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HomeMy Public PortalAbout02-26-2007 Workshop Meeting February 26, 2007 Monthly Workshop Approved: April 9, 2007 Page 1 of16 MINUTES Board of Commissioners Monthly Workshop Monday, February 26, 2007 -7:30 p.m. Town Barn PRESENT: Mayor Tom Stevens, Commissioners Frances Dancy, Evelyn Lloyd, Brian Lowen, Mike Gering, and L. Eric Hallman. BOARD OF EDUCATION: Chair Dennis Whitling, Vice Chair Ted Triebel, Members Susan Hallman, Debbie Piscitelli, Al Hartkopf, Shirley Carraway, and Anne Medenblik. STAFF: Town Manager Eric Peterson, Assistant Town Manager/Public Works Director Demetric Potts, Town Clerk/Personnel Officer Donna Armbrister, Finance Director Margaret Hauth, Police Chief Clarence Birkhead, and Town Attorney Bob Hornik. 1. Open the Workshop 7:34:34 PM Mayor Stevens called the meeting to order, and welcomed the guests from the Orange County School Board and staff. 2. Agenda Changes & Agenda Approval 7:35:09 PM Mayor Stevens noted there was one announcement to be added. 7:35:31 PM Upon a motion by Commissioner Dancy, seconded by Commissioner Lowen, the Board moved to approve the agenda as amended by a vote of 5-0. The motion was declared passed. Announcement 7:35:39 PM Ms. Hauth asked the Board to consider calling a public hearing on the Boone/Collins property, assuming the Master Plan was submitted on time. She said the date was March 22nd and the location was the Gordon Battle Courtroom at 7:00 p.m., and asked the Board to approve that date. 7:36:06 PM Upon a motion by Commissioner Dancy, seconded by Commissioner Hallman, the Board moved to call a public hearing on the Boone/Collins property on March 22nd at 7:00 p.m. in the Gordon Battle Courtroom by a vote of 5-0. The motion was declared passed. 1 February 26, 2007 Monthly Workshop Approved: April 9, 2007 Page 2 of16 3. Discussion with the Orange County School Board 7:36:34 PM Mayor Stevens noted this was an opportunity for conversation with the Orange County School Board, the first in several years. He said he and School Board Chair Dennis Whitling had briefly discussed topics to be covered this evening, and asked him to begin the discussion. 7:37:27 PM Mr. Whitling said in regards to the Town's Strategic Growth Plan, the School Board was always concerned about potential school sites. He said based on the projected growth for Hillsborough over the next ten years, schools may be more needed that they had first thought. Mr. Whitling said they wanted to discuss a process in which the Schools could work with the Town to site schools as a preplanning tool. He said a Chapel Hill-Carrboro school district had a process whereby they actually identified sites and been given the right of first refusal on those sites as development progressed. Mr. Whitling said sidewalks were always a big issue for the Schools and the Town, and encouraged the Town to continue with its sidewalk plans. 7:39:50 PM Mr. Triebel said the thing they looked at and were limited by when looking for school sites was water and sewer. He said that restricted the locals they could consider for schools. Mr. Triebel said the other side of that would be to identify sites and draw water and sewer to them. 7:41: 19 PM Commissioner Hallman asked if anyone would be attending the Intergovernmental Parks Work Group meeting on Wednesday. Mr. Triebel said he would be attending. Commissioner Hallman said one of the items to be discussed was the use of school facilities and how that might happen. 7:42:03 PM Commissioner Gering said he had worked on the Schools Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (SAPFO), and it was a tool to help plan for and adjust to growth. He asked if there was any insight the School Board could offer regarding how well that ordinance was working as far as helping to plan for growth. Mr. Triebel responded it had not impacted the County as much as it had the Chapel Hill-Carrboro system, in terms of it actually being implemented and used in that way. 7:43: 13 PM Mr. Hartkopf said with Mebane not being a signatory to that ordinance, it had an effect on the western part of the County. He said they had sited Bradley Hill there for many reasons, with the ordinance being one of them. Mr. Hartkopf said they had anticipated an overflow in the western part of the County, and in fact that school had filled. He said the message was that while SAPFO had not given them any issues in Hillsborough proper, the absence of SAPFO in the Mebane area had given them some issues. 7:44:58 PM Commissioner Gering said he recalled at the time SAPFO was adopted that the County had agreed to engage Mebane in discussions in an attempt to get them to sign on. He said perhaps that was something that should be pursued. 2 February 26, 2007 Monthly Workshop Approved: April 9, 2007 Page 3 of16 7:45:09 PM Mr. Whitling said what had been discussed at the last meeting with the Chapel Hill-Carrboro School Board representatives and the County Commissioners was how to engage the various municipalities in becoming more a part of that process as well as the school siting process. He said they were still trying to determine how Mebane fit into that picture from the School Board's standpoint and the County's standpoint. Mr. Whitling said regarding SAPFO, the Draconian measure was that it could potentially stop development at some pint, but if Mebane were not a part of that deal then development in that area could not be controlled. He said they were aware of the growth in that area and would try to stay on top of it. 7:46:32 PM Mr. Hartkopf said he had understood that Mebane was not interested in becoming a part of the SAPFO. Mr. Whitling agreed, noting the best they could hope for was a good information flow. He said if there was a large volume of students coming from Mebane, they would likely be moved towards Hillsborough and its schools which could potentially mean building a new school here rather than in Mebane. Mr. Whitling said that would depend on the growth in Hillsborough over the next few years as well. 7:47:52 PM Mr. Hartkopf said children on the east side of the Efland/Cedar Grove crossroads on US 70 were now bussed back into Hillsborough. He said that was only 500 yards from Efland Cheek School, so we were already seeing the effect of growth on that area. 7:48:22 PM Ms. Medenblik said there was also a magnet school that pulled many students into Hillsborough. 