Minutes (Summary) - 20091130 - AOG

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may not be the same level of service that Chapel Hill wants to provide for its citizens, so to say that they had to bring the Orange County System up to the level of the Chapel Hill System, in order for there to be a merger, was to suggest that the Board of County Commissioners seized that responsibility to the Chapel Hill Town Council, and he for one, was not willing to do that. Commissioner Jacobs said he would like them to look at this a little more structurally first, then financially, because he thought they needed to decide what their partnership was, and try and make it a partnership. He said if Chapel Hill wanted to have it at a certain level of service, can they afford to pay their fair share of that level of service, or is it unfair to Chapel Hill to have them take advantage of that level of service as a county system. He said they would like to be equitable partners, but he does not think they know what the parameters are right now. Commissioner Pelissier said she had no problem working on an operational expense contribution; the real road block they have when it comes to capital expenditures was planning for the population; how do they know who was going to be using the new library. She said for that reason she did think they should have that conversation, even though they may not be in a position to figure out all the details about how they would actually merge, because she didn't think they could plan properly without the conversation. Commissioner Hemminger said they were up against their debt limit, but she agreed they needed to raise some contributions for the operating expense; but, if Chapel Hill decided to go ahead with their expansion, and double their operation budget, she did not see the county being able to double its contribution. She said they were trying to get another library in the southwest corner; to do that they were hoping it would draw some patrons back from the Chapel Hill Library, and if they were making monies toward that, there would be even less money they could put toward the Chapel Hill system. She said she believed if the Chapel Hill Council went forward with their expansion, they would be further away from a unified system for more than 25 years. She said they could help on the operational expenses, but not on the capital side for a good 15 years. Mayor pro tem Ward said he was hearing the county clearly that the capital funds were not there now; he can face reality, but, he said, tell us what you can do; put up the money. He said for the last 10 years they had received zero from the county. He said he agrees with Commissioner Nelson's suggestion to get their staffs together to come up with a plan; it's a step in the right direction. Council Member Czajkowski asked when was the Southwest Library suppose to be built, because he believed what they were really talking about was, does the county build the Southwest Library, or does Chapel Hill go ahead with their expansion; where the county says rather than build the Southwest Library, they would contribute to the Chapel Hill Library. He said that was the choice as he saw it. He said what he was not hearing was that the county could contribute any significant funds if the Chapel Hill Council moves forward with the library expansion; so, he believes as Chapel Hill they have to ask