoning Atlas Amendment— 3009 Forrest Ave., Efland, Cheeks Township 21 The Board held a public hearing, received the Planning Board and staff recommendations and 22 public comments, closed the public hearing, and approved on an applicant-initiated Zoning Atlas 23 Amendment to rezone two (2) parcels totaling +/- 9.37 acres (PINs: 9854-18-4217 and 9854-18- 24 9274) located at 3009 Forrest Ave., Efland, Cheeks Township. 25 26 BACKGROUND: On February 13, 2024, a Conventional Zoning Atlas Amendment application 27 (Attachment 1) was received proposing to rezone two parcels totaling +/- 9.37 acres at 3009 28 Forrest Ave., Efland. The Staff Report in Attachment 2 contains additional information, maps, 29 and analysis. 30 31 Requirements: As detailed within the Zoning Atlas Amendment application package (Attachment 32 1), and Section 2.8 of the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), submittals are required to 33 contain: 34 35 1. A completed/signed Zoning Atlas Amendment application; 36 2. A map, at a legible scale, showing the land proposed for rezoning; 37 3. A detailed narrative denoting the following: 38 a. The existing zoning of the subject property and the requested zoning, as defined 39 in Article 3 of the UDO; 40 b. The current land use designation of the subject property consistent with the Orange 41 County Comprehensive Plan and Future Land Use Map (FLUM), which can be 42 accessed utilizing these links. 43 c. The alleged error in the Zoning Atlas (if any) that will be corrected by the proposed 44 request; 45 d. The changed, or changing, conditions (if any)that makes the proposed amendment 46 reasonable and necessary to promote the public health, safety, and general 47 welfare; 48 e. How the proposed amendment is consistent with, or carries out the intent and 49 purpose of, the Orange County Comprehensive Plan. 50 4. Plan review fee(s) consistent with the adopted Orange County Fee Schedule. 51 18 1 Basic Review Process: A conventional district rezoning application requires submission of a 2 detailed area map and other documents, in accordance with Section 2.8.3(A) of the Unified 3 Development Ordinance (UDO). A site-specific plan is not required for conventional rezoning 4 applications and conditions cannot be applied to an approval action. The typical cadence for the 5 review is as follows: 6 FIRST ACTION — Submission of an application with required supporting documents 7 by the property owner. 8 STAFF COMMENT: The applicant submitted an application and documents on 9 February 13, 2024, Attachment 1. 10 • SECOND ACTION — Staff holds a Development Advisory Committee Meeting. 11 STAFF COMMENT: The Development Advisory Committee Meeting was held on 12 March 21, 2024, at 9:30 a.m., via Microsoft Teams. Comments received from this 13 review are available in Attachment 4. 14 • THIRD ACTION — The Planning Board reviews the application at a regular meeting 15 and makes a recommendation to the BOCC. 16 STAFF COMMENT. The Planning Board reviewed this application at its regular 17 meeting on May 1, 2024. 18 FOURTH ACTION — The BOCC receives the Planning Board and staff 19 recommendations at an advertised public hearing and makes a decision on the 20 application. 21 STAFF COMMENT: The public hearing is scheduled for June 4, 2024. 22 23 Public Notification: In accordance with Section 2.8.7 of the UDO, notices of the Public Hearing 24 were mailed via first class mail to property owners within 1,000 feet of the subject parcel. These 25 notices were mailed on May 21, 2024, 16 days before the meeting. Staff also posted the subject 26 parcel with signs on May 21, 2024, 16 days before the meeting. Attachment 3 includes the 27 notification materials. 28 Planning Board Recommendation: The Planning Board reviewed the proposed amendments at 29 its May 1, 2024, regular meeting. At this meeting the Board voted unanimously to recommend 30 approval of the Statement of Consistency (Attachment 6) and the proposed Ordinance 31 (Attachment 7). 32 33 Excerpts of the minutes from the meeting, as well as the Board's signed statement of consistency, 34 are included in Attachment 5. Agenda materials from the May 1, 2024, Planning Board meeting 35 can be viewed at: https://www.co.orange.nc.us/Agendacenter/Planning-Board-26. 36 37 Planning Director's Recommendation: The Planning Director recommends approval of the: 38 1. Statement of Approval and Consistency indicating the conventional rezoning application 39 is reasonable and in the public interest, as contained in Attachment 6. 40 2. Zoning Atlas Amendment Ordinance to reflect the zoning change on the County's adopted 41 Zoning Atlas, as contained in Attachment 7. 42 43 Cy Stober, Planning and Zoning Director, made the following presentation: 44 19 1 Slide #1 GRANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA Item 5b : Zoning Atlas Amendment (Conventional District) R-1 Zoning to GC-4 Zoning Location 3009 and 3100 Forrest Avenue, Efland, NC PINS 9854-18-4217 and 985418-9274 Applicant Efland Ruritan Club Case#;MA24-001 2 3 4 Slide #2 CONVENTIONAL DISTRICT - Overview Conventional ■ r Conditional DistrictZoning Standards must be uniformly Request is use-specific with applied throughout the County individualized development conditions and standards No site-specific.individualized Site-speeificdevelopmnt plan conditions may he imposed. is part of review and approval process ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 5 6 7 20 1 Slide #3 CONVENTIONAL DISTRICT — Planning Board Review Role Board of Objective- Hear from the applicant, staff,and the public • Review and discuss staff analysis and recommendation and Planning Board recommendation • lake action on the Zoning Atlas Amendment application ORANGE COUNTY NOWT F[CAROLINA Z 3 4 Slide #4 REZONING PROCESS Public Notice (slgns posted,letters malled) Application Received Planning :.. • 17 r. r , -Staff Review Public Meeting -Public Hearing • Development •Plan Consistency Plan Consistency Advisory Finding •Reasonableness Committee •Recommendation Statement Review Made to BOCC •ApprvvaV�enial -Interagency of Zoning Coordination Request ORANGE COUNTY NOWTH CAROLINA 5 6 7 21 1 Slide #5 MEETING PROCESS 1. Staff Presentation 2. Applicant Presentation 3. Questions from the Commissioners 4. Public Comments 5. BOCC Deliberation and Decision GRANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 2 3 4 Slide #6 Zoning Atlas Amendment- MA24-0001 (Efland Ruritan Club) 3009 Forrest. Avenue , Efland , NC i 3009 and 3100 Forrest �1E1+y" �; n=�^ Spvur aur rw,gs�q,sq raa dg85q,spx,7 + 1 Avenue.Efland 9854-18-4217 Fi- Cheeks 9854-18-9274 r~ t t' titer { T ,t Upper Eno Protectedr- r Efland Ruritan Ctub cJo Anthony Cecil i A _. 5 6 7 22 1 Slide #7 Zoning Atlas Amendment- MA24-0001 (Efland Ruritan Club) 3009 Forrest Avenue , Efland , NC Overview • • 8e7ontng Application to CC 4 for PI Ns 9 8 54189 774 and 9854184217 CurrentZoning Rural Residential(R1) I� _ Overlays:Upper Eno Protected Watershed _ I Efland Village Overlay District_ "...an rEnnPP I urban village style of development in an area of the county served...by public water and - sewer systems." „ !, _ ai w: sr 2 3 4 Slide #8 Zoning Atlas Amendment- MA24-0001 (Efland Ruritan Club) 3009 Forrest Avenue , Efland , NC • • -• ee7oning Application to CC-4 for PINS 9854189274 and 985418417 CUrrentZonin Rural Residential(R1) Overlays:Upper Eno Protected Watershed it Efland Village Overlay District ❑PPer En,P Requested Zoning General Commercial(GC4) ; Surrounding Zoning, _l ■ Rural Residential(R1) ■ Neighborhood Commercial(NC2) ■ Agricultural Residential(AR) �-- ■ Office/Research and Manufacturing(O/RM) r od� �•. A_ m� 5 6 7 23 1 Slide #9 Zoning Atlas Amendment- MA24-0001 (Efland Ruritan Club) 3009 Forrest Avenue , Efland , NC Or -i Adopted Future Land use Map with PI Nc 9R541k;9x74and V54eR4xi7 oe ktM Future Land Use Map Designation Commercial-Industrial Transition Node ■ Land focused on designated road intersectionswithin either 10-year or 20-year transition area that is appropriate for retail and other commercial uses and/or manufacturing and other industrial uses. • No proposed amendment 2 3 4 Slide #10 Zoning Atlas Amendment- MA24-0001 (Efland Ruritan Club) 3009 Forrest Avenue , Efland , NC Surrounding Aerial Ima a with PINS 9854189z74 and 985418gzt7 Outlined North Single-family Residential, Mobile Home Park South Single-family Residential, NC Railroad East Commercial Auto Repair, Single-family Residential West Commercial Auto Repair, ' Single-family Residential, Efland Supermarket All properties in area have access to Orange Alamance Water System and City of Mebane wastewater utilities. Connection is at utility provider discretion and applicable fees.Area not subject to annexation. o 5 6 Commissioner Fowler asked about the property lines on the image in slide #10. She said 7 it looked like there were three or four properties in the image. 8 Cy Stober said two roads split one of the parcels into three sections, and all are owned by 9 the Efland Ruritan Club. 10 24 1 Slide #11 Zoning Atlas Amendment- MA24-0001 (Efland Ruritan Club) 3009 Forrest Avenue , Efland , NC Conventional Zoning Overview Adopted Future Land use Map w1th plNc gshgl✓Sgx7gand gsgprHgxs7 oe Icted Conventional DistrictApplicaUon Requirements ■ Complete Zoning Atlas Amendment Application Am a p showing the land proposed for rezoning ■ Ana rrative detailing existing and proposed zoning,future land use designation,how the proposed a mendmentcorrects an error in the Zoning Atlas or is consistent with the Comprehensive Pian • Additional Information as Identified by Reviewing Agencies �- Z 3 4 Slide #12 Zoning Atlas Amendment- MA24-0001 (Efland Ruritan Club) 3009 Forrest Avenue , Efland , NC Conventional Zoning Overview GENERAL COMMERCIAL Lol5ixr.mm Iscuare freEl at].009�t� PuRpGsE LolWMlh.min.Itael} 75 The Purpose of the General Commerca34IGC 11 OrsYnp Is Front S,,-os eom ROW,m to provide—table swamd and s;d"saes 1Mt albw a 0-035 broad range of oonmec 1 office and urvice uses. performance standards wll be used i enure the absence of adverae imp is be,.od M 2omng dislriq t—rd.ry Skis.Setback.min.(feet) None 12) This district will V It,be awheo where the follawmp Rear Setback.mm.IIee1) Nine 12; oor600ns eatsr. 1 The Sde is wllftin an area designated by the adopted F1Ypli,IeaiL faM1.,IFbaYd 46 P1 Canwisherrcave Ilan as eil,—a Comm—1 T—it,on media CTM!dr CITAN Aclivlry Nada(CTAN).or Comm—m-Industral Tranerinn A Wty Node ICITAN). Height.mas.(1eel) if located �3) .t—i CTAN a CITAN 60 2 W aper and sewer maim east at the site or are 0 be made—Lablz as pad of the development process a the Floor Am Raft 115•i,If pot=for irsis dual uses are aMmp-,te to the method of b6st■ouNi keN■CTANer water supply ane sewage dtsposal effm 5 6 7 25 1 Slide #13 Applicant's Presentation ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 2 3 Anthony Cecil and Jana Murdock-Doherty, representing the Efland Ruritan Club, greeted 4 the Board. 5 Jana Murdock-Doherty read the following statement: 6 "Good evening and thank you for the opportunity to address the Board. My name is Jana 7 Murdock-Doherty, and I am a Board member for the Efland Ruritan Club. This is Anthony Cecil, 8 long-time member and current president of the Club. We are coming before you this evening to 9 request a recommendation to change the zoning designation from R1 to GC-4 on the parcels 10 owned by the Efland Ruritan Club. This change would bring the property's zoning in line with its 11 current and historical uses, as well as with the County's Future Land Use Plan. 12 As Ruritan is one of the lesser-known civic organizations, I'd like to take a moment and share 13 some information about it. Ruritan is a national civic service organization made up of local clubs 14 dedicated to improving their communities by identifying needs in their area and implementing 15 solutions to address those needs. Club membership represents a cross-section of the community 16 in which the club serves, and is not restrictive with regard to occupation, social position, or any 17 other specific criteria. Currently, there are about 25,000 members in 900 communities nationwide. 18 Our Club in Efland was founded in 1981 when 4 local citizens saw a great opportunity to serve 19 and support our community. They came together to purchase the land from the Orange County 20 School Board and charter the club to benefit Efland and Orange County, and we have been in 21 operation ever since. Our mission as a non-profit civic organization is to strengthen and improve 22 our community through various activities and financial methods. 23 Prior to the Club's existence, this property served as the local high school for the area, and before 24 that as the site of the elementary school. Many local citizens have a strong connection to this site 25 and happy memories from those times. Not long ago, I was chatting with one of our members 26 about the history of the buildings while we were preparing a benefit dinner, and I got to hear some 27 great stories about when he attended the high school. This sort of oral history is made possible 28 by being able to gather together in this place, and being able to pass those stories down helps to 29 deepen the younger generation's connection to the community, too. It's clear that this centrally 30 located spot makes sense as a hub of activity and community engagement in the area — it has 31 always been a natural gathering place. 32 Currently, we serve the community in several different ways, including events for community 33 enjoyment, scholarships for graduating seniors from each of the local high schools, sponsorships 34 of other local clubs and community organizations, benefit meals, and more. Every year we host 35 a rodeo which is well-attended and enjoyed by our local community as well as surrounding 26 1 communities. We allocate $6,000 each year to provide scholarships to 2 graduating seniors from 2 each area high school who are furthering their education either in academics or in a trade. We 3 support youth programs both financially and by donating our space for their use. This year, we 4 are sponsoring youth sports teams. We also support the high school athletic teams, specifically 5 the football teams, by providing a meal each year during their regular season. We have been 6 approached by scout troops in the past about using the buildings for meetings, and we are open 7 to this. We also allow other community focused groups, such as the Efland Historical Society, to 8 use our space for regular meetings. Over the years, Relay for Life, American Red Cross, 9 Hillsborough Hog Day, Timeless Cruizers, Hillsborough Sports Fishing Club, Orange County 10 Sheriff's Office, local churches, and schools have all used our property to help support their goals 11 and to help improve our community for all Orange County Citizens. We coordinate benefit meals 12 to support individual members of our community who have had tragedies befall them, from house 13 fires to medical diagnoses. 14 We also have outdoor facilities — a playground and walking track — which the members of the 15 community have access to for recreational purposes. 16 Finally, we make our buildings available to the community as an event rental space for an 17 affordable fee. Any money we earn is used to maintain our physical spaces, pay property taxes 18 and other bills, and, most importantly, to fund our service-oriented activities. 19 The Club's membership has been steadily growing over the past 5 years, increasing in number 20 and diversity. The membership is starting to better reflect the diverse make-up of our community, 21 from ethnicity to gender to age. We currently have about 35 members, which is an increase of 22 about 11% over the last five years. It is a great sign to see the roster growing, as many 23 organizations have seen a decline in membership over the past decade. 24 Our intention is to continue using this space to support our local community. We are focused on 25 providing more opportunities for community enjoyment and engagement. This year, in addition to 26 our annual rodeo, we added a tractor pull in the spring. We are in the process of brainstorming 27 and implementing ideas about additional ways to give back, including more regular summer 28 events such as free concerts or movie nights, additional or more regular benefit meals, and 29 community service projects.Attendance at the rodeo is so strong that we are also exploring ways 30 to allow this to continue growing as well. 31 We would also like to be able to add a SECU cashpoints machine, as there are not any ATMs 32 nearby. This is what provided the impetus for our long overdue rezoning application. Without the 33 change in zoning, this affordable access to banking would not be allowed on our property. We 34 think it is an important service to provide so that community members can have access to their 35 money at a convenient, nearby location. 36 Given our growth in membership and activities, we don't anticipate the club disbanding at any 37 point in the near future. Sadly, though, my crystal ball is not working, and since no one can really 38 guarantee anything, we do have a plan designated in our charter should this ever happen. In the 39 event that the club should cease to exist, the land and assets are slated to be distributed among 40 the area churches, in an effort to maintain the space for community service of some kind. What 41 that would like look is flexible, but, again, the intent is to keep this space as a benefit to the 42 community in one way or another. 43 This rezoning will make sure that the club can continue to support the community in as many 44 ways as possible. Not only does it align with the County's projected use of the area, it will also 45 match the current use and allow us to offer additional services in the future, such as adding an 46 ATM. 47 We appreciate the Board's consideration of our request, and we will do our best to answer any 48 questions you may have for us." 49 Commissioner Hamilton asked what kinds of enterprises happen in GC-4 zoning. 27 1 Cy Stober said it is the most permissive of the commercial districts in the county and it 2 covers all retail uses, such as restaurants or convenience stores. He said it would also cover 3 small shopping outlets or office uses. 4 Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked how the Ruritan Club membership has become more 5 diverse. 6 Anthony Cecil said they have more Hispanic, Black and female members. He said that 7 as the group has grown, they can do more in the community. 8 Anthony Cecil added that the property has never been a residence, despite the current 9 zoning. He said they wanted to add an ATM for the community. 10 11 A motion was made by Commissioner Hamilton, seconded by Commissioner Fowler, to 12 open the public hearing. 13 14 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 15 16 PUBLIC COMMENTS: 17 There was no one signed up to speak. 18 19 A motion was made by Commissioner McKee, seconded by Vice-Chair Greene, to close 20 the public hearing. 21 22 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 23 24 Commissioner Richards said that the rezoning would be the broadest category. She asked 25 if any other proposals would come back to the Board with the rezoning. 26 Cy Stober referred to the chart on slide #12. He said that it would not come back to the 27 Board. 28 Commissioner Richards asked if the proposal increases the amount of impervious surface. 29 Cy Stober said that most of the property is already impervious surface and development 30 of that area would not create new runoff. 31 Vice-Chair Greene said she would like to hear from the applicant about their plans for 32 remaining a Ruritan club and what would happen if they do not exist. 33 Anthony Cecil said it is in their by-laws that if the Ruritan club is dissolved, the property is 34 to go to area churches so it could still be used as community property. He said they have no 35 intention of disbanding. 36 Jana Murdock-Doherty said it is currently a growing club with new members joining 37 regularly. 38 Vice-Chair Greene said she just wanted to clarify the intention with the property. 39 Chair Bedford asked if it is possible that the Ruritan club could sell the property, and the 40 zoning would remain commercial. 41 Cy Stober said that was correct. 42 Commissioner McKee asked if the property has ever been used for anything other than 43 community service and if there has ever been discussion for using the property for a for-profit or 44 commercial venture. 45 Anthony Cecil said no, the ATM is the only thing that has been discussed and that has 46 been discussed as a benefit to the community. He said that the ATM would probably be a State 47 Employees' Credit Union, and currently there are no major ATM sites between Churton Grove in 48 Hillsborough and downtown Mebane. 49 28 1 A motion was made by Commissioner McKee, seconded by Commissioner Fowler, to 2 approve the Statement of Consistency (Attachment 6) and Zoning Atlas Amendments 3 (Attachment 7). 4 5 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 6 7 c. Unified Development Ordinance Text Amendment — Regulatory Reform Compliance & 8 Clarifications 9 The Board held a public hearing, received the Planning Board and staff recommendations and 10 public comment, closed the public hearing, and approved County-initiated text amendments to 11 the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) in response to North Carolina Session Laws (NCSLs) 12 23-108 and 23-137, as well as to clarify two related matters for improved administration of the 13 UDO. 14 15 BACKGROUND: The North Carolina General Assembly approved two laws over Governor Roy 16 Cooper's veto in the 2023 session that are relevant to the text of Orange County's UDO. The first 17 was North Carolina Session Law (NCSL) 23-108 (Attachment 1), which expanded the definition 18 of"residential" uses or zoning to all structures under the regulatory umbrella of the North Carolina 19 State Residential (Building) Code. This effectively expands this definition from one-and two-family 20 dwellings to include three- and four-family dwellings. The consequence is the lack of Orange 21 County authority to regulate the architecture or appearance of such structures, requiring 22 amendment of Sections 2.5.3 (Site Plan Specifications) and 4.6.2 (Major Transportation Corridor 23 (overlay district) Application). Staff has initiated an amendment to the definition of "Residential 24 Development" in Article 10 to reflect this statutory change. 25 26 Staff has also initiated a relevant amendment to Section 2.4.2 ("Zoning Compliance Permits, 27 Requirements and Conditions") to transfer the responsibility of affirming UDO compliance, before 28 a Certificate of Occupancy is issued, from the Building Inspector to the Planning and Inspections 29 Director. The Inspections staff should be focused on NC State Building Codes compliance and 30 not also be responsible for enforcement of Orange County's local development and use 31 standards. 32 33 NCSL 23-137 (Attachment 2) was the "Regulatory Reform Act" and provides for the elimination of 34 density regulations in water supply watersheds under the following conditions: 35 1) The property was developed prior to the effective date of the applicable water supply 36 watershed regulations; 37 2) The property has not been combined with additional lots after January 1, 2021; 38 3) The property has not participated in density averaging, as allowed by North Carolina 39 General Statute § 143-214.5(d2); 40 4) The current use of the property is nonresidential; 41 5) The remaining vegetated buffers on the property are preserved in accordance with Section 42 6.13.4 of the Ordinance. 43 44 This new standard is proposed as the new Section 4.2.4(A), "Residential Density, Density 45 Exceedance Allowance". 46 47 Accompanying this statutory amendment is one to the Section 6.14 Stormwater standards, 48 clarifying that only new "built upon area" (aka "impervious surface") must be treated with 49 Stormwater Control Measures, as required by State and federal laws. The existing "built upon 50 area" (BUA) does not require stormwater treatment. The developer may elect to treat the existing 51 BUA, and it may be offered as a condition of approval of a conditional zoning or special use permit 29 1 application, but it cannot be required. This additional allowance is reflected primarily in the new 2 Section 6.14.5(C) "Redevelopment Exemption", as well as subsection 4.2.7(E) "Modifications of 3 the Impervious Surface Ratio". 4 5 In compliance with the Orange County-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Joint Planning Agreement, the 6 proposed amendments were sent to both towns for comment on March 19, 2024. No comments 7 were received. 8 9 Planning Board Recommendation: At its May 1, 2024 meeting, the Board voted unanimously to 10 recommend approval of the Statement of Consistency and the UDO amendment package. An 11 excerpt of the draft May 1, 2024 Planning Board minutes and the Planning Board's signed 12 Statement of Consistency are provided at Attachment 3. Prior to making its recommendation, the 13 Planning Board reviewed the materials in an "Ordinance Review Committee" meeting on April 3, 14 2024. Materials for this meeting are available at: 15 httl)s://oran eg countync.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/ 04032024-1982. 16 17 Planning Director's Recommendation: The Planning Director recommends approval of the: 18 19 1. Statement of Approval and Consistency indicating the text amendments are 20 reasonable and in the public interest, as contained in Attachment 4. 21 22 2. Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) text amendments, as contained in Attachment 23 5. 24 25 Cy Stober, Planning and Zoning Director, made the following presentation: 26 27 Slide #1 OI(1,!'11 V E COUNT NORTH CAROLINA Item 5c: UDO Text Amendment - Regulatory Reform and Compliance 28 29 30 30 1 Slide #2 What Changed? NCSL 23-108/HB 488 NCSL 23-137/HB 600 ORANGE COUNTY NOWT F[CAROLINA 2 3 4 Slide #3 What Changed? NCSL 23-108/HB 488 AN ACT TO REORGANIZE THE BUILDING CODE COUNCIL AND CREATE THE RESIDENTIAL CODE COUNCIL, TO AMEND VARIOUS PROVISIONS OF THE NORTH CAROLINA STATE BUILDING CODE AND LAND DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS, AND TO INCREASE THE PROJECT COST MINIMUM FOR APPLICABILITY OF GENERAL CONTRACTOR LICENSING REQUIREMENTS. ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 5 6 7 31 1 Slide #4 What Changed? NCSL 23-108/HB 486 AN ACT TO REORGANIZE THE BUILDING CODE COUNCIL AND CREATE THE RESIDENTIAL CODE COUNCIL, TO AMEND VARIOUS PROVISIONS OF THE NORTH CAROLINA STATE BUILDING CODE AND LAND DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS, AND TO INCREASE THE PROJECT COST MINIMUM FOR APPLICABILITY OF GENERAL CONTRACTOR LICENSING REQUIREMENTS. ORANGE COUNTY NOW1'H CAROLINA 2 3 4 Slide #5 What Changed? NCSL 28-108/HB 486 • Amended NCGS 1600-702(b): Any regulation relating to building design elements adopted under this Chapter may not be applied to any structures subject to regulation under the North Carolina Residential Code for One-ap-d r.•„-r-ami Dwegings except under one or more of the following circumstances... ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROIJNA 5 6 7 32 1 Slide #6 Proposed Amendment's • 2.5.3 (Site Plan Specifications) • 4.5.2 (Major Transportation Corridor(overlay district) Application) — Amended references to "single-family residential, and duplexes" to "regulated by the NC Residential Code" ORANGE COUNTY NOR'T'H CAROLINA Z 3 4 Slide #7 Proposed Amendments • Staff-initiated Amendment: • Section 2.4.2 ("Zoning Compliance Permits, Requirements and Conditions") — Transfer the responsibility of affirming UDO compliance before a Certificate of Occupancy is issued from the Building Inspectorto the Planning and Inspections Director. ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLTNA 5 6 7 33 1 Slide #8 • Staff-Initiated Amendment (potential): • Amend "Residential Development" definition: Buildings regulated by the North Carolina Residential Code as well as multifamily dwellings for residential use such as attached 'a and detaC�,hed—nngle family dwelliRgS,apartment complexes, and condominiums. , WWRhauses, cottages, aRrdtheir associated eutbuildiRgS suchas g-arag-e�s,st61ugc buildings, and gazebos ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 2 3 4 Slide #9 Prono:s{ed Amendment • Staff-Initiated Amendment (potential): • Amend "Residential Development" definition: Buildings regulated by the North Carolina Residential Cade as well as multifamily dwellings such as apartment complexes and condominiums. ORANGE COUNTY N(lWTH CAROLINA 5 6 7 34 1 Slide #10 What Changed? NCSL 23-137/HB 600 AN ACT TO PROVIDE FURTHER REGULATORY RELIEF TO THE CITIZENS OF NORTH CAROLINA. ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA Z 3 4 Slide #11 What Changed? NCSL 23-137/1-113 600 (1/2) • Amended NCGS 143-214.5 (Water Supply Protection) to better enable redevelopment of multifamily projects in water supply watersheds ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 5 6 7 35 1 Slide #12 What Changed? NCSL 23-137/HB +600 (2/2) - Amended NCGS 143-214.7 (Stormwater Runoff Rules and Programs) — Excludes public rights of way from impervious surface calculations and regulation/treatment — Better enables redevelopment of properties being introducing flexibility on "crediting" existing development footprints ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 2 3 Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked if this would allow someone to put a quadruplex on an 4 acre that was subdivided into four parcels. 5 Cy Stober said no. He said it does not transmit the development rights to a new property. 6 He said it would all have to be contained within the currently existing property. He said if someone 7 wanted to have a small office complex and it is consistent with the zoning, then you could have 8 four new buildings. He said that would still have to account for parking and driveways. 9 10 Slide #13 Proposed Amendments • The following statutory language is needed in a new subsection (C) "Redevelopment Exemption to Section 6.14.5(Stormwater Management, Applicability): .0�_ ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 11 12 13 36 1 Slide #14 eroposed Amendments When a preexisting development is redeveloped, either in whole or in part, increased stormwater controls shall only be required for the amount of impervious surface being created that exceeds the amount of impervious surface that existed before the redevelopment, irrespective of whether the impervious surface that existed before the redevelopment is to be demolished or relocated during the development activity. ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 2 3 4 Slide #13 3roposed Amendments • Create Subsection 4.2.4(A) (Residential Density, Density Exceedance Allowance): As enabled by NC G.S. § 143-214.5(d3), an applicant may exceed the density otherwise required by the applicable water supply watershed regulations, but not the underlying zoning district, if all of the following circumstances apply: ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 5 6 7 37 1 Slide #14 (1)The property was developed prior to the effective date of the applicable water supply watershed regulations;. (2)The property has not been combined with additional lots after January 1,2021; (3)The property has not participated in density averaging,as allowed by NC G.S. §143-214,5(d2); (4)The current use of the property is nonresidential; (5)The remaining vegetated buffers on the property are preserved in accordance with Section 6.13.4 of this Ordinance ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 2 3 4 Slide #15 • Create Subsection 4.2.4(A) (Residential Density, Density Exceedance Allowance): As enabled by NC G.S.§143.214.5(d3),an applicant may exceed the density otherwise required by the applicable water supply watershed regulations,but A the underlying zoning district,if all of the following circumstances apply: (1)The oruoerty was developed oriorto the effective date of the applicable water supplywatershed regulations, (2)The property has not been combined with additional lots after January 1,2021; (3)The property has not participated in density averaging,as allowed by NC G.S. §143-214.5(d2); (4) i Pi u r L u:_.c of the orooerty is nonresidential; (5)The re mal ningvegetated buffers on the property are preserved in accordance with Section 6.13.4 of this Ordinance ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 5 6 7 38 1 Slide #16 Proposed Amendments • Create Subsection 4.2.7(E) (Modifications of the Impervious Surface Ratio): If all of the criteria of Section 4.2.4(A) are satisfied, an applicant may elect to apply the preexisOng development regulations,as specified in Section 6.14(C). ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROIANA 2 3 4 Slide #17 Staff Analysis and Recommendation The Planning Director recommends approval of the text amendments (Attachment 4), and the Statement of Approval and Consistency (AttachmentA as being reasonable and in the public interest to comply with North Carolina General Statutes. GRANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 5 6 7 39 1 Slide #18 Planning Board Recommendation Planning Board Ordinance Review Committee reviewed and discussed at April 3, 2024, meeting. Planning Board voted unanimously (11-0) to recommend approval of the proposed amendments at their May 1, 2024, meeting. ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 2 3 4 Slide #19 Recommendation forTonight The Manager recommends the Board: 1. Consider the Planning Director's and Planning..Board's recommendations, 2. Conduct the Public Hearing and accept public comment, 3. Deliberate on the proposal, and 4. Make a recommendation to the BOCC on the Statement of Consistency (Attachment 3) and the proposed ordinance (Attachment 4). ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 5 6 Commissioner McKee asked if this is to match state law. 7 Cy Stober said yes. 8 Commissioner Richards asked if that included the staff amendments. 40 1 Cy Stober said the staff amendments were to change the definition for residential 2 development to make it simpler and reflect state law and to change the responsibility on UDO 3 compliance and issuance of a certificate of occupancy from Inspections to Planning. 4 Commissioner Richards said the rest is about statutory changes and the others were to 5 simplify and clarify. 6 Cy Stober said yes. 7 Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked if someone in a single-family home in a subdivision 8 with an HOA, would the HOA have more say-so in what is built or how the property is used. She 9 asked if a single-family home would be able to be changed to a duplex, triplex, or quadplex based 10 on these amendments. 11 Cy Stober said if local zoning allows that. He said there is usually a density restriction, 12 and single-family zoning is one home per lot, regardless of the size of the lot. 13 Chair Bedford said it is the order in which you apply the rules. 14 Cy Stober said yes, and then you would consider what the HOA covenants are, but zoning 15 would come first. 16 17 A motion was made by Commissioner McKee, seconded by Commissioner Hamilton, to 18 open the public hearing. 19 20 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 21 22 PUBLIC COMMENTS: 23 There was no one signed up to speak. 24 25 A motion was made by Commissioner Hamilton, seconded by Commissioner McKee, to 26 close the public hearing. 27 28 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 29 30 A motion was made by Commissioner McKee, seconded by Vice-Chair Greene, to 31 approve the Statement of Consistency as detailed in Attachment 4 and UDO Text Amendments 32 in Attachment 5. 33 34 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 35 36 d. Unified Development Ordinance Text Amendment—Tobacco and Hemp Retail Use 37 The Board held a public hearing, received the Planning Board and staff recommendations and 38 public comment, closed the public hearing, and approved Commissioner-initiated text 39 amendments to the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) regarding use, regulation, and 40 definition of"Tobacco and Hemp Retail" use. 41 42 BACKGROUND: At the February 6, 2024, Business meeting of the Orange County Board of 43 Commissioners, Commissioner Amy Fowler petitioned to direct the County Attorney's Office to 44 provide a draft UDO amendment to regulate the retail use of businesses that primarily rely upon 45 the sale of tobacco and hemp products. The intent is to limit exposure of youth to such products, 46 as well as ensure that they are not densely focused in any part of Orange County. The County 47 Attorney's Office, basing proposed amendment language on recently-adopted amendments to 48 Wake County's ordinances for similar purposes, provided draft language to the Planning & 49 Inspections Department for presentation as a UDO amendment. 50 51 Orange County is proposing to amend the UDO to: 41 1 1. Define "Tobacco and Hemp Retail" use; 2 2. Allow "Tobacco and Hemp Retail" as use in NR-CD zoning districts; and 3 3. Require that any such establishment be at least 1,000 feet from any of the following: 4 A. Tobacco and Hemp Retail; 5 B. Schools, including: 6 Schools: Performing Arts, Sports, and Recreation, 7 Schools: Preparatory, 8 Schools: Technical, Trade, and Skill Training, and 9 Schools: Universities, Colleges; 10 C. Parks and Recreational Facilities; and 11 D. All Residential Uses 12 The Orange County Board of Health approved a Letter of Support (Attachment 3), signed April 13 24, 2024, providing health and policy reasons for adopting the language presented, and providing 14 context for how Orange County's amendment of the UDO will be consistent with similar recent 15 actions throughout the state. 16 17 In compliance with the Orange County-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Joint Planning Agreement, the 18 proposed amendments were sent to both towns for comment on March 19, 2024. No comments 19 were received. 20 21 Planning Board Recommendation: At its May 1, 2024 meeting, the Board voted unanimously to 22 recommend approval of the Statement of Consistency and the UDO amendment package. An 23 excerpt of the draft May 1, 2024 Planning Board minutes and the Planning Board's signed 24 Statement of Consistency are provided at Attachment 4. Prior to making its recommendation, the 25 Planning Board reviewed the materials in an "Ordinance Review Committee" meeting on April 3, 26 2024. Materials for this meeting are available at: 27 https://orangecountVnc.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/ 04032024-1982. 28 29 Planning Director's Recommendation: The Planning Director recommends approval of the: 30 31 1. Statement of Approval and Consistency indicating the text amendments are reasonable 32 and in the public interest, as contained in Attachment 1. 33 34 2. Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) text amendments, as contained in Attachment 2. 35 36 Cy Stober, Planning and Zoning Director, made the following presentation: 37 38 Slide #1 ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA Item 5d: UDO Text Amendment- Tobacco and Hemp Retail Use 39 42 1 Slide #2 What is Tobacco and Hemp Retail? TOE3 CCd K WAPES PW vR. Mt',11 ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 2 3 4 Slide #3 What is Tobacco and Hemp Retail? E-tiquid or food product? M .Mss t/iUirP�;ll`I" o` FOA.FTC , lar o ORANGECOUN1 NORT]-I CAROLINA 5 6 7 43 1 Slide #4 What is Tobacco and Hemp Retail? 4,4 gRANCiE 4C ���.N�iE COUNTY IEFLTN pfPMTnEnr NF.Al.TM_O®MfFBfI ��M.r...f ...mo.m Jw..a v�.aw rJ+•srn o.w osJ w.�w.a..e..�> w.�y.Nd.MYal rm~.ildnWw.....mm...�.mJ....P+meN.wglJJmw�d.sa�� I.Y.i s.iw...rM w Mw.y1•a..m�JiJI w jw,�,�� m...a b+6.Peiei�dR"wiie dod�1 ice.widiw In IUYay.ryvNul - .+�ay...w.� tib-a.�n.h req, ..�ry�•.din.®..a�®P Yf.esr�g[.. Iwpeuw n9+ire a s.J.,. Po+�prRiw Mww '0.rn•de.d rV Pdubn Yid e"�e b.igsy..td.m.sM7 i.L. vn.1.. N..r�IP�av..auY..ui.Wn�hrY•�n.-I�..s4... dm ..W.w�mms.wnmr sYJwl4+®A..M.ae �� .Orw.4w1•.••�.h..T bn.w>•Y e]V�n ehen ywbaa.m�a in®Iwd .n.uik YlerwYv�«.wnsprPm.s.iewd minw.Y wren [a.y.aw lo..el.I-du.aY6y.r+JW.IMWs Y�euap lss.hrYdlblY •Miwin.Vin u.rn.nl••.®ion r��.l.�i.Ywwm..,.b LldsLLstC^.s•t s..e.w i I+^w.ln d.in-.ub.n.wm.d 1.rn�.ry.l.wwr i�Wtlw.�I mmiy,�M.Fn+ .r�+....w..N®.d.d..d l..,r...fa.m... r.m�.Anlrt-�bk1 N rJ.�m®d�..emw..eeawwam.•vv a..psvu w•W�.�0.�v.t r..n.N+•l .v,.em..b�e.�rcnM..+.d rss au 1105. wwew rnm sid rwrY.wN. nln.rnsa.Jm.