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2 <br /> 1 Commissioner Portie-Ascott said she has met with the following county departments as <br /> 2 part of her orientation process: Criminal Justice Resources, Housing, Budget, Elections, <br /> 3 Transportation, Library, Planning, Office of Equity and Inclusion, as well as the Sheriff's Office. <br /> 4 She said April is Re-entry Month, and there is a fireside chat on April 10th at the Colonial Inn. She <br /> 5 said she enjoyed learning about the work of each department and the staff was very patient and <br /> 6 generous during her visits. <br /> 7 Commissioner Richards said she met with Housing, Planning, Parks and Recreation, and <br /> 8 Family Success Alliance staff since the Board's last meeting. She said she visited the Gateway <br /> 9 Housing Complex today and got to witness the partnership between the housing provider, county, <br /> 10 and schools. She said when thinking about all of the social determinants of health, it is impressive <br /> 11 that the county is part of this innovative approach to holistically address the needs of this <br /> 12 community. She said she attended the Chapel Hill Chamber of Commerce meeting and <br /> 13 highlighted the Economic Conditions Survey which is available on the Chamber website and has <br /> 14 information on what the local economy looks like. She said she also attended the Black Business <br /> 15 Leadership Council meeting, and just came from the Burlington-Graham MPO meeting tonight. <br /> 16 Chair Bedford said that Vice-Chair McKee will not be in attendance tonight. <br /> 17 <br /> 18 4. Proclamations/ Resolutions/ Special Presentations <br /> 19 None. <br /> 20 <br /> 21 5. Public Hearings <br /> 22 None. <br /> 23 <br /> 24 6. Regular Agenda <br /> 25 <br /> 26 a. Approval of Professional Services Contract with Woolpert, Inc. to Conduct a Public- <br /> 27 School Capital Needs Assessment, and Approval of Budget Amendment #7-A <br /> 28 The Board approved a professional services contract with Woolpert Inc. totaling $984,561 to <br /> 29 conduct a Facilities Condition Assessment, a School Optimization Plan and develop <br /> 30 Benchmarking Best Practices for all public schools in Orange County, and with the proposed <br /> 31 scope of work including $85,000 for a study of educational adequacy of school facilities; and <br /> 32 approved Budget Amendment#7-A. <br /> 33 <br /> 34 BACKGROUND: As a strategy to improve the quality and efficiency of operational services, <br /> 35 Orange County Government, Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS) and Orange County <br /> 36 Schools (OCS) collaborated on the issuance of a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for a design <br /> 37 firm to provide a: <br /> 38 • Comprehensive Facility Condition Assessment (FCA) <br /> 39 • Optimization Plan of Existing Space Utilization; and <br /> 40 • Examining Prioritization Models, Benchmarking Best Practices and Scenarios for both <br /> 41 school districts that recognize the distinct structure of the County allocating funds to the <br /> 42 two school districts. <br /> 43 <br /> 44 The desired outcome will help County and School professionals and elected officials better plan, <br /> 45 manage and fund new construction and maintenance of the thirty-one (31) school campuses and <br /> 46 administrative offices for the two school districts. <br /> 47 <br /> 48 Ensuring that scarce capital resources are used effectively requires a better understanding of <br /> 49 when to repair/maintain, renovate or replace buildings, how and when to contract across <br /> 50 campuses and school districts, and how to provide reliable funding to assure that schools facilities <br /> 51 are built and maintained in a timely and cost-effective manner. <br />