Minutes - 03-29-2000 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Chair Carey suggested concluding this portion of the discussion with a clarification of what the staff is to bring back on April 24th John Link made reference to the Recommendations of the SchoollParks Reserve Committee from May 6, 1999 and pointed out the last paragraph that reads, "The Board of Commissioners should establish a "Strategic Issue Team" to meet with the Manager, Finance Director, ERC Director, and others as needed, to address future opportunities and problems of school/park proposals when they arise." He suggested bringing forward the Lands Legacy Program that has criteria on how to evaluate a particular site before it is pursued. He said that the school systems should know that before they pursue a school site, the County has expectations that they address particular criteria. He said that five sites were presented by the school boards, and two of the sites might accommodate bath a park and a school. He suggested that the sites be examined more fully before the Board approves them. Commissioner Jacobs said that he agreed with the Manager's idea and he knows of a site near the Chapel HilllCarrboro border, but the school system is not interested in pulling the two towns together. Commissioner Gordon said that the recommendation to which John Link referred had not been adopted by the Commissioners and that the concept of working with the school systems on standards for school sites was a different concept that should be articulated to the school systems. Chair Carey said that the Board would look forward to getting some recommendationsfyom the staff. b. Law Enforcement Firing Range Jahn Link made reference to the second page of the abstract and asked if this is the direction the Board wanted the staff to take. Chair Carey is confused about the defensive driving portion. Purchasing Director Pam Jones said that this was an issue that was raised by the Chief of Police in Chapel Hill. As part of the EMS certification, defensive driving training is required. Since the firing range would likely need to include a buffer area, this could be a possibility for the defensive driving area. Chair Carey asked if it would require more pavement and Pam Jones said that she is not sure. Commissioner Halkiotis attended a meeting with all police chiefs and they requested that the County provide driving pavement for defensive driving. He stated that there were some donations coming for this. He said that there was a commitment made for a certified architectural design program to be done at no cost to the County for this facility. He said that this would be a limited use facility. He feels that the Board needs to move ahead with this thing. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the 5th item under "Location" and what was meant by, "purchase of property with another governmental function." Pam Jones said that there was some OWASA property and there might be other governmental agencies that the County could tie into. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the "Law Enforcement Agency" portion and asked if the County has had contact with the state parks department. Commissioner Halkiotis said that every law enforcement agency in Orange County has had input into this issue. Commissioner Jacobs agrees with Commissioner Halkiotis that the limits should be articulated. He said that there should be some standardized hours of operation that would not change the character of adjoining neighborhoods. Chair Carey said that this was the first time he had seen the pavement issue and the defensive driving training. He said that the hours of operation should be adhered to. Commissioner Brown asked how many firing ranges were in the County. Pam Jones said that there are none. Chapel Hill had one that is not functional and the other firing ranges are in Wake County and Alamance County. Commissioner Gordon asked whether the cost of the firing range would be $350,OOD which does not include any gifts-in-kind of land or other donations. Budget Director Donna Dean gave an explanation of where the amount came from. At this point the cost of the firing range is a guess. Chair Carey said that the Board should proceed and see if some land could be donated. Commissioner Jacobs said that the Board should pursue the OWASA property. He said that OWASA was interested five or six years ago in working with the County an active recreation at the reservoir. He feels the County should work with OWASA more to see what OWASA is willing to do. Commissioner Halkiotis said that if the land could be donated it would not cost that much to build the building. He said that most of the work that would be done is earth moving and berming. Chair Carey asked about the Board's pleasure on the action steps. Commissioner Gordon agrees with the action steps and said that the Board should indicate some focus on the primary goal.