Minutes 05-15-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commissioner Pelissier said asked about the length of the contracts for the federal inmates. John Sellew said this is a 5 year contract. Sheriff Pendergrass said the current contract is beginning its third year. Commissioner Pelissier said she cannot believe it would only cost $4 million to build two more pods. Jeff Thompson said the consultant's charge now is to look at this number and to outline the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) stipulations to help the County write that specification. He said once a designer is selected, the details on the programming and the cost will matriculate. He said that would be the focus of the next 12 months. Commissioner Rich asked if anything will be done in the building process with newer technology such as solar and thermal technology. Jeff Thompson said Orange County's principle of high performance building standards will be implemented. He said the site is flat and there is an ability to analyze several technologies in the jail construction and operations field. Commissioner Rich suggested looking at water re-use. Jeff Thompson said staff has had success with solar thermal hot water, and geothermal systems. He said all of these things will be considered. Chair Jacobs said one factor in the capacity discussion, is the jail alternatives group. He said the County can work with judges, district attorneys, public defenders, and the mental health community. He said there are a lot of alternatives to incarceration. He said he hopes that when this comes forward to the Commissioners it will have some positive impact on the jail population. Chair Jacobs said the Board will be getting more refined numbers, and that is part of what the consultant is hired to do. Commissioner Gordon thanked Sheriff Pendergrass for being creative financially over the years in defraying their expenses. She thanked him for his service over the years. Paul Laughton referred to said Attachment D, which shows the impact the scenarios of Attachment A, B, and C and how the debt service is affected. He said out to year 5, the County was at 14.42 percent debt service as a percent of general fund budget. He said these new scenarios decrease that slightly to 14.35 percent. He said staff will update the debt service for the June 10 meeting to reflect the items approved on May 8th related to the community center. He said there will also be an update to the debt service related to the article 46 sales tax. He said the manager's recommended operating budget has increased a bit, and this raises the debt capacity, which is 15 percent of the operating budget. Clarence Grier said the manager's recommended budget will increase substantially and the debt capacity will go up approximately $2.8 million. He said the total additional amount of debt that can be issued this year is approximately $18.4 million. He said the possible bond referendum would get them closer to the affordability mentioned at the Board retreat, without a tax increase. Paul Laughton said there were two other issues that came up and they are included in the packet. He said Attachment E on page 17 shows the debt service on the Sportsplex, as requested by Commissioner Gordon. He said Attachment F provides information on County wireless access. Commissioner McKee asked if staff is factoring in the possible increase in interest rates on the debt service. Paul Laughton said yes. Clarence Grier said he is hopeful that the County's interest rates would stay the same or go lower over the next 5 or 6 years.