Minutes 10-08-2013 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

Metadata

Thumbnails

Annotations

Clarence Grier wants the Board to understand that there is flexibility up to $125 million; however, he would recommend only doing $100 million, as there is no way to know how stable the economy will be. Chair Jacobs said the public voted down the skills development center in 1997. He said the Commissioners did it anyway, and this was very irritating. He said the Chapel Hill School system already assured the Board that improvements would delay Middle School #5 by 2 years. Clarence Grier clarified that there is now a possible increase to 4 years of delay. Michael Talbert said, in answer Commissioner Gordon's question, the reason for doing a bond is to get voter buy in on projects that the County wants to finance. He said the County already has legal authority to do these projects. Commissioner Price asked about the average time frame for voting on a bond and then using the funding. Clarence Grier said if the debt isn't issued in seven years, there is an option to apply for a three year extension. He said there is a lot of red tape with this extension. Michael Talbert said projects are typically staggered. Commissioner Price asked if the money can be used early if needed. Clarence Grier said it just has to be issued before it expires. Chair Jacobs suggested the addition of emergency services to the input group this time. He said groups should get together with financial staff to articulate a wish list that can then be worked down to an affordable level. He said there was a past discussion where the school board argued against having big schools. He said the Board decided to have a core that can be expanded. He asked if decisions can be made to add capacity to existing schools to delay the need for building other schools. He said this question has to be answered by the school board. Commissioner McKee said some of the figures he has heard from the wish list greatly surpass $125 million. He feels this could make for a difficult discussion to determine priorities. Commissioner Dorosin said if money is going to be put into the renovation of older schools it should push out the construction on the next school. He said there are two school districts in this County, which means there will always be questions of equity. He said the annual expenditures are easy, but the big ticket items are trickier. He said overly stringent adherence to SAPFO may not serve the interests of equity. He said some things have to be done to keep peace in the district. Commissioner Rich asked if it is necessary to adhere to the proposed time table. She said there are a lot of factors to contend with. Bond Attorney Bob Jessup said the procedure set out by law for a bond referendum backs things up. He said the Board has to start taking formal action for the bond before the summer break, in order to make it on the November ballot. He said the universe has to be set in place by June. Commissioner Price said she agrees that some of the schools should be expanded, but it is not feasible in every case. She said the footprint of some of the schools just won't allow it. Commissioner Dorosin said the schools can build up to a second level. Commissioner Price said elementary schools often prefer one level. Commissioner Pelissier pointed out the Northside has a 2nd level. Commissioner Gordon said the issue of equity is tricky. She said one way to define equity is by meeting needs, and SAPFO was devised as a way to define the needs. She said building a school before it is needed equates to using another method of equity— spending equal amounts of money per pupil independent of need. She said that if a school is built before it is needed, there is empty space being heated and cooled unnecessarily. She said there are so many needs for the older schools. She