HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 03-10-20; 8-a - Minutes 1
ORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: March 10, 2020
Action Agenda
Item No. 8-a
SUBJECT: Minutes
DEPARTMENT: Board of County
Commissioners
ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT:
Draft Minutes (Under Separate Cover) Donna Baker, Clerk to the Board
919-245-2130
PURPOSE: To correct and/or approve the draft minutes as submitted by the Clerk to the Board
as listed below.
BACKGROUND: In accordance with 153A-42 of the General Statutes, the Governing Board
has the legal duty to approve all minutes that are entered into the official journal of the Board's
proceedings.
January 24, 2020 BOCC Retreat
January 28, 2020 Assembly of Governments
February 4, 2020 BOCC Business Meeting
February 11, 2020 BOCC Work Session
FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no Orange County Social Justice Goal impact associated with
this item.
SOCIAL JUSTICE IMPACT: There is no Orange County Social Justice Goal impact associated
with this item.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: There is no Orange County Environmental Responsibility Goal
impact associated with this item.
RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends the Board approve minutes as
presented or as amended.
1
1 Attachment 1
2
3 DRAFT
4 MINUTES
5 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
6 ANNUAL PLANNING RETREAT
7 Cedar Grove Community Center
8 January 24, 2020
9 9:00 a.m.
10
11 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for their annual Board retreat on Friday,
12 January 24, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. at the Cedar Grove Community Center in Hillsborough,N.C.
13
14 COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Penny Rich and Commissioners Jamezetta
15 Bedford, Sally Greene, Mark Marcoplos, Earl McKee, and Renee Price
16 COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: None
17 COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: John Roberts
18 COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Bonnie Hammersley, Deputy County Manager
19 Travis Myren and Clerk to the Board Donna S. Baker.
20 FACILITATOR: Maggie Chotas, Dispute Settlement Center
21 CONSULTANT: Michael Goodman, Innovation Associates Organizational Learning
22 Observers—Department Directors and members of the public and news media.
23 Department Heads: Nancy Coston, Janice Tyler, Annette Moore, Jim Northup, David Stancil,
24 Cait Fenhagen, Todd McGee, Erica Bryant, Greg Wilder
25
26 Chair Rich called the meeting to order at 9:05 a.m.
27
28 Welcome & Introductions Maggie Chotas, Facilitator, Dispute Settlement Center
29 Chair Rich welcomed everyone.
30 Maggie Chotas introduced Michael Goodman, from Innovation Associates Organizational
31 Learning.
32
33 Ms. Chotas said it promised to be a rich day with the potential for positive outcomes. She
34 reviewed the retreat desired outcomes and ground rules:
35
36 Proposed Ground Rules - How do we want to work together today?
37 • Begin and adjourn on time
38 • One speaker at a time
39 • Listen attentively
40 • Focus on learning and inquiry
41 • Step up/Step back
42 • Share the time available for discussion
43 • It is OK to disagree...please do so respectfully
44
45 Commissioners affirmed the ground rules.
46
2
1 Review retreat goals & desired outcomes
2 Ms. Chotas reviewed the retreat goals and desired outcomes:
3 • Better definition of issues
4 • Better appreciation of problems
5 • Understanding for how systems thinking could be helpful to us
6 • Identification of what we need to know more of and the new questions that are arising for
7 us re: hunger
8
9 Ms. Chotas presented the Parking Lot as a place for ideas that weren't immediately relevant to
10 the topic of the retreat. Commissioners were invited to identify issues as they arise.
11
12
13 Systems Thinking introduction & overview with a focus on hunger in Orange County
14 Michael Goodman, Innovation Associates Organizational Learning
15
16 Michael Goodman reviewed the objectives and agenda as follows:
17 Overall Objectives
18 • Understand what systems thinking is and its importance
19 • Learn a few basic Systems Thinking tools Gain hands on experience applying systems
20 thinking to food insecurity in Orange County
21
22 Agenda
23 0 Why Good Intentions are Not Enough
24 • Observations about Systems
25 • Conventional Vs. Systems Thinking
26 • Why Systems Thinking?
