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A. 1995 STATE TREASURER'S GOVERNMENTAL ACCOUNTING/FINANCIAL <br />MANAGEMENT AWARD <br />Rex Price, formerly of Deloitte and Touche, said that this is the seventh year this award <br />has been given. Orange County is presented this award for their automated accounts payable system <br />implemented in FY 1994-95 under the guidance of Finance Director Ken Chavious. The category was <br />for populations greater than 50,000. Vance presented the award and thanked the Board of County <br />Commissioners for the opportunity to be here to present this award. He said that the purpose of the <br />program is to encourage local government officials to make improvements to their accounting system <br />and to award those who make an effort to do so. The program intends to improve the management <br />systems of other counties by sharing award winning ideas. In receiving this award, Finance Director Ken <br />Chavious said that this is a team effort. He commended Joyce Holmes and Debra Austin who <br />spearheaded this effort. He said that this new system saves a substantial amount of money and <br />eliminates the need to add staff. <br />VII. PUBLIC HEARINGS <br />A. 1996-2006 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PLAN <br />John Link provided a brief overview of the CIP. He said that the County continues to use <br />the population figures from the Department of Public Instruction. In the CIP, County staff assumes that <br />November 7 is an important consideration for the Chapel Hill/Carrboro School system to go to the voters <br />of their school district to ask for expanded use of the district tax to include capital. The Board of County <br />Commissioners will need to make a decision by May 16 on school construction standards. This is <br />important because these standards are needed for the impact fee technical report on May 27. <br />In answer to a question from Chair Carey, John Link said that they did not factor in funds <br />that may be made available through a State initiative. <br />THE PUBLIC HEARING WAS OPEN FOR COMMENTS. <br />Gary Barnes, Chair of the Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation Commission, spoke in <br />support of allocating $250,000 for the Hargraves Recreation Center. He emphasized that there will be a <br />number of County residents who will use this center. He feels that this would be consistent with the <br />recommendations of the countywide recreation and parks group. <br />Gloria Faley, member of Stop Overcrowding Schools (SOS), said that most of the <br />elementary schools as well as the high school are overcrowded and most of the classrooms are <br />overcrowded. She does not feel that school construction is moving fast enough. She said that the state <br />projections have routinely been lower than the actual figures. She told about the critical issues with <br />multi-tract schools. <br />Nancy Salmon said that it is clear that the current revenue stream is what is controlling <br />the building of new schools and that the revenue stream is inadequate. She said that it seems that the <br />needs of the Chapel HiIVCarrboro School system are far more than those of the Orange County schools. <br />She asked that the County Commissioners make some decisions about the allocation of money between <br />the two systems. She questions the spending plan for recreation and parks and asked that the Board <br />support the request for funds for Hargraves and asked that they help with some of the recreational <br />facilities which were eliminated from the new high school. <br />Matthew Barton, Vice President of the PTA at Seawell, said that they have 700 students in <br />a school that houses only 600 students. They feel that with the new development around Seawell, their <br />enrollment will again increase. He does not want the Board of County Commissioners to delay the <br />elementary school. They need the Board to find the funding, use the impact fee, the district tax and the <br />property tax. He encouraged the County Commissioners to help plan the growth better. <br />Johnny Morris, Chairman of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, said that <br />the school system in Chapel Hill-Carrboro finds itself in a very stressed out situation. The Chamber is <br />aware of this and concerned about the situation. They have contributed to this by encouraging people <br />to move to this area. The Chamber wishes to thank everyone for being where they are and taking a <br />leadership role at a time when the Chamber feels too little leadership in this situation. They support <br />their school board and hope the improvements can be accomplished faster than stated in the CIP.