BC 2007 06 04 Wk. Session - Laserfiche WebLink

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June 4, 2007 (Work Session) Page 393 Jonathan Marshall, Commerce Director, commented on the two aspects of the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance - the draft ordinance and the resolutions adopted in the past establishing the percentage of mitigation developers are asked to voluntarily contribute based on the capital costs incurred by the County for school construction. He also reported Commissioners Mynatt and Privette attended a recent stakeholders meeting held to receive input from the community on possible changes to the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance and possible increase of the mitigation amount. He recommended the resolution be updated to include the new capital costs established by the TishlerBise study; remove the voluntary mitigation payment ' figures from the draft ordinance; and readopt the voluntary mitigation amount annually based on a multiplier to be provided by TishlerBise. Mike Downs, Deputy County Manager, pointed out the draft ordinance does not contain a provision that would allow the Board to postpone development until adequate school seats are available. Mr. Marshall explained the draft ordinance is set up so if schools are found to be inadequate in years 2 through 15 of the 15 Year Plan, it allows the developer to propose mitigation, to schedule mitigation as well as make mitigation payments. He said if the Board only wants to allow scheduling, then the language of the draft will need to be changed. Commissioner Mynatt commented on the possibility of adopting the resolution now and adopting the ordinance at a later time. A general discussion ensued. At the request of Chairman Carruth, Mr. Downs provided an update on the results of a recent stakeholders meeting. Highlights of his report included the following: the stakeholder members included representatives of the area Building Association, Realtors' Association, municipalities, the Chamber of Commerce, both school districts and several at-large members; the discussion was very informative; the realtors and builders were opposed to any increase in the voluntary mitigation payment; the stakeholders would like to make the voluntary mitigation payment when the house is sold; the stakeholders would like to receive preliminary approval from the Board early in the process or ' at the time the preliminary plat is submitted rather than waiting until the end of the process when considerable time and expense has already been expended; and the municipalities realize there is a growth problem and each was willing to make a commitment to resolve the issue. Commissioner Mynatt also addressed additional concerns from the stakeholders such as: the affect on existing homeowners buying a new home within Cabarrus County; and getting an additional tax dedicated to roads and schools approved. There was also a general discussion on the location of county regulations regarding traffic impact analysis, possible impacts on developers, the solution to the problem needs to be multifaceted and demand for houses, etc. UPON MOTION of Vice Chairman Juba, seconded by Com:c~i ssioner Mynatt and unanimously carried, the Board voted to place the APFO policy changes on the June 18, 2007 agenda as a New Business item and further agreed to address the draft ordinance changes at a later date. Mr. Day suggested drafting changes to the draft ordinance that addresses some of the issues raised by the stakeholders and convening an additional stakeholders meeting to let them view the changes and provide feedback. Emercenev Medical Services - Ambulance Billing Process ' Mike Downs, Deputy County Manager, introduced David Hampton, Director of Emergency Medical Services, Margaret Selby with the County's Finance Department and Philip Averett with EMS Management & Consultants, Inc. Mr. Downs reported a study had been conducted of the ambulance billing process; staff is currently collecting approximately 50-52 percent of the ambulance bills; and an additional employee was added to the department several years ago to help increase payment collections, but the collection rate has not improved. He further reported the Department proposes to outsource the ambulance billing and contracting with EMS Management & Consultants, Inc., for a one-year contract which includes an 8 percent fee based on collections. Finally, he reported the fee is inline with what other counties pay and identified several counties that use this firm.