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APPROVED 213!2004 <br />MINUTES <br />ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />REGULAR MEETING <br />OCTOBER 1, 2003 <br />7:30 p.m. <br />The Orange County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Wednesday, October 1, 2003 at <br />7:30 p.m. in the F. Gordon Battle Courtroom in Hillsborough, North Carolina. <br />COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Margaret W. Brown and Commissioners Moses Carey, Jr <br />Alice M. Gordon, Stephen Halkiotis, and Barry Jacobs <br />COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: <br />COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill and S. Sean Borhanian <br />COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr., Assistant County Managers Rod Visser <br />and Gwen Harvey and Clerk to the Board Donna S. Baker (All other staff members will be identified <br />appropriately below} <br />NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT AGENDA <br />FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE. ALL RECORDINGS OF THE MEETING WILL BE KEPT FOR 5 YEARS. <br />1. Additions or Changes to the Agenda <br />Chair Brawn suggested moving item 9-e up to 9-a. The Board agreed with this. <br />PUBLIC CHARGE <br />The Chair dispensed with the reading of the public charge. <br />2. Public Comments <br />a. Matters not an the Printed Agenda <br />Arlene Furman is a parent of two children at Grady Brown Elementary. She said that recent <br />layoffs and plant closings in North Carolina demonstrate new challenges to the work force. Everyone must <br />be better trained and better educated for jobs. The schools must constantly strive to prepare our students <br />to succeed in this evolving economy and we must vigilantly improve and expand our school programs and <br />curriculums. She said that for the past three years Orange County Schools have been under funded. She <br />said that they have been running in place, arguing and begging to maintain existing funding levels to <br />support existing programs. Although school merger is not her first choice, she sees this as the only option <br />that guarantees security in funding the Orange County Schools as well as the future opportunities of all of <br />our children. <br />Chair Brawn said that there would be a public meeting at Cedar Ridge High School on school <br />merger an October 23rd at 7:30 p.m. <br />Kelly Monroe-Porco said that they are here because they are from OCS and her family shares <br />the following with the children of Chapel Hill: church, preschool, dance classes, soccer fields, theater, <br />restaurants, love and pride in the Tarheels and the University, parks, pools, grocery stores, jump rope class, <br />enjoying the view from Maple View Farms, local running trails, biking routes, green space, water, landfills, <br />property taxes, Commissioners, and a keen interest in seeing children have educational opportunities in the <br />entire County. The only area they do not share is their schools. She said that it does not make sense to <br />maintain separate and unequal school systems when we share all of our other valuable resources. She <br />spoke in favor of merging the two systems. She said that merger is the only solution that the children of <br />Orange County have that will guarantee that they will no !anger be harmed by the larger, more powerful <br />Chapel Hill-Carrboro school district. She said that CHCCS has already doubled in size since she taught <br />there seven years ago and student performance has not been affected. She said that merging would not <br />