27 • Background on Hunger and Food Insecurity in Orange County
28 • Fundamental Systems Thinking Framework& Case
29 • Team Iceberg Exercise
30 • Brief Introduction to the Language of Systems Thinking & Exercise (Time permitting)
31 • Introduction to Mental Models &Exercise
32 • Questions and Answers
33
34 Mr. Goodman set the context for stories in the news and asked the small groups to reflect on
35 what the following stories have in common:
36 • Homeless shelters perpetuate homelessness
37 • Drug busts increase drug-related crime
38 • Food aid increases starvation
39 • Get tough prison sentences fail to reduce fear of violet crime
40 • Job training programs increase unemployment
41
42 Small groups noted the following commonalities:
43 • Unintended consequences
44 0 Good intentions
3
1 • Mindset that anyone on both sides of these issues can use them or talking points or a
2 hammer—both sides can be right and both sides can be wrong
3 • Hard to explain to the public if you don't do these things—they are expected
4
5 Mr. Goodman reviewed the common characteristics of failed solutions as follows:
6 • Address symptoms vs. underlying problems
7 • Obvious and often succeed in the short run
8 • But short-term gains undermined by long-term impacts
9 • Negative consequences are unintentional
10 • If the problem recurs, we do not see our responsibility
11
12 Mr. Goodman framed remarks around the limitations of good intentions with the following
13 quote:
14 "When you are confronted by any complex social system ... with things about it that you're
15 dissatisfied with and anxious to fix,you cannot just step in and set about fixing with much hope
16 of helping. This is one of the sore discouragements of our time. If you want to fix something you
17 are first obliged to understand ... the whole system. "
18 Lewis Thomas
19 Physician,poet, etymologist, essayist, educator,policy advisor, researcher
20 Dean Yale Medical School &NYU
21 President Memorial Sloan-Kettering Institute
22
23 Distinguishing Conventional From Systems Thinking
24 Mr. Goodman shared definitions of a system and systems thinking:
25 "A system is an interconnected set of elements that is coherently organized in a way that
26 achieves something"—Donella Meadows
27 "Systems Thinking is the ability to understand these interconnections in such a way as to
28 achieve a desired purpose."
29
30 Observations about Systems
31 Mr. Goodman shared laws of human systems:
32 • Many of today's problems were yesterday's solutions.
33 0 The Law of Unintended Consequences - Systems are seductive... what looks obvious to
34 do often generates non-obvious consequences... but NOT right away.
35 • The Law of Worse Before Better- What works in the short term typically makes things
36 worse in the long term and what works in the long term often makes things worse in the
37 short term.
38 • The Law of Compensating Feedback—The harder you push on the system the harder the
39 system pushes back.
40 • We are prisoners of systemic forces to the extent we are unaware of their existence and
41 don't appreciate their power.
42 • Systems naturally resist change despite how well intended the efforts to improve
43 performance.
44 • Systems are"perfectly" designed to produce the results we are getting.
45 0 We spend enormous time, effort and money fixing problems we don't really understand.
4
1 • Real leverage points in the system are displaced both in time and in space from the
2 symptoms.
3 • Collective awareness of the system can produce the shifts needed to produce real,
4 sustainable change... when see it, we no longer have to be controlled by it.
5
6 Mr. Goodman asked participants if they had witnessed any of the following first-hand:
7 1. Many of today's problems were yesterday's solutions
8 2. The Law of Unintended Consequences
9 3. The Law of Worse Before Better
10 4. The Law of Compensating Feedback
11 5. We spend enormous time, effort and money fixing problems we don't really
12 understand
13
14 Conventional vs. Systems Thinking
15 Mr. Goodman delineated the differences between Conventional and Systems Thinking:
16
Conventional Thinking Systems Thinking
Obvious how cause and effect are connected Problems and causes not obviously connected
Others are to blame We are part of the problem
Short-term success leads to long-term success Most quick fixes yield no difference or make
matters worse over time
Optimize the parts Improve relationships among the parts
Do as much as you can as quickly as you can Focus on a few key coordinated changes over
time
17
18 Mr. Goodman polled Commissioners around the following questions about the balance of
19 conventional versus systems thinking in their organizations:
20 A. Almost entirely conventional thinking
21 B. Some systems thinking
22 C. Pretty balanced
23 D. Mostly systems thinking
24 E. No idea...
25 Mr. Goodman delineated the elements that make for good Systems Thinking issues
26 • Chronic problems we've been trying to figure out for a long time
27 • Our thinking hasn't properly matched the problem
28 • We haven't been as effective as we thought we would be
29 • We're willing to take a learning attitude—we're willing to suspend those to have an
30 honest conversation about the problem
31 • We're the people who can work on it—we have some control
32
33 Introduction to what we know about hunger in Orange County & an introduction to the current
34 programs to address it
35 Travis Myren, Deputy County Manager&Ashley Heger, Food Council Coordinator
5
1 State of Food Insecurity in
2 Orange County
3 January 24, 2020
4
5 Mr. Myren provided context that about a year ago Commissioners approved the Food Council
6 coordinator to be part of County Government. The Food Council touches systems thinking in
7 several ways: (1) Coordinator position is intergovernmentally funded; The County, Chapel Hill
8 Carrboro and Hillsborough jointly fund it; (2) Goal of Food Council is to understand the food
9 system and where interventions can be helpful; (3) Since Ms. Heger is part of the County
