Minutes 09-04-2018 - Laserfiche WebLink

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26 9. County Manager’s Report Bonnie Hammersley said there will be a BOCC work session on September 6th and topics include: • Economic Development Districts – Follow-up from Board Retreat • Additional Discussion Regarding the Election Method for Members of the Orange County Board of Commissioners • Discussion on Proposed Nonprofit Capital Funding Policy and Criteria • Board of Commissioners - Boards and Commissions Appointment Process Discussion 10. County Attorney’s Report John Roberts said he wanted to address public records requests, noting there has been an uptick in the amount across the state, and the request of voluminous amount of pages. He said the most recent request will be close to 500,000 pages, and these have to be reviewed to separate potentially confidential and privileged communication. John Roberts said if this trend continues, it may be necessary to have a dedicated staff person for just public records requests. He said another way to approach this is to ask the General Assembly to amend the statute to state that all public records request are open only to North Carolina residents. Chair Dorosin asked if a staff person were added, would it need to be a lawyer in the County Attorney’s office. John Roberts said not necessarily, but rather someone who is charged with compiling the records, and performing an initial review. He said anything that needs legal review would be forwarded to his office. Chair Dorosin asked if there is someone responsible for this currently. John Roberts said if it is a request just for emails then Information Technology compiles it, and if there is a request for hard copies, these are fulfilled by staff within the departments from which the documents have been requested. Commissioner Rich asked if there is a tipping point at which a dedicated staff person will be needed. John Roberts said it is uncomfortable now, but until this year there has only been one or two of these massive request; however, there have been several this year, which is line with the statewide trend, but he would like to make sure this is a trend in Orange County before requesting additional staff. Commissioner Jacobs said there was a professor from Massachusetts that made a huge request. He asked if this request was honored, and if this person was charged any fees. John Roberts said since 2009, there has been a policy in place to recoup actual costs. He said the request was for about 1million pages, at the cost of around $10,000, and the gentleman withdrew his request. Commissioner Marcoplos asked if the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC) could find out if other counties would support a bill such as this. John Roberts said he will follow up with NCACC General Counsel. 11. *Appointments a. Adult Care Home Community Advisory Committee – Appointments The Board considered making appointments to the Adult Care Home Community Advisory Committee. A motion was made by Commissioner Burroughs, seconded by Commissioner Rich to appoint the following: