BC 1999 06 21 - Laserfiche WebLink

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249 UPON MOTION of Commissioner Casper, seconded by Commissioner Fennel and unanimously carried, the Board approved the road name change (Petition 99-04) of an unnamed road to Gold Rush Drive. Conduct Public Hearinq on the Proposed FY 1999-2000 Cabarrus County Budqet and Consider Adoption of Proposed Budqet Ordinance -6:30 p.m. At 7:03 p.m., Chairman Barnhart opened the public hearing on the proposed FY 2000 Cabarrus County Budget and asked if anyone wished to speak either for or against the proposed budget. The Notice of the Public Hearing was published in THE INDEPENDENT TRIBUNE on May 23 and June 7, 1999 and in THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER (Cabarrus Neighbors) on May 23 and June 10, 1999. Mr. Carl Hill stated in his opinion the citizens of Cabarrus County have experienced a loss of credibility in the School Board. He called for accountability by the School Board in land purchases, planning, architectural services, construction and the equipping of new schools. Mr. Hill questioned the need to build schools to last 80 years and recommended the appointment of a citizen's oversight committee for the building and equipping of new schools. Mr. Ric Starnes proposed the consolidation of the Cabarrus County and City of Concord "police departments" to save money. He recommended that the Board set up a task force to study such a consolidation. Mr. A1 Johnson addressed the high cost of school construction in Cabarrus County, stating Cabarrus County was paying $94.00 per square foot while Johnston County was spending $70.00 per square foot. He proposed that the Commissioners assume the responsibility for building schools and remove the School Board from the process. Mr. Richard Suggs stated in his opinion that schools in Cabarrus County could be built at a cheaper cost per square foot by using a more efficient and cost conscious building method and a competitive bid process. He also proposed that the Commissioners take over the building of schools, thus allowing the School Board to concentrate its efforts on educating the children. In conclusion, Mr. Suggs objected to the placement of a school bond referendum on the November ballot. Mr. Andy Yates questioned comments he stated Commissioners Fennel and Privette had made during the 1998 sales tax referendum and election campaign concerning the availability of funding to build new schools. He stated they had failed to keep campaign promises to build new schools without raising taxes and to put education and children first. Ms. Chris Lee, Chairperson of the Cabarrus County Board of Education, advised that the School Board had not spent $94.00 per square foot to build new schools and that the Schools had an open bid process. She explained the difference between recurring maintenance procedures and capital projects and expressed concern about the $1.1 million reduction in school capital outlay funding. She stated the $935,000.00 reduction in County School funding would take away the school system's ability to do a number of projects such as heating and air conditioning repairs at 12 schools, system wide fire alarm and security alarm updates, bleacher and stadium repairs, school parking lot improvements and other miscellaneous items. In conclusion, Ms. Lee asked the Board to reconsider its decision, stating that without this capital outlay funding the Schools would fall further behind with the upkeep of its buildings. Mr. Lee Efird, Chairman of the Kannapolis City Board of Education, reviewed the Maintenance Agreement approved by the two school boards for the consolidation of maintenance operations. He expressed concern about the reduction in the capital outlay funding, stating the reduction could have a crippling effect on the implementation of the Maintenance Agreement. Ms. Karen Schmitt stated the need for a new middle school and expressed concern that no funding was included in the proposed budget for the new school. Ms. Karen Harper stated in her opinion there had been so much misinformation about education and the building of schools in the county that the public does not know where the truth lies. She commented on the conflicting information about the square footage cost of schools and the architect's fee percentage.