10 Government, she helps them work interdepartmentally.
11
12 Ms. Heger explained the Food Council takes a systems thinking approach on three levels:
13 1. Everything across our system is interrelated and the last few years has been about
14 building relationships
15 2. Working toward getting data and better understanding for what's happening in Orange
16 County
17 3. Government Alliance for Racial Equity(GARS Core Team) is working toward helping
18 see interrelatedness across systems—if one piece is changed, what happens throughout
19 the sytems?
20
21 A look at the numbers: 2017-2019 Data
22 Food Insecurity Rate 12.7%
23 Number of people experiencing food insecurity 18,030
24 Children under 18 who are food insecure 4,420
25 Adults over 65 who are living below the poverty level 914
26 Federal Nutrition Service # of recipients FY 2018-19 14,478
27 WIC participation#s for December 2019 2,260
28
29 Demographics Carrboro Clinic WIC Dec 2019
30 American Indian or Alaskan Native—0
31 Asian— 150
32 Black or African American—249
33 White— 859
34 Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander— 1
35 Multi-Race—23
36 Latinx—40%
37
38 Demographics Chapel Hill Clinic WIC Dec 2019
39 American Indian or Alaskan Native—0
40 Asian—6
41 Black or African American— 113
42 White—75
43 Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander—0
6
1 Multi-Race—7
2 Latinx— 11%
3
4 Demographics Hillsborough Clinic WIC Dec 2019
5 American Indian or Alaskan Native—2
6 Asian— 11
7 Black of African American—215
8 White—514
9 Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander-- 0
10 Multi-Race—35
11 Latinx— 17%
12
13 Stories about hunger& food insecurity
14 Ms. Heger explained the Food Council has been working on gathering qualitative stories and
15 Learning from people who have lived experience with food insecurity. There is a designated place
16 on their board for someone with personal experience with food insecurity.
17
18 Community Health Assessment(2019)
19 Sample survey every community does every three years across North Carolina.
20 - Food Access named in top 10 priorities
21 - 1 in 5 respondents reported they had to cut the size of their meals or skip meals
22 because there was not enough money for food
23
24 Conversations with those experiencing food insecurity & food access providers tell
25 us:
26 - Falling in between the gaps (do not receive FNS but experience food insecurity)
27 - Cost of living takes away from resources available for food
28 - Food received in charity programs is not culturally appropriate and/or nutritional
29 - Fear of receiving services or participating in programs may endanger immigration
30 status
31
32 Falling in between the gaps
33
34 SNAP (Food Stamps)
35 Eligibility Requirements for family of 3 = About$27,020
36 - Gross monthly income must at or below 130%the poverty line (about
37 $2,252/month)with assets less than $2,250 (vehicles, savings, etc) - does not
38 apply to households with elderly or disabled members
39 - Most college students and certain legal immigrants are not eligible
40 - Most unemployed childless adults are limited to 3 months of benefits,unless
41 they are working at least 20 hours per week or participating in a qualifying job
42 training program
43 - Average monthly benefit for family of 3 = $365/month
44 - Limitations for what can be bought with SNAP benefits
45 - Potential more more restrictions in this program this year
46
7
1 Cost of Living
2 Income in Orange County
3 - 2018 median household income $68,211
4 - 2018 per capita household income $40,650 (includes non wage earners)
5
6 Fair Market Rent in Orange County 2020
7 - 2 bedroom $1,088/month and 3 bedroom$1,461/month
8 2020 3 bedroom FMR= 64.8% of income for a family of 3 eligible for SNAP
9 - Family of 3 with gross income of$4,000/month spending 36.5% on rent
10
11 Charity Programs
12 - Culturally appropriate foods offered
13 - Lived experience centered in leadership and advising programs
14 - Nutritional foods v. non-perishable or easy to donate foods
15
16 Trends
17 Federal Nutrition Services (FNS)
18 - Decrease of 6.5% from 15,499 in the FYI 7-18 to 14,478 in the FYI 8-19
19
20 Free School Lunch Program (FSLP)
21 - CHCCS: Decreased slightly in 2017-18 to 25.6% and currently at 26.2%
22 - OCS: Currently at 41%
23 o Enrollment has stayed between 39-42%the past few years
24 o Universal free breakfast program increased from 2017-2018 (total: 89,350) to
25 current school year(as of Dec 2019 total: 101,153)
26
27 How do we compare
28 United States:
29 North Carolina's food insecurity rate is 16.5%
30 Nationally 11.1%
31 Orange Co's poverty level is 12.4%Nationally 12.3%
32 Food Insecurity in other NC Counties:
33 Highest 24.1% Edgecombe Co
34 Lowest 9.5%Union Co
35
36 Exercises to explore systems thinking related to hunger Michael Goodman
37 Mr. Goodman directed small groups to reflect on the presentation:
38 - What did you learn?
