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May 23, 2007 (Recessed Meeting) Page 383 The Board of Commissioners for the County of Cabarrus met in recessed session in the Multipurpose Room at the Cabarrus County Governmental Center in Concord, North Carolina on Wednesday, May 23, 2007 at 5:00 p.m. Present - Chairman: - Robert W. Carruth Vice Chairman: Joni D. Juba Commissioners: Grace M. Mynatt Coy C. Privette H. Jay White, Sr. ' Also present were John Day, County Manager; Mike Downs, Deputy County Manager; Pam Dubois, Deputy County Manager; Loretta Lee, Budget and Performance Manager; Kay Honeycutt, Clerk to the Board; and Lori Hinson, Deputy Clerk to the Board. Call to Order Chairman Carruth called the meeting to order at 5:06 p.m. Several Cabarrus County Board of Education (CCBOE) members were present; therefore, Vice Chair Holly Blackwelder, called the school board meeting to order. Approval of Agenda UPON MOTION of Commissioner Privette, seconded by Commissioner Mynatt and unanimously carried, the Board approved the agenda as presented. Cabarrus County Schools Dr. Harold Winkler, Cabarrus County School Superintendent, presented a PowerPoint presentation entitled, "Cabarrus County Schools - Budget Fiscal Year 2007-2008". Topics covered in the presentation included the following: changing demographics, the increase of an at-risk population; Title 1 schools, growth projections, graduation/drop-out rates, local salary supplement comparisons, safe schools, unfunded mandates, need for more ' activity buses and support of the FY 07-08 County budget. Dr. Winkler responded to a variety of questions throughout the presentation. There was a general discussion on the following topics: pending legislation related to absorption of the cost of personal days for teachers; the need for three activity buses at Hickory Ridge High School; the number of different athletic conferences teams have to regularly attend in many different locations; and possible efforts to get the North Carolina High School Athletic Association to change the sporting redistricting to help curb fuel costs. Recess of Meetin The Board took a short recess at 5:50 p.m. The meeting reconvened at 6:00 p.m. Public Hearino on Proposed FY 07-OS County Budget Chairman Carruth opened the public hearing on the proposed FY 07-08 budget at 6:00 p.m. The Public Hearing Notice was published in THE INDEPENDENT TRIBUNE on May 11 and 18, 2007 and in THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER (Cabarrus Neighbors) on May 13 and 17, 2007. Chris Kouri, General Counsel and Director of Community Relations for Lowe's Motor Speedway, expressed concern about development pressure from rampant residential growth and emphasized that raising property taxes is not the solution to keeping up with providing adequate public services and facilities. He said emphasis should be placed on alternative ways to keep up with the services such as: the Adequate Public Facilities fees, planned growth and increasing recruitment efforts to encourage industrial/commercial growth. He also said the County must look for creative ways to fund road improvements since the State has not been very helpful. Next, he commented on the rising costs for fuel, healthcare and higher education that race fans and county citizens are experiencing. He said if other alternatives are not found, the quality of life will decline in Cabarrus County. In closing, he said Lowe's Motor Speedway would like to team up with the County to develop creative ways to keep the County healthy, strong and growing in a positive way.