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Business Meeting

Orange County · Board of County Commissioners
Tuesday, October 1, 2024

Regular meeting Contracts and procurementPublic facilitiesTax rate and revaluationBudget and appropriationsFire and EMSPolice and public safetyCivil rights and nondiscriminationHealth and human servicesAnnexationEnvironment and sustainabilityFaith and cultural communitiesHousing and affordabilityIntergovernmental agreementsParks and recreationRoads and transportationStormwater and floodingTransitWater and sewerZoning text amendment

Agenda document Minutes Watch Meeting recap

What was decided

  1. Approved 4.aDisability Employment Awareness Month Proclamation Approved unanimously
  2. Approved 4.bDomestic Violence Awareness Month Proclamation Approved unanimously
  3. Approved 4.cHispanic Heritage Month Proclamation Approved unanimously
  4. Approved 4.dResolution Calling on Governor Roy Cooper to Commute All North Carolina Death Sentences to Prison Terms Approved unanimously
  5. Approved 4.eFire Prevention Week Proclamation Approved unanimously
  6. Approved 5.aUnified Development Ordinance Text Amendment - Landscaping Standards Approved unanimously
  7. Approved 6.aGreene Tract - Community Engagement, Master Plan, and Next Steps Approved unanimously
  8. Approved 6.bChild Care Subsidy Assistance Update Approved 4-3 (McKee, Fowler, Greene, Hamilton for; Portie-Ascott, Richards, Bedford against)
  9. Approved 6.cNew Piedmont Food Processing Center Management Agreement Approved unanimously

Another 10 items passed on the consent agenda, which is a single motion covering routine business. See the list.

Read from the agenda's recorded outcomes. Where the board published minutes, those are the record — this is a pointer to them.

What's on this agenda

Orange County commissioners are due to decide whether to keep covering child care subsidy parent fees the county already pays alone in the state, a new five-year contract for the Piedmont Food Processing Center, and next steps for the Greene Tract's affordable-housing master plan.

The board is also holding public hearings on landscaping rules in its development ordinance and on the county's 2025 property reappraisal schedule, ahead of a consent agenda covering tax refunds, ambulance and defibrillator purchases, and lease renewals.

Summarized from the published agenda. Read the agenda itself before acting on it.

Meeting recap

What happened, drawn from the records published after the meeting. Minutes

Commissioners split 4-3 to keep paying child care subsidies rather than start a waiting list. The board will spend $726,000 more a year to add up to 12 children a month after ending its parent-fee program. McKee, Fowler, Greene and Hamilton voted yes; Portie-Ascott, Richards and Bedford wanted to keep charging parent fees and expand capacity by the same amount at a higher cost instead.

The board also backed the Greene Tract master plan, which calls for 465 to 670 housing units on county land inside Chapel Hill's planning area. It signed a new five-year contract keeping Piedmont Food Processing Center as manager of the county's shared commercial kitchen, after a year of talks over accountability at the nonprofit. Landscaping changes to the development ordinance passed unanimously. The tax office previewed a 2025 reappraisal expected to raise residential values about 43% and commercial values about 23%; the board adopts that schedule October 15.

How the votes went

All votes were unanimous except the child care subsidy vote, which passed 4-3. Commissioners McKee, Fowler, Greene and Hamilton voted to end parent fees and add capacity for up to 12 more children a month. Commissioners Portie-Ascott and Richards and Chair Bedford voted no, preferring to keep charging parent fees while adding the same capacity at higher cost.

From the published minutes.

Speaking at this meeting

Orange County's own rules for public comment — check them before you rely on anything here.

Jump to an item (25 on this agenda)
  1. 1Additions or Changes to the Agenda
  2. 2Public Comments
  3. 3Announcements, Petitions and Comments by Board Members
  4. 4.aDisability Employment Awareness Month Proclamation
  5. 4.bDomestic Violence Awareness Month Proclamation
  6. 4.cHispanic Heritage Month Proclamation
  7. 4.dResolution Calling on Governor Roy Cooper to Commute All North Caroli…
  8. 4.eFire Prevention Week Proclamation
  9. 5.aUnified Development Ordinance Text Amendment - Landscaping Standards
  10. 5.bPublic Hearing on the 2025 Reappraisal Proposed Schedules of Rules, S…
  11. 6.aGreene Tract - Community Engagement, Master Plan, and Next Steps
  12. 6.bChild Care Subsidy Assistance Update
  13. 6.cNew Piedmont Food Processing Center Management Agreement
  14. 8.bMotor Vehicle Property Tax Releases/Refunds
  15. 8.cProperty Tax Releases/Refunds
  16. 8.dLate Applications for Property Tax Exemption/Exclusion
  17. 8.eFiscal Year 2024-25 Purchase of Six LIFEPAK 15 Monitor/Defibrillators
  18. 8.fFiscal Year 2024-25 Ambulance Purchase
  19. 8.gNorth Carolina Forest Service Lease of a Portion of the Bonnie B. Dav…
  20. 8.hRenewal of County's Lease of 115 East King Street, Hillsborough for t…
  21. 8.iConstruction Bid Award for the Motor Pool, Maintenance Shop, and Publ…
  22. 8.jApproval of a Revised Professional Engineering Services Contract with…
  23. 8.kSoccer.com Center - Naming Rights Agreement Renewal
  24. 8.mApproval of Board of Commissioners Meeting Calendar for Year 2025
  25. 9County Manager's Report

