Agenda - 06-15-2010 - 4a - Laserfiche WebLink

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8 1 Commissioner Jacobs made reference to page 36-3 and the hits on the OCAC website. 2 He asked why it had decreased so much in 2009-2010. Brad Broadwell said that this is 3 because of lack of travel due to the economy. 4 Commissioner Jacobs said that the Manager had mentioned moving $200,000+ out of 5 the fund balance, but it is not in the budget document. He would like to track this and discuss it. 6 He would like to leave the Arts whole even if it is going to be moved. 7 Frank Clifton said that they did move the total function of the Arts, but the State grant 8 money is not being shown. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the local matches and Frank 9 Clifton said that they would be in the Tourism Fund. 10 Commissioner Jacobs said that they County Commissioners have heard a lot from the 11 arts community and this is a good move. He suggested that it might be a good idea to have 12 some kind of stated relationship between the Visitor's Bureau and the Arts Commission. There 13 needs to be some surety that goes along with this change. 14 Frank Clifton said that he moved the Arts Commission because of a funding function 15 and a supervisory function. He said that the Board of County Commissioners set up the 16 advisory boards and agreements. As far as he is concerned, the Arts Commission and the 17 Tourism Board can both function as they already do. 18 Commissioner Jacobs said that if there is `x' money going from the reserve of the 19 Visitor's Bureau to Economic Development, he would like some recommendation from the 20 Economic Development Director as to how this would be applied to Economic Development. 21 Brad Broadwell said that he would provide this to the County Commissioners. 22 Commissioner Yuhasz said that the County is in need of increasing economic 23 development and they need to see how they can fund this department more rather than cutting 24 services. 25 26 • Department of Environment, Agriculture, Parks and Recreation (DEAPR) 27 Michael Talbert said that these three divisions have a total budget of about $2.5 million. 28 There are also a number of cuts. The funding for the Triangle Land Conservancy has been 29 eliminated. There has been a reduction in personnel, mainly temporary, reduced travel and 30 training, reduced hardcopies and mailings, reduced use of staff vehicles, and reduced operating 31 expenses such as subscriptions and computer needs. In Soil and Water, there are similar 32 reductions for travel, conferences, and training; operating expenses; and educational materials. 33 In the service delivery for the Parks and Recreation division, there are similar eliminations, but it 34 also includes two positions—a Park Conservation Technician I and an Administrative Assistant 35 II. With the staff reductions, they are also decreasing the level of park maintenance. There are 36 also reductions in operating expenses and travel in those areas. Regarding capital projects, the 37 total reductions are proposed to be $800,000 for this department. 38 Commissioner Jacobs made reference to page 17-8 and Environmental Education. He 39 asked why the Eno River Association and the schools were not listed here, because they both 40 do environmental education. 41 Dave Stancil said that there is a series of internal working teams and this is referencing 42 the fact that there is a working team that is trying to consolidate so that there is no duplication. 43 Commissioner Jacobs made reference to page 17-10, and the last item of Fiscal Year 44 Objectives, and said that the Manager is proposing cutting funding for the Hillsborough Youth 45 Athletic Association by more than half. He said that an organization like this depends on 46 corporate sponsorships to keep it afloat. Now it is proposed that the County go into competition 47 with HYAA to try and get sponsorships. He said that this sounds like the County is trying to 48 make it more difficult for a non-profit that provides recreation to survive.