7:48:41 PM Mr. Whitling said the process for school sitings would be something their staffs would have to work together on in order to develop some recommendations for consideration. 7:49:41 PM Mayor Stevens asked if the School Board needed an update on Hillsborough's Strategic Growth Plan. He said the concept of the Plan and one of the next steps was land use planning 7:50:04 PM Commissioner Hallman said in thinking about the recommendations of the Plan, if there were future needs south of Town then this Board should probably begin looking at those issues now. He said there was not a lot of extension of the Town or the ETJ to the west or to the north, which sounds like where most the pressure would come from. 7:51:00 PM Mr. Whitling said as he understood the Plan, the housing growth would be in the south and southeast, but not to the west. Mr. Triebel said he had understood there was some planned development to the west. 7:51:30 PM Commissioner Lloyd noted she believed he was referring to the proposed Bellevue development, but stated those condominiums were not being marketed to families with children. 3 February 26, 2007 Monthly Workshop Approved: April 9, 2007 Page 4 of16 7:52:02 PM Mayor Stevens said one issue associated with the Plan was that it had ended up focusing on the internal and infill development that was expected. Commissioner Gering said that was Phase 2. He said Phase 1 was dealing only with the overlapping areas of the County and the Town's jurisdiction. 7:52:36 PM Mr. Whitling said he understood what the Town was doing was trading some areas that perhaps would have been supplied with water and sewer and now would not be, since that service would be moved to areas more likely to experience growth. Mayor Stevens agreed. 7:52:53 PM Commissioner Hallman said they had predicted they would experience a 25% growth population just with the Waterstone development over the next 5 years. He said if the Town Board approved Daniel Boone Village with its residential component, there would be another significant increase in rooftops, in addition to the already projected 25% with Waterstone. Commissioner Gering remarked there would be about 1,000 homes in Waterstone. 7:53:47 PM Mayor Stevens said tomorrow evening the developers of the Boone/Collins property would be introducing the public to its Master Plan prior to submission to the Town. He said one thing that was significant about the Strategic Growth Plan short of finding another water source, was that they could talk about what would be the limits to the commercial and rooftop growth. Mayor Stevens from a planning standpoint there was some ceiling in the foreseeable future based on water capacity. He said that would determine how quickly the Town moved to Phase 2 of the Plan, but there were some planning assumptions that could be shared. 7: 55: 11 PM Mr. Hartkopf asked about the number of rooftops proposed for the Boone/Collins property. Town Manager Eric Peterson said presently the plan called for 1,295 units. Ms. Hauth for Waterstone, only about 650 of those 1,000 units was expected to generate children, noting that half of the rooftops were apartments. 7:56:14 PM Mr. Hartkopf said they wanted to promote walkability, and asked if Waterstone would be required to put in sidewalks on both sides of the streets. He said he was concerned about walkability south of the Eno River, noting there was an elementary school and a middle school in that area. Mr. Hartkopf said he had visited New Hope School recently and noted they were at capacity. He said he had wanted to get a sense of the build out of Waterstone and what that would mean to nearby schools. Mr. Hartkopf asked if there were any estimated on the build out of Waterstone. Commissioner Lowen said they would have to get that information from the developer. 7:58:37 PM Mr. Hartkopf asked if the developer was ready to begin now, and how long the process would take. Ms. Hauth said the Special Use Permits were in place for the single-family developments and the townhomes, which were good for two years and were now about a year old. She said that mean the developer had another year to get started. She said there was no Special Use Permit approval in place for the apartments, which could happen as quickly as two to three months to almost a year. Ms. Hauth said the developer had begun to install the road network for the single-family units, and the first houses may start going in by the end of this calendar year. She said the single-family units were numbered at 135, and townhomes at 128. 4 February 26, 2007 Monthly Workshop Approved: April 9, 2007 Page 5 of16 Ms. Hauth noted that should any extension be required for that development, the developer would have to request and extension and show good cause. 8:00:39 PM Commissioner Lowen asked if that would be approved at the staff level. Ms. Hauth said no, the developer would have to appear before the Town Board. She said work should begin on time, so that scenario was unlikely. 8: 0 1: 19 PM Mr. Hartkopf asked when they should expect to see children coming from Waterstone into the school system. Commissioner Gering said part of the permitting process was that the developer had to apply for and receive the Certificate that showed compliance with SAPFO, so that should assist the County and the School Board with capital planning. 8:02:40 PM Commissioner Lowen said when they had developers coming to them with projects, they should perhaps be thinking about asking those developers to donate or make available at a reasonable cost parcels for school sites. He asked how much land that would need to be. Dr. George McFarley responded that and elementary school needed 13 acres, 26 acres for a middle school, and 41 acres for a high school. He said that of course would depend on the size of the expected student capacity of 1,000 to 1,500 for the high school. 8:04:06 PM Mr. Whitling said they expected to need an elementary school first. Commissioner Lowen said then they would be interested in banking some land south of Town, since that was where the growth was projected. Mr. Whitling said yes, since logically children from Waterstone and Daniel Boone would need a school in that general area. 8:04:34 PM Mr. Triebel said the numbers Dr. McFarley had quoted were what a traditional elementary, middle, and high school would hold. Non-traditionally, he said, there were other ways to go about that particularly when there were constraints such as land. Mr. Triebel said there was some flexibility in the amount of land required. 8:05:22 PM Mr. Hartkopf said for example, if the required green space around a school would be waived they may be able to place a school on a smaller plot. 8:05:33 PM Mr. Triebel said banking land made since to the School Board because the price of land was rising and would continue to do so. So, he said, the idea of being able to bank land for future school sites made good fiscal sense. 8: 06: 18 PM Commissioner Hallman asked if any of the growth rates in the three schools were flat. Mr. Triebel said no, but there was some small room for growth in the middle schools. 8:06:36 PM Mr. Whitling said projections continued to grow each year, but the fastest growing group was elementary. He said they were not believing the projected numbers, because they indicated no new elementary schools for ten years, and he believed that would happen much sooner. 5 February 26, 2007 Monthly Workshop Approved: April 9, 2007 Page 6 of16 8:07:27 PM Commissioner Lowen said the western quadrant of the County was soon going to be slammed, because new homes were being built every day in that area. He asked how much land might be available at Gravely Hills, noting a soccer complex was proposed there. 8:08:56 PM Dr. Carraway said there was only a small parcel of land available, not enough for a school. Mr. Triebel said he believed it was 5-7 acres. Dr. Carraway said it was important to remember that SAPFO was based on historical data, and that no prognostications used to come up with the numbers were coming from anything in the future. She said it was all based on historically data and nothing that related to the growth in Mebane or other places was included in the calculations. 8:09:44 PM Ms. Medenblik said another issue was that SAPFO did not take into consideration was when things happened such as Abundant Life school closing down, which affected their numbers. 8: 10:22 PM Mr. Whitling said the reason the School Board was talking with the Town Board was to try to get ahead of the curve, and not wait until the growth takes place. 8:10:37 PM Ms. Hallman said that was important if they wanted to do what was best for the children. She said they could not wait until they reached capacity to act. 8: 11 :05 PM Mr. Whitling said one problem was that they did not have a facility large enough to house all of their staff, so staff was assigned to schools which took up space that could be used for students. He said if a school had a capacity of 700, the reality was that with the staff assigned there the capacity may be only 650. 8: 11 :28 PM Commissioner Lowen asked if there was a plan to rectify that. He said classroom space should be not taken up by staff. Mr. Whitling said they were aware of the problem, and had shifted some people around to alleviate some of that. He said it was a shell game, and they would soon run out of shells. 8: 12:08 PM Mayor Stevens asked was there a way to better incorporate that issue into the next phase of the Strategic growth Plan when they looked at land use. He said it seemed that this was one thing that needed to be built in. Mr. Whitling said he did not have a firm answer for that, or on the land banking issue. He said the other issue was finding the funds to bank the land. 8: 13:20 PM Commissioner Lowen said he believed the Town Board needed to keep these issues in the forefront of their thinking, particularly when developers come to the Town Board and propose developments. He said they needed to keep in mind the size of parcels the School Board would need to place a school. 8: 14: 08 PM Commissioner Gering agreed, noting it had to become a part of their financial picture. He said the Town needed to dedicate its water where people could live, attend school, and walk. 6 February 26, 2007 Monthly Workshop Approved: April 9, 2007 Page 7 of16 8:14:36 PM Mayor Stevens said those areas would likely be between 1-40 and 1-85, which would be more likely so that water would not have to be extended further out. 8: 14: 54 PM Commissioner Gering said there were tools the Town could use, such as the right of first refusal mentioned early. He said these were ideas the staff could work out and possibly the Town Board could implement them in the form of ordinances. Mr. Whitling said Chapel Hill had done just that. 8: 15:28 PM Ms. Hauth said the Town had that authority in the subdivision ordinance. She said if there were an adopted document that sited a school in the vicinity or within the boundaries of a proposed development, the ordinance provided a method for communication with the school to explore its interest. Ms. Hauth said it had never been used because they had no adopted plan that identified the potential location of schools. 