-ae +v NZNa xp T+�met Im,m�...d�.IK lnlewR•`M' M � ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 2 3 4 Slide #5 What is Tobacco and Hemp Retail? A retail store with principal sales and/or distribution of: a)any productthat contains tobacco or nicotine,irrespective ofwhetherthe nicotine is tobacco-derived or synthetic,and is intended for human consumption,as defined by G.S. § 14-313(4), including but not limited to:cigarettes,cigars, pipe tobacco, electronic cigarettes, hookah,smoked orvaped tobacco substitutes,chewingtobacco, snuff,snus,dissolvable tobacco products,and heated tobacco products. Excluded from this definition are tobacco products approved bythe USFDA fortreatment of tobacco use and dependence. b)any product that contains tetrahydrocannabinol(THC),irrespective of whether the THC is hemp derived or synthetic. Excluded from this definition are products that contain no greaterthan 0.3 percent THC. c)any product that contains Mitragyna speciosa,commonly known as kratom. ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 5 44 1 Slide #6 What is Tobacco and Hemp Retail? A retail store with principal sales and/or distribution of: a)any product that contains tobacco or nicotine,irrespective of whether the nicotine is tobacco-derived or synthetic, and is intended for human consumption, as defined by G.S. § 14-313(4), including but not limited to: cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, electronic cigarettes,hookah,smoked orvaped tobacco substitutes,chewing tobacco, snuff, snus, dissolvable tobacco products, and heated tobacco products. Excluded from this definition are tobacco products approved by the USFDA for treatment of tobacco use and dependence. b) any product that contains tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), irrespective of whether the THC is hemp derived or synthetic. Excluded from this definition are products that contain no greater than 0.3 percent THC. c)any product that contains Mitragyna speciosa,commonly known as kratom. ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA Z 3 4 Slide #7 What is Tobacco and Hemp Retail? Prior actions by Wake County and Cumberland County to regulate such primary uses. — 'ro=s of Apex.Knightdale.Rolesville,and Zebulon have taken similarland use regulatory action Draft language prepared by County Attorney's Office and Planning Department in response to commissioner request. Language similarto that used elsewhere and consistent with regulations of land uses(i.e. Sexually oriented Businesses)in which minimizing youth exposure is an intended goal. ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 5 6 7 45 1 Slide #8 Proposed Amendments • Regulate Use Tobacco and Hemp Retail uses must be located at least 1,000 feet from the following land uses: (a)Tobacco and Hemp Retail; (b)Schools,including: (i)Schools: Performing Arts,Sports,and Recreation, (ii)Schools:Preparatory, (iii)Schools:Technical,Trade,and Skill Training,and (iv)Schools:Universities,Colleges; (c)Parks and Recreational Facilities;and (d)all Residential Uses. ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 2 3 4 Slide #9 Proposed Amendments • Define Use • Permit Use et U> 6ounry sca �1 ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 5 46 1 Slide #10 Staff Analysis and Recommendation The Planning Director recommends approval of the text amendments (Attachment 2), and the Statement of Approval and Consistency(Attachment 1) as being reasonable and in the public interest define, permit, and regulate "Tobacco and Hemp Retail" use as a primary land use. ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 2 3 Chair Bedford asked if the reason libraries were not included because the libraries are 4 located within town limits. 5 Cy Stober said he did not know. He said the regulation could be amended should the 6 need arise. 7 Commissioner Fowler said she appreciated everyone who worked on the language. She 8 said she hopes it serves as a model for the towns within Orange County. She asked the Clerk to 9 the Board to share the language with the town clerks. 10 Commissioner Hamilton said it is an important issue. She said that other communities 11 included halfway housing and residential rehabilitation support facilities. She asked why the 12 county's proposal did not include those. 13 Cy Stober said they are uncommon uses, but they could be included with a friendly 14 amendment. He said there are group homes in Orange County. 15 Commissioner Hamilton made a friendly amendment to include those kinds of facilities. 16 Commissioner McKee seconded the friendly amendment. 17 Chair Bedford asked for the definition of those facilities. 18 Cy Stober said it would be family care facilities and group homes. 19 Chair Bedford clarified that it could be for any kind, whether it is IDD or prison release. 20 Cy Stober said it is not defined at that level in the UDO. 21 Commissioner Fowler asked if those would be included in residential. 22 Cy Stober said they are. He said that group homes are special uses in residential, so it is 23 all permitted and captured in the UDO. 24 Chair Bedford said that the friendly amendment would not be needed since it is already 25 captured in the UDO. 26 Cy Stober said yes. 27 28 A motion was made by Commissioner McKee, seconded by Commissioner Fowler, to 29 open the public hearing. 30 31 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 32 33 47 1 PUBLIC COMMENTS: 2 There was no one signed up to speak. 3 4 A motion was made by Commissioner Fowler, seconded by Commissioner McKee, to 5 close the public hearing. 6 7 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 8 9 A motion was made by Commissioner Fowler, seconded by Commissioner Richards, to 10 approve the Statement of Consistency as detailed in Attachment 1 and UDO Text Amendments 11 in Attachment 2. 12 13 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 14 15 6. Regular Agenda 16 a. Establishing a Framework for School Bond Projects and Capital Funding 17 The Board established a framework for School capital project funding associated with the 2024 18 Bond Referendum and other high priority capital needs. 19 20 BACKGROUND: The Board of County Commissioners is in the process of formally adopting a 21 school bond question to be placed on the November 2024 ballot. The Board has established a 22 not to exceed bond amount of$300 million and intends to pair the bond with a significant increase 23 in pay-go funding with the goal of providing an additional $100 million in new pay-go funds over 24 the next ten years. 25 26 At the May 21, 2024 Business meeting, the Board received presentations from the County and 27 the two Districts on their preferred spending plans for the bond. At the May 23, 2024 budget work 28 session, the Board discussed the plans presented and the framework that will be used for 29 allocating capital funds to each District in the future. Based on that discussion, the Board will 30 proceed with the following framework for allocating capital funding for school projects: 31 32 1. Project Funding 33 34 School capital projects will be funded based on consistency with the principles of the 35 Woolpert Plan that endeavors to replace old facilities with new facilities, improve the 36 educational adequacy of the buildings, and address high priority capital needs throughout 37 each district. During the course of the ten-year capital plan, the County recognizes that 38 circumstances change and priorities and projects may need to be adjusted. As a result, 39 the capital plan will be reviewed at least annually to make any necessary adjustments. 40 41 a. Based on available funding, the Board intends to fund three major projects in the 42 Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools District: a new middle school to replace existing 43 school capacity, a replacement of Carrboro Elementary, and a replacement of 44 Culbreth Middle School. 45 46 b. Based on available funding, the Board also intends to fund three major projects in 47 the Orange County Schools District: a new elementary school to replace existing 48 school capacity, a replacement of Orange Middle School, and a rebuild or 49 significant renovation of an additional elementary school that improves educational 50 adequacy. 51 48 1 c. Specific high priority needs will be formally determined on an annual basis and be 2 consistent with the Woolpert high priority definitions: 3 4 i. Level 1 — Critical — Failure of components impact the facility's ability to 5 remain open 6 ii. Level 2 — Essential — Failure of components impact the health of major 7 systems (i.e. leaking roofs) 8 iii. Level 3 — Necessary — Failure of components could impact the facility's 9 efficiency and usefulness 10 11 2. Funding Amounts 12 a. If the bond referendum is approved, bond funding will be distributed to the Districts 13 based on Woolpert's project recommendations. $174.7 million will be allocated to 14 Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools and $125.3 million will be allocated to Orange 15 County Schools. 16 17 b. New pay-go funding will also be distributed based on the Woolpert 18 recommendations with the goal of providing project management to both districts 19 and design funds for new construction starting in FY 2025-26. 20 21 c. High priority needs will be funded using any remaining bond and pay-go funds, 22 annual maintenance funds, lottery proceeds, and existing capital balances. 23 24 d. Combined, the Board's goal is to provide approximately $263 million or 59.86% of 25 total funding to Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools and approximately $176 million 26 or 40.14% of total funding to Orange County Schools for the ten-year period of FY 27 2025-26 through FY 2034-35. 28 29 e. Article 46 funds will continue to be distributed to the Districts based on the average 30 daily membership excluding charter students, and recurring capital will be 31 distributed to the Districts based on average daily membership including charter 32 students. 33 34 3. Project Budgeting 35 36 The County will specifically enumerate major projects and high priority needs in separate 37 project budgets by facility. Staff will draft an updated School Funding Policy that details 38 the project budgeting process and present that revised policy to the Board of 39 Commissioners in the Fall of 2024. 40 41 Travis Myren, Deputy County Manager, made the following presentation: 42 43 49 1 Slide #1 Agenda Item 6.a. ORANGE COUNTY T'-TC3RTH CAROLINA Framework for School Capital Project Funding Board of Commissioners Business Meeting June 4, 2024 2 3 4 Slide #2 Decision Points • Correction to Tax Rate in Financial Impact section — The tax rate increase associated with the$300 million school bond is 3.41 cents, not 8.88 cents. • Purpose — To establish a framework for school capital project funding associated with the 2024 bond referendum and other high priority capital needs. 2 ORAN HE�COUNATY 5 6 Commissioner McKee asked if this discussion was related to the bond language on the 7 ballot. 8 Travis Myren said no. 9 Commissioner McKee said it will cost the residents of the county 8.88 cents for all the 10 pieces of the plan, not just the part related to the bond. He said he wanted to be clear with the 11 residents. 12 Travis Myren said that the 8.88 is based on a whole variety of assumptions and not the 13 least of which is how the projects will be sequenced. 14 Commissioner McKee said that they cannot predict interest rates. He said that a lot of 15 borrowing occurs later in the sequence. He said a lot of it will not be borrowed day one. 50 1 Slide #3 Timeline . Woolpert Findings—November 2023 Board of Commissioners role in capital — Facility Condition Assessment budgeting—May 2024 • utilization.Educational Adequacy,Fadlity Condition Index May appropriate by specific project — Long Range Facilities Optimization Plan captions for managing design and construction • Over 51 billion in needs over ri teen(15)years Preferred Plan of Finance—January 2024 School Project Report—May 2024 $300 million general obligation bond County,Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools,Orange $100 million in pay-go over ten(10)years County Schools Tax rate increase of 8.88 cents Depends on sequence and pace of projects Options for Allocating Capital Funding—May May be phased in over several years with higher cumulative 2024 Impact. Major Projects by project • High Priority Needs by project • School Capacity and Student Projections— Recurring capital and Article 46 by ADM with and January 2024 without Charter students NC State Operations Research and Education Laboratory (OREd)projects no net new schools needed in ten(10) years. — Capacity adjustments for Exceptional Children and Pre- School classrooms 3 O GE COUNTY NOR-2 3 Commissioner Richards asked for clarification on the allocation of Article 46 funds without 4 factoring in charter students. 5 Travis Myren said last year they allocated Article 46 funds by ADM not including charter 6 students. He said the reoccurring capital policy funding formula did not change and it still includes 7 charter students. 8 Commissioner Richards asked if that is the current policy for reoccurring capital. She 9 clarified that only Article 46 is without charter students. 10 Travis Myren said that it is the current policy, and it could be changed at any time, but 11 based on the Board's current policy, the Article 46 is the only thing that does not include charter 12 students. 13 Commissioner Richards said there were actions before Woolpert. She said it is informative 14 to include the conditions that drove the county to ask Woolpert to assess the facilities. She asked 15 for a statement that explains how the county got there. She said that it would be informative for 16 everyone. 17 Travis Myren said there had been studies and discussions about estimates of the need 18 well before they were hired. 19 Chair Bedford said there was also a school's facilities task force. 20 Commissioner Richards said it has been two years of struggling through. 21 Commissioner McKee said that also goes back to the previous bond. 22 Chair Bedford said it goes back to 2013 for studies that the school systems provided. 23 24 25 51 1 Slide #4 Framework for Allocating Capital Funding • In general, projects will be consistent with the Orange County Schools Major Projects principles of the Woolpert Plan - New elementary school to replace existing capacity - Replacement of Orange Middle School - Rebuild or significant renovation of an additional • Circumstances change elementary school that improves educational adequacy May need to adjust projects,timing,or both Review of capital plans at least annually for adjustments • High Priority Needs • Major Projects Planned now for full ten(10)year plan but formally determined on an annual basis and consistent with - Funded by G.O.Bond and pay-go High Priority Needs definitions: • Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Major Projects Level 9-Critical-Failure of components impact the - New middle school to replace existing capacity facility's ability to remain open Level 2-Essential-Failure of components impact - Replacement of Carrboro Elementary the health of major systems(i.e.leaking roofs) - Replacement of Culbeeth Middle Level 3-Necessary-Failure of components could impact the facility's efficiency and usefulness Life cycle replacements with one to three (1.3) years of remaining useful life at the time the study was completed 4 O aR GE COU TY LI NA2 3 Travis Myren said that CHCCS Board of Education will meet on Thursday to discuss their 4 project plans. He said that there is no projection right now calling for net new capacity. 5 6 Slide #5 Application of Funding Sources • General Obligation Bond - determined by Woolpert Recommendations Total funding from all sources for Major Projects - CHCCS-$174.7 million and High Priority Needs - OCS-$125.3 million - CHCCS-approximately$263 million(55.66%) - OCS-approximately$176 million(40.14%) • Pay-Go - Goal of providing$100 million over ten(10)years Remaining Sources - Funding for design funds and project management based - Recurring capital-average daily membership with charter on Woo 1pert recommendations students - Article 46 Sales Tax-average daily membership without • High Priority Needs charter students - Level 1,2,and 3 priorities and lifecycle replacements with one to three years of useful life at the time of the study - Remaining band funds and/pay-go - Annual maintenance - Lottery Proceeds - Existing capital balances *� � ORANGE COUNTY 5 NORTH CAROLINA 7 8 9 52 1 Slide #6 Project Budgeting • Specifically appropriate by project — Major Projects — High Priority Needs • School Funding Policy — Direct statltorevise the school funding policy consistent with the new capital funding framework — Board review in Fall 2024 ORANGE COUNTY 6 N"li CAROLINA 2 3 4 Slide #7 Questions ORANGE COUNTY 7 N011 CAROL 5 6 Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked about slide #4. She asked why the majority of 7 comments earlier in the evening were about McDougle schools and Estes Hills Elementary when 8 they are not on the list to replace. 9 Travis Myren said the projects that they would identify would be the replacement projects. 10 He said they would not be charged with deciding about the closures of schools. He said they only 11 focus on funding specific replacements rather than making decisions about what happens after 12 that. 13 Chair Bedford said if the school board changed their mind, the process would then mean 14 it would come back to the commissioners since they are doing project-based funding. 53 1 Travis Myren said specific project approval would not happen until the actual year of 2 appropriation. He said that approval of the plan does not automatically appropriate funds for 3 projects. 4 Chair Bedford said that we want a plan that follows the Woolpert principles, but that we 5 want to remain flexible. 6 Commissioner Hamilton said the discussion makes it clear that as commissioners, they 7 will be focused on projects. She said there may be changes, but if the project does not fit, it would 8 not be funded. She said it is important that their intent happens, but they have to be flexible when 9 projecting out in the future. 10 Chair Bedford said they want to be clear that the split in the amounts for each district are 11 firm, even if projects come in over budget. She asked that be clear in any communications. 12 Travis Myren clarified that if they want dollar values or percentage splits. 13 Commissioner McKee said it needs to be project based since that is what they have 14 decided. 15 Chair Bedford said the money will not change even if projects come in over budget. 16 Commissioner Hamilton said there is a dollar amount split for the bond, and a dollar 17 amount split for the total funding. She asked if they needed both of those. 18 Travis Myren said the only amount that is being set right now is the bond amount. He said 19 based on annual funding decisions the other amounts for recurring capital. 20 Commissioner Richards said Article 46 could change. 21 Commissioner Hamilton said Article 46 is outside of that and she understands that pay-go 22 may change overtime. 23 Travis Myren said they will set a not-to exceed for the bond. 24 Commissioner McKee said since they had not set a dollar amount for the other funds that 25 it would remain on the percentage. 26 Travis Myren said his understanding is that the bond amounts will be specified by dollar 27 amount and then everything else by project so they will know what specific dollars are associated 28 with the projects. 29 Commissioner McKee said he wants to make sure it is proportionate for both school 30 systems. 31 Commissioner Richards said both are ADM and the only difference is with or without 32 charters. She said that is what they have decided. 33 Commissioner McKee said that is what he heard but he wants to make sure. 34 Vice-Chair Greene asked what they discussed on other projects. 35 Commissioner Richards said that projects are pay-go and not proportionate to ADM. 36 Commissioner Hamilton said it is specified in slide #3 it was listed as by major projects. 37 38 PUBLIC COMMENTS: 39 Leah Milks said that she is with McDougle schools. She said that one of the very first 40 projects is to build the new middle school and that will start to dismantle the schools. She said the 41 elementary school will be divided into four to five different schools. She said that is the factor that 42 brings them to the table. She said if this plan does not change, when the proposals come to the 43 commissioners for project approval, that they really consider the disruption to students. 44 Heather Kenneally said that the Board should take their time because Woolpert is a 45 consultant that knows the buildings but they do not know the schools. She said that in 2022 there 46 was a proposed capital investment plan, and the schools were ranked. She said that Culbreth 47 and McDougle Middle were not on the list. She said that the people that work in their facilities 48 know their schools. She said that the Orange County Schools Public Facilities Ordinance shows 49 that there is not a need for a new elementary or middle school for the next ten years. She said 50 that no one was talking about it until now. She said their power is in the framework. She said that 51 teachers will be impacted. 54 1 Kari Hamel asked the Board to consider that no one from the Orange County community 2 spoke on the bond at the meeting. She said that on May 29th, she asked that all Board meetings 3 be recorded in both districts to deal with facilities bonds and construction. She said that she was 4 the only person that was there. She said that she is afraid that most of the community knows 5 nothing about the plan. She said that steel and doorknobs are not the way to go about this. She 6 asked that all Board meetings be recorded. She said the school community does not have the 7 opportunity to know the framework. 8 Heather Thompson said the Woolpert report shows enrollment and capacity numbers at 9 all the facilities. She confirmed that the McDougle Elementary and Middle Schools square footage 10 are combined in the report. She said that the capacity figures are not accurate. She said that 11 combined, it shows they have a capacity of 770 students and that is not accurate. She said that 12 there is 699 for both schools showing and in reality, there are over 700 just at the middle school. 13 She said that over 1200 students will be impacted on the McDougle campus alone. She said that 14 the quantity of students is not small. She said they are alarmed by the plan and said she hopes 15 the commissioners put in the right safeguards. 16 Peter Halpen said it is not clear to him in all of the discussions of where the impetus is to 17 close schools. He asked if that was a contingency for approval. He asked if it was what the 18 districts are doing on their own. He said that it does not seem to be that Orange County is the one 19 pushing the closures. He asked where the impetus is coming from. 20 George Griffith, CHCCS Board of Education Chair, said that staff brought the plan on May 21 14 at a subcommittee meeting. He said that at their meeting on May 16, it was late, and the school 22 board agreed that staff should bring the plan to the Board of County Commissioners on May 21St 23 with the understanding that the School Board would discuss further in June and also make any 24 changes that the Board of Commissioners needed. He said that the school board is listening, and 25 he wanted to clarify why Woolpert was done. He said that they are just at the beginning of this 26 process. He said that he cannot speak for the whole board, but he anticipates that there will be 27 alternatives based on the community input heard so far. 28 Karin Crozier said that they have heard several times that the process is just evolving. 29 She said it does not feel good that they have invested $900,000 in the Woolpert plan getting many 30 specific details, but they have not spent time gathering information on, input from the community, 31 staff, or children's mental health. She said it feels suspicious that they had all of the money to 32 count ceiling tiles, but not enough for community input and equity inclusion. She said they needed 33 a more well-rounded picture. 34 35 A motion was made by Commissioner Fowler, seconded by Commissioner Richards, to 36 approve the framework for school capital funding as detailed in the abstract. 37 38 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 39 40 b. Approval of a Contract with The Chamber for a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro to Provide 41 Community Advocate Services in Partnership with Chapel Hill and Carrboro 42 The Board approved a contract with The Chamber for a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro to provide 43 Community Advocate services that will support existing enterprises and new business starts in 44 Orange County that are owned by Black, Latine, and refugee individuals as well as individuals 45 with disabilities. 46 47 BACKGROUND: At its March 12, 2024 work session, the Board of Commissioners discussed a 48 proposal from The Chamber for a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro to jointly fund a Chamber 49 employee to support the growth of new and existing Black, Latinx, and refugee owned businesses. 50 Under the proposal, Orange County would contribute $30,000 per year to support the position. 51 The other funding partners would be the Town of Chapel Hill,Town of Carrboro, and the Chamber. 55 1 The Town of Chapel Hill would contribute $30,000 annually, and the Town of Carrboro would 2 contribute $20,000 annually. Both of those commitments would be for three years. 3 4 The Board asked that staff create a contract for these services. The term of the contract is July 5 1, 2024 through June 30, 2027 and would require the County to contribute $30,000 annually 6 during the three-year term. 7 8 Based on feedback from the Board, the contract contains the following features: 9 10 1. Expands the scope of the populations served to include individuals with disabilities. 11 12 2. Information to small business owners, local farms, and food processing ventures about the 13 County's Small Business Grant &Agriculture Grant programs. 14 15 3. Introduction to the County's small business assistance counselors, including Durham 16 Technical Community College's "Small Business Center", the LAUNCH Chapel Hill tech 17 incubator, the Small Business Technology Development Center(SBTDC), SCORE mentors, 18 the Piedmont Food Processing Center, EMPOWERment, Inc. & Brightpath Solutions, the 19 North Carolina Department of Administration's "N.C. Minority Business Development Agency 20 Business Center", the U.S. Small Business Center, and the Self-Help Credit Union. 21 22 4. Referrals to Orange County Economic Development and the Towns' economic development 23 staff to locate suitable real estate locations. 24 25 5. Coordination of workforce development and talent access strategies with the Orange County 26 Department of Social Services, NC Works/Skills Development Center office, and Durham 27 Technical Community College. 28 29 6. Introduction of agricultural ventures to Orange County Cooperative Extension for direct 30 assistance. 31 32 7. Seek and incorporate feedback from Orange County Economic Development, Chapel Hill 33 Economic Development, and Carrboro Economic Development offices. 34 35 8. Provide annual reports to the Orange County Board of County Commissioners and more 36 regular reports to the County Manager and economic development staff. 37 38 The Board decided not to discuss the item and moved forward with taking action on the 39 item. 40 41 A motion was made by Chair Bedford, seconded by Commissioner Richards, to approve 42 and authorize the Manager to sign the contract with The Chamber for a Greater Chapel Hill- 43 Carrboro for Community Advocate services that will support existing enterprises and new 44 business starts in Orange County that are owned by Black, Latine, and refugee individuals as well 45 as individuals with disabilities. 46 47 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 48 49 7. Reports 50 None. 51 56 1 8. Consent Agenda 2 3 • Removal of Any Items from Consent Agenda 4 • Approval of Remaining Consent Agenda 5 • Discussion and Approval of the Items Removed from the Consent Agenda 6 7 A motion was made by Commissioner Fowler, seconded by Commissioner McKee, to 8 approve the consent agenda. 9 10 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 11 12 a. Minutes 13 The Board approved the draft minutes for the April 9, 2024 and April 16, 2024 BOCC Meetings as 14 submitted by the Clerk to the Board. 15 b. Motor Vehicle Property Tax Releases/Refunds 16 The Board adopted a resolution to release motor vehicle property tax values for five (5) taxpayers 17 with a total of five (5) bills that will result in a reduction of revenue. 18 c. Property Tax Releases/Refunds 19 The Board adopted a resolution to release property tax values for six (6) taxpayers with a total of 20 six (6) bills that will result in a reduction of revenue. 21 d. National Gun Violence Awareness Day Proclamation 22 The Board approved a proclamation recognizing June 7, 2024 as National Gun Violence 23 Awareness Day. 24 e. Approval of Senior Lunch Caterer Contract 25 The Board approved a food service caterer contract to provide noon meals for the Home and 26 Community Care Block Grant-funded Senior Lunch Program at the Seymour and Passmore 27 Centers for the period July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2026. 28 f. Approval to Purchase Real Property— Kittrell-McAdoo Tract, and Grant of Conservation 29 Easement to North Carolina Land and Water Fund 30 The Board approved 1) the County's purchase of the Kittrell-McAdoo Tract, and 2)the granting of 31 a conservation easement to the North Carolina Land and Water Fund as a condition of that 32 agency's grant toward the purchase. 33 g. Opioid Spending Authorization Resolutions 34 The Board approved the revised Opioid Settlement Spending Authorization Resolutions that 35 reflect corrections required by the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC) 36 Opioid Settlement Technical Assistance Team (OSTAT). 37 h. Major Subdivision Preliminary Plat Application —Williams Glen 38 The Board reviewed and approved the Williams Glen Major Subdivision Preliminary Plat 39 application for the property with Parcel Identification Number 9883-09-8108, immediately east of 40 Lawrence Road, in accordance with the provisions of Section 2.15 and Article 7 of the Unified 41 Development Ordinance (UDO). 42 L Fiscal Year 2023-24 Budget Amendment#10 43 The Board approved budget, grant, and capital project ordinance amendments for Fiscal Year 44 2023-24. 45 46 9. County Manager's Report 47 48 Protected June 6, 2024 Budget Work Session Items 49 Discussion and Decisions on Manager's Recommended FY 2024-25 Budget & 2024-34 Capital 50 Investment Plan (CIP) and Proposed Amendments 51 Discussion and Decisions on FY 2024-25 County Fee Schedule and Tax Rates 57 1 Resolution of Intent to Adopt FY 2024-2025 Budget 2 3 Protected June 11, 2024 Closed Session Items 4 Manager's Evaluation 5 Clerk's Evaluation 6 Attorney's Evaluation 7 8 Bonnie Hammersley reviewed the agenda for the June 6 budget work session. 9 10 10. County Attorney's Report 11 John Roberts had no report. 12 13 11. Appointments 14 a. 2024 Bond Education Committee —Appointments Discussion 15 The Board discussed and approved appointments to the positions on the 2024 Bond Education 16 Committee and approve representatives to serve as Committee co-chairs from the Board of 17 County Commissioners (BOCC). 18 19 BACKGROUND: The charge and composition for the 2024 Bond Education Committee were 20 established at the Board's April 16, 2024 Business Meeting. The Committee is charged to: 21 22 • Become familiar with the purpose of the bond order 23 • Become familiar with the projects expected to be addressed with bond funds 24 • Understand the community needs that led the Board of Commissioners to adopt the bond 25 order 26 • Assist in developing appropriate informational materials that will address the bond orders 27 • Assist in designing and implementing a campaign to distribute relevant factual information 28 about the bonds to Orange County residents in the most effective and efficient manner 29 possible, using multiple media and information outlets 30 • Assist in designing and implementing a process for information meetings with civic groups, 31 non-profit agencies, neighborhood associations, and other interested parties in the 32 community 33 • Ensure that equal access to information is provided to all individuals and groups, 34 regardless of their position for or against any bond order 35 • Encourage all eligible voters to participate in the November 5t" election 36 37 The Board appoints six (6) community members, and the two (2) members of the BOCC who will 38 serve as Co-chairs of the Committee. The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education 39 and the Orange County Schools Board of Education will each designate two (2) representatives 40 to serve on the Committee. 41 42 The following positions are presented for Board consideration: 43 NAME POSITION DESCRIPTION EXPIRATION DATE BOCC Appointment Resident— CHCCS District 11/30/2024 BOCC Appointment Resident— CHCCS District 11/30/2024 BOCC Appointment Resident— CHCCS District 11/30/2024 BOCC Appointment Resident— OCS District 11/30/2024 BOCC Appointment Resident— OCS District 11/30/2024 BOCC Appointment Resident— OCS District 11/30/2024 58 BOCC Appointment BOCC Representative 11/30/2024 Co-chair BOCC Appointment BOCC Representative 11/30/2024 Co-chair 1 2 Tara May, Deputy Clerk to the Board, introduced the item. 3 Chair Bedford moved to appoint Commissioner Hamilton and Commissioner Portie-Ascott 4 as the BOCC representatives for the Bond Education Committee. Vice-Chair Greene seconded 5 the motion. 6 7 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 8 9 Chair Bedford explained the process for appointing individuals to the committee. She said 10 that each commissioner would get three votes. 11 Vice-Chair Greene said that Melody Kramer is no longer interested in serving on the 12 committee. 13 Commissioner Richards nominated Anissa McLendon. Chair Bedford seconded the 14 nomination. 15 Vice-Chair Greene nominated Sara Ruotsala. 16 Commissioner Fowler nominated Benjamin Alschuler. 17 Chair Bedford nominated Kulwadee Yung. 18 Commissioner Hamilton nominated Andrea Tanner. 19 Commissioner Richards explained why she thought Anissa McClendon's experience 20 would be helpful on the committee. 21 Vice-Chair Greene explained her support for Sara Ruotsala. 22 Commissioner Fowler explained some of the strengths of Sara Ruotsala's application. 23 Commissioner Fowler explained how Benjamin Alschuler's experience would be helpful 24 on the committee. 25 Chair Bedford explained how Kulwadee Yung's experience would be helpful on the 26 committee. 27 Commissioner Hamilton explained how Andrea Tanner's experience would be beneficial 28 to the committee. 29 30 The Board indicated their support for each nominee with a show of hands. The results 31 were as follows: 32 o Anissa McLendon received unanimous support. (7 votes) 33 o Sara Ruotsala received one vote from Vice-Chair Greene. (1 vote) 34 o Benjamin Alschuler received votes from Chair Bedford, Commissioner Fowler, 35 Commissioner Hamilton, Commissioner Portie-Ascott, Commissioner McKee, and 36 Commissioner Richards. (6 votes) 37 o Kalwadee Yung received one vote from Chair Bedford. (1 vote) 38 o Andrea Tanner received votes from Vice-Chair Greene, Commissioner Fowler, 39 Commissioner Hamilton, Commissioner Portie-Ascott, Commissioner McKee, and 40 Commissioner Richards. (6 votes) 41 42 Commissioner Fowler moved to approve Anissa McLendon, Benjamin Alschuler, and 43 Andrea Tanner as the CHCCS representatives on the Bond Education Committee. Commissioner 44 McKee seconded the motion. 45 46 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 47 59 1 The Board then discussed the applicants for the Orange County Schools representatives 2 on the Bond Education Committee. 3 Commissioner McKee nominated Jason Johnson. 4 Commissioner Portie-Ascott nominated Matt Hughes. 5 Commissioner Fowler nominated Samantha Earnhardt. 6 Chair Bedford nominated Vina Modaress. 7 Commissioner McKee nominated Danielle Price. 8 Commissioner McKee explained how Jason Johnson's experience as a principal at 9 Orange High School would be beneficial to the committee. 10 Commissioner Portie-Ascott said Matt Hughes is heavily involved in the community and 11 served on the previous Bond Education Committee. 12 Commissioner Fowler explained how Samantha Earnhardt's background and experience 13 would be beneficial to the committee. 14 Chair Bedford explained how Vina Modaress's background and experience would be 15 helpful to the committee. 16 Commissioner McKee explained how Danielle Price's experience would be helpful to the 17 committee. 18 19 The Board indicated their support for each nominee with a show of hands. The results 20 were as follows: 21 o Jason Johnson received unanimous support. (7 votes) 22 o Matt Hughes received two votes, from Commissioner Portie-Ascott and Greene. 23 (2 votes) 24 o Samantha Earnhardt received votes from Chair Bedford, Vice-Chair Greene, 25 Commissioner Fowler, Commissioner Hamilton, Commissioner Portie-Ascott, and 26 Commissioner Richards. (6 votes) 27 o Vina Modaress received votes from Chair Bedford, Commissioner Fowler, 28 Commissioner Hamilton, Commissioner McKee, and Commissioner Richards. (5 29 votes) 30 o Danielle Price received one vote from Commissioner McKee. (1 vote) 31 32 Chair Bedford moved to approve Samantha Earnhardt, Jason Johnson, and Vina 33 Modaress as the OCS representatives on the Bond Education Committee. Commissioner Fowler 34 seconded the motion. 35 36 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 37 38 12. Information Items 39 • May 21, 2024 BOCC Meeting Follow-up Actions List 40 • Tax Collector's Report— Numerical Analysis 41 • Tax Collector's Report— Measure of Enforced Collections 42 . Tax Assessor's Report— Releases/Refunds under $100 43 • Memorandum - Transfer of Master Gardener Funds Held by County to Master Gardener 44 Volunteer Association of Orange County North Carolina 45 46 13. Closed Session 47 The previously scheduled closed session was removed from the agenda and will be added to the 48 agenda for the June 6 budget work session. 49 50 60 1 Adjournment 2 3 A motion was made by Commissioner Fowler, seconded by Commissioner Hamilton, to 4 adjourn the meeting at 10:47 p.m. 5 6 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 7 8 Jamezetta Bedford, Chair 9 10 11 Recorded by Laura Jensen, Clerk to the Board 12 13 Submitted for approval by Laura Jensen, Clerk to the Board Attachment 3 1 1 DRAFT MINUTES 2 ORANGE COUNTY 3 BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 4 BUDGET WORK SESSION 5 June 6, 2024 6 7:00 p.m. 7 8 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a Budget Work Session on Thursday, 9 June 6, 2024, 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 (arrived at 7:06 pm), Jean Hamilton, Earl McKee, Phyllis 13 Portie-Ascott, and Anna Richards (arrived at 7:04 pm) 14 COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: 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 7:00 p.m. All commissioners were present, 21 except Commissioner Fowler and Commissioner Richards. 22 23 A motion was made by Chair Bedford, seconded by Vice-Chair Greene to add a closed 24 session to the end of the meeting for the purposes of: 25 • To discuss the County's position and to instruct the County Manager and County 26 Attorney on the negotiating position regarding the terms of a contract to purchase real 27 property," NCGS § 143-318.11(a)(5). 28 • Approval of Closed Session Minutes 29 30 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 31 32 1. Discussion of FY 2024-25 Operating Budget 33 Funding Decisions on the Operating Budget Amendment List 34 35 BACKGROUND: The County Manager presented the FY 2024-25 Recommended Budget on May 36 7, 2024. Subsequently, the Board has conducted two public hearings to receive residents' 37 comments regarding the proposed funding plan. In addition to the public hearings, the Board 38 heard presentations and held discussions with representatives of the County fire districts, the 39 local boards of education, representatives of the community college, and County Functional 40 Leadership Teams as related to the proposed funding plan for FY 2024-25. 