Minutes - 03-29-2000 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

APPROVED NOVEMBER 1.2000 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BUDGET WORK SESSION March 29, 2000 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met on Wednesday, March 29, 2000 at 7:30 p. m. in the Government Services Center in Hillsborough, North Carolina. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Moses Carey and Commissioners Margaret W. Brown, Alice Gordon, Stephen H. Halkiotis, and Barry Jacobs COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr., Assistant County Managers Rod Visser and Assistant Clerk to the Board Evelyn Cecil (All other staff members will be identified appropriately below} NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE. ALL RECORDINGS OF THE MEETING WILL BE KEPT FOR 5 YEARS. Chair Carey called the meeting to order. 1. Discussion of Recommended 2000-2010 Capital Investment Plan tCIP1 a. Bonds and School Sites John Link stated that there are no presentations but he hoped to respond to questions and receive some guidance from the board. He said that at some point a bond referendum would need to be considered by the County. He referred to the presentations on school sites and asked the Board to look at a policy for the School-Park fund because the Board may want to reexamine the way the County is paying for school sites and parks. John Link also asked for direction for the April 24t" budget work session, such as should he pursue as last year the tax increase scenarios. He said that at some point he would like to share with the Board what the staff thinks the major steps are for a bond referendum. He explained examples given on the handout for the timing of the bond referendum. He said that in order to move up the bond referendum date, there should bean acceleration of various task force issues such as space study and justice facility. Commissioner Gordon asked about the justice facility date and Pam Jones said that there would be a report on the master plan on April 1 tt" Commissioner Gordon said that the space study is taking a long time because Pam Jones is doing the study herself. Commissioner Jacobs would like the staff to do a scenario on how the bond referendum would work if it goes to the voters in November of 2001. He said that he has no problem with working through the summer on the task force. John Link said that a task force worked through the summer one year and there was low attendance. Commissioner Halkiotis agreed with Commissioners Gordon and Jacobs in that the Board should revisit a summer schedule. He is alarmed at the number of night meetings the staff must attend, including the County Commissioners. He said that the schools could not wait till November of 2002 for a bond referendum. He said that the justice facility study needs action now. Commissioner Brown is concerned about the school equity issue and the difference in cost of the schools. She would like to look at this imbalance and at what is happening. Commissioner Gordon is interested in knowing what the student enrollment figures are for the different schools in comparison to their capacity. Commissioner Halkiotis said that the numbers are to be debated. He said that he requested last week that the staff bring back all of the school standards that the Board has worked on. He would like to revisit this issue during a work session and set a limit an how much money will be spent on building new schools. Commissioner Brown said that the actual cost of the school is her concern. She asked John Link if this comes up in his joint meeting with superintendents. John Link said that it has been discussed and he explained some ways to calculate the actual cost of a school.