AGENDA #4g
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Endorsement of 2005 Annual Report for the Schools Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance
DATE: May 9, 2005
The attached resolution would endorse a 2005 Annual Report as part of the Schools Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance Memorandum of Agreement.
BACKGROUND
Chapel Hill participates with Orange County, Carrboro, and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools in management of a Schools Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance. A Memorandum of Understanding executed by each elected body sets forth the structure of this system. A copy of the Memorandum of Understanding is included here as Attachment 1. The basic premise of this system is that, once the adequacy of schools has been achieved (in terms of capacity compared to student enrollment), no new residential construction can be authorized that would push schools over agreed-upon capacities.
For the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, this mechanism is currently in place and operating at the elementary and middle school levels. Once the community’s third high school is built and operational, the system will be fully functioning at all levels.
The Memorandum of Understanding calls for information to be prepared and adopted each fall documenting capacity and enrollment (membership) at each level (elementary, middle school, high school). That report was prepared and adopted on schedule during the fall-winter of 2004. The Memorandum also calls for an Annual Report to be prepared in the spring of each year, containing the following information:
- Level of Service at each level (elementary, middle, high)
- Building Capacity at each school
- Membership information (enrollment)
- Status of Capital Investment Plan
- Student membership growth rate
- Housing generation rate
An Annual Report for 2005 with this information has been prepared by a Technical Advisory Committee led by the Orange County Planning Department and made up of staff members from each participating jurisdiction. A copy of the report is attached (Attachment 2).
The 2005 Annual Report is tentatively scheduled to be certified by the Orange County Board of Commissioners at a regular meeting on May 17, 2005. On April 14, Commission Chair Moses Carey wrote to Mayor Foy, inviting comments from the Chapel Hill Town Council on this report.
DISCUSSION
We participated in the preparation of this 2005 Annual Report, and have reviewed this version that is under consideration for certification. We believe that the numbers describing enrollment (membership) and capacity are accurate, and that the projections of future capacity and future membership are reasonable. The projection techniques are ones that were created and endorsed when the Schools Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance was originally put in place. We believe that it would be appropriate to revisit the projection methods and re-calibrate the projection system as part of the next annual report, in 2006.
We suggest that, for the reader seeking to focus on the most pertinent and important portions of this report for Chapel Hill, attention be turned to pages 39-40, which include narrative descriptions of projected school needs. The conclusions on pages 39-40 are as follows, for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area:
RECOMMENDATION
We recommend that the Council endorse this report for certification by the Orange County Board of Commissioners. We also recommend that the Council suggest to Orange County that plans be made to update and re-calibrate the projection techniques used to prepare the next Annual Report in Spring 2006.
ATTACHMENTS
A RESOLUTION ENDORSING A 2005 ANNUAL REPORT RELATED TO ADMINISTRATION OF THE SCHOOLS ADEQUATE PUBLIC FACILILITES ORDINANCE (2005-05-09/R-7)
WHEREAS, Chapel Hill participates with Orange County, Carrboro, and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools in management of a Schools Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance; and
WHEREAS, a Memorandum of Understanding regarding this ordinance specifies that an Annual Report shall be prepared in the spring of each year for review and approval by the Orange County Board of Commissioners; and
WHEREAS, the Orange County Planning Department, in cooperation with technical staff from Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools has prepared a report for review; and
WHEREAS, the Chairman of the Orange County Board of Commissioners has invited the Chapel Hill Town Council to offer comments on the report;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Council endorses the 2005 Schools Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance Annual Report for certification by the Orange County Board of Commissioners.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Council encourages the Orange County Board of Commissioners to arrange for an update projection methodologies as part of preparation of the next, 2006 Annual Report.
This the 9th day of May, 2005.