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7. A 75-foot Type E Buffer shall be provided along Baldwin Road along the width of the area used for <br />outdoor storage of materials. <br />8. This Special Use Permit will expire and become null and void at 11:59 p.m. on the last day of the <br />sixth year after it is issued as provided in Section 8.8.24.2 of the Orange County Zoning Regulations. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis said that he has been visiting this establishment since the day it <br />opened. He is prejudiced about this operation. He is pleased that the Planning staff is going to study our <br />regulations so that a place like Reba and Roses does not have to endure a process so rigid. He is more <br />concerned about junkyards on US 70 than he is about this natural splendor. <br />Commissioner Brown said that she was embarrassed that we were putting this type of <br />establishment through this kind of scrutiny and that we do not have a category that this kind of <br />establishment fits into. She said that this is the type of business that we want in Orange County. She <br />thinks it is absurd to have to go through this every six years. <br />Commissioner Gordon said she also appreciated the contribution of Reba and Roses. <br />A motion was made by Commissioner Halkiotis, seconded by Commissioner Brown to close <br />the public hearing and approve the renewal of the Special Use Permit, Class A, in accordance with the <br />Resolution of Approval, which is incorporated herein by reference. The Planning and Economic <br />Development Departments will come back to the Board with a new category for this type of establishment. <br />VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br />b. Public Safety Study Report and Recommendations <br />The Board received a report on the County's public safety study on employee retention and <br />recruitment in the Sheriff's Department and Emergency Management and considered approving <br />recommendations for interim and longer term resolutions. <br />Sheriff Lindy Pendergrass said that the salary retention problems began about 18 months ago <br />when Chapel Hill, Hillsborough, and Carrboro had salary studies conducted. After the studies were <br />conducted, most of the municipalities implemented the new pay plan. In 2001, Orange County lost ten <br />law enforcement officers who were experienced from one year to ten years. In 2000, Orange County lost <br />five law enforcement officers. He said that losing these experienced deputies did cause a hardship in the <br />Sheriff's office and also in EMS. During this period of time the services did not decrease to the citizens of <br />Orange County but they had to pay overtime to the existing employees. The deputies told him they did <br />not understand how other departments were able to provide increments in the pay schedule and the <br />Sheriff's Department could not. He told the deputies that he would ask for a study and he thanked the <br />County Commissioners for having the study conducted. Each deputy continues to express that they feel <br />like the grades are compressed and that they do not have a career ladder in order to move up in salary. <br />He would like to retain all of the deputies that he currently has for future service to Orange County. He <br />asked the County Commissioners to give strong consideration to the recommendations of the pay plan <br />study. <br />EMS Director Nick Waters said that recruitment and retention is a real problem in emergency <br />services. He supports this study. He said that these are special people who do special jobs, and <br />anything we can do to maintain the quality staff we have and recruit quality staff should be done. <br />Personnel Director Elaine Holmes said that Personnel worked on this study in collaboration <br />with the Sheriff and the EMS Director. The focus of the study has been on employee retention and <br />recruitment. She gave a brief summary of the findings in the report. The three major findings are as <br />follows: 1) There is a significant increase in turnover and we need to improve employee retention and <br />recruitment in our public safety departments. 2) A significant factor in the turnover is a lack of <br />advancement and promotional opportunities for non-supervisory employees in both departments. 3) The <br />County has set high standards and expectations for our public safety personnel. Such expectations <br />require the support of a strong pay plan and personnel system. There are three recommendations, which <br />are listed below: <br />1) Retention salary adjustment as an interim measure for this year to address employee <br />retention. A special one-step retention salary increase, or 5%, is recommended effective <br />January 21, 2002. This would apply to employees who have one year of service as of <br />January 1, 2002. The covered employees would be sworn law enforcement officers and <br />