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Commissioner Gordon asked if the teams would interact with anyone before the <br />projects are done, or if they would do what they thought was best. Leah Rade said that with <br />Ray King, the proposal is what would be used (the glass jewels in the floor). She said that <br />they have worked extensively with the community to understand the culture and what would <br />work best. <br />A motion was made by Commissioner Brown, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to <br />approve the design Team of Tom Drugan and Laura Haddad for the Southern Community <br />Park Public Art Project and artist Ray King for the Homestead Aquatics Center for Public Art <br />Project. <br />The County Commissioners praised the Arts Commission for the work on this project. <br />Chair Jacobs said that they talked about doing this in part because the County is <br />working with Chapel Hill on these two projects, and it is Chapel Hill's policy to put 1 % of its <br />capital projects toward public art. The Board of County Commissioners will discuss if it wants <br />to have this policy also. He read that in Charlotte they are putting 1 % toward public art and <br />now they are second-guessing the art. He hopes that Orange County never second-guesses <br />the art. However, he is still not convinced that it is in the best interest of Orange County to do <br />a national search rather than a state or local search. <br />Leah Rade said that this was also a concern of theirs. Local artists were invited and <br />they mailed out over 2,000 invitations within the community. They were so concerned that <br />they devoted one of the artist salons to educating the artists within the community about how <br />to apply for public art and helping them understand the level of competition. <br />Martha Shannon said that there would be projects in the future that may be limited to <br />North Carolina artists. She said that they want the local artists to be competitive nationwide. <br />Commissioner Brown said that she wanted to take note of this collaboration with <br />Chapel Hill to provide public park spaces and other amenities. She said that this collaboration <br />has been so successful on every level, and she would hope that this Board and the Chapel Hill <br />Town Council would realize how successful this is. <br />VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br />b. Proposed Constitutional Amendment on Use of "Self-Financing Bonds" <br />The Board received a report on the proposed amendment to the North Carolina <br />Constitution that would authorize local governments to issue so-called "self-financing bonds". <br />John Link said that recently the Board asked for staff to come back with a report about <br />this ballot issue. This is an amendment to the State constitution that would permit local <br />governments to issue tax-supported bonds without voter approval for certain economic <br />development related activities. These self-financing bonds are being used in a number of <br />places in the country. There is a report in the abstract about the history of these bonds. The <br />County can consider the use of this tool, should the amendment pass. <br />Rod Visser gave the background of the self-financing bonds. It is also referred to as <br />project development financing and tax increment financing. North Carolina voters were asked <br />to consider this amendment twice before in 1982 and 1993 and in both cases it was defeated <br />by 77% and 73%. The proponents indicate that it is a very valuable financing tool to fund <br />public improvements that will bring economic development to areas that need it the most. <br />Some critics say that the bonds approach is risky and there is no guarantee that there will be <br />enough revenue to pay it off without relying on tax increases. More pros and cons are in the <br />agenda packet. He pointed out the following observations from the staff on this issue: <br />