41 42 Tonight's Agenda: Tonight's work session offers the Board an opportunity to discuss the 43 recommended budget, including discussion and review of the Budget Amendment list. As soon 44 as these discussions are completed, the Board will deliberate and make decisions regarding the 45 FY 2024-25 Annual Operating Budget and approve a Resolution of Intent to Adopt the FY 2024- 46 25 Annual Operating Budget. The Board is scheduled to adopt the final FY 2024-25 Annual 47 Operating Budget for Orange County at its Business meeting on June 18, 2024. 48 49 Travis Myren, Deputy County Manager, made the following presentation: 50 51 2 1 Slide #1 ORANGE COUNTY NOR-rH CARCIiLINA. FY2024-25 Budget Intent to Adopt Work Session Board of Commissioners Work Session June 0, 2024 2 3 4 Slide #2 Decision Points 1. FY2024-25 Operating Budget • Consider and approve amendments to the County Manager's Recommended Operating Budget and funding for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools and Orange County Schools 2. FY2024-25 Capital Investment Plan • Consider and approve amendments to the County Manager's Recommended Capital Investment Plan(CIP) 3. FY2024-25 County Fee Schedule • Consider and approve amendments to the County Manager's Recommended Fee Schedule 4. FY2024-25 Tax Rates Adopt a Countywide Ad Valorem(Property)Tax • Adopt a Special District Tax Rate for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools District Adopt tax rates for the County Fire Districts ORANGE�COUN�TY 5 6 7 3 1 Slide #3 Decision Points 5. Break to finalize the Intent to Adopt Resolution 6. Resolution of Intent to Adopt Approve the Resolution of Intent to Adopt the FY2024-25 Operating Budget at the Business Meeting on June 18,2024 — Operating Budget for FY2024-25 — Year One(FY2024-25)of the Capital Investment Plan and Acceptance of the Ten Year Plan — Countywide Property Tax,Special District Tax,and Fire District Tax Rates — County Fee Schedule 3 ORANGEC UNTY NOR- NA2 3 4 Commissioner Richards arrived at 7:04 pm. 5 6 Commissioner Fowler arrived at 7:06 pm. 7 8 Slide #4 Operating Budget Amendments Budget GuncrA Emergency iuove Crisis Respons OP-091 ST.iFF 144 Services Team&%penes From ('$173,000) ($173,000) General Fund Redirect.additiawd $100,000 wt anticipated OP-001 Hatttil[ats 61 Dept ort.�gitig C:uol Woods I)onati.ii ?1UO,000 ($273,000) Fo Cmd Busting Aping Greeral Fund Expenses Increase Tmisfer From Economic VB to General Fund lw OP-002 Hamilton 134 I7evelopm nt- $1.64,030 to fund $164,050 ($437,050) X isitors Bureau ongoing colmry ex rises Reduce Travel and OP-003 Hanulton _511 Fund Wide Training 20/o across ttte ($9,156) ($446,206) bond Reduce budgetary OP-004m155 Finsnce and stitunte for county u^id 015000) ($461,206) Admitt Services telephone utiLition to 4�'.1row X% ORANGE COUNTY 9 10 4 1 Travis Myren reviewed the budget amendment on the slide above and provided 2 information on funding the crisis response team by grant. 3 4 A motion was made by Commissioner Fowler, seconded by Vice-Chair Greene, to 5 approve budget amendment OP-091. 6 7 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 8 9 Commissioner Hamilton reviewed budget amendment OPER-001 as detailed in the table 10 on the slide above, which she sponsored. She said her goal is to decrease the tax rate increase 11 associated with this budget. She said the money in the budget that has been accumulating from 12 Carol Woods should be spent to support services consistent with the master aging plan. She said 13 that she is not looking for that money to spend on other items. She said it is important to prioritize 14 money given the needs in the community. 15 Commissioner McKee said he understands the principle of not holding funds in reserve or 16 building account balances but thinks the donation in the account it sits in will be designated to be 17 spent by the Department of Aging on their initiatives. He said they received a memo from Janice 18 Tyler accounting for why the balance is there now. He said it is because they received federal 19 funds that had to be spent. He said those funds are no longer there and these funds will be spent 20 faster than they were in previous years. He said he is also concerned with taxes, but it is his 21 understanding that this and the next one would only reduce the tax rate by .17% of one penny. 22 He said that will not make a difference. He said that he did speak with Commissioner Hamilton 23 earlier today on this and she is aware of his concern. He asked if Commissioner Hamilton would 24 consider withdrawing or amending this to some degree. 25 Vice-Chair Greene said she shares Commissioner McKee's concerns and appreciates the 26 wish to find every penny for the tax rate. She said that the MAP [Master Aging Plan] does support 27 seniors through initiatives as well as salary time. She said this is private money from Carol Woods 28 and they donate it to support the MAP and that she is uncomfortable shifting money out of a pot 29 that for years has been donated for this purpose. She said she is aware that staff has already 30 taken $75,000 and in either case, she thinks this is not the best practice. 31 Commissioner Fowler said she understands where Commissioner Hamilton's concerns 32 come from, but she said it would have been brought from the County Manager if it had been 33 viable. She said that it will not make any major dent in tax rate, and it is not an ongoing endless 34 resource that could help year after year. She said better clarity is needed and if funds are saved, 35 there should be a line item, so it is not confusing of where they are going. She recommended that 36 she would like to see the plan for the remaining amount. 37 Vice-Chair Greene said the MAP meetings are dynamic meetings and decisions are made 38 during those meetings, so it is impossible to name what they are held for 12 months in advance. 39 Commissioner Richards said she was surprised by the amount of money that has been 40 donated. She said she has a concern about transparency about how those funds are applied and 41 said that it is confusing that the Department on Aging has ongoing programs that are executed 42 by existing staff how donations are leveraged to either enhance that or create new programs. She 43 said that what bothers her about the amendment is the fact that the Board should provide that as 44 guidance to the department rather than withdrawing the county commitment from the fund. She 45 said that she feels they have a responsibility for those funds. 46 Chair Bedford asked how the $175,000 grant money and gifts from other revenues are 47 included in this budget. 48 Kirk Vaughn said $175,000 is in the budget and shown as a revenue and the remaining 49 100K is in the grant funds. He said they do not have as much of an ability to anticipate those other 50 revenues, so they do budget amendments if and when it is necessary. 51 Chair Bedford asked how these additional dollars interact with the expenditures. 5 1 Kirk Vaughn said MAP is multi-year grant fund so when they authorize the authority to 2 spend, it stays active across fiscal years, so any grant income does not fall within balance sheet 3 it is part of the project. 4 Bonnie Hammersley said that they must authorize any expenditures outside of the budget, 5 within the multiyear fund, before they can be spent. 6 Kirk Vaughn said that the $100,000 has been recognized. 7 Bonnie Hammersley then asked if they decided to spend $500,000 out of the $600,000 if 8 that would have to come back to the commissioners for approval. 9 Kirk Vaughn said that it would not unless it was over the authorized budget. He said that 10 once the commissioners authorize the expenditure, the revenues are recognized. He said if they 11 get a new grant, then they would do a budget action to recognize it. 12 Commissioner Hamilton asked if the multi-year grant fund was in that number total budget 13 number. 14 Kirk Vaughn said no, and that a separate fund is used to recognize that and that is how it 15 stays and accumulates. 16 Commissioner Hamilton said therefore if they use $100,000 then that is a budget 17 amendment that will increase the general fund amount. 18 Kirk Vaughn said no, because any spending in or out of the fund stays within that fund 19 and is not in the general fund. 20 Chair Bedford said Janice Tyler said that the funds will be budgeted in addition to what 21 county taxes are funding. 22 Kirk Vaughn said it is an additional $100,000 on top of their existing budget. 23 Vice-Chair Greene said they do not receive the grant money until the end of the year. 24 Kirk Vaughn said that they are recognizing it in advance, and they anticipate receiving 25 those funds throughout the fiscal year. 26 Vice-Chair Greene said that the funds are not there yet. 27 Bonnie Hammersley said they know those grants are coming in and they adopt them in 28 the budget as a plan. She said if they did not recognize anticipated funds in the budget then they 29 would be loaded down with amendments. She said that if the funds are not received as 30 anticipated, a budget amendment to reflect that would be brought to the commissioners. 31 32 Chair Bedford referenced the following chart provided to the Board by email: MAP EXPENSES CATEGORY PERSONNEL TITLE HOURS RATE TOTAL EMPLOYMENT SPECIALIST 20 22 440 COMMUNICATION ASSISTANT 20 20 400 OUTREACH WORKER 20 22 440 DURABLE MEDICAL EQUIPMENT ASSISTANT 20 20 400 AGING TRANSITONS PROGRAM ASSISTANT I 4 20 80 TOTAL PER WEEK I 1760 TOTAL PERSONNEL PLUS FICA for a full year 98498.4 HANDY HELPER PROGRAM 5000 VOLUNTEER CONNECT END OF LIFE,LGBTQ+, INTERGENERATIONAL, MENTAL HEALTH SENIOR RESOURCE TEAM(SRT)PROJECTS, PROJECT ENGAGE SENIOR LEADERSHIP TRAINING, VOLUNTEER APPRECIATION EVENT 15000 RPLACE RESPITE PROGRAM 10000 BILINGUAL SOCIAL WORKER-MANDARIN 74500 23750 BILINGUAL SOCIAL Not WORKER- SPANISH 74500 funded AGING WELL TOGETHER RADIO SHOW 52 300 15600 PiAP UNC COLLABORATION 1 18500 18500 INTERNS 2 3500 7000 7 1 DEPARTMENT 2 MARKETING AND 3 OUTREACH 1 5000 5000 4 TOTAL SPENT UNDER 5 MAP 198348.4 6 7 Chair Bedford said $100,000 could be used from the county budget rather than this 8 budget. She said that$300,000 could move and there is still $250,000 left. She said that it seems 9 that all can be accomplished, and she gets the concept of supplanting, but it does not make sense 10 to her that they are funding as much as they are with tax dollars when there is this much in funding 11 coming in. She said she is going to support this budget amendment. 12 Bonnie Hammersley said that over the years there have been departments that had funds 13 like these, and they have been removed. She said that departments get grants and are required 14 to spend them within a certain amount of time. She said this is one of the last departments with a 15 fund like this (local funding source). She said this came forward this year because of how tight 16 the budget was this year. She said that the library had a savings account at the bank. She said 17 that it cannot work that way because the playing field has to be level for all departments. She said 18 that when they bring in money, they should give it back to the residents as much as possible. She 19 said that maybe tonight is not the night to make that decision but she agrees that the Board 20 discuss it and develop a policy. She said that it has been her philosophy to put money coming in 21 back to residents as much as possible. 22 Commissioner Portie-Ascott said she reviewed the amendment in the context of the calls 23 she gets about the property tax increase before them. She said while small, this amendment 24 would demonstrate to them that the Board is taking this issue and its impact seriously. 25 Vice-Chair Greene said there is more money being spent out of the account that has been 26 leveraged. She said that the library savings account is a little different because it was not money 27 that was donated from an outside source. 28 Bonnie Hammersley said it was donated by the Friends of the Library, but now they 29 manage their own account. 30 Vice-Chair Greene said she still sees a difference here because Carol Woods is donating 31 to provide support for the MAP and diverting the funds to something else is an issue to her. 32 Commissioner Hamilton said she appreciates everyone's comments. She said she agrees 33 with what Commissioner Portie-Ascott said about signaling to residents that the Board is looking 34 everywhere to try to lower the tax increase. She said for someone on a fixed income, even small 35 savings are important. She said there is no difference in the money being donated because it will 36 still serve seniors in the community. 37 Commissioner McKee said the Board is combining a policy discussion and a finance 38 discussion. He said he does not think this is the best time to have a policy discussion and that is 39 his issue with this amendment and some of the others proposed. He said this would only result in 40 a symbolic decrease in the proposed tax rate increase. 41 Chair Bedford said that if they are using ARPA funds, there would still be $250,000. She 42 asked if there are ARPA funds. 43 Kurt Vaughn said that they recognized the ARPA funds earlier and separate from this 44 budget. 45 Chair Bedford said they do not need to keep$700,000 even if$250,000 was being planned 46 for expenditures. She said that the MAP is broad and covers many services. She said that there 47 are other funding sources that are part of that plan, and it is not separate. She said that at a 48 budget work session is the appropriate time to talk about policy. She said that she does not think 49 that departments should have fund balances. 50 Vice-Chair Greene said the MAP is fully funded through the MAP dollars. 8 1 Janice Tyler said no dollar amount can be put on funding the MAP because there are so 2 many projects there. She said the commissioners have accepted the plan and they ask how much 3 money, and she is unable to put a dollar figure on it because there are so many projects. 4 Commissioner Fowler asked if they are all funded through this fund or through county tax 5 dollars. 6 Janice Tyler said the MAP has 40-50 partners with money in their budgets. She said that 7 this is a county grassroots plan and not a departmental fund. She said that the Carol Woods 8 money does is provide seed money for projects that do not have any funding. She said that the 9 commissioners get the matrix quarterly and they can see the private projects that are funded. 10 Commissioner Fowler said the budget already moves $75,000 from this fund to use for 11 departmental expenses. She asked if that happens annually. She said that she is trying to grapple 12 with the idea of how this is funded because they just adopted the climate plan, and they do not 13 have a separate fund. She asked if the budget could operate by amendment as funds are 14 received. 15 Bonnie Hammersley said because there have been these funds, that is what they have 16 used. She said that it is hard to define funds because it is a strategic plan. She said that it is 17 difficult to put a price on it because some things are funded with county dollars, like positions in 18 the Department on Aging, she said that is not separate from the MAP. She said others are funded 19 by grants. She said that when she recommended moving the$75,000, it was her recommendation 20 to use the funds to offset what is doing to the tax rate. She said they went in with a scalpel to 21 remove funds from the budget. 22 Commissioner McKee said he thinks the Board is delving into management vs. policy. He 23 said that the professional managers have been handling this. 24 25 A motion was made by Commissioner Hamilton, seconded by Chair Bedford, to approve 26 budget amendment OPER-001. 27 28 VOTE: Ayes, 3 (Commissioner Hamilton, Commissioner Portie-Ascott, Chair Bedford); Nays, 4 29 (Commissioner McKee, Vice-Chair Greene, Commissioner Fowler, Commissioner Richards) 30 31 MOTION FAILS 32 33 Commissioner Hamilton reviewed budget amendment OPER-002, which she also 34 sponsored. She said she would like to make a change to this amendment to reduce the Visitors 35 Bureau fund balance by$69,000 to move to the general fund. This would ensure they maintain at 36 15% fund balance. 37 Chair Bedford said they asked John Roberts and there is no statutory requirement for fund 38 balance. 39 Travis Myren said that is right. He said that the only requirement is that 10% of occupancy 40 tax collections must be used for tourism purposes. 41 Commissioner Richards said 15% is what the Visitors Bureau Advisory Board has set as 42 a goal. She said that she is on the Board this year representing the commissioners. She said that 43 the Eno Arts Mill pays for itself, and the Arts Center is now part of the Visitor's Bureau budget. 44 She said she is trying to understand that if this is coming from occupancy tax, and their charge is 45 to promote, is the thought that they do not need that much. 46 Commissioner Hamilton said she thinks they have to ask that question because of 47 priorities. She said that there are other departments that promote tourism, and these funds do not 48 have to go to just one department. She said that not just one should take all of the revenue. She 49 said especially since there was a fund balance accumulated, and dollars should be spent. She 50 said if the funds are not needed then there are other places they can use the money. 9 1 Commissioner Richards asked if Commissioner Hamilton is saying other departments 2 have the responsibility to promote tourism. 3 Commissioner Hamilton said she was taking a general view of supporting tourism. She 4 said that it is a revenue source based on the fact that people come and stay in hotels and short- 5 term stays. She said that how the money is used is bound by the state, but they can take a wider 6 view of what promotes tourism. 7 Commissioner Fowler asked if the 15%fund balance is in the bylaws of the tourism board. 8 She asked why that is and what it is used for. 9 Laurie Paolicelli gave some background on occupancy tax and the tourism bureau. She 10 said that it is a very confusing entity. She said that this October she will have been with the county 11 for 19 years. She said that the state and local levels have had major changes in this tax. She said 12 that the tourism sector was established as a formal program in Orange County because the state 13 created authority for the county to set a 3% tax to be used to grow the industry. She said that she 14 was charged with growing the industry and she is proud that they have grown it as much as they 15 have. She said that she respects the House and Senate, and they believe that funds should be 16 used for tourism dollars. She said that they are going through financial distress and in the past 10 17 years, they have $200-300,000 that has gone to the Arts. She asked if it brought it heads and 18 beds and noted that the answer is likely not. She said that they are paying money back from the 19 general fund and this year it is $134,000. She said they have been asked to vacate a county 20 building and pay rent, utilities, and taxes as county employees. She said that the pandemic 21 decimated tourism. She said that the industry has not fully recovered now, and they are still behind 22 on conferences. She said that they are a bedroom county for the entire Triangle. She said that 23 they do a terrific job and that the funds should be left for tourism. She mentioned Steve Rights, a 24 music creator that moved from Belgium to Orange County and PBS is trying to make a story about 25 this. 26 Chair Bedford asked if the 15% is in the bylaws. 27 Laurie Paolicelli said that when she was hired, she was told that 15% or three months of 28 operating as a reserve balance. She said that she does not necessarily agree. She said they 29 started a handbook and when they were created, they looked at others and they had to keep it at 30 15%. She said that former leaders have wanted them to keep a rainy-day fund, but she is not sure 31 they have to. She said they have always had it, and they see opportunities such as the PBS item. 32 Commissioner Fowler asked if it was used for advertising that comes up unexpectedly. 33 She asked if there are also advertising funds built into the existing budget. 