Minutes - 20071009 - Laserfiche WebLink

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A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Foushee to approve a contract with Summit Engineering, Hillsborough, North Carolina to provide construction materials testing and observation for the Central Orange Senior Center/Spartsplex Renovation; and to exempt this service from the selection process of North Carolina General Statute Section 143-64.31; and authorize the Manager to sign the contract. VOTE: UNANIMOUS 5. Public Hearings-NONE 6. Regular Agenda a. Fee Waiver Request far Tent Revival Event at Fairview Park The Board considered a request for park use fee waiver by Reverend Luther Brooks and the St. James Baptist Church. Willie Best said that Rev. Luther Brooks came to the last Board of County Commissioners meeting and asked for a waiver of the $250 park rental fee for his tent revival and the Manager has recommended that the fee not be waived. Chair Carey said that at the last meeting there were several questions that the Board had about whether the Board of County Commissioners had the legal authority to waive the fee in this case. Geof Gledhill said that he and Brian Ferrell have done some research into this idea of waiver requirements in the use of government property. He said that it is their conclusion that the fee for the use of these park facilities was adopted by the Board as part of the budget ordinance. This action of the Board did not create any waiver provisions or standards for waiver provisions. He said that this creates a problem for the courts. Particularly, in this instance, the Board would be waiving the fee at its absolute discretion, which is prohibited by federal courts. Essentially, the whale thing turns on the first amendment and the right of free expression and free speech. Any fee waiver would have to be crafted so that there was no free speech or free expression problem created by the waiver policy. The only way, in his opinion, to waive this fee is to eliminate the fee altogether. Chair Carey said that he read Geof Gledhill's statement in the packet, and it raised some questions for him. He asked to hear the public comment first. PUBLIC COMMENT: Marcus Morrow pastors the church, Victory in Jesus Ministries, in Hillsborough. He said that it would be good to have the fee completely eliminated. He said that this event is not an event to raise money, and having a fee of $250 per day would prevent the ministries from doing this to the best of their ability. He said that he wants to impact the community by helping those that are in need. The goal is to save and help people physically and spiritually by feeding and clothing people in need. Rev. Luther Brooks thanked the County Commissioners. He said that since the fee cannot be waived by law, he would like it eliminated. He asked those in support of eliminating the fee to stand, and about 50 people stood. He said that the ball field that will be used for this revival was built in large part by the late Rev. James Stewart. This ball field is not being used by anyone and is not even being rented out by Recreation and Parks because of its location. He noted that there was a letter of support from the local Chief of Police, and he distributed this. He said that the police department supported the event last year and there were no incidences. He said that the County budget is over $200 million and he asked if the income produced by the rental of parks was significant enough to make a difference. He said that this revival would really make a difference in Fairview. He said that last year there was a man in the woods at the revival, who had a gun ready to get even with a drug dealer, and he heard the revival and was saved and baptized. There was also another instance of a man with a gun that got saved. He