Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
APPROVED 5/19198 <br />MINUTES <br />ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />AND <br />ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARD <br />QUARTERLY PUBLIC HEARING <br />FEBRUARY 23, 1998 <br />The Orange County Board of Commissioners met with the Orange County Planning Board for a <br />Joint Public Hearing on Monday, February 23, 1998 for the purpose of holding a Quarterly Public <br />Hearing. This meeting was held in the Judge F. Gordon Battle Superior Courtroom, Orange County <br />Courthouse, Hillsborough, North Carolina. <br />COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Margaret W. Brown, and, members Moses <br />Carey, Jr., William L. Crowther, Alice M. Gordon, AND Stephen H. Halkiotis. <br />PLANNING BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair Karen Barrows, and members Nell Andrews, <br />S.A.M. Brooks, Paul Hoecke, Arnie Katz Howard McAdams, Jr., Renee A. Price, Libby Searles, James <br />Selkirk, Robert Strayhorn, and Elizabeth Walters, <br />PLANNING BOARD MEMBER ABSENT: Leo Allison. <br />COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill <br />COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr., Deputy Clerk to the Board <br />Kathy Baker, Interim Planning Director Gene Bell and Planners Emily Cameron and Eddie Kirk. Other <br />staff members present will be identified where appropriate. <br />Chair Margaret Brown convened the meeting. She indicated that Item C. 2 - Zoning Atlas <br />Amendment PD-2-98 and Item C.3 Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment would be chaired by Planning <br />Board Chairwoman Karen Barrows. She stated that she would Chair Items C.1 - Living Wage <br />Ordinance and C.4 -Class A Special Use Permit. <br />0 PUBLIC HEARING ITEMS <br />This item was chaired by Commissioner Margaret Brown. <br />1. LIVING WAGE ORDINANCE <br />This item was presented by Interim Economic Development Director Greg Payne in order to <br />receive citizen comment regarding a draft Living Wage Ordinance for Orange County. The Draft <br />Ordinance establishes a minimum wage level for certain firms doing business with County government. <br />He mentioned that in May of 1997 the Board of Commissioners received a report detailing the history of <br />living wage ordinances across the country. In the Fall of 1997 they defined which issues and situations <br />should be covered in a Living Wage Ordinance for Orange County and directed the County Attorney to <br />draft an ordinance. The draft Living Wage Ordinance would establish a minimum wage of $8.00 per hour <br />for employees of service and construction firms contracting to do business with the County and for <br />employees of firms receiving loans or grants through the Orange County Small Business Loan Pool or <br />any economic development program. He mentioned that Federal Minimum Wage Law has not kept up <br />with the financial needs of our citizens. Many cities across the nation have adopted Living Wage <br />Ordinances. Durham has adopted such an Ordinance with a $7.50 minimum pay scale. He indicated that <br />research has shown that in communities where this type of Ordinance has been in place for some time, it <br />has not raised the cost of local government contracts. He commented that the biggest expense to local <br />government could be the staff time required to monitor compliance. He distributed a graph and chart <br />which tracked the annual earnings at minimum wage and the federal poverty level for a family of three. A <br />copy of this handout is in the permanent agenda file in the Clerk's office. <br />COMMENTS AND/OR QUESTIONS FROM THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />In response to a question from Commissioner Halkiotis, Greg Payne indicated that Orange