Minutes 03-12-2013 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Paul Laughton said that much of the newer debt for this fiscal year will be funded with the Article 46 sales tax. He said that there is currently a 1.4 million dollar surplus in debt proceeds versus money paid out. He said that there are two work sessions scheduled; one on April 11, and another on May 9, for discussion of the CIP. Chair Jacobs said Northern Human Services Center is on the work session agenda on May 14th and the Whitted facility is schedule for a town meeting on April 4th. He noted that the middle school number 5 does not count the cost of land because land has been set aside at Twin Creeks. He said that the last bond was in 2001 for 70 million dollars and this was designated for: parks, Lands Legacy, Affordable Housing, Morris Grove Elementary, Carrboro High, Gravelly Hill and Twin Creeks. Frank Clifton referred to the last page listing active projects, and said many of these have been in the works for years and the Board has made a concerted effort to bring these older projects to fruition. He mentioned the proposed jail expansion, and said that the County's Jails have been historically overcrowded and it is very fortunate that the State Administration approved a long term lease on a piece of property adjacent to the State Prison. He said the issue is now to negotiate terms of the lease, which will obligate the County to move forward with the Jail project in a timely manner or potentially give up the spot. He asked the Board to keep this in mind, as it will come before them in the coming months. Commissioner McKee said, although there are no new schools in Orange County per SAPFO, there are many older schools in the County that need to be replaced. He asked if this had been considered. OCS Superintendent Patrick Rhodes said the replacement discussion has not taken place. Commissioner McKee referred to the issue of the EMS stations, and said these were not a recommendation out of the Emergency Services work group. He said there is currently a contract in place with Orange Rural for the use of the Phelps Road station to park an ambulance. He said he recommends removal of that first year EMS station since the Phelps Road station takes the place of it. Paul Laughton said this is noted on the EMS section in the CIP notebook. Commissioner Price asked about the allocation for money for schools based on SAPFO and asked about the status of students getting laptops. Chair Jacobs said that schools handle that. Patrick Rhodes said all students in grades 6-12 received laptops this past year and grades 3-5 will receive them next year. Todd LoFriese, Assistant Superintendant for Chapel Hill/Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS) said there is still work being done to achieve a higher ratio for laptop accessibility. He said the target is a 2:1 ratio but this has not been reached. Commissioner Gordon referred to the Culbreth science labs and noted that CHCCS have put some money in designing them, but there is no funding in the CIP. She asked for information on how this can be funded so that it can be brought forward in the next discussion. She expressed her support for this project. Commissioner Pelissier asked if there is any progress on assessing the needs for older schools. Patrick said they have asked the Department of Public Instruction to conduct a facilities site review. He said site analysis on the older schools has been done and this was one of the ways the lower capacity at Orange High School was identified. He said major recommendations were identified at all older school sites, which includes all of the elementary schools.