Agenda - 04-07-2015 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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28 1 Chair McKee said the County has built schools and purchased land without going 2 through a bond process. He is not sure that everything that everyone wants should be financed 3 by a bond. He said parks could be done with regular financing, if all of the borrowing power is 4 not used up. He said there is also a jail that needs to be built. He wants to hold back on some 5 amount of borrowing ability to take care of the needs between 2017 and 2020. 6 Chair McKee said he is uncomfortable with the fact that there is no clear identification of 7 school priorities. He said if these needs are so great, then the bond may need to be only for 8 the schools. He has a very unclear idea of what the school needs will be before 2020. He said 9 if a bond is passed in November of 2016, the funds will probably be accessed in mid 2017, and 10 even if plans are in place, it will be 2019 until a school is built. He would like a clear picture of 11 the school needs prior to 2019, so that this money can be taken out of a bond and be put in the 12 CIP under regular funding to address those projects. 13 Chair McKee said it is disingenuous to ask a task force to expect other project funding 14 when there are really one or two priorities that the Board of County Commissioners may be 15 interested in. He said it is important to be very honest with this task force. He sees his position 16 as an elected official to be responsible to make that decision regardless of the comfort level or 17 the re-election potential. He feels the concentration should be on the schools, and he thinks a 18 decision on whether to place this on the 2016 ballot should wait until they get information from 19 the schools. 20 Commissioner Dorosin said the schools will take as much as they can get. He agrees 21 that if there are 4 votes to create a bond only for schools then that vote should be taken and the 22 committee should be told. He said if the will of this Board is to only do a bond for schools and 23 affordable housing then there is no need for a task force. 24 Commissioner Dorosin said even with a citizens' committee the Board will not 25 necessarily hear from the whole County. He said it is an insider's game, and the task force will 26 be made up of people who are interested. He said the point of a bond is to get the public to 27 make decisions as to what they want the Board of County Commissioners to support. He said 28 some general categories can be set, and then the Board can see what other ideas bloom. He 29 said this is a good way to take the temperature of the community. 30 Commissioner Jacobs said his comments were along similar lines. He said if people 31 have already made up their minds, then there is no point to impanel a group of citizens. He 32 thinks the Board should listen to the community. He said the Board can certainly tell the public 33 upfront what percentage of the money will go to schools, but he wants to hear what the 34 community thinks. He suggested an invitation for public comment on the bond topics. 35 Commissioner Burroughs said the schools will take as much money as they are given, 36 because the needs are so great. She said the schools know how to stretch a dime to make the 37 buildings better for the children and the staff. 38 Commissioner Burroughs said she has expressed a real interest in affordable housing, 39 and she is interested in a task force to determine the optimal way to spend this money. She 40 said you can think about a task force as a way of defining goals within a specific subject area. 41 Commissioner Rich said a task force has more than one job. She said part of this is to 42 help identify what goes on the bond, and the other part is helping educate the public about the 43 bond. She said if the bond is only going to be for schools then that vote should be taken now. 44 Commissioner Pelissier said she does not agree that if you limit the topics there is no 45 need for a task force. She said even if it were just schools, there are still decisions about 46 priorities and the allocation of the resources. She said affordable housing encompasses a lot of 47 different needs, and there are a lot of things here that could be discussed and prioritized. 48 Chair McKee said with this bond issuance, he is supportive of schools and affordable 49 housing. He said that does not mean that other items cannot be funded through regular 50 financing. He noted that this is what Chapel Hill is proposing. He said there is no need to limit