8: 16:21 PM Mr. Hornik said that mechanism was built into State statutes and the Town's ordinance, in that if there was an identified site that was proposed for development the School Board had two years within which to acquire the property or else the developer could develop that property as proposed. He said that same mechanism was used by Chapel Hill, and they already had an adopted document identifying potential school sites. 8: 16: 57 PM Mayor Stevens said since the mechanism was already in place, the next step would be for the School Board to identify potential sites. He said the problem would then become how to purchase those sites. 8: 17:24 PM Mr. Hartkopf said regarding the use of educational space for staff, they had undertaken a space study to get a clear idea of what they needed and that would help to clarify what space could be freed up. He said the County would be moving into new space in the next couple of years, and they expected there would be a fair amount of office space becoming available at that time that was currently occupied by County agencies. Mr. Hartkopf said in his opinion it would come down to whether they wanted all their staff concentrated in one area, or whether it should be dispersed. He said they would have to decide if they wanted to occupy former County space and at what cost, or should they perhaps build a central office later on. 8:20:09 PM Commissioner Gering said he believed the County was unlikely to sell any land they currently owned, but the School Board could possibly occupy some of that vacated space. He said anything that could be done to occupy some of that County space that was not on the tax rolls was good. 8:20:30 PM Mayor Stevens said he had tried to make suggestions for use of property on Churton Street, which he believed should be returned for commercial use. So, he said, they were clearly advocates for reuse of property. Mayor Stevens said it also may be possible to share some space. 7 February 26, 2007 Monthly Workshop Approved: April 9, 2007 Page 8 of16 8:21: 11 PM Commissioner Lloyd said the County Planning Department would be moving out of the Carr Building, and that was a sizable space that would perhaps be available. 8:21:4 7 PM Commissioner Lowen said there would be a lot of shuffling around by the County when they occupied the new space, so they would likely have to wait until that took place before they knew what would be available. He commented that the Town Board would soon need a larger space for town meetings, so perhaps they should be looking at space as well. 8:22: 18 PM Mayor Stevens summarized that site planning was the big issue, and part of that was moving forward beginning to identify possible sites for schools. He said the School Board's and the Town's attorneys as well as the staffs should begin talks to that end. 8:22:54 PM Commissioner Hallman said he believed the Town should share its Sidewalk Plan with the School Board. He said obviously schools were of primary concern. Commissioner Hallman said regarding the status of the pedestrian bridge over 1-40 to widen Orange Grove Road, they had thought they had the okay from DOT to go ahead with that, but now it was in a feasibility study. Mr. Whitling asked if that was in the Town's jurisdiction. Commissioner Hallman said no, it was on the list of items to be funded on the MPO, but it was slowed down when it came to funding. 8:23:59 PM Mr. Whitling said a concern of the School Board's was the extreme traffic going over that bridge. Commissioner Hallman said he and Commissioner Alice Gordon had both brought that up as a high priority to DOT, and they hoped that after the feasibility study it would move along more quickly. 8:24:37 PM Ms. Hallman said that many students at Orange High School and Sanford were concerned about the traffic, because many of them tried to walk but they could not do so safely. Commissioner Hallman said he believed the problem was the DOT standards for county roads were swales and no sidewalks. 8:25: 10 PM Mr. Triebel said in terms of overpasses and sidewalks, if there was something the Town Board and the School Board could do legislatively, then perhaps they should work on a joint resolution or joint letters to push the issues. 8:25:56 PM Mayor Stevens said he saw many nodding heads from Board members, so he believed they would be supportive of that. 8:26: 16 PM Mr. Whitling thanked the Town Board for inviting the School Board to attend tonight's meeting. He said it had been most helpful to get input from the Town Board. Mayor Stevens thanked the School Board for attending, and commented they had benefited from the School Board's input as well. 8:27:08 PM Ms. Medenblik encouraged everyone to volunteer to work with the School system, noting there was nothing more gratifying that working with children. She said there were many volunteer opportunities. 8 February 26, 2007 Monthly Workshop Approved: April 9, 2007 Page 9 of16 8:27:38 PM Mayor Stevens announced the Town Board would take a short break. 4. Committee Updates and Reports 8:30:43 PM Commissioner Gering said he had attended the Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) meeting, and announced that Holly Reid was one of the nominations approved as an alternative to the special T AC, contingent on whether the Raleigh MPOA agreed that alternates were appropriate for the process. Commissioner Gering said there was a lot of discussion on how the MPOA could collaborate with the local delegations and other MPOAs to address the problems caused by the State in cutting back on transportation funding. He said the State would double in population in about ten years, and the spending on infrastructure was going the opposite way. Commissioner Gering said they were attempting to better organize to get that message out. 8:32:07 PM Commissioner Dancy said she had attended the Orange County-Chapel Hill Visitor's Bureau meeting, noting they had again met with the Jennings group. She said they would soon be meeting with the Hillsborough visitors group. 8:32:27 PM Commissioner Lowen said he and Commissioner Gering had attended the Highway 70/Cornelus Street Committee Task Force meeting, and complimented Planner Stephanie Trueblood on her excellent work in putting together a draft document for discussion and consideration. He said one of the recommendations was possibly looking at a subcommittee to explore the possibility of forming an economic development corporation. 8:33:34 PM Commissioner Hallman suggested that they recognize the EDC and what they had done, noting they had worked hard and got little recognition. Commissioner Lowen agreed, as did Mayor Stevens. 8:34:34 PM Commissioner Gering said the recommendations that were coming out of the Cornelius Street Task Force included a list of items specifically tasked to the EDC, so they very much had a strong role to play. 8: 3 5: 11 PM Commissioner Hallman said there was an Intergovernmental Parks Work Group meeting on Wednesday, and they were expecting to get the County-wide Parks Master Plan and have a discussion on how to leverage the use of recreation facilities at the public schools. 8:35:34 PM Commissioner Lowen said he had wanted to approach the School Board about that, noting that there appeared to be limited time at the recreation center for children to have for basketball and other sports. He said many people had asked why the gyms were not available at night or on weekends, and did not understand the Town had no say in that. Commissioner Lowen said it seemed that it was something that could be accomplished. 8:36:48 PM Commissioner Hallman said he had obtained the rental rates for facilities, and they appeared to be fairly inexpensive. 9 February 26, 2007 Monthly Workshop Approved: April 9, 2007 Page 10 of16 5. Update from the Town Manager on the Code Red Reverse 911 System Implementation 8: 3 9: 15 PM Mr. Peterson said the staff had received training on the system, and those authorized had received their launch codes. He said data was being entered, and water and sewer billing information would soon be loaded to boost the amount of phone numbers available. Mr. Peterson said the next step would be to run a test. He said that would begin to educate everyone in Town about the new system, and help advertise the new system. Mr. Peterson said they would advertise the date and time, and let people know that if they did not get a phone call then they could access the web site and update their information or call the Town. For instance, he said people could add their cell phone numbers to the system if they choose. Mr. Peterson said they would increase their database of accurate phone numbers. Mr. Peterson said at the March 26 workshop, they would like to provide dinner for the Town Board from 6:00 to 6:45 PM, and at approximately 6:45 have Assistant Manager Demetric Potts and Fire Marshal Jerry Wagner provide a demonstration on exactly how the system worked, and then actually launch the test of the system during the Board meeting. He said that would be advertised in a citizen newsletter that would soon do out, and as they got closer to the date they would issue a press release with more detailed information. Mr. Peterson commented that the system could make up to 50,000 calls in an hour. 8:43:23 PM Commissioner Lowen asked if they would actually encourage residents to sign up for the system, asking if the press release would be to announce the test and encourage residents to either sign up via the web site or call the Town. Mr. Peterson responded yes, that their goal was to get as many valid phone numbers into the system as possible. He said it was an individual's choice to add their phone numbers or cell numbers to the system. 8:44:49 PM Commissioner Lloyd asked if the test could take place at 7:00 PM or later to allow her to participate. She asked who to call to add her numbers to the system. Mr. Peterson said he had authorized the hiring of a temporary employee to come in the week of the test to answer the phones and take the information to include them in the system. He said it was possible that person may need to work up to a month. Mr. Peterson said they were not yet ready to have people call the Town to add their numbers, but a system would soon be in place to accommodate that. 8:47:03 PM Mayor Stevens said the short answer was that a live test would be conducted on March 26, and then a process would be developed to expedite people adding their numbers to the system. Mr. Peterson said that would be ongoing as well, in that soon people could add their information via a link on the Town's web site. 8:4 7:49 PM Commissioner Hallman asked if the company had estimated what percent coverage the Town should get after implementing the system. Mr. Peterson said the Town had about 2800 residential units, with about 5,000 out of Town. He said the first draft of the system came up with 2601 systems, and when other information had been loaded the number was up to 10 February 26, 2007 Monthly Workshop Approved: April 9, 2007 Page 11 of16 6,000+. Mr. Peterson said one of the reasons for the test was to test the data and see how many of those numbers were no longer valid 8:48:53 PM Commissioner Dancy asked if this system would be used not only for water or sewer alerts but for any emergency situation. She said she could imagine some emergencies that people would not want to be informed of. Mr. Peterson said the system could be used for a hazardous materials spill or perhaps even an Amber Alert, and that would be something they would want to alert the community about, but others may be municipal related only. He said the system would allow them to alert just the Town limits or the water limits, just certain areas like the West Hillsborough community, and if there was a hazardous materials incident they could alert just the affected areas. Mr. Peterson said when Mr. Potts and Mr. Wagner administered the test, many of these types of details would be explained to the Board. 8:50:31 PM Commissioner Dancy said the more information given to the public about the uses of the system, the more apt they would be to want to be included. Mr. Peterson said they would certainly advertise what those uses might be. 8: 51: 00 PM Commissioner Gering asked if the web interface was designed to protect personal information. Mr. Peterson said the only access the public would have would be to the link that would allow them to access the form to include their numbers on the system. He added that the system would likely undergo some adjustments once it was tested, but believed it would be a tremendous asset to the Town. Mr. Peterson said a critical component would be the press release sent out a week or so before the test. 8:52: 17 PM Commissioner Lowen said Duke Energy bills had a section of the invoice where a customer could update their information. He said perhaps in the future our water and sewer billing could do the same to assist in updating the Reverse 911 system. Commissioner Lowen suggested that when people came in to pay their bills perhaps the staff could ask if the customer's information was correct. Mr. Peterson said that was a good suggestion. On another subject, Mr. Peterson said he had received a call on Friday from the United Way to announce that the Town had received a couple of awards from the last campaign. He said they had received the Community Care Funds Award, and Police Chief Clarence Birkhead had received the Campaign Leader of the Year Award. Mr. Peterson said the Town was the only organization in the Triangle to receive two awards, and it was only the second time in the history of the United Way that an organization had received two awards. He said there would be an awards ceremony on April to recognize award winners. Mr. Peterson congratulated Chief Birkhead on the Town's successful campaign. Mr. Peterson said on Friday Town Clerk Donna Armbrister would be mailing out the new Travel Policy. He said all the departments had collaborated on the new policy. Mr. Peterson stated that Judge Joe Buckner had met with him to discuss the challenges with the Courtroom space and how to address that. He said they had been searching for possible venues to temporarily locate different parts of the court process. Mr. Peterson said Joe Buckner had 11 February 26, 2007 Monthly Workshop Approved: April 9, 2007 Page 12 of 16 indicated it would be very helpful if the court could use the Town Barn on a semi-regular basis for the next 18 to 24 months for hearings such as civil litigation. Mr. Peterson stated that Judge Buckner had indicated that they would be flexible so that if the courts usage of the facility became too much of a burden, they would make other arrangements. He said other considerations had to be considered, such as cleaning the facility. Mr. Peterson said they had a cleaning crew come in weekly, but the County had indicated they would be wiling to pay for extra cleaning during that time. He said it was his intention to do what was necessary to accommodate the court system during that time. 8:57:26 PM Mayor Stevens said he did not believe any of the Boar members objected to the courts using the Town Barn, and thanked Mr. Peterson for working with Judge Buckner. 6. Update from Chief Birkhead on Police Department Operations 8:57:46 PM Police Chief Clarence Birkhead said the Town Board had submitted a list of questions about the Police Department and its operations to the Town Manager, and the response to those questions had been included in tonight's agenda materials. He said they were now at full staff with the recent recruitment of an additional officer. Chief Birkhead said the Department would be up for reaccredidation through CALEA in April of this year, and he had placed several members of the Department on special assignment to help prepare for a successful review. Chief Birkhead said they currently had 29 full-time employees, and a breakdown of where those individuals were assigned was at the bottom of the first page of the agenda materials. Regarding vehicles and vehicle mileage, he remarked that many of their vehicles carried high mileage but were still in good operating condition, and he attributed that to the hard work of the motor pool supervisor and his staff. Chief Birkhead said they purchased vehicles each year and had two new vehicles on order now. He said he hoped to take deliver in the next three to four weeks. 9: 0 1: 15 PM Commissioner Hallman asked if those included the decoy vehicles. Chief Birkhead responded yes. 9:01:22 PM Commissioner Lloyd asked how many decoy vehicles the Department had now. Chief Birkhead replied two. He said one was used primarily as an administrative vehicle but could be used as a decoy vehicle when needed. Commissioner Lloyd asked if vehicles were rotated, in that one shift would use two or three cars and another shift would use others. Chief Birkhead said their fleet was not that strong, noting that most of the time the cars were used 24/7. 9:03 :05 PM Commissioner Lloyd said she wanted to be careful about the grant money used. Chief Birkhead stated they had not yet received the vehicles purchased with the grant funds, but they were on order. 12 February 26, 2007 Monthly Workshop Approved: April 9, 2007 Page 13 of 16 9: 04: 19 PM Commissioner Dancy asked who else would be trained to use the motorcycle. She said she was concerned about the utilization of the motorcycle and how it would be used. Commissioner Dancy said one person could not operate it 24/7, and she believed it could be used in the Fairview area on the weekends. Chief Birkhead said they planned to train two officers to use the motorcycle at minimum, and possibly up to four in the future. She said they would give them 24/7 coverage. 9:05:48 PM Commissioner Dancy said videos were used in many of the cars, and asked would that be possible with the motorcycle. Chief Birkhead said they could, but that was a budget issue. Commissioner Dancy said the cameras were for the protection of the officers as well as for people being arrested or pulled by an officer. She said the motorcycle should be utilized as best it could. Commissioner Dancy asked how the motorcycle might be used during special events or on the weekends. Chief Birkhead said it was not just for sporadic use, but would be used at all times. He said primarily it would be used to respond to traffic accidents or traffic congestion. Chief Birkhead said it would certainly be used for special events, school projects, community outreach, and others. 9:09:29 PM Commissioner Hallman asked about the advantages of assigning one officer to each car, and asked if that was something the Chief aimed for as a goal. Chief Birkhead stated this was not a particular goal. He said if they had more officers who lived in the Town limits, he would encourage it the Manager to consider that. Chief Birkhead said only 4 or 5 officers lived within the Town limits or the ETJ. 9:10:18 PM Mr. Peterson said it would be nice to have a vehicle assigned to each officer, but that was a matter of what the Town could afford. He said every year it came down to building a sidewalk or buying two Police vehicles. Mr. Peterson said if the Board wanted to create an incentive for officers to live in Town by offering to assign them a take-home vehicle that may have additional benefits. He said they could be discussed during budget deliberations. 9: 11 :08 PM Commissioner Lloyd said she had received complaints that the substation was locked when visited. She said she had been told that teenagers came out of the woods at dusk at Torain Street and Rainey Avenue selling drugs, and had heard that Lunsford's was worse. Commissioner Lloyd said they had worked hard to get the Fairview substation, and it was suppose to help lower the crime rate. She said she wanted to see the substation used, noting that the presence of officers was reassuring. Commissioner Lloyd said if criminals knew that the substation was not being staffed, they would take advantage of that. She said just the presence of Police vehicles would help. 9: 17:40 PM Chief Birkhead said the situation regarding the teenagers described by Commissioner Lloyd had already been brought to his attention. He said they had begun concentrating there efforts in one area, and it was now shifting to the area described. Chief Birkhead said the investigators in Narcotics were on top of that, and they had already had some directed patrols. He said they would combat the problem in a number of ways. 13 February 26, 2007 Monthly Workshop Approved: April 9, 2007 Page 14 of16 9:18:29 PM Commissioner Lloyd said she believed if there were someone in the substation then reaction time would be quicker if an officer were needed. Chief Birkhead said the substation was staffed during the day, five days a week. He said a high school student and a NC Central student were interning with the Department, and they were located there was well. 9:20:25 PM through 25. process. Chief Birkhead said regarding the CALEA process, it was scheduled for April 21 He said reaccredidation was performed every three years, and was a rigorous 9:21:43 PM Commissioner Lowen commented that he believed the Town board continued to support as it had in the past the CALEA process, but it concerned him that every three years they had to go through a shuffling of staff. He said that begged the question was there something they could be better so that would not have to happen. Commissioner Lowen said he understood that there had been past staffing issues, but suggested that someone be appointed as the Accreditation Manager, so that over time that person could keep things in order. Chief Birkhead said as they moved forward, he cold assure the Town Board that they would not be in the same position three years from now. He said they were now making exceptions to assignments to get through the current process, but that would be solved in the future. 9:23:27 PM Commissioner Lloyd suggested that Chief Birkhead occasionally wear his uniform when attending Town meetings. She said it would help the public identify him as the Police Chief. 9:25:09 PM Mayor Stevens thanked Chief Birkhead for his response to the Town Board's questions and his willingness to share areas of perceived deficiencies. 7. Discuss How Best to Respond to Citizen E-mails Sent to the Board of Commissioners 9:25:44 PM Commissioner Hallman said he had requested that this be placed on the agenda, and since that time those emails had trickled to nonexistent. He said they had been generated by the State of the Town address. Commissioner Hallman said he wondered if when such emails were responded to, that the Town Board was copied on it so they would know a response had been sent. He said he had responded to a couple of them but had not copied anyone on the response. 9:26:52 PM Commissioner Lowen asked the Mayor how he responded to such emails or phone calls, noting he certainly would receive more than the Town Board and was probably put on the spot more often. Mayor Stevens said when he was called directly the returned the call. He said when a letter was received address to the Town Board he would take responsibility to respond to it and copy the Board, or would ask one of the Board members to respond. Mayor Stevens said for example, if a letter was regarding tourism, he would forward that the Board member who was involved in that for a response. 9:29:21 PM Commissioner Dancy said regarding the notice from Ms. Armbrister that a citizen had requested the Town Board's email addresses, she asked had any of the Board members 14 February 26, 2007 Monthly Workshop Approved: April 9, 2007 Page 15 of16 responded. Commissioner Gering said he had. Mr. Hornik said he had responded to Ms. Armbrister. He said that if the Town Board members had personal email addresses that were used for Town business, then such an email was public record. 9:31: 13 PM Mayor Stevens asked what requirements did hey need to be aware of. He said he assumed that even trivial emailsweepartofthepublicrecord.Mr. Hornik said some municipalities had elected officials set up email addresses that were only for Town business, and said he would investigate that. He said that would address the public records issue. 9:32:22 PM Commissioner Hallman said he would like to have a town email address, but a different tact would be to save everything and not put anything in an email that you would not want everyone to read. Mr. Hornik said that was important to remember, in that when dealing with town business it was the public's business. 9:32:52 PM Commissioner Dancy mentioned confidential emailssentbytheAttorney.Mr. Hornik said he tried to be very careful when he sent the Town Board emails and made sure that the communication was clearly marked as confidential or Attorney/Client privileged information. 9:33: 11 PM Mayor Stevens asked if such an email could then be deleted because the Attorney would have a copy of it. Commissioner Gering said the question was did the Board members have an obligation to archive such an email ontheirowncomputer.Mr. Hornik said he would research the legal obligation to archive such emails. Commissioner Gering said if they were obligated, he absolutely would not be using his private email accounts. 9:33 :39 PM Commissioner Lowen agreed, saving that rightfully so the Town should do that. He said several of the Board used their work email addresses because that was where they were during the day. He said they needed to discuss this issue in more detail, noting that if the Town had an email server and the Town Board had an email address it would be easier to manage as far as archiving because it would be on the server. 9:35:46 PM Ms. Armbrister commented that she would be forwarding the Board members some materials on this issue very soon. She mentioned that emails received from the Town Attorney, just because they were dealing with Town business did not make it Town business. For instance, Ms. Armbrister said, emails regarding Closed Session discussions were not public emails. 9:36:04 PM Ms. Hauth remarked that staff were looking at what steps needed to be taken to expand the capability to get the Town Board email addressed. She said hey would be considering that as they expanded and made improvements to the system. 9:36:58 PM Commissioner Lloyd said she was getting letters in opposition to a project, and asked if those should be shared with the Town Board. Mr. Hornik said they should be part of the public record for that project. 9:37:20 PM Commissioner Gering said that had happened to him recently, and he had brought toe letter to the Board meeting, disclosed that he had received it, and turned it over so it could be 15 February 26, 2007 Monthly Workshop Approved: April 9, 2007 Page 16 of 16 entered into the public record. Mr. Hornik said such letters should be submitted as part of the quasi-judicial process. 9:37:42 PM Commissioner Lowen asked how you would make a phone call part of the public record. Mr. Hornik suggested disclosing the call or calls at the Board meeting, and a brief description of its contents, such as the caller was for or against an issue. 9:38:24 PM Commissioner Lloyd said she had been invited by a developer to view a project, which she did not accept. She said she had informed the developer that if she accepted the invitation, she would have to disclose that to the Board, and he had said she did not have to do so. Mr. Hornik disagreed, noting that since that visit would likely become part of her decision- making process she would have to disclose it to the Board and to the public. 8. View Chapel Hill Orange County Visitor's Bureau "Welcome to Orange County" DVD (6:00 minutes) 9:41:12 PM The Board viewed the 6-minute DVD entitled 'Welcome to Orange County" prior to entering into the Closed Session. 9. Closed Session to Discuss 1) Asphalt Plant Litigation, 2) Personnel Matters Upon a motion by Commissioner Hallman, seconded by Commissioner Gering, the Board moved to enter into Closed Session by a vote of 5-0. The motioned was declared passed. 10. Other Upon returning to Open Session, there was no other business discussed. 11. Adjourn 10:50:00 PM Upon a motion by Commissioner Lowen, seconded by Commissioner Hallman, the Board moved to adjourn the meting by a vote of 5-0. The motion was declared passed. Respectfully submitted, Donna F. Armbrister, MMC Town Clerk 16