By Joshua Lucas
Staff Writer
CHAPEL HILL – Fire protection, waste disposal and schools were the hot topics Tuesday night at the Orange County Board of Commissioners’ public hearing regarding next year’s proposed budget.
Tuesday’s meeting, held at the Southern Human Services Center, provided county residents the chance to weigh in on the county’s proposed $177 million budget. County Manager Frank Clifton presented the budget to commissioners at their May 17 meeting. In keeping with commissioners’ directives, it keeps funding largely flat and does not propose to increase property taxes.
That last point was the cause of several rural volunteer fire departments’ concern. Leaders from several of the groups spoke at the meeting to urge commissioners to allow an increase in the ad valorem fire tax in those fire districts to pay for capital needs and to cover shrinking revenues.
Bill Waddell of the Orange Grove Volunteer Fire Company told commissioners that his firefighters had two basic needs – a new roof for the fire station and new radios – that would increase the safety of both the fire company and the residents it serves.
“I plead with you to allow us to improve safety for our firefighters,†he said.
In all, four volunteer companies – New Hope, White Cross, Orange Rural and Orange Grove – expressed interest in discussing increased revenues with the commissioners, Clifton said. He said such discussions would be appropriate and expected during upcoming public work sessions.
Other county residents spoke to commissioners about the county’s solid-waste convenience centers and the recent decision to use a tipping-fee surcharge to fund improvements in the Rogers Road neighborhood near the county’s landfill on Eubanks Road.
While they praised remediation efforts, the speakers from Orange County Voice, a group that advocates for rural communities, urged commissioners not to commit county money to expanding compacting and other site improvements at the convenience centers.
“Send a message that we are no longer investing in our out-of-date solid-waste infrastructure,†Voice’s Stan Cheren told commissioners. “Everything on the county’s plan can wait.â€
Other Voice members urged the commissioners to look to other options – including residents’ requests to keep the centers open on Sundays. Norma White told commissioners that some convenience centers are unsafe because of crowding on Saturdays.
“Except for the hours, the convenience centers are not broken,†Steve Graf, of Cedar Grove, said. “There’s no rush for these improvements.â€
And several speakers lined up to urge the commissioners to continue funding public education in the county, or even increase per-pupil funding. They also urged commissioners to back the proposed quarter-cent increase on the county’s sales tax that will be on November’s ballot.
“I would love for Orange County to be nationally recognized, and distinguished from that other Orange County in California,†said school activist and parent Tiki Gwynne.