REVISED
(Closed Session Items)
THE BOARD OF
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
DURHAM, NORTH
CAROLINA
Monday, March 22, 2004
AGENDA
5:30 P.M.
Closed Session
The Board is requested to adjourn to
closed session to discuss a claim and to preserve the attorney-client privilege
and to establish and instruct the
staff regarding the position to be taken on behalf of the public body in
negotiating the price and other material terms of a proposed contract for the
acquisition of real property, said property being inactive railroad property
owned by Norfolk and Southern located roughly parallel to Roxboro Road through
northern Durham County into Person County and a line through the City of Durham
known as the Duke Beltline, pursuant to
G.S. § 143-318.11(a)(3) & (5)
.
_________________________
7:00 P.M. Regular Session
1. Opening
of Regular Session—Pledge of Allegiance
5 min.
2. Agenda
Adjustments 5 min.
3. Minutes
5 min.
a. January 29, 2004 Annual Retreat
b. March
3, 2004 Worksession
c. March
8, 2004 Regular Session
4. Consent
Agenda 25
min.
a. Property
Tax Releases and Refunds for Fiscal Year 2003-04 (accept the February property
tax release and refund report as presented and authorize the Tax Assessor to
adjust the tax records as outlined by the report);
b. Budget Ordinance Amendment No.
04BCC0000058—Tax Administration—Increasing Property Tax Revenue by $350,000
Collected Through Personal Property Audits and Foreclosure Settlements (approve
the budget ordinance amendment increasing property tax revenue by $350,000 to
support increased fee payments for new billable property found and for
increased foreclosure activity; these funds, if spent, will bring in
significantly more revenue than the actual dollars budgeted);
e. Budget Ordinance Amendment No.
04BCC000063—Approve the Recommended Financing of the Project, Including
Reimbursement of General Fund Fund Balance (approve the budget ordinance
amendment refunding funds from General Fund fund balance in the amount of
$3,425,000);
f. Request for Contract Award to Applied
Control Technologies to Repair and Upgrade the Current HVAC System for the
Health Services Building With Andover Controls (authorize the County Manager to
enter into a contract with Applied Control Technology for $219,874 to repair
existing HVAC mechanical components and upgrade the environmental [HVAC]
Andover Controls with the existing Direct Digital Control [DDC] system and
execute change orders, if necessary, not to exceed $10,994 [5%]; the total
contract amount shall not exceed $230,867);
g. Cooperative Extension—Welcome Baby Lease Renewal
for 2000 Chapel Hill Road (exercise the County’s option to renew the lease for
2000 Chapel Hill Road for the Welcome Baby program to provide for an additional
one-year term pursuant to the Lease Modification Agreement dated June 2003);
and
h. Request to Award Contract to Aramark Facility
Services to Replace Sally Port Slider Door Hardware at the Durham County
Detention Center (approve the contract with Aramark Facility Services to
sub-contract Southern Steel to replace the slider door components of six doors
needing attention as identified by the Detention staff; authorize the County
Manager to execute a contract with Aramark Facility Services in the amount of
$37,500).
5. Major
Site Plan—Ample Storage (D03-267) 10
min.
The Board is requested to approve a
Major Site Plan for a 47-unit mini-storage warehouse on 0.471 acres located on
the north side of Wolfpack Lane, west of Old Oxford Highway.
COUNTY MANAGER’S
RECOMMENDATION: The Manager’s recommendation is that the Board receive the
presentation and approve the site plan.
6. Capital
Project Ordinance Amendment No 04CPA000011—Little River Regional
Park and Natural Area
Construction Project
10 min.
The 391-acre Little River Regional Park
and Natural Area is jointly owned by Orange and Durham Counties
and will be jointly managed by the two counties. Both Orange
and Durham County Boards of Commissioners approved the site plan in June 2003. Park development will include the entrance
road and parking area, caretaker’s residence, two picnic shelters, restroom
facilities, children’s play area, an accessible trail loop with picnic
amenities, and a trail system to include walking/hiking, mountain biking, and
equestrian trails.
RESOURCE PERSON(S): Glen Whisler, County Engineer; Jane Korest,
Open Space and Real Estate Manager; and Mike Giles, Open Space Land Manager
7. Health
Trust Fund Transfer Request 10
min.
The BOCC is requested to transfer
$1,500,000 from MDL to US Trust (Fixed Income Managers). The purpose for this transfer is in
recognition of US Trust’s performance over the past two years. In November 2001, MDL was given an additional
$3,000,000 (transferred from US Trust) because of its outstanding performance. This transfer will put both managers on par.
