Minutes 11-07-2019 Regular Meeting

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4 this on. She said there is a part-time coordinator assigned to this project to make certain things work together. She said three commissioners attended the school public meeting about the districting plan, and there was lots of discussion about communication and needs. Commissioner Greene said she attended a meeting sponsored by the Visitors’ Center, where someone spoke about what the Visitors Bureau could do to expand its tourism efforts. She said sporting events vastly outweigh everything else. She said today was “Big Ideas” day at the Chapel Hill Chamber of Commerce. Chair Rich said she would like to see a response to her request about the census efforts. She said the Daily Tar Heel reported on this, and it would be good for the Board to be able to discuss and provide input. Chair Rich referred to the issue of needing transportation for voting, and said there is a possibility of putting a satellite office in Chapel Hill for the Board of Elections (BOE), as IDs will be needed for the 2020 election. She said the BOE in Hillsborough will provide a free ID, but it can be hard for people to get to Hillsborough. She said the next election is March 3, 2020. She said the Board of Elections website was quirky for this election, and it was difficult to find information, and the state website went down. She said March is going to be confusing, and this process must be simplified. Chair Rich said she went to the Wealth Gap Conference, and the income achievement gap was a prominent topic, especially related to schools. She said the Board must be mindful of its policies, and getting the desired outcomes. She said there is a great disparity of funding per student across the state. Chair Rich said she received a call regarding the creation of a high school for trades, and asked if there was an update on this idea. She said 8% of East Chapel Hill High students will not go to college, and she wants to see this idea fully researched. Chair Rich said she gets a number of calls about school funding, and she and Mark Marcoplos had a meeting with Paul Laughton, Finance and Administrative Services, to get a budget booster shot. She passed out a page from the budget regarding the Phillips Middle School water infiltration problem, as an example. She said this item was in the Board’s budget ($175,000), but the problem was not fixed. She said overall, the schools’ Capital Investment Plan (CIP) is $34 million, and she petitioned for the Board to get a quarterly report from the schools on when and how maintenance is being done and completed. Commissioner Marcoplos said it is good idea to know this type of information, as the County budgeted the money, but it was not utilized for the budgeted need. He said the Board could share this information with the public. He said this money is negotiated between the schools and the County, to meet as many needs as possible. Commissioner Dorosin clarified that the schools asked for, and were given the money, and asked if the schools have just not yet done the work Chair Rich said it is unsure, and that is why she is petitioning for the quarterly maintenance report. She said receipts come in from the schools, and the County transfers money to the schools, but it is unclear if the maintenance is actually being done. She said it is not for the County to decide on how the money is spent; it provides money to the schools, and the schools decide how to use the money. Commissioner Dorosin said it is unclear, and the money still may be used to fix this problem. He asked if once the money is given to the schools, if the schools can prioritize its spending. Chair Rich said that is correct, and the money can be moved around as deemed appropriate by the schools. Commissioner Bedford said, when she took the tour of Chapel Hill High School, the contractors said they were already working on the Phillips problem, which is complex. Chair Rich said it is a storm water mitigation problem.