34 Laurie Paolicelli said that she was unaware they had a $3 million budget and said that 35 they only have $2.3 million plus reserves, but they could get further information from Travis. She 36 said '/2 is used for salaries, 1/3 is used for marketing, and 1/6 is used for operating and 37 administrative costs. She said it is a very lean budget. She said none of the new projects that 38 come up at the end of the year were budgeted for. 39 Commissioner McKee thanked Laurie Paolicelli for the information. He said that he feels 40 the same about this amendment that he did about the last one. He said the Board should have a 41 discussion about a fund balance policy for departments, but now is not the appropriate time. He 42 said if they are talking about taxes, there is reducing taxes and generating as strongly as possible, 43 and you cannot put a dollar figure on the amount of taxes they generate for the county. 44 Chair Bedford said she does not think all the occupancy tax should go automatically to the 45 Visitor's Bureau. She said that she does not want them to have fund balance. She said they 46 should be budgeted for. She said that other funds helped keep the Visitors Bureau going. She 47 said she does not believe in rainy day funds and the department should budget for unexpected 48 circumstances. She petitioned staff to add this discussion to a future work session. 49 Vice-Chair Greene said she appreciates the reduction to $69,000 but agrees this 50 conversation about whether or not departments should have a fund balance needs to happen 51 later. 10 1 Commissioner Portie-Ascott said she supports this amendment for the same reasons she 2 supported the last amendment. 3 Commissioner McKee said there is no way the Visitors Bureau can substantially budget 4 for adverse events, and they need the flexibility to make decisions on the fly based on the present 5 challenge. 6 7 A motion was made by Commissioner Hamilton, seconded by Chair Bedford, to approve 8 budget amendment OPER-002. 9 10 VOTE: Ayes, 3 (Commissioner Hamilton, Commissioner Portie-Ascott, Chair Bedford); Nays, 4 11 (Commissioner McKee, Vice-Chair Greene, Commissioner Fowler, Commissioner Richards) 12 13 MOTION FAILS 14 15 Commissioner Hamilton said she wanted to withdraw budget amendment OPER-003. 16 Commissioner Hamilton reviewed budget amendment OPER-004, which she also 17 sponsored. She said 4% inflation reflects the recommended inflationary salary increase for county 18 employees. 19 20 A motion was made by Commissioner Hamilton, seconded by Commissioner McKee, to 21 approve budget amendment OPER-004. 22 23 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 24 25 Slide #5 Operating Budget Amendments lncreas 0P-005 liamikun 40 Fund lt'idc aPrrupriaticm r.,f 510C1,m) (5561,2!16) Fund Balanccin Gcneral Fund 11 Kc , lncmaw funding OP-CM1ft P uric-Axntt 203 outwic Agencies to Pnrch- $15,(K10 ($546,206) and Bcdfnrd Hillsborough MeKee and PP 00-7 Beaf"M ?83 ----- ferAE Ei%ii (51.9,490) (6556?66) Wav �klir Bedford 3�6 1 fnrLDF F11»ctrl SH141EY9 5 ORANGERTH ca0UNTY 26 27 Commissioner Hamilton reviewed budget amendment OPER-005, which she also 28 sponsored. 29 11 1 A motion was made by Commissioner Hamilton, seconded by Commissioner McKee, to 2 approve budget amendment OPER-005. 3 4 Commissioner Fowler said she appreciates where it comes from, and she can vote for it 5 on the intent in which it was proposed. 6 Chair Bedford said she is not going to support this amendment because in an ideal world 7 you do not have to use fund balance to balance the budget. 8 Commissioner Hamilton said there are times when the Board appropriates fund balance, 9 and it is not used. She said in the meantime, taxes are being raised in order to get that revenue. 10 Travis Myren said if this amendment passes, staff will just have to be $100,000 more 11 conscious in order to maintain the 16% fund balance policy. 12 Commissioner McKee said they use fund balance many times. He said they are not going 13 to be killed by the $100,000. He said that if it were not for sales tax and hold harmless issues, 14 they would not be having this conversation. 15 Commissioner Richards asked why Commissioner Hamilton chose $100,000. 16 Commissioner Hamilton said she was trying to balance her amendments and hopefully 17 propose a meaningful adjustment to the proposed tax rate increase. 18 19 VOTE: Ayes, 6 (Commissioner McKee, Commissioner Hamilton, Commissioner Portie-Ascott, 20 Vice-Chair Greene, Commissioner Fowler, Commissioner Richards); Nays, 1 (Chair Bedford) 21 22 MOTION PASSES 23 24 Commissioner McKee reviewed budget amendment OPER-006, which he jointly 25 sponsored with Commissioner Portie-Ascott and Chair Bedford. He said it is $15,000 back in for 26 PORCH Hillsborough primarily because it focuses on feeding people, and it is that simple. 27 Chair Bedford said the job has been posted that will be a food coordinator with non-profits 28 and they can get the metrics straight. 29 Vice-Char Greene asked if there is a corresponding reduction. 30 Commissioner McKee said no. He said that there are a few things that are core things to 31 him and that includes food, housing, and education. 32 Commissioner Portie-Ascott said food insecurity is a huge issue in northern Orange 33 County, and she is happy to be a co-sponsor. 34 35 A motion was made by Commissioner McKee, seconded by Commissioner Portie-Ascott, 36 to approve budget amendment OPER-006. 37 38 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 39 40 Chair Bedford said she and Commissioner McKee wanted to withdraw amendments OP- 41 007 and OP-008. 42 43 12 1 Slide #6 Operating Budget Amendments Guncrat Page Tot'd educe trutsfer to Count} spiral for Climate Range Grata Fttndutg. tion A!Reduee the pool portion of Climate as$262,500.Option B: OP-004 Portie-Ascott 84 Capital duce school portion of ($2g2 500) {$808,704} zid Bedford Investment Plot innate tax 5131,250 and duce commtutity rolects portion$131,250. e poky will be ranged and will.need to e brought back to the oard in the fall. ORANGE COUNTY 5 NORTH CAROLINA 2 3 Chair Bedford reviewed budget amendment OPER-009, which she jointly sponsored with 4 Commissioner Portie-Ascott. She said the schools will hopefully be getting hundreds of millions. 5 She said that they had used up all ARPA dollars for Emergency Housing Assistance and they 6 went through the stages as a group. 7 8 A motion was made by Chair Bedford, seconded by Vice-Chair Greene, to approve budget 9 amendment OPER-009 option A, as described on slide #6. 10 11 Commissioner Fowler said she is on the climate committee and is for everything they can 12 do, and the beauty is they have made a heavy investment into schools and climate, and she can 13 agree with diminishing the school side and maintaining the community side. 14 Commissioner Hamilton said she agrees that the core things are food, housing, and 15 education. She said that given the budget situation they are in it is hard to fund those. She said 16 that she was a little concerned about taking money from the schools because there is not a bond 17 yet. She said she would rather have option B because they do not know what is going to happen, 18 but they know there are huge needs. 19 Commissioner Richards said she is supportive of this amendment. She said the Climate 20 Action Plan and climate tax, as they recognized, is not something the Board can implement. She 21 said that the community has to be engaged. She said that even though the projects can be small, 22 they make a big deal to families. She said that the school districts were slow to spend the money 23 they had and any changes they make for capital should take climate into account. She said she 24 is supportive of leaving the funding for the community intact. 25 Vice-Chair Greene said she agrees with Commissioner Richards. She said that four of 26 them saw the sustainability model at Weaver Community and they learned that there are ripple 27 effects, and the beauty is that maybe they do not know how far they ripple out, but they are all in 28 agreement they need to support the environment. 29 30 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 31 13 1 Slide #7 Operating Budget Amendments Genefal AniendmeniSponsof Budget Dept Amendment Revenue Expense Fund Total Ibr:a. lioux n::.h[.urc.. OP n1n .{snort-d1 171 Ffawmg Pragaam 5430.59u r,$308,:96; Fkdinal wi k OP 009 �srmLLslr new Parreri raen cte.ign Ira oP.n]a -5..wc�.1YYYP 1"1 H..s.+'asg mr,.�:krss�.d[wuL.w H�$oo R�rB�i U«tiord 4 ]esrle ser pe!dsmnl 4 .c•wR Ixf�•. .5rlirr�t Tax RsM la Iw)mn•e Lodger Mffi arL1q Si le1G[" OF'-U99 ST_{FF -0 Aua'vr�l,1!rsurn nu,�. 139312) ($5.106) So R�url an all yubfi,exi f tnulnxnte. ORANGE COUNTY Nr-111-1'I I CA R(M INA 2 3 Commissioner Portie-Ascott reviewed budget amendment OPER-010, which she jointly 4 sponsored with Chair Bedford. 5 6 A motion was made by Commissioner Portie-Ascott, seconded by Chair Bedford, to 7 approve budget amendment OPER-010. 8 9 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 10 11 Commissioner Portie-Ascott and Chair Bedford reviewed budget amendment OPER-011, 12 which they jointly sponsored, to revise the EHA program design. 13 New EHA Program Design Proposal (Revised Budget Amendment) kwafkeers tbrt&MM Pro of go draft ennt wftnWee awhsi of appOcalgn� • nealrrmHa�dwH�,Sendd QImss renderk lire Head of Household u bletowork Job Pols d Head of Household 6R Cart Aarlmns for acne evicum pro ar k* pgRyelg Inc" 30%ofkm Medal Iro m 302,Area 6fed:an Income HUI)deSnkions for fr*of fuer 30%AM-534,75064 maty iow ktc 50%AA-552.960 very low Income M%AA1-41K700 low Ineon [nehamChgrel HUI,RC HUI)Woo FMR Area AM-5106,900 #dAaartt perYm FY2021-22:hb cap (Ace per ym or-pw year FY20rt?23;pre per yew MwwAwwd Armut 56.000 55M 54,500 $4,100 a•,eaage aHsd cmie'hr t Lnk!d Refer ,to ksld 5er•4 Co lions to savims w1h»rftten plan kt Iargte rant Mabi7ly RMLIFOSkAUL S5,132,053ARPAFY202-f2 82 mfm AWA FYe0M 5320.500-Ce AFwd 33,250,338ARIPAFYe1M $1KOW-Reakca*dARPA 59375 permonnccap Rsaderk Served F1102522:9.W3,222 M TBD-Report Cottee Board m$WwbaJCkt F17072-73:$7413.374 14 IRewltornelolrkr`AAdl hoffi] 14 1 Commissioner Portie-Ascott said only assisting households where there is a summons 2 already in place prevents assistance for tenants whose landlords are trying to work with them. 3 She said that she would like to expand the program to include residents who don't have a 4 summons yet. She said she would like to expand support to households over 30% AMI, but would 5 also be supportive of keeping support at this level. 6 Travis Myren said staff went through all of the ARPA projects and found $160,000 that 7 can be added to this program. 8 Chair Bedford said she thinks it needs to stay at 30% AMI and supports this amendment. 9 Vice-Chair Greene said the proposal also includes going month to month with the funds 10 in order to make sure the program doesn't go over budget by the end of the fiscal year. 11 Travis Myren said because they have a lot less money this is one mechanism to make 12 sure they do not go over budget. He said that if it were depleted, the awards would be shut down. 13 Bonnie Hammersley said making it month by month gives staff more time as they work 14 with people that come in. 15 Vice-Chair Greene said if they run out of money each month, the community understands 16 what is going on instead of just running out of money early in the fiscal year. 17 Commissioner Hamilton said she supports the amendment. She said that she sees that 18 there is a lot of work to do in the fall. She said that it is another reason they need to discuss policy 19 in the fall. She said that to continue this level of funding and not raise taxes, they have to think 20 deeply about how to spend the money. 21 22 A motion was made by Commissioner Portie-Ascott, seconded by Chair Bedford, to 23 approve budget amendment OPER-011. 24 25 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 26 27 Travis Myren reviewed budget amendment OPER-099, which was proposed by staff. 28 29 A motion was made by, seconded by, to use $115,000 general fund savings to decrease 30 the County Manager's recommended tax rate increase. 31 32 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 33 34 2. Discussion and Decision on FY 2024-25 Capital Investment Plan 35 The Board discussed the FY 2024-34 Capital Investment Plan and accepted the Ten-Year Capital 36 Investment Plan. 37 38 BACKGROUND: For over 20 years, the County has produced a Capital Investment Plan (CIP) 39 that establishes a budget planning guide related to capital needs for the County as well as 40 Schools. The current CIP consists of a 10-year plan that is evaluated annually to include year- 41 to-year changes in priorities, needs, and available resources. Approval of the CIP commits the 42 County to the first-year funding only of the capital projects. All other years are used as a planning 43 tool and serves as a financial plan. 44 45 Capital Investment Plan — Overview 46 The FY 2024-34 CIP includes County Projects, School Projects, and Proprietary Projects. The 47 School Projects include Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, Orange County Schools, and Durham 48 Technical Community College — Orange County Campus projects. The Proprietary Projects 49 include Water and Sewer, Solid Waste Enterprise Fund, and Sportsplex projects. 50 15 1 The CIP has been prepared anticipating moderate economic growth of approximately 2% in 2 property tax growth and 4% sales tax growth over the next ten years. Many of the projects in the 3 CIP will rely on debt financing to fund the projects. 4 5 The items below include revisions made to the following Capital Projects since the presentation 6 of the Manager's Recommended Capital Investment Plan on April 2, 2024: 7 8 As a part of the annual budget process, adjustments are made to the allocation of school 9 funding based on changes to the FY 2024-25 budgeted average daily membership (ADM) 10 percentages. At the time of the Capital Improvement Plan presentation, only FY 2022-23 11 ADM information was available. The impact of these numbers changed the CHCCS 12 percentage from 58.44% to 58.40% and changed the OCS percentage from 41.56% to 13 41.60%. The Article 46 funding has also been adjusted, which excluded Charter Students 14 from the calculation. CHCCS's percentage changed from 61.19% to 61.45% and GCS's 15 percentage changed from 38.81% to 38.55%. 16 17 Travis Myren continued the following presentation: 18 19 Slide #9 Capital Investment Plan Amendments Amendment Sponsor Budget r)"I' Amendment R,%entic I`Xpefie 'IP-091 staff 3_ i\IS 'plate l'ear2(F]_}025ia5} Anteti&uetu roue sateree trattsfer[coon ardwal Itesercx Grum 1,400.000 to 1,8'33,121 and ubsequently eM—the Aeht ti.mlang anwtmt br 423.121 1192 5taff G_+ V1SS Tear S(F72024--27) AnutuRxnt 'riliy Accessibility;Safety and kmry la>ytrotr,nents by G-WO fur Blaelnsmod.Fum rk-Secudw Canuras dtte to tumdwa need P-093 scaly 5.9 5,wainkthr ce Climate Change 551,14 SSi;IG A—ui al kfiigmtion Proiect m year I "2024-23}to*9325;000. tis difference is cenKted iu to Operating Budges for Doom M nagcr-Sasunmb& Division to support Comm ^ide donate-Action Plus s IMS ORANGE COUNTY 9 NORTH CARIDLINA 20 21 Commissioner McKee said Durham Tech has identified shortfalls so he will track where 22 they are and where the county is during the year and possibly bring that back. 23 Travis Myren explained budget amendment CIP-091, which was proposed by staff. 24 25 A motion was made by Commissioner Fowler, seconded by Vice-Chair Greene, to 26 approve budget amendment CIP-091. 27 28 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 29 30 Travis Myren explained budget amendment CIP-092, which was proposed by staff. 31 16 1 A motion was made by Commissioner Fowler, seconded by Commissioner Hamilton, to 2 approve budget amendment CIP-092. 3 4 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 5 6 Travis Myren explained budget amendment CIP-093, which was proposed by staff. 7 8 A motion was made by Commissioner Fowler, seconded by Vice-Chair Greene, to 9 approve budget amendment CIP-093. 10 11 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 12 13 Slide #10 Capital Investment Plan Amendments Budget SP-094 staff 134 Planning& 'pdate Mebane Vater True lmendmeut Inspectimis Expanmon Year I(FYXII 2�; eN�nne source from Article 46 rax Proceeds to Debt Financing .Article 46 -001(tied to 0P- rbe-.Ascott 55 susimnabifirr duce transfer to Countv -$242,5 -5262_50C ) mid Bedford -apital for Climate change not Fwtduig. Option.A= Ldndnce the school portion ofline Tax 5242,.400.Option B- ce school portion of ate tax$131,2250 and reduce nutitr projects portion 131,?So.lite policy will be hanged and will need to be ^rnnght back to the board in the ORANGE COON 1 N(-)RTH CARCH-INA 14 15 Travis Myren explained budget amendment CIP-094, which was proposed by staff. 16 17 A motion was made by Commissioner Fowler, seconded by Vice-Chair Greene, to 18 approve budget amendment CIP-094. 19 20 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 21 22 Commissioner Portie-Ascott and Chair Bedford reviewed budget amendment CIP-001, 23 which they jointly sponsored. 24 25 A motion was made by Chair Bedford, seconded by Commissioner Portie-Ascott, to 26 approve budget amendment CIP-001. 27 28 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 29 30 17 1 Funding Decisions for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools and Orange County Schools 2 o Current Expense (Per Pupil) 3 4 Travis Myren continued the presentation: 5 6 Slide #11 Recommended School Funding Per Pupil Allocall;ion • Special District Tax for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Total Current Expense Budget $108,090,282 District Total Countywide Budgeted Students 19,077 — No change to the Special District Per Pupil Amount $5,666 Tax Rate Remains 19.80 cents per$100 of valuation District Budgeted Students Allocation — Generates a total of$28,419,218 7CHCCS 11,141 $5,666 $63,124,906 003 7,936 $5,666 $44,965,376 ORANGE COUNTY 11 NORTH CAROLINA 7 8 9 3. Discussion and Decision on the FY2024-25 County Fee Schedule 10 11 Travis Myren continued the presentation: 12 13 Slide #12 County Fee Schedule • No amendments proposed ORANGE COUNTY 12 NO R."VH CAROLINA 14 15 16 17 18 1 4. Discussion and Decision on the FY 2024-25 Tax Rates 2 • County Ad Valorem Tax 3 • Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Special District Tax 4 • Fire District Tax Rates 5 6 Travis Myren continued the presentation: 7 8 Slide #13 Tax Fates Table I Recommended Fire District Tax Rates • Approve the Countywide Ad Valorem (Property)Tax for FY2024-25 Rate Cedar Grove 9.00 • FY2023-24 rate based on approved operating budget amendments Chapel Hill 13.87 Damascus 12.80 Etland 10.28 • Approve the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Eno 11.98 Special District Tax Rate- 19.80 cents Little River 7.39 New Hope 13.84 • Approve the County Fire District Tax Rates in Orange Grove 8.27 Table 1 Orange Rural 11.49 South Orange 9.09 Southern Triangle 12.80 White Cross 13.84 ORANGE COUNTY 13 NC]RTH C;ARC?LINA 9 10 Commissioner Richards asked what the change was between the County Manager's 11 recommended tax rate increase and what the increase is after the budget amendments. 12 Travis Myren said the increase was .46 cents and will now be .41 cents. 13 14 5. Break(to allow Budget staff to formulate the Draft Resolution of Intent to Adopt FY 2024- 15 25 Operating Budget) 16 17 The Board took a break from the meeting at 8:51 p.m. to allow staff to draft a resolution of 18 intent to adopt. The Board returned from break at 9:07 p.m. 19 20 6. Resolution of Intent to Adopt the FY 2024-25 Orange County Budget 21 Approval of Resolution of Intent to Adopt FY 2024-25 Annual Operating Budget at the 22 Board of County Commissioners' Business Meeting on June 18, 2024 23 24 Kirk Vaughn, Budget Director, reviewed the following resolution: 25 26 19 1 Resolution of Intent to Adopt the FY2024-25 Orange County Budget 2 3 The items outlined below summarize decisions that the Board acted upon June 6, 2024 in 4 approving the FY2024-25 Orange County Annual Operating Budget and the FY2024-25 (Year 5 1) Capital Investment Plan Budget. 6 7 WHEREAS, the Orange County Board of Commissioners has considered the Orange County 8 FY2024-25 Manager's Recommended Budget and the FY2024-25 Manager's Recommended 9 Capital Investment Plan Budget; and 10 11 WHEREAS, the Commissioners have agreed on certain modifications to the Manager's 12 Recommended Budget as presented in the FY2024-25 County Manager's Recommended 13 Budget on May 7, 2024; and to the FY2024-25 Manager's Recommended Capital Investment 14 Plan Budget as presented on April 2, 2024; 15 16 NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Orange County Board of Commissioners 17 expresses its intent to adopt the FY2024-25 Orange County Budget Ordinance on Tuesday, 18 June 18, 2024, based on the following stipulations: 19 20 1) Property Tax Rates 21 a) The ad valorem property tax rate shall be set at 86.29 cents per$100 of assessed 22 valuation. 23 b) The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools District Tax shall be set at 19.80 cents per 24 $100 of assessed valuation. 25 c) The Fire District and Fire Service District tax rates shall be set at the following rates 26 (all rates are based on cents per$100 of assessed valuation): 27 • Cedar Grove 9.00 • Greater Chapel Hill Fire Service District 13.87 • Damascus 12.80 • Efland 10.28 • Eno 11.98 • Little River 7.39 • New Hope 13.84 • Orange Grove 8.27 • Orange Rural 11.49 • South Orange Fire Service District 9.09 • Southern Triangle Fire Service District 12.80 • White Cross 13.84 28 29 2) County Employee Pay and Benefits Plan 30 Provide a County employee pay and benefits plan that includes: 31 a. 4% wage increase for permanent employees in active status on June 30, 2024. 32 Continuation of Merit Pay Program on employees' base salaries, payable in January 20 1 2025, at tiers of$550 for proficient performance; $825 for superior performance or 2 $1,100 for exceptional performance. Page 236 3 b. A change in the salary schedule recognizing $17.65 per hour as the living wage for 4 permanent and temporary employees and recognizing the 4% wage increase, effective 5 July 1, 2024. Page 237 6 c. Increase the per pay period County contribution to non-law enforcement employees' 7 supplemental retirement accounts to $100 per paycheck, removing the matching 8 requirement by the County; continue the mandated Law Enforcement Officer contribution 9 of 5.0% of salary. Page 251 10 d. Continue the County's required contribution to the Local Governmental Employees' 11 Retirement System (LGERS) for all permanent employees. For FY 2024-25, the Law 12 Enforcement Officers' (LEOs) rate increases from 14.10 to 15.10 percent of reported 13 compensation, and all other employees' rate increases from 12.85 to 13.60 percent of 14 reported compensation. Page 251 15 e. Continue to provide medical, dental, vision plans, and current voluntary benefit plans to 16 employees. Page 254 17 18 3 Adjustments to Operating And Capital Budget a"m- 1100111 Y. WWO , OP-091 STAFF 144 Emergency Remove Crisis Response Team expenses ($173,000) Services from General Fund OP-004 Hamilton 155 Finance and Reduce budgetary estimate for county ($15,000) Admin Services wide telephone inflation to 4%from 5% OP-005 Hamilton 40 Fund Wide Increase appropriation of Fund Balance $100,000 McKee,Portie-Ascott,and Outside OP 006 Bedford 203 Agencies Increase funding to Porch Hillsborough $15,000 Reduce Transfer to County Capital for OP-009 Portie-Ascott and Bedford 84 Capital Climate Change Grant Funding.Option ($262,500) Investment Plan A:Reduce the school portion of Climate Tax$262,500. Fund Emergency Housing Assistance OP-010 Portie-Ascott and Bedford 171 Housing Program using$158,000 from Crisis $420,500 Response Team and Climate Change rant. Establish new Emergency Housing OP-011 Portie-Ascott and Bedford 171 Housing Assistance program designs based on approved funding levels. Reduce Tax Rate.05 cents to balance OP-099 STAFF All All budget based on all published ($115,680) ($680) amendments 19 21 Amendment Sponsor Budget Page Department Amendment Revenue Expense CIP-001(tied to Portie-Ascott and Bedford 55 Sustainability OP-009) Reduce Funding for Climate Grant Program ($262,500) ($262,500) CIP-091 Staff Amendment 52 AMS Update Year 2(FY2025-26)revenue source transfer from Cardinal Reserve from 1,400,000 to 1,823,121 and subsequently reduce the debt financing amount by 423,121 CIP-092 Staff Amendment 65 AMS Reduce Year 3(FY2026-27)Facility Accessibility, Safety and Security Improvements by$6,000 for Blackwood Farm Park-Security Cameras due to immediate need CIP-093 Staff Amendment 55 Sustainability Reduce Climate Change Mitigation Project in Year 1 (FY2024-25)to$525,000. This difference is reflected in the Operating Budget for County Manager ($51,169) ($51,169) -Sustainability Division to support County wide Climate Action Plan projects CIP-094 Staff Amendment 134 Planning& Update Mebane Water Line Expansion Year 1 Inspections (FY2024-25)revenue source from Article 46 Tax 1 Proceeds to Debt Financing-Article 46 2 3 4) Changes in County Staff Positions (Increase in FTE Approved). Department Position Name Fund Start Date FTE Library Services Library Branch Manager General Fund 7/1/2024 1.000 Library Services Librarian II General Fund 9/1/2024 1.000 Library Services Librarian II General Fund 9/1/2024 1.000 Library Services Library Associate II General Fund 7/1/2024 0.125 Library Services Library Associate II General Fund 9/1/2024 1.000 Library Services Library Assistant II General Fund 9/1/2024 1.000 Library Services Library Assistant II General Fund 7/1/2024 0.500 Library Services Library Assistant II General Fund 9/1/2024 1.000 4 Totals 6.625 5 6 Reduction in Force — Due to an ending of ARPA funding, the Manager recommends that the 7 Orange County Board of Commissioners declare that a reduction in force is necessary that will 8 result in the deletion of one position. 9 10 5) General Fund Appropriations for Local School Districts 11 The following FY2024-25 General Fund Appropriations for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools 12 and Orange County Schools are approved: 13 a) Current Expense appropriation for local school districts totals $108,090,282 and 14 equates to a 15 per pupil allocation of$5,666 16 1) The Current Expense appropriation to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools 17 is 18 $63,124,906 19 2) The Current Expense appropriation to the Orange County Schools is 20 $44,965,376. 21 b) School Related Debt Service for local school districts totals $19,182,204. 22 c) Additional net County funding for local school districts totals $7,064,666. 23 (1) School Resource Officers and School Health Nurses Contracts - total 24 appropriation of$4,004,666 to cover the costs of School Resource Officers 25 in every middle and high school, and a School Health Nurse in every 26 elementary, middle, and high school in both school systems. 22 1 (2) Recurring Capital —total pay-as-you-go funding of$3,060,000 to cover 2 recurring capital funding at both school districts. These funds support facility 3 improvements, equipment and furnishings and vehicle purchases for the 4 districts. 5 6 6) Capital Investment Plan Funding for FY2024-25 (Year 1) 7 The following FY2024-25 (Year 1) Capital Investment Plan Appropriations are approved: 8 a) Overall Total Capital Investment Plan Funding of$51,138,858 9 b) County Capital Projects Funding of$15,889,808 10 c) School Capital Projects Funding of$32,285,071 11 d) Water and Sewer Projects Funding of$500,000, Solid Waste Project Funding of 12 $2,138,979; and Sportsplex Project Funding of$325,000 13 14 7) County Fee Schedule 15 To adopt the County Fee Schedule to include changes in the FY2024-25 Manager's 16 Recommended Annual Operating Budget and approved by the Board of County 17 Commissioners on June 6, 2024. 18 19 A motion was made by Commissioner Hamilton, seconded by Commissioner Fowler, to 20 approve the resolution of intent to adopt the FY 2024-25 Annual Operating Budget at the Board 21 of Commissioners Regular Meeting on June 18, 2024. 22 23 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 24 25 7. Closed Session 26 A motion was made by Commissioner Hamilton, seconded by Commissioner Fowler, to 27 enter into closed session pursuant to North Carolina General Statute § 143-318.11(a)(5) "to 28 discuss the County's position and to instruct the County Manager and County Attorney on the 29 negotiating position regarding the terms of a contract to purchase real property," and for the 30 approval of Closed Session Minutes. 31 32 RECONVENE INTO REGULAR SESSION 33 A motion was made by Commissioner Richards, seconded by Commissioner Hamilton, to 34 reconvene into regular session at 9:53 p.m. 35 36 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 37 38 Adjournment 39 A motion was made by Commissioner Fowler, seconded by Commissioner Hamilton, to 40 adjourn the meeting at 9:53 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 4 1 1 DRAFT MINUTES 2 ORANGE COUNTY 3 BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 4 BUSINESS MEETING 5 June 18, 2024 6 7:00 p.m. 7 8 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a Business Meeting on Tuesday, June 18, 9 2024, 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 (arrived at 7:06 p.m.) and Commissioners Amy Fowler, Jean Hamilton, Earl McKee (arrived at 13 7:05 p.m.), Phyllis 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 7:00 p.m. All commissioners were present 21 except Commissioner McKee and Vice-Chair Greene. 22 23 1. Additions or Changes to the Agenda 24 Chair Bedford dispensed with reading the public charge. 25 Chair Bedford invited Todd McGee, Community Relations Director, to introduce members 26 of the County Government Academy who completed their final class earlier in the evening. They 27 were invited to take a photograph with the Board of Commissioners. 28 29 2. Public Comments (Limited to One Hour) 30 a. Matters not on the Printed Agenda 31 There was no one signed up to speak. 32 33 b. Matters on the Printed Agenda 34 (These matters will be considered when the Board addresses that item on the agenda below.) 35 36 3. Announcements, Petitions and Comments by Board Members 37 Commissioner Portie-Ascott said she attended a Partnership to End Homelessness 38 meeting. She said that in July they were going to vote on new members and member roles and 39 duties. She said she attended the Phoenix Academy graduation ceremony the previous Friday. 40 She said she attended the Cedar Grove 8t" anniversary celebration. She said the transformation 41 of the building and property was inspiring. She said she attended the Roots to Resilience 42 Juneteenth event. 43 44 Commissioner McKee arrived at 7:05 p.m. 45 46 Vice-Chair Greene arrived at 7:06 p.m. 47 48 Commissioner Fowler said she had been on vacation the previous week in Switzerland 49 and said during her trip she learned about the unique features of their system of government. 50 She wished Bonnie Hammersley the best in her upcoming retirement and welcomed Travis Myren 2 1 as the new County Manager. She congratulated all recent high school graduates. She said she 2 will continue to meet with committees and advisory boards throughout the summer. 3 Chair Bedford thanked all county employees for their hard work. She said that community 4 climate grants are open for applications. She said DSS is hosting a community flea market at 5 Hillsborough Commons on Saturday, June 22. She told the Board that instead of having an 6 Assembly of Governments meeting in 2025, it was suggested instead to have individual meetings 7 with Hillsborough and possibly the City of Mebane. She asked any commissioners who have 8 feedback on the calendar to email the Clerk to the Board. 9 Vice-Chair Greene congratulated Bonnie Hammersley on her retirement and Travis Myren 10 on his new position as County Manager. She said that she attended the Master Aging Plan work 11 group, where they heard about Governor Cooper's plan to create a master aging plan for the 12 entire state. She said that the over age 60 population outnumbers those under 18 in North 13 Carolina. She said this will impact how we think of provided services. She said that GoTriangle 14 will return to fares on July 1St. She said they were suspended during the pandemic and make up 15 $2 million in revenue for GoTriangle. She described a number of options for receiving reduced 16 GoTriangle fares. She said that UNRBA is continuing to work towards Rule 3 adoption and is 17 working closely with the Department of Natural Resources and Division of Water Quality. She 18 said she attended the statewide summit on suicide prevention sponsored by the School of 19 Government. She said 1 out of 4 high school students have seriously considered suicide. She 20 said it underscores the need for increased investment and emphasis on mental health. She said 21 she attended the county's Juneteenth events on June 14. She said she attended the DSS Board 22 meeting and heard from the director of the in-home aide program. 23 Commissioner Hamilton said she attended the Alliance Health board meeting where they 24 passed their budget. She said she attended the Greene Tract community engagement session. 25 She commended county staff for the model that was used to engage with residents and said she 26 heard good feedback. She said the bond education committee co-chairs met and made plans for 27 summer meetings. She thanked Bonnie Hammersley for her service and congratulated her on 28 her retirement. She thanked the staff for their hard work. 29 Commissioner Richards congratulated Bonnie Hammersley on her retirement and Travis 30 Myren for his appointment as the County Manager, which will be voted on later in the meeting. 31 She said she attended an event at the Passmore Center called the Road to Freedom, which 32 commemorated the 70th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education decision. She said it was a 33 rich conversation due to the current state of public education. She said it was interesting to reflect 34 on where they've come from since the case. She said she also attended the Phoenix Academy 35 graduation ceremony. She said seeing the students and their families celebrating was very 36 special. 37 Commissioner McKee reminded the Board about a petition he made to understand what 38 is happening with Lumos and the broadband project and asked for the petition to be expanded to 39 include all the challenges that Lumos is facing. He said that they need this information to inform 40 the public. Commissioner McKee praised Bonnie Hammersley and wished her the best for her 41 retirement. 42 Chair Bedford asked for the petition to include that Lumos was bought by another provider 43 and asked staff to find out how that impacts the broadband project. 44 45 4. Proclamations/ Resolutions/ Special Presentations 46 a. Proclamation Recognizing Juneteenth 2024 47 The Board approved a proclamation recognizing Juneteenth 2024. 48 49 BACKGROUND: On June 19, 1865, more than two years after the signing of the emancipation 50 proclamation, U.S. Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger went to Galveston, Texas, to deliver the news to 51 enslaved people that they were free. The first Juneteenth in 1866 in Texas was celebrated as a 3 1 community event where people gathered for prayer, food, song, and dance. Since then, Texas 2 families have emigrated to other parts of the United States, and Juneteenth's historic and cultural 3 traditions have followed them. In 2007, North Carolina enacted legislation that enables Juneteenth 4 National Freedom Day to become a state holiday when it or a substantially similar holiday is 5 nationally recognized. In 2020, Orange County and the Towns of Carrboro, Chapel Hill, and 6 Hillsborough recognized Juneteenth as a holiday. Today, Juneteenth is a federal holiday 7 recognized in all 50 states. 8 9 Juneteenth, while a time of celebration, is also a time of reflection. Ira Berlin, in his book, "The 10 Long Emancipation: The Demise of Slavery in the United States," finds the ending of slavery did 11 not just happen throughout the Civil War but was "a near century process." Emancipation was not 12 a gift bestowed upon Black Americans by Lincoln or the Republican Party; it was something Black 13 Americans fought for from the time they came to this country, enslaved more than 400 years ago 14 until today. In fighting for their freedom, Black Americans have shaped what it means to be a 15 citizen in this "imperfect" country we call home. Through judicial decisions and legislation, Black 16 Americans have redefined the words "[We] the people." 17 18 There will be multiple community celebrations of Juneteenth by the towns, school systems, and 19 community organizations. Juneteenth will be celebrated through community and cultural events 20 throughout Orange County, including art performances, history exhibits, music, and activities. 21 Orange County staff recommends the community attend these events to learn more about 22 Juneteenth and the contributions of Black Americans to the community. 23 24 The attached proclamation regarding Juneteenth echoes many of the declarations and sentiments 25 expressed by the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Elected Officials group in their statement 26 commemorating Juneteenth. It thereby affirms the Board's support for this nationwide holiday. 27 28 Courtney McLaughlin, Interim Director of the Office of Equity and Inclusion, read the 29 following proclamation: 30 31 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 32 33 PROCLAMATION RECOGNIZING JUNETEENTH 2024 34 35 WHEREAS, Juneteenth, observed on June 19, is a day of historical significance, commemorating 36 the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in Texas in 1865, following the issuance of the 37 Emancipation Proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863; and 38 39 WHEREAS, the Emancipation Proclamation marked a critical milestone in the fight for freedom, 40 declaring the end of slavery in Confederate-controlled areas and laying the groundwork for the 41 eventual abolition of slavery nationwide with the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the 42 United States Constitution; and 43 44 WHEREAS, despite the formal abolition of slavery, the journey to complete emancipation has 45 been fraught with challenges due to those who wished to continue the practice of holding human 46 beings as property; and 47 48 WHEREAS, although the Emancipation Proclamation was issued on January 1, 1863, it was not 49 until June 19, 1865 — Juneteenth — when U.S. Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, 50 Texas, and issued General Order No. 3, announcing the end to the war and the captivity of those 51 who had been enslaved, that the news reached all enslaved African Americans; and 4 1 WHEREAS, Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of 2 slavery in the United States; and 3 4 WHEREAS, in 1866, they held parades and barbecues and gave speeches in remembrance of 5 their liberation. The oldest of the surviving formerly enslaved people were often given a place of 6 honor and initially used these gatherings to attempt to locate family members from whom they 7 had been separated, and soon these events became staging areas for family reunions and an 8 opportunity to uplift each other as they moved through hostile environments; and 9 10 WHEREAS, we recognize that there is still progress that must be made to dismantle the insidious 11 systems and practices that continue to harm African Americans and deny them access to the 12 rights and resources to which they are entitled, Juneteenth serves as a pivotal reminder of the 13 resilience and courage of African Americans as they endured unimaginable hardship and 14 injustices yet remain steadfast in their pursuit of freedom and equality; and 15 16 WHEREAS, the resilience and determination displayed by African Americans in the face of 17 oppression serve as an enduring testament to the human spirit and the innate desire for liberty 18 and dignity; and 19 20 WHEREAS, Juneteenth is a celebration of liberation, unity, and hope, reminding us of the 21 importance of acknowledging and confronting the painful truths of our past while embracing the 22 promise of a more just and equitable future; and 23 24 WHEREAS, Juneteenth serves as a powerful symbol of progress and resilience, inspiring us to 25 continue the fight forjustice and equality for all and to honor the contributions and legacy of African 26 Americans in shaping the fabric of our nation; and 27 28 WHEREAS, by recognizing Juneteenth as a day of reflection, remembrance, and celebration, we 29 reaffirm our commitment to building a society where every individual is valued, respected, and 30 afforded the opportunity to thrive; and 31 32 WHEREAS, the lessons of Juneteenth resonate deeply with people of all backgrounds reminding 33 us of the enduring power of hope, perseverance, and solidarity in the face of adversity; 34 35 NOW THEREFORE BE IT PROCLAIMED that we, the Orange County Board of Commissioners, 36 honor the significance of Juneteenth as a pivotal moment in our nation's history and reaffirm our 37 commitment to upholding the values of freedom, justice, and equality for all. 38 39 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we celebrate Juneteenth as a beacon of hope and inspiration 40 and pledge to continue to journey toward a more inclusive, compassionate, and equitable society. 