Agenda - 01-21-2016 - 6-a - Minutes

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22 1 Commissioner Burroughs asked if the contract will potentially change the price the 2 County is paid for federal inmates. 3 Bonnie Hammersley said this will be negotiated. She said the federal government used 4 to pay the exact costs annually, along with an audit; however, now that contracts are done every 5 three years, the process is more of a negotiation. 6 Commissioner Jacobs said another consultant working for the jail alternatives, noted that 7 the County was only reporting income for housing federal inmates, but failed to note the 8 expenses. 9 Commissioner Pelissier asked if there is access to information on the ages of the 10 inmates. 11 Sheriff Blackwood said it is available, and he can get it to the Board. 12 Commissioner Dorosin asked if there is a process for identifying comparable counties. 13 Bonnie Hammersley said population is the main factor, but noted that many counties do 14 not have data readily available. 15 Sheriff Blackwood said Orange County is socially, educationally, philosophically, and 16 geographically unique, and this drives how law enforcement works. 17 18 b. Orange County Facilities Accessibility Self-Assessment Update 19 The Board received an update and provided feedback to staff on the County's ongoing 20 comprehensive Facility Accessibility Self-Assessment. 21 Brennan Bouma, Orange County Sustainability Coordinator, reviewed the following 22 information, and PowerPoint presentation: 23 24 BACKGROUND: On June 2, 2015 the Board of County Commissioners adopted a 25 "Proclamation Supporting the Implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)", and 26 expressed an interest in engaging the disabled community to help County staff identify any 27 facilities access issues. Asset Management Services (AMS) and the Department of Housing, 28 Human Rights and Community Development (HHRCD) came together to organize this 29 subcommittee of the Space Study Work Group to conduct a self-assessment of the physical 30 accessibility of all County facilities. 31 This advisory subcommittee includes representatives from the Orange County Human 32 Relations Commission (HRC), the North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities 33 (NCCDD) and the Disability Awareness Council (DAC) along with County staff and the County 34 building inspectors. Some of the members of the committee are disabled, and have brought 35 essential first-hand experience to guide the accessibility assessments. 36 County building inspectors conducted the most recent comprehensive accessibility 37 assessment in 2007, and other focused accessibility assessments have been conducted more 38 recently for some County facilities. Now is an appropriate time to integrate these focused 39 assessments and update our comprehensive assessment of County facilities. 40 Progress: 41 To date, assessments have been conducted for the Southern Human Services Center, 42 the Richard L. Whitted Human Services Center and the Robert & Pearl Seymour Center, with 43 the Library just having been done yesterday. Self-assessment teams include a disabled person 44 or disabilities advocate, a County building inspector, and a County staff person familiar with the 45 facility being assessed. 46 The accessibility obstacles identified in these assessments will be prioritized by the 47 members of the subcommittee to inform final recommendations to the Board of Commissioners. 48 Initial progress in conducting these assessments has been deliberate, as Staff has 49 thoughtfully developed the knowledge, tools, and collaborative process to conduct these 50 assessments in an accurate and standardized manner. During the initial assessments, 51 improvements to the procedures and tools were identified, which will help to improve and