Minutes 04-19-2012 Work Session - Laserfiche WebLink

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OCS Board Chair Donna Coffey said that OCS is starting to grow and Mebane has kicked Orange County into a growth spurt. There is a need for a new elementary school sometime between 2015-16/2016-17. Since the SAPFO was created, there has been a great pre-K program, but they have lost 154 elementary seats in this process. The capacity numbers in SAPFO do not allow for this loss, so the capacity numbers are over stated. CHCCS has the same issue. When she wrote the letter, they assumed they would lose 225 seats in the reassessment, but it is actually 352 seats. If OCS can build the addition onto Cedar Ridge, then high school capacity will last until 2020-21. Commissioner Yuhasz asked if OCS has talked with Mebane to find out if the residential growth will continue in Orange County. Donna Coffey said that she has not spoken with anyone from Mebane. She said that there is capacity now that the sewer line has been extended near Gravelly Hill Middle School. Commissioner Yuhasz said that if more growth is expected from Mebane, then a new elementary school should be placed near the Mebane growth area. He sent an email to the Manager of Mebane asking whether the subdivision regulations include the provision for reserving school sites. He has not yet received a response. Donna Coffey said that there is also a lot of growth from Hillsborough and Churton Grove. Commissioner Jacobs said that there was a meeting with Mebane last year and both parties agreed to do joint planning. Nothing has been done in this regard. He urged the Board to get on with this. Chair Pelissier suggested focusing on the Mebane area or the Hillsborough area for a new elementary school. In the long term, both areas need to be considered for future school sites. Chair Pelissier asked what would happen to the debt ceiling if the County decides to fund this new elementary school #8. Commissioner Gordon said that the question is where Mebane is going to grow, then the urban services boundary, and then the MPO boundary. She said that the Board cannot act on information tonight contained in the new handouts or in the CIP because it needs to go through the SAPFO process first. She thinks that the Board should follow the SAPFO process. Using the 105% level of service criterion, the elementary school would not be needed until 2020. She said that there needs some kind of policy regarding pre-K. Commissioner Jacobs agreed with Commissioner Gordon about pre-K. He suggested asking staff and the school collaboration group to make a recommendation about incorporating pre-K. Commissioner McKee said that if Mebane is not following the SAPFO process, then it is probably skewing the figures for OCS. Commissioner Foushee said that the school collaboration group should review this and bring it back to the Board of County Commissioners. Commissioner Yuhasz said that development has never been denied because of the SAPFO and it should not matter if Mebane is not following the SAPFO because the County would never let things get to this point. Commissioner Yuhasz said that he wants to look at the costs for the proposed expansion for Cedar Ridge and for a new elementary school. Commissioner Jacobs said that he thinks that Mebane's growth is factored into the SAPFO, but he is not sure about the accuracy. He said that the school collaboration group should look at this and have a systematic conversation and recommendation on this process. Clarence Grier said that Orange County would go over the debt service limit in 2014-15 if the funding started in 2013-14.