41 42 BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that we proclaim June 19, 2024, as Juneteenth in Orange County 43 and encourage all residents to join us in commemorating this historic occasion, reflecting on the 44 lessons of the past and rededicating ourselves to the pursuit of a brighter future for generations 45 to come. 46 47 This, the 18th day of June 2024. 48 49 50 Jamezetta Bedford, Chair 51 Orange County Board of Commissioners 5 1 A motion was made by Commissioner Hamilton, seconded by Commissioner Richards, to 2 approve the proclamation. 3 4 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 5 6 5. Public Hearings 7 None. 8 9 6. Regular Agenda 10 a. Approval of Fiscal Year 2024-25 Budget Ordinances and County Fee Schedule 11 The Board approved the Fiscal Year 2024-25 Budget Ordinances and County Fee Schedule. 12 13 BACKGROUND: At the June 6, 2024 budget work session, the Board of County 14 Commissioners made decisions regarding the County's FY 2024-25 budget. See the 15 following attachments related to those decisions: 16 17 • Attachment 1 — the Resolution of Intent to Adopt the FY 2024-25 Orange County 18 Budget outlines the actions approved by the Board of County Commissioners on June 19 6, 2024 20 • Attachment 2 — the FY 2024-25 Budget Ordinance is the legislation implementing the 21 FY 2024-25 Annual Operating Budget for Orange County, including Grants Project 22 Ordinances 23 • Attachment 3 —the FY 2024-25 County Fee Schedule 24 25 Travis Myren, Deputy County Manager, reviewed the background information for the 26 agenda item. 27 28 A motion was made by Commissioner Fowler, seconded by Commissioner Hamilton, to 29 adopt the FY 2024-25 Budget Ordinances and the FY 2024-25 County Fee Schedule, consistent 30 with the parameters outlined in the Board's Resolution of Intent to Adopt the FY 2024-25 Orange 31 County Budget. 32 33 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 34 35 b. Accept the Ten-Year Capital Investment Plan (CIP) and Approve the FY 2024-25 36 Orange County Overall CIP Protects 37 The Board accepted the FY 2024-34 Orange County Five-Year Capital Investment Plan (CIP) and 38 approving the FY 2024-25 Orange County Overall CIP Projects. 39 40 BACKGROUND: For over 20 years, the County has produced a Capital Investment Plan (CIP) 41 that establishes a budget planning guide related to capital needs for the County as well as 42 Schools. The current CIP consists of a 10-year plan that is evaluated annually to include year-to- 43 year changes in priorities, needs, and available resources. Approval of the CIP commits the 44 County to the first year funding only of the capital projects; all other years are used as a planning 45 tool and serves as a financial plan. 46 47 Capital Investment Plan — Overview 48 The FY 2024-34 CIP includes County Projects, School Projects, and Proprietary Projects. The 49 School Projects include Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, Orange County Schools, and Durham 6 1 Technical Community College — Orange County Campus projects. The Proprietary Projects 2 include Water and Sewer, Solid Waste Enterprise Fund, and Sportsplex projects. 3 4 The CIP has been prepared anticipating moderate economic growth of approximately 2% in 5 property tax growth over the next ten years, and 4% sales tax growth. Many of the projects in the 6 CIP will rely on debt financing to fund the projects. 7 8 Travis Myren, Deputy County Manager, reviewed the background information for the 9 agenda item. 10 11 A motion was made by Commissioner McKee, seconded by Commissioner Fowler, to 12 accept the FY 2024-34 Orange County Ten-Year Capital Investment Plan, and approve funding 13 for FY 2024-25 and adopt the FY 2024-25 County Capital projects as stated in Attachment 2; the 14 FY 2024-25 Proprietary Capital projects as stated in Attachment 3; and the FY 2024-25 School 15 Capital projects as stated in Attachment 4. 16 17 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 18 19 c. Proposed Bond Order Authorizing $300 Million in County General Obligation School 20 Bonds, Subject to Voter Approval, and Approve the Details of the Referendum 21 The Board took final action approving the proposed Bond Order authorizing $300 Million in County 22 General Obligation School Bonds, subject to voter approval, and approving a resolution with the 23 details of the referendum proposed for November 2024. 24 25 BACKGROUND: Since the presentation of the Woolpert School Facility Study in December 26 2023, the Board has considered at several meetings plans to respond to the funding needs 27 described in the study and how to balance school capital needs, other County capital needs and 28 the resources available. 29 30 At the January 19, 2024 Board retreat, the Board made the determination to start the bond 31 authorization process based on a referendum amount of$300 million in County general obligation 32 school bonds for both school districts. 33 34 Based on revisions as noted in the Manager's Recommended FY 2024-34 Capital Investment 35 Plan, the County's assumptions for repaying the $300 million in proposed County general 36 obligation school bonds and related interest is estimated to have a tax rate impact of 3.41 cents 37 per$100 of valuation, with all that increase scheduled for the County's 2025-26 Fiscal Year. 38 39 At the Board's April 2, 2024 Business meeting, the Board adopted a preliminary resolution stating 40 its intent to apply to the North Carolina Local Government Commission (LGC) for the LGC's 41 approval of the bonds (the LGC is a division of the State Treasurer's office that must approve 42 substantially all local government borrowing). The County published a notice of this intent as 43 required by law, and the LGC has accepted the County's application.At its May 7, 2024 Business 44 meeting, the Board introduced the Bond Order (similar to the required first reading that is 45 sometimes required for an ordinance) and called for the required public hearing. The Board held 46 that public hearing at the June 4, 2024 Business meeting. 47 48 With this item, the Board is asked to take final action to adopt the Bond Order. The Board is then 49 asked to consider approval of a resolution to set formally the details of the referendum. These are 50 the final actions required of the Board to place the question of the school bonds before the voters 51 in November 2024. 7 1 One item covered by the resolution approving the referendum details is the approval of the specific 2 question that will be on the ballot for the voters. As has been discussed with the Board, most of 3 the form of the ballot question is set by law, and there is no meaningful leeway to simplify or 4 shorten the question. The resolution also directs staff to complete certain remaining newspaper 5 publications the law requires. 6 7 The Board must complete its formal authorization process before early August to allow the County 8 Board of Elections adequate time for ballot printing and other organizational matters for the 9 referendum.At this point, the Board can reduce the bond amount, but the Board cannot increase 10 the amount unless the process is re-started. 11 12 SECURITY FOR BOND REPAYMENT: A general obligation bond, as proposed, is not secured by 13 any physical collateral. Instead, the County promises to levy property taxes in whatever amount 14 is necessary to provide for repaying the bonds, including the interest on the money borrowed 15 through the bonds. 16 17 Gary Donaldson, Chief Financial Officer, said that the action requested was for the Board 18 to adopt the bond order and resolution. He reviewed the background information included in the 19 agenda abstract. 20 Commissioner McKee said he had questions about the total cost to taxpayers. He said it 21 will be an 8.8 cent tax rate increase overall. He said in 2034, debt service payments will be about 22 $78.5 million. He said there will be a $30 million gap between what the tax rate increase will 23 generate and what will need to be paid. He asked Gary Donaldson to elaborate on the gap and 24 how revaluation will affect the gap. 25 Gary Donaldson said maximum debt service is $78.5 million. He said that the existing tax 26 rate will address the existing debt service. He said during the next revaluation, they have 27 assumed significant appreciation in the assessed value. He said considering the revenue neutral 28 rate, it will take care of existing debt, plus 8.8 cents on top of that for the new debt service. 29 Commissioner McKee said that the impact of the next revaluation will be extreme on some 30 lower income residents. He said is concerned with the revaluation coming up and the impact on 31 individual homeowners. He said that the gap in the middle confused him. He said that the peak 32 is about 40% of the total budget in the current year. He said that they are doing more than just 33 the bond, and the impact will be significant on residents. He said this does not account for any 34 additional spending by future boards. He said he wanted everyone to be aware of the implications 35 of their decisions. He said he hopes the schools will find a way to minimize costs. 36 37 A motion was made by Commissioner Hamilton, seconded by Commissioner Fowler, to 38 approve the Bond Order and the Resolution approving referendum details in the forms presented. 39 40 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 41 42 Commissioner Portie-Ascott had a question about a chart in the agenda packet: 8 Total Tax-Supported Debt to Assessed Value and Debt Service to General Fund Revenues Tax Rate Breakdown of Capital Improvement Plan DS to GF Tax Rate Year Debt to AV Revenues Equivalent Base 0 _ 2.79¢ 2024 1.64% 13.60% 2025 1.66% 13.09°h - Schaal Pay-Go: 2026 1.21% 12.83% 8.880 2.680 2027 1.44% 14.18% - 2028 1.54% 14.59% School 2029 1.77% 16.79% GO Bonds: 3,410 2030 1.58% 18.34% 2031 1.51% 19.67% 2032 1.67% 19.01`36 2033 1.55% 19.32% 2034 1.34% 19.89% - 2035 1.21% 18.89% Total Impact 8.884 ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 1 2 Commissioner Portie-Ascott said she thought the tax rate increases would be phased in. 3 Gary Donaldson said it is a plan and it could be adjusted. He said that in a previous bond 4 referendum, they did the tax rate increase in increments. 5 Chair Bedford said that they have that tool as well as pay-go financing to fund the plan. 6 She said that they must tell people that the impact could be 8.8 cents, but they may get a better 7 interest rate. 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 Richards, seconded by Vice-Chair Greene, to 19 approve the consent agenda. 20 21 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 22 23 a. Minutes 24 The Board approved the draft minutes for the April 25, 2024, April 30, 2024, May 7, 2024, and 25 May 14, 2024 BOCC Meetings as submitted by the Clerk to the Board. 26 27 9 1 b. Motor Vehicle Property Tax Releases/Refunds 2 The Board adopted a resolution to release motor vehicle property tax values for two (2) taxpayers 3 with a total of two (2) bills that will result in a reduction of revenue. 4 c. Property Tax Releases/Refunds 5 The Board adopted a resolution to release property tax values for one (1) taxpayer with a total of 6 one (1) bill that will result in a reduction of revenue. 7 d. Living Wage Day Proclamation 8 The Board approved a proclamation designating September 2, 2024, Labor Day, as Living Wage 9 Day in Orange County. 10 e. JCPC Certification and County Plan for FY 2024-2025 11 The Board approved the Orange County Juvenile Crime Prevention Council (JCPC) Certification 12 and County Plan for FY 2024-2025. 13 f. Legal Services Contract Award for the Department of Social Services 14 The Board approved a contract with Stephenson & Fleming, LLP, to provide legal services for the 15 Department of Social Services. 16 g. In-Home Aide Contract Awards for the Department of Social Services and Department 17 on Aging 18 The Board approved contracts to provide In-Home Aide Services with CNC/Access, Inc. dba All 19 Ways Caring Home Care, First-Watch Homecare, LLC, Ole Creek Health and Wellness, Inc., 20 Premier Home Health Care Services, Inc., and Regional Home Care, Inc. for eligible adults using 21 a joint contract between the Department of Social Services and the Department on Aging and the 22 Contractor. 23 h. In-Home Aide Contract with Medisolutions, Inc. 24 The Board approved a contract to provide In-Home Aide Services with Medisolutions, Inc. for 25 eligible residents using a joint contract between the Department of Social Services and the 26 Department on Aging and the Contractor. 27 L Rejection of Fairview Park Tennis Court/ Pickleball Expansion Proiect Bids 28 The Board: 29 1) Rejected all bids for the construction of the Fairview Park Tennis Court / Pickleball 30 Expansion Project; and 31 2) Approved re-advertising and re-bidding the Fairview Park Tennis Court / Pickleball 32 Expansion Project in August 2024. 33 j. Resolution Naming the John Blackfeather and Lynette Coles Jeffries Memorial Bench 34 at River Park 35 The Board adopted a resolution naming a replacement bench at Occaneechi Village in River Park 36 after John Blackfeather Jeffries and Lynette Coles Jeffries. 37 k. Amendment to the Contract with The Chamber For a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro to 38 Provide Community Advocacy Services in Partnership with Chapel Hill and Carrboro 39 The Board amended the timing of payments in the contract for Community Advocacy services 40 with The Chamber For a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro. 41 I. Amendment of the Boundary Lines Between the Upper Eno Critical Watershed and the 42 Lower Eno Unprotected Watershed on PINS 9864-00-2205 and 9863-09-3922 43 The Board amended the Upper Eno Critical and Lower Eno Unprotected Watershed boundary 44 line on Orange County Parcel Identification Numbers (PINs) 9864-00-2205 and 9863-09-3922 to 45 reflect a ridgeline professionally surveyed on the parcels in 2024. 46 m. Approval of a Professional Engineering Services Contract with Schnabel Engineering, 47 Inc. for the Lake Orange Intake Tower Rehabilitation-Replacement Proiect 48 The Board approved a professional services contract in the amount of $288,000 with Schnabel 49 Engineering South, P.C. for the Lake Orange Perimeter Survey project. 50 51 10 1 n. Professional Engineering Contract—Transit Access Sidewalk for Orange Grove Road 2 The Board approved a Professional Engineering (PE) contract and authorized the County 3 Manager to sign a municipal agreement for a Transit Access Sidewalk along Orange Grove Road. 4 o. FY 2026 Pre-Application Transit Grant Master Documents 5 The Board approved the annual FY 2026 Pre-Application Annual Transit Grant Master 6 Documents. 7 p. Opioid Litigation Settlement Approval — Kroger 8 The Board opted into a settlement with Kroger and its subsidiaries in the national opioid case. 9 q. Lease of Property to TowerCo to Build a Communications Tower 10 The Board: 11 1) Reviewed a lease to TowerCo for a portion of property located at 3605 Walnut Grove Road; 12 2) Adopted the resolution approving the lease; and 13 3) Authorized the Manager to sign the lease upon final review by the County Attorney. 14 r. Construction Contract Award for Passmore Center HVAC Replacement 15 The Board: 16 1) Approved the County entering into a construction contract with Brady Services, Inc. for the 17 construction of the Passmore Center HVAC Replacement; and 18 2) Authorized the County Manager to execute the Agreement, subject to final review by the 19 County Attorney, and any subsequent amendments for contingent and unforeseen 20 requirements up to the approved budget amount on behalf of the Board. 21 s. Approval of Interlocal Agreement for Comprehensive Countywide Emergency 22 Operations Plan Update 23 The Board approved an Interlocal Agreement with the Towns of Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and 24 Hillsborough for a comprehensive, countywide Emergency Operations Plan update. 25 t. Boards and Commissions —Appointments 26 The Board approved the Boards and Commissions appointments as reviewed and discussed 27 during the May 30, 2024 Work Session. 28 u. Fiscal Year 2023-24 Budget Amendment#11 29 The Board approved budget, grant, and capital project ordinance amendments for Fiscal Year 30 2023-24. 31 v. Procurement of Public Safety Software Consulting Services and Approval of Budget 32 Amendment #11-A 33 The Board approved the purchase of public safety software consulting services to guide the 34 selection and replacement of the County's Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD), Records 35 Management Software (RMS), Jail Management Software (JMS)systems, and to approve Budget 36 Amendment#11-A to provide for the provision of these services. 37 w. Approval of Budget Amendment #11-B to Fund the Mobile Crisis Team Pilot (CARE) 38 with Grant Funding Awarded to Alliance Healthcare 39 The Board approved Budget Amendment #11-B to provide grant funding for the two-year Mobile 40 Crisis Pilot: the Crisis Assistance, Response and Engagement(CARE)Team, in collaboration with 41 Alliance Healthcare and the Town of Chapel Hill. 42 x. Approval of Budget Amendment #11-C to Provide Supplemental Grant Funding for the 43 Emergency Services' Post-Overdose Response Team (PORT) 44 The Board approved Budget Amendment #11-C to provide supplemental grant funding for the 45 Emergency Services' Post-Overdose Response Team (PORT) to support operational expenses 46 not previously funded by the Opioid Settlement Funds, in collaboration with Alliance Healthcare. 47 y. Bid Award — Perry Hills Mini-Park Prosect and Approval of Budget Amendment #11-D 48 The Board: 49 1) Approved the construction contract with McQueen Construction Inc. of Rougemont, NC 50 for the construction of the Perry Hills Mini-Park project; 11 1 2) Authorized the County Manager to execute the Agreement, subject to final review by the 2 County Attorney, and any subsequent amendments for contingent and unforeseen 3 requirements up to the approved budget amount on behalf of the Board; and 4 3) Approved Budget Amendment #11-D to transfer $130,000 from the Twin Creeks Park 5 capital project to cover the additional costs needed for the project. 6 z. Appointment of Travis Myren as Orange County Manager and Authorize Entry into an 7 Employment Agreement 8 The Board appointed Travis Myren to the office of County Manager and authorized the Chair to 9 sign an employment agreement. 10 11 9. County Manager's Report 12 Bonnie Hammersley thanked the Board for their support over the past 10 years. 13 14 10. County Attorney's Report 15 John Roberts said he had a report on a settlement that had been considered in closed 16 session. He said regarding Kemske v. Orange County a settlement agreement has been signed, 17 and a payment of approximately $36,000 by the county to Ms. Kemske is being processed. He 18 said NC General Statute§ 143-318.11 requires reports of settlements be made in open meetings 19 as soon as reasonably possible after the settlement is completed. 20 21 11. *Appointments 22 None. 23 24 12. Information Items 25 • June 4, 2024 BOCC Meeting Follow-up Actions List 26 • Tax Collector's Report— Numerical Analysis 27 • Tax Assessor's Report— Releases/Refunds under $100 28 29 13. Closed Session 30 None. 31 32 Adjournment 33 34 A motion was made by Commissioner Fowler, seconded by Vice-Chair Greene, to adjourn 35 the meeting at 7:47 p.m. 36 37 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 38 39 Jamezetta Bedford, Chair 40 41 42 Submitted for approval by Laura Jensen, Clerk to the Board