Agenda 04-26-22; 8-a - Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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18 1 Chair Price asked if the county is saving any money in the long run. 2 Travis Myren said over the 20-year period there would be a savings. 3 Commissioner Richards asked what capital projects would be impacted in the 1-5-year 4 period if the Board did not want to raise taxes at all. 5 Travis Myren said he would follow up with information on that. 6 Commissioner Richards asked if there are projects in years 1-5 in the CIP that could be 7 pushed back or eliminated. 8 Travis Myren said he cannot think of any discretionary projects. 9 Bonnie Hammersley said the CIP was scrubbed for the Durham Tech facility, which was 10 not approved, so all of the remaining projects are needed. She said that all of the parks and 11 other discretionary projects were moved out to years 6-10. 12 Commissioner Fowler said to get the CIP back under, the Board took money from lands 13 legacy, so there is not anything left to move. 14 Commissioner McKee asked if there is $4 million in capital reserve that could be used. 15 Bonnie Hammersley said yes. She said that staff is discussing anticipation of inflation 16 increasing in 2023 and using the reserve to address price spikes for other projects. 17 Chair Price asked Bonnie Hammersley if she has heard from President Buxton regarding 18 Durham Tech. 19 Travis Myren said he did. He said that Durham Tech is planning to resubmit a proposal 20 for an expansion to the current facility, rather than a separate facility as proposed previously. 21 Chair Price indicated that Durham Tech is now considering a renovation and expansion 22 of their current facility rather than a separate building because Durham is putting a bond 23 referendum on the ballot to cover a new facility in Durham, which would eliminate the need for a 24 similar building in Orange County. She said the money the county has been trying to find for a 25 second building would be much less if it were just a renovation and expansion. 26 Commissioner Fowler asked if moving forward with the project would be a guaranteed 27 tax increase. 28 Travis Myren said with the current budget approved in April 2021, there was a need to 29 raise taxes, so there will need to be an additional tax increase if the increased project budget is 30 approved. 31 Commissioner Fowler asked if that means in the next year that would be a fifty-cent tax 32 increase. 33 Travis Myren said it is a .15 increase. 34 Chair Price asked if they could use some of the Durham Tech money to cover this. 35 Travis Myren said those funds are budgeted too far out in the CIP for current use. 36 37 Chair Price invited public commenters to speak. 38 39 Nerys Levy indicated she is representing the Friends of Carrboro Library. She said that 40 34 years ago the Friends began their quest for a public library in southern Orange County. She 41 said that in 1995 the Carrboro library was established in the McDougal Schools and that in 42 2004, the Carrboro Cybrary was established. She said there have been three library task force 43 to examine the state of the county's libraries. She said prior to library opening in Hillsborough, 44 Orange County was 76th in the state for library provision. She said that with the approval of the 45 library in Hillsborough, Orange County's rank moved to 501h and has remained. She said that 46 Wake County has 22 libraries and Durham County has 12. She said that the Town of Carrboro 47 will provide land for the library and that is now valued at 1.4 million. She said that libraries 48 promote community and equity. She said that the 203 project is close to Orange Literacy and EI 49 Centro Hispano. She said that in 2021, the county closed the McDougal school's library. She 50 said all that remains to serve Carrboro and southwest Orange County is the Cybrary. She said 51 that any redesign will cause delay and higher cost to the project. She said that it would deny