Orange County NC Website
6 <br /> <br />Todd Wirt said yes, and the topic would be sent back to the OCS BOE for discussion. 1 <br />Commissioner Rich asked if the current living wage could be identified. 2 <br />Bonnie Hammersley said the Orange County living wage is currently $13.75, and will 3 <br />increase to $14.25 on July 1, 2019. She said the County has a living wage for permanent 4 <br />employees of $15. 5 <br />Pam Jones said she will be sharing information regarding the OCS Capital Investment 6 <br />Plan (CIP). She said the plan is one of stewardship, and aging buildings need to be 7 <br />maintained. She said in 2013 OCS completed a facilities assessment, and has prioritized those 8 <br />since then, and the bond issue projects were built on this study. She said OCS also completed 9 <br />a safety and security assessment, which it continues to deploy. She said $2.5 million was 10 <br />included in the bonds that have been earmarked for safety and security. She said the third 11 <br />area of study, completed in 2016, is the roof study, and this is also lot of what is seen in the 12 <br />bond projects and CIP. She said if the exteriors of buildings are not secure, the interiors will 13 <br />fail, and roofs, windows and walls are being maintained. 14 <br />Pam Jones said there are a few material changes in the CIP since last year: 15 <br />1.) Cameron Park Elementary has air quality issues and water filtration problems, and 16 <br />exterior of the building needs resurfacing and windows replacing; 17 <br />2.) $100k is needed for New Hope Elementary HVAC, some air handlers are failing 18 <br />early. 19 <br />Pam Jones said the CIP is essentially the same as last year, and just deals with the 20 <br />basics. She said she would like to update the BOCC on two primary bond projects included in 21 <br />the CIP: 22 <br />1.) The Orange High School geothermal project, which has bids in, and will be taken to 23 <br />the OCS BOE’s next meeting. She said it came in over estimates, but not as much 24 <br />as feared, and this will be completed in phases over two years, with renovations 25 <br />being completed along the way. She said floors and wings will be opened up one at 26 <br />a time, until the work is complete. She said modular units are being considered, 27 <br />since there is not enough capacity, and OCS hopes for creativity from contractors to 28 <br />get the project done as quickly as possible. She said OCS is working on a public 29 <br />relations campaign to communicate with the neighbors regarding noise and run off. 30 <br />She said the payback on this project is about 10 years, but may take 11-12 years. 31 <br />2.) Cedar Ridge High School addition has a designer in place who is working with the 32 <br />planning committee on site visits, and all are excited about enhancements and 33 <br />different ways to offer programs. She said it is hoped that this will go out to bid in 34 <br />the fall, and be completed in August 2022. 35 <br /> 36 <br />James Barrett referred to the topic of efficiencies of these types of CIP investments, and 37 <br />said this year, as CHCCS does efficiency projects, it is putting ½ the money in a general pot 38 <br />and ½ back in an extra capital/reinvestment funds for longer term work going forward. 39 <br />Commissioner Rich said she went to an Information Technology meeting at Cedar 40 <br />Ridge, and there were places in school with no Wi-Fi. She asked if OCS is working on 41 <br />improving this for students, teachers and everyone else. 42 <br />Pam Jones said OCS knows there are dead spots, and Information Technology has 43 <br />reviewed it, but there is no answer right now. 44 <br />Commissioner Rich said a couple of Commissioners have discussed putting Wi-Fi on 45 <br />school buses, and she spoke with someone at Google to see what it is doing in South Carolina. 46 <br />She asked if there is any possibility of doing this so kids can do their homework on the bus. 47 <br />Todd Wirt said OCS uses Synovia to track buses, which also evaluates connectivity 48 <br />levels throughout the County based on the bus route. He said OCS is pulling this data to 49