Orange County NC Website
49 <br /> 1 Quintana Stewart said there is not a specific Housing seat, but they do have that voice <br /> 2 represented by Cait Fenhagen, who is a member of the Partnership to End Homelessness. <br /> 3 <br /> 4 A motion was made by Commissioner Hamilton, seconded by Commissioner Fowler, to <br /> 5 approve and authorize the Chair to sign the resolution regarding the expenditure of Opioid <br /> 6 Settlement Funds, and to approve Budget Amendment#8-A. <br /> 7 <br /> 8 VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br /> 9 <br /> 10 <br /> 11 7. Reports <br /> 12 <br /> 13 a. Library Services Task Force Report <br /> 14 The Board received the Final Report from the Library Services Task Force regarding issues <br /> 15 related to library funding and interoperability. <br /> 16 <br /> 17 BACKGROUND: In April 2021, the Board of County Commissioners and the Chapel Hill Town <br /> 18 Council jointly approved creation of a Library Services Task Force to study County funding for the <br /> 19 Chapel Hill Public Library and examine the costs of expanding interoperability between library <br /> 20 systems. The Dispute Settlement Center was hired to act as facilitator for the Task Force. <br /> 21 <br /> 22 Task Force Members are: <br /> 23 • Tiffany Allen, Chair of the Chapel Hill Public Library Advisory Board <br /> 24 • Karen Curtin, Chair of the Friends of Chapel Hill Public Library <br /> 25 • Diane Kelly, Chair of the Orange County Friends of the Library <br /> 26 • Nerys Levy, Chair of the Carrboro Friends of the Library <br /> 27 • Jess Anderson, Chapel Hill Town Council Liaison <br /> 28 • Amy Fowler, Orange County Commissioner Liaison <br /> 29 <br /> 30 Chapel Hill Public Library Director Susan Brown and Orange County Public Library Director Erin <br /> 31 Sapienza served as staff support for the work of the Task Force. <br /> 32 <br /> 33 The Task Force worked from April 2022 through February 2023. Task Force members explored <br /> 34 and discussed County funding for the Chapel Hill Public Library and expanding interoperability <br /> 35 between library systems in depth. Members considered historical information, practices among <br /> 36 other library systems across the state, future impacts and expenses of the Southern Branch <br /> 37 Library in Carrboro, thoughtful/equitable/sustainable funding formulas, potential cost/benefit <br /> 38 scenarios, and the current systems, services, data, and operations of both the Orange County <br /> 39 Public Library and Chapel Hill Public Library. <br /> 40 <br /> 41 Based on its work, the Task Force recommends that: <br /> 42 1) The County consider entering an MOU with the Town to fund library services based on a <br /> 43 "Service Provider" model from FY 2024 — FY 2029. They recommend incremental <br /> 44 increases be phased in over five years at a rate of $169,358 / year with a final target <br /> 45 amount calculated on (Total County funding for Orange County Library operating <br /> 46 expenses) x (Percent of Orange County residents living with Town jurisdiction) = Annual <br /> 47 County Funding to Town of Chapel Hill. <br /> 48 <br />