Agenda - 06-06-2017 - 8-a - Minutes

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14 1 connections. He said the Town is ready to move on this item next year, and staff could talk to 2 the Town about deferring it for a year. 3 Chair Dorosin said he would like to know the significance of that possible delay. 4 Chair Dorosin referred to "Parks and Open Spaces", and said there is a $1 million for 5 conservation easements in years 2 and 4, and he said there is still money in Lands Legacy 6 program. He asked if the distinction between these two funding sources could be identified. 7 He also asked if one of these projects was moved back a year, and another project arose in the 8 interim, would there be other funding sources that could cover the conservation easements. 9 David Stancil, Department of Environment, Agriculture, Parks and Recreation (DEAPR) 10 Director, said previously the conservation easement fund was an annual appropriation of 11 $500,000. He said conservation easements tend to take a while, so the CIP was shifted to an 12 every other year approach. He said there are existing funds in the Lands Legacy fund, but 13 there are also a few outstanding projects that will be coming up shortly. He said the 14 conservation easement fund was set aside in 2002 to fund things that the 2001 bond money 15 could not fund. He said the conservation easement fund is down to about $100,000 currently, 16 and is one that could have a lot of projects outstanding. 17 Chair Dorosin asked if David Stancil's recommendation is to leave as is, or is there room 18 for flexibility. 19 David Stancil said next year the conservation easement fund will not have any extra 20 funds, and Lands Legacy funds would be used if need be. He said this will cover any shortfalls 21 until year 2, when the conservation easement fund is replenished. He said he would leave this 22 the way it is. He said the Lands Legacy fund will not be replenished for another two years, so 23 next year includes no new funds for conservation projects. 24 Chair Dorosin asked if the total in the Lands Legacy fund could be identified. 25 David Stancil said it is about $3 million, and $101,000 in the conservation easement 26 fund. 27 Commissioner Rich said she believed the County fiber project to be important and would 28 not want to push it off. She said the County is behind on this issue, and it is time to be 29 independent of Time Warner. She said she hopes this will make it easier to get service to rural 30 areas. 31 Chair Dorosin said he is not suggesting removing any items, but just delaying them by a 32 year. 33 Commissioner Price said the BOCC should move forward with the fiber project. 34 Commissioner Burroughs said the times in which they are going over the 15% are in the 35 out years, and asked if it is possible that delaying things in the first year or two may not help at 36 all. 37 Travis Myren said staff focused on years in which they would be over the policy, or 38 those with the highest affordability issues, which were FY 2020-21 and FY 2021-22. He said 39 borrowing that would occur in FY 2019-20 would start affecting the FY 2020-21 debt service 40 payments. 41 Commissioner Jacobs said he agreed that the BOCC needs more clarity on the EAC 42 project. He said it might be useful to differentiate the few projects that have a financial return or 43 savings. 44 Commissioner Jacobs said this is an ambitious CIP that still fits into the County's debt 45 policy, which he finds to be impressive. 46 Commissioner Rich asked if Hillsborough's percentage of the fiber costs could be 47 identified. She said there may be other partners willing to join in on this project. 48 Commissioner Rich said she would also like further information about affordable 49 housing options at the EAC.