Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
The Board considered a request from Orange County Community Housing Corporation for <br />$19,000 to help cover an operating deficit. <br />Ken Chavious reviewed the financial situation of Orange County Community Housing Corporation. <br />He said that their accounting system and intercontrol system is sound. He would suggest that they budget <br />according to project costs with operating costs budgeted separately. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis suggested that the Corporation use the County expertise to be sure that <br />another situation like Magnolia does not occur in the future. <br />Mr. Robert Dowling, Executive Director of Orange Community Housing Corporation, answered <br />various questions about his budget and the status of Meadowmont and the costs incurred for engineering <br />drawings and design work for that project. <br />A motion was made by Commissioner Carey, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to (1) approve <br />the request for additional funding in the amount of $19,000 in order to ensure the survival of the Corporation, <br />(2) require the Orange Community Housing Corporation to report on the implementation of the <br />recommendations listed in the Future Considerations section of the Finance Director's report prior to final <br />action to appropriate County funding to the Corporation for FY 98-99 and (3) Orange County manager to <br />meet with the mayors and managers of Chapel Hill and Carrboro to discuss and bring back to the three <br />governing bodies proposals to, over a longer period of time, address the problems the Corporation has had, <br />with a review of the Corporation, and then develop policies and standards which the three governing bodies <br />would require of the Corporation. <br />VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br />d. 1998-2008 Capital Investment Plan <br />The Board considered adopting the 1998-2008 Capital Investment Plan. <br />Commissioner Gordon asked for additional information on items in the CIP which have to do <br />with projects which were included in the failed bond issue for county facilities and a timeline for completing <br />those items. She also asked for additional information on the one cent setaside for buying property. She <br />asked if conservation easements or development rights are considered capital investments. Geoffrey <br />Gledhill said these would be considered a capital asset of the County. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis made reference to page 5 and asked if lighting has been completed at the <br />Northern Center. Public Works Director Wilbert McAdoo said that lighting inside and outside has been <br />completed. With reference to playground equipment at the Northern Center, Bob Jones said that they are <br />getting bid specifications for three different age groups. <br />Commissioner Carey asked about the quality of the drinking water at the northern center and <br />John Link said that it is a taste problem. They plan to install a filtering system which hopefully will help <br />improve the taste of this water. <br />Commissioner Crowther asked about lease agreements with the tenants housed at the northern <br />center. John Link said that we do not charge any rent. Next year they plan to be clear on what the County's <br />responsibility should be and what the agency's responsibility should be. <br />Peter Morcombe said that he is very active in Charter Schools. They are moving ahead with <br />opening three additional charter schools. They hope to create 1500 charter school places by the autumn of <br />1999. He talked about the items in the CIP having to do with school construction for both Chapel <br />Hill/Carrboro City Schools and Orange County schools totaling $70 million. He feels the County is creating <br />room for 2,450 students and in reality there may be only 1,321 students because at least 800 of these <br />students will be attending charter schools. He stated that the County is providing funds for at least five times <br />the number of school places needed. He believes the budget needs to be cut by $30 million. This would <br />provide money for a senior center and maybe $1 million for charter schools. <br />Commissioner Gordon asked that John Link analyze the DPI figures and the information provided <br />by Mr. Morcombe and also give them a legal opinion on providing capital funding for charter schools. <br />10. REPORTS <br />a. Present Use Value Program <br />The Board heard a report on the present use value program of real property taxation.