Orange County NC Website
<br />Excellence in Financial Reporting for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2005 and presented the <br />plaque provided by the GFOA. <br />Rod Visser said that this is an annual achievement that should never be taken far <br />granted. He said that each year as the audit is submitted, the standards are raised. <br />Finance Director Ken Chaviaus recognized his staff members -Deb Smith, who has <br />been there 24 years and makes sure that all employees get paid; Howard Fitz, the drafter and <br />the only CPA in the staff; Shari Raspberry; Tina Perry, Michelle Brooks; and Helen Miller. <br />All County Commissioners added commendations to the Finance Department. <br />8. Public Hearings-NONE <br />9. Items for Decision--Regular Agenda <br />a. Approval of Final Plans for CHCCS Elementary #10 <br />The Board reviewed and considered approving final plans for the construction of <br />Elementary School #10 in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School (CHCCS} system and <br />authorizing the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools to solicit bids for the construction of a 90,229- <br />square foot elementary school. <br />Rod Visser said that elementary school #10 will be located on the northern portion of a <br />193-acre parcel that the County owns near the intersection of Eubanks Road and old NC 86. <br />The design of this school is a prototype for Rashkis Elementary in the Meadawmont <br />development. The Board of County Commissioners considered the conceptual design in June <br />and this design is going through the development review process with the Town of Carrboro. <br />The Board has asked Jeff Thompson, who has worked for the County on other projects, to look <br />at site costs and design standards and possible cost savings. Mr. Thompson has written his <br />comments in the abstract. If the Board approves the final design, the school board will <br />advertise far construction bids for the project. The general timeline is development approval by <br />the Town of Carrboro sometime in December. The Board of County Commissioners will <br />consider the approval of the final project budget and the capital project ordinance at the January <br />23, 2007 meeting. <br />Commissioner Halkiatis asked how the County could behave, within existing statutes <br />and expectations, in a manner that they do not tell the construction community exactly how <br />much money the school system has to give for a school. He made reference to paragraph 2 in <br />Jeff Thompson's memo and he read, "Orange County and CHCCS must protect and defend <br />their internal planning budgets and allocated development and construction funds against a <br />construction marketplace that will `price' any budget expectation into its contract to services <br />pricing at bid time." He thinks that this is what has killed the County over the years. He wants <br />to take advantage of this the way the private sector has done it. He encouraged both school <br />systems to take advantage of this as well. <br />Rod Visser added that CHCCS staff has been great in working with Orange County staff <br />and Jeff Thompson in this process. <br />Commissioner Foushee commended all for this collaborative effort. She asked CHCCS <br />Chair Lisa Stuckey to speak about whether this meets board approval. <br />Lisa Stuckey said that as far as she knows it does meet board approval. She thinks that <br />in this instance she has seen productive collaboration between all entities. <br />Commissioner Gordon commended the collaboration by all parties and said that the <br />timeline would track with the 2008-09 school year. <br />PUBLIC COMMENT: <br />Mark Peters spoke on behalf of the PTA Council for CHCCS. He said that he is <br />delighted to hear about moving this process forward and he thanked the Board of County <br />Commissioners. <br />