The Finance Department does not believe
a change in managers is appropriate at this time but will continue to monitor
the performance of all our managers and report to the BOCC as required.
RESOURCE PERSON(S): George K.
Quick, Finance Director
COUNTY MANAGER’S
RECOMMENDATION: The Manager recommends that the BOCC authorize the above
recommendation.
8. Interlocal
Agreement with the City of Durham for Community Learning Center
15
min.
On
December 1, 2003, the Board of County Commissioners approved the creation of
the Community Learning Center
under the supervision of the Criminal Justice Resource Center. The target population for the program is
students who are expelled from DPS (permanently removed), suspended for 365
days (not allowed on DPS property, often for a weapon charge), or who are ineligible
for the Lakeview option due to safety concerns.
The program serves up to ten students and operates Monday through Friday
from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
On December 4, 2003, the City Council
approved funding in an amount not to exceed $27,960 for this program,
authorizing the City Manager to negotiate and execute an interlocal agreement
with the County. The initial interlocal agreement
approved by the Board of County Commissioners on January 5, 2004 had been
submitted to the City of Durham
in December 2003. In February 2004, the County Manager’s
office received a response from the City Manager’s office suggesting several
changes to the original version based upon a City Council directive. The City Council has requested that language
be amended in the interlocal to address early termination, method of payment,
and more detailed reporting requirements.
The amendments have been made to the original interlocal agreement. Staff has reviewed the amended changes and
recommends approval.
9. Budget
Ordinance Amendment No. 04BCC000064—Self Insurance Fund Unemployment
Compensation and Worker’s Compensation Expenditures
10
min.
Due to an especially bad year for
unemployment and worker’s compensation claims, additional monies are required
for both of these self-insured accounts.
Unemployment insurance was budgeted in the amount of $100,000 for FY
02-03. The actual amount of the
compensation billed was $215,938.52.
Unemployment benefits are paid by the State and are subsequently
reimbursed by the County in the following fiscal year with the bill being paid
in November or December. The principal
reason for the more than doubling of the cost of unemployment appears to be the
poor economy. Instead of being able to
find new employment after leaving the County, former employees have continued
to receive benefits. The current year’s
unemployment is worse than last year’s with a projected cost of near
$250,000. This amount will need to be
included in next year’s budget.
The
amount of worker’s compensation claims has also increased this year. Worker’s compensation claims have
historically been difficult to estimate, as they tend to vary widely from year
to year. This year has seen a drop in
the number of claims, but an increase in serious injuries. One older claim has been proposed to be
settled by the County’s former excess insurance carrier for $225,000, which
would have to be paid initially by the County with a partial reimbursement of
$185,000 after payment. This settlement
amount is awaiting approval by Medicare.
In addition to this amount, the other worker’s compensation claims are
projected to be approximately $175,000 above the budgeted amount of $560,000.
The
total amount of unemployment compensation and worker’s compensation claims are
approximately $515,000 over budget for the current fiscal year. Savings in other line items in the Risk
Management budget have been identified totaling $35,000. This leaves a shortfall of $480,000 for the
current year.
Staff
requests that the Board accept the County
Manager’s recommendation
to transfer $480,000 of unrecognized General Fund property tax revenue to the
Self Insurance Fund to cover these unexpected expenditures.
As
part of the approved FY 03-04 Budget, $350,000 was budgeted as a transfer to
the General Fund from the Self Insurance Fund to aid in balancing the overall
General Fund budget. This budgeted
transfer, in effect, decreases the amount of General Fund dollars supporting
this amendment to a net of $130,000.
10. Ethics Policy 15
min.
The Board previously considered changes
to the current ethics policy. As
directed, the current ethics policy is revised to include the provisions of the
North Carolina Association of County Commissioners suggested ethics policy for
county commissioners. The incorporation
is accomplished by adding a section providing for additional standards of
conduct for county commissioners. The
draft also reflects those changes that were previously directed by the Board at
the February 23 meeting.
11. Board
and Commission Appointments 10
min.
· Durham Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory
Commission
· Durham and Wake Counties Research and
Production District
· Environmental Affairs Board
12. Closed
Session 30
min.
The Board is requested to adjourn to
closed session to consider conditions of appointment of a public officer and to discuss matters relating to the
relocation or expansion of industry in Durham Countypursuant to
G.S. § 143-318.11(a)(4) & (6).
______
2½ hrs.
