Commissioners Ready to Announce Bond Amounts

The board will meet at 7:30 p.m. at the Southern Human Services Building in Chapel Hill.

The bond provides a total of $47 million for both the Chapel Hill-Carrboro and Orange County school districts but does not include funding for construction of a new high school.

But Commissioner Barry Jacobs said the board did approve a separate resolution of intent to borrow $2 million to begin planning for a new high school in Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. "We have to figure out where we have space or if there should be special programs there," Jacobs said. "But we are committing ourselves to plan for a new high school."

County Budget Coordinator Donna Dean said the bond does include plans for two new elementary schools for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro district, estimated at $12.8 million each.

Officials also allocated $2 million in the bond for renovations to the existing schools in the district.

If the bond passes, Orange County Schools will receive $18.5 million for a new middle school and $900,000 for renovations to existing schools.

Although the $47 million for schools is less than what the schools requested, Dean said the amounts the commissioners approved are in line with set school construction standards.

"The prices are agreed on by standards," Jacobs said. "We look at state standards and adjust them based on the students and costs for Orange County."

A total of $20 million was allocated for parks, recreation and open space. One of the largest recreation projects is $3.5 million for the construction of an aquatic center at Homestead Park in Chapel Hill.

"(Chapel Hill officials) convinced us that it is important to the people of their jurisdiction, so we went ahead and put it on," Jacobs said.

Another priority for the commissioners is the creation of a large soccer complex in the future, as well as new fields around the county.

Two million dollars were set aside as a floating fund to add fields to existing field complexes. "We have a gross shortage of fields and a large populous of players," Jacobs said. "The idea is to concentrate a burst of support for soccer in one place and to have money left to spread more fields around the county."

Senior centers and affordable housing projects each received $4 million of the $75 million bond.

The bond referendum will go before Orange County voters on Nov. 6.

The City Editor can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu.