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10 supply or transportation. She thought that the goal was to hook all of these things up to building permits sa that it could be controlled. She thinks that this Board of County Commissioners is the most progressive board in North Carolina. She requested that the County Commissioners appoint a committee to go through all of the administrative costs and see what can be combined and reduced. She said that she uses all of the libraries in the County, but each one has a separate administration. Sonda Oppewal is a registered nurse and she spoke in support of the Orange County Public Health Reserve Corps and the coordinator pasition. She has been a volunteer since the organization started. She said that funds from the federal grant will end in a few months and she has concerns about how well the Caunty can respond in a time of disaster. There are currently about 200 volunteers. She said that preparedness could often mean the difference between life and death. Jamie Daniel is a candidate far County Commissioner in November. He thanked the Manager and the staff for a good budget. He has three kids in OCS and he would like to see as much education as they can afford. He said that he is concerned as a father and as a citizen in Orange County. He has seen some school board members advocating for raising the property taxes. He said that Orange County voted not to have a district tax so he encouraged the Board to draft a letter to each member of the Boards of Education and ask them if they want the County Commissioners to raise property taxes by `x' cents to fully fund the budget and ask for a roll call vote. Arek Kempinski read a prepared statement from him and his wife. "Good evening. My name is Arek Kempinski and I am here tonight to read a statement that represents the thoughts of bath my wife, Michelle Kempinski and myself. She would be here tonight but is currently at a Planning Board meeting of the Comprehensive Plan Subcommittee. Thank you far this opportunity to speak to you tonight about an issue that currently represents the crossroads of 2 of the County's critical and equally finite resources....the budget and our water supply. We appreciate the fact, that in the coming weeks and months, you will need to critically evaluate and prioritize the many potentially competing requests to fund additional staff positions and projects. You will receive more funding requests than the County has the budget to allow. With that, we'll get to the paint. We understand that the Commission for the Environment and the Environment and Resource Conservation Department are requesting that the BOCC fund a water resources staff position. It is intended that this staff person would have the technical expertise and the responsibility to develop, implement, and evaluate the County's sustainable water resources programs and policies. We would simply like to show our support for this request to fund a technical staff position within the Environment and Resource Conservation Department. We feel that since the ERCD has been charged with the responsibility to "oversee, implement, and coordinate County goals for environmental protection and conservation" that the ERCD is the appropriate place for this staff pasition. A qualified hydro-geologist is needed to effectively advise, implement, and coordinate the environmental programs and policies supporting the County's current goals of sustainable growth and development and water resources preservation. We understand that this staffing request comes as a follow-up to the recommendations contained in the 2001 Report of the Water Resources Initiative, and the 2002 and 2004 Commission for the Environment -State of the Environment Reports. We would encourage the County to take the next steps toward implementing the water protection and preservation recommendations contained in these reports. There is a direct connection between the Caunty land development patterns and the sustainability of our water resources. Groundwater and surface water are critical and finite environmental resources in this county, and their sustainability is an issue that potentially affects