Agenda - 09-02-2021; 8-a - Minutes

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27 1 the Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS) cost summary over 10 years is $371.8 million, 2 and Orange County Schools (OCS) is $107.7 million. She said this represents the poor 3 conditions of older schools, and that it will take significant resources to repair them. She said, 4 in light of COVID, the need for good air quality is even more important, and the physical plan for 5 the schools is very important. She said the Board needs to have a plan to address older school 6 facilities, and pay attention to what money is spent on, since there is limited debt capacity. She 7 said she wants the public to know the Commissioners take this seriously. 8 Commissioner Fowler asked if there is a reason the numbers are different between the 9 Manager's recommended budget and the CIP. She said CHCCS has 9 schools, which are all 10 50 years or older and already in need, versus 10 years out. 11 Bonnie Hammersley said the numbers in the CIP were provided to the County by 12 schools. She said the schools might not think it will happen in 10 years, or do not think they will 13 need it, but those are the numbers given by the schools. 14 15 Commissioner Dorosin exited the meeting at 9:02 p.m. 16 17 Commissioner Fowler asked, given huge needs, if CHCCS can spend their large fund 18 balance on capital needs. 19 Bonnie Hammersley said yes, and this would be a good use. She said fund balance 20 starts out as recurring but becomes one time as it accumulates, because it does not accumulate 21 at the rate of ongoing revenue, so this would be a permissible use. 22 23 Commissioner Dorosin rejoined the meeting at 9:03 p.m. 24 25 Commissioner Dorosin exited the meeting at 9:03 p.m. 26 27 Commissioner McKee said he believes Guilford County did a 10-year study a few years 28 ago with a consultant about countywide school needs. He said he will find information to bring 29 back for the next meeting, as this might be a good example to follow. 30 31 Commissioner Dorosin rejoined the meeting at 9:04 p.m. 32 33 Commissioner Greene asked if clarification could be provided as to whether the CIP 34 includes allocations for future years for the schools. 35 Bonnie Hammersley said the 2016 bond was $120 million for schools, as well as the $3 36 million deferred for 4 years from the bond proceeds. She said knowing there was a need, and a 37 gap to bridge because of debt policy, $30 million was added for the next 3 years to continue to 38 work on deferred maintenance for schools and is part of the plan. She said the list of needs has 39 continued to grow, but the County has continued to provide funding, albeit not enough because 40 numbers are significant, but funding has been provided. She said over $150 million in new 41 monies have gone towards schools since 2016. She said it is a process of chipping away at 42 the need. 43 Commissioner Greene said there was money identified in the County's plan a couple of 44 years ago for repairs at Phillips Middle School, but the repair was not done by the schools. She 45 said the County and the schools need to come together to agree on plan and stick to it. 46 Chair Price said this idea of working together has come up in the past, and the process 47 did not go very far. She said this current plan is now inching towards progress. 48 Commissioner Bedford said when funding is approved on July 1, borrowing does not 49 happen until the next April. She said the flooding at Phillips Middle School happened in 50 September or so. She said perhaps the school should have prioritized the project earlier. She 51 said CHCCS plans to spend over$1 million to revisit architectural studies done in 2013, in