Agenda items (25)

Consent agenda · 10Procedural · 4Proclamation or recognition · 4Resolution · 2Ordinance · 1Public hearing · 1Budget action · 1Contract or award · 1Staff or committee report · 1
  1. 1 Additions or Changes to the Agenda
    Procedural
    Chair Bedford pulled consent item 8-l, the Fire Prevention Week proclamation, for separate consideration as item 4-e.
  2. 2 Public Comments
    Procedural
    No one signed up to speak on matters outside the printed agenda.
  3. 3 Announcements, Petitions and Comments by Board Members
    Procedural Intergovernmental agreementsTransit
    Commissioners thanked staff and first responders sent to help after Hurricane Helene and gave updates on regional boards, including NCACC legislative goals and GoTriangle leadership.
  4. 4.a Disability Employment Awareness Month Proclamation
    Proclamation or recognition Civil rights and nondiscrimination
    The board proclaimed October 2024 Disability Employment Awareness Month in Orange County.
    Approved unanimously
  5. 4.b Domestic Violence Awareness Month Proclamation
    Proclamation or recognition Health and human servicesPolice and public safety
    The board proclaimed October 2024 Domestic Violence Awareness Month, citing at least two Orange County residents killed by a partner or family member so far this year.
    Approved unanimously
  6. 4.c Hispanic Heritage Month Proclamation
    Proclamation or recognition Faith and cultural communities
    The board proclaimed September 15 through October 15, 2024 Hispanic Heritage Month; a county language and community specialist read the proclamation in Spanish.
    Approved unanimously
  7. 4.d Resolution Calling on Governor Roy Cooper to Commute All North Carolina Death Sentences to Prison Terms
    Resolution Civil rights and nondiscrimination
    The board asked Governor Cooper to commute all 136 North Carolina death sentences to prison terms, citing racial bias findings and wrongful convictions. Representatives of the NC Commission for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, mid-way through a 136-mile walk to Raleigh, spoke in support.
    Approved unanimously
  8. 4.e Fire Prevention Week Proclamation
    Proclamation or recognition Fire and EMSPolice and public safety
    The board proclaimed October 6-12, 2024 Fire Prevention Week. This item was pulled from the consent agenda (originally 8-l) for separate consideration.
    Approved unanimously
  9. 5.a Unified Development Ordinance Text Amendment - Landscaping Standards
    Ordinance Environment and sustainabilityZoning text amendment
    The board held a public hearing, took no public comment, and approved county-initiated amendments to the UDO's landscaping, buffer and tree protection standards, with two added wording changes.
    Approved unanimously
  10. 5.b Public Hearing on the 2025 Reappraisal Proposed Schedules of Rules, Standards, and Values
    Public hearing Tax rate and revaluation
    The board heard a staff presentation on the 2025 property reappraisal, projected to raise countywide residential values about 43% and commercial values about 23%. No one signed up to speak; the board is scheduled to adopt the schedule of values October 15.
  11. 6.a Greene Tract - Community Engagement, Master Plan, and Next Steps
    Resolution AnnexationHousing and affordabilityStormwater and flooding
    Consultants presented a community-backed master plan for the county-owned Greene Tract calling for 465 to 670 housing units, plus commercial space, parks and stormwater facilities, ahead of zoning approval and annexation into Chapel Hill. Three residents spoke: one asked the board to require a thick tree buffer along Phoenix Place, one objected that planned through-roads undercut the site's stated preservation goals, and one praised the community engagement process.
    Approved unanimously
  12. 6.b Child Care Subsidy Assistance Update
    Budget action Budget and appropriationsHealth and human services
    Orange County is the only county still covering low-income parents' child care fees; staff said continuing to do so would force a waiting list. The board chose to end parent fees and add up to 12 children a month instead, at an added cost of $726,000.
    Approved 4-3 (McKee, Fowler, Greene, Hamilton for; Portie-Ascott, Richards, Bedford against)
  13. 6.c New Piedmont Food Processing Center Management Agreement
    Contract or award Contracts and procurement
    The board approved a new five-year agreement for Piedmont Food Processing Center to keep managing the county's shared commercial kitchen, following a year of talks over accountability that added resident discount options and clearer equipment and insurance terms.
    Approved unanimously
  1. 8.m Approval of Board of Commissioners Meeting Calendar for Year 2025
    Procedural
    The board approved its 2025 meeting schedule.
    Approved unanimously as part of the consent agenda
  2. 9 County Manager's Report
    Staff or committee report Police and public safety
    The manager reported that all Orange County emergency services personnel deployed to help with Hurricane Helene had returned except the emergency services director, due back October 6.

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