39 - What did you find surprising or puzzling?
40 - What questions does this raise for you?
41
42 Focusing Questions
43 Mr. Goodman introduced focusing questions, noting issues are best formulated as a focusing
44 question that starts with the words Why or How Come but not How To.
45 Examples:
46 - Why do we continue to struggle with breaking down our internal silos?
8
1 - Why, despite our best efforts, have we been unable to end homelessness in Calhoun
2 County?
3
4 Potential Focusing Questions
5 Mr. Goodman introduced examples of focusing questions:
6 - Why, despite the county's various programs, are we seeing the trends we're seeing in
7 hunger/food insecurity?
8 - Why, despite the county's programs and activities we have in place focused on hunger,
9 haven't we seen the impact we'd like?
10
11 Team Exercise NA: Focusing Question
12 Participants worked in small groups to identify focusing questions related to food insecurity in
13 Orange County:
14 Why are segments of the population more food insecure/lack access than others despite a
15 variety of interventions by several agencies/County Government?
16
17 Why aren't current County programs not reaching the needs of targeted populations
18 despite our affluence?
19
20 After identifying focusing questions,participants worked in small groups to imagine the end
21 results they would like to see if the problem/issue was fully addressed/fixed:
22 - Free up more funding for other programs/needs
23 - Kids focus better in school—improved educational outcomes
24 - Access to nutritious food when they need it
25 - Obesity rate goes down
26 - Malnutrition rates go down
27 - Health care demand goes down
28
29 - Gap between benefits provided and needs are fulfilled
30 - Multiple outlets that provide healthier food
31 - Universal food programs in schools
32 - End of income disparities
33 - Eliminate burdensome program eligibility requirements
34
35 The Fundamental Framework of Systems Thinking
36 Mr. Goodman introduced the concept of The Iceberg as a concept for understanding deepening
37 our understanding of problems.
38
What Happened Events 40 React/ Firefight
What's been happening - Trends and Patterns Anticipate Forecast
Why? Structure Change
43 (Forces & Pressures)
9
1
2 Sources of Pressures or Forces
3 Mr. Goodman described the sources of pressures or forces:
4 - External structures
5 - Organizational structures
6 - Interpersonal structures
7 - Individual structures (Mental Models)
8
9 Additional Elements of Structure that Generate Forces & Pressures
10 - State/local regulations & laws
11 - General economy
12 - Local economy
13 - Financial resources/capital (e.g. access to funding)
14 - Technology(e.g. access & availability)
15 - Political climate
16 - Human capital (e.g. skill level, education)
17 - Demographics (including migration patterns)
18 - Availability& access to services (health, education, etc.)
19 - Level of collaboration among service providers & agencies
20 - State/local leadership (private/public)
21 - Housing availability&quality
22 - Built (infrastructure) capital
23 - Quality of life factors
24 - Natural capital
25 - Social capital (e.g. connections within community, among businesses and to resources
26 outside the community)
27 - Cultural capital(mindsets, attitudes, level of public trust) (Mental models)
28
29 Case Example
30 Mr. Goodman introduced the Case Example focused on Ending Homelessness in Calhoun
31 County(Battlecreek, MI). There was a federal program in 2006 trying to end chronic
32 homelessness. States were pushing local communities to develop plans and Mr. Goodman and an
33 associate were invited to bring systems thinking to Calhoun County.
34 Details about the Case Example included:
35 - Calhoun County, MI: estimated 1,400-1,600 people homelessness among population of
36 100,000
37 - Homeless Coalition* meetings again fail to deal with the problem: disagreements,
38 competition, and lack of knowledge cited ten-year plan to end homelessness involving
39 political and business leaders, service providers, and homeless people—to produce the
40 plan
41 - *A collaborative workgroup of the Coordinating Council of Calhoun County involving 40
42 providers of services, consumers of those services,funders & city/county reps.
43
44 Specific data for Calhoun County related to homelessness:
45 - 75% "episodically"homeless
46 - 25% "chronically"homeless
10
1 - 32%women
2 - 68%men
3 - 33%mental illness
4 - 48% drug and/or alcohol addiction
5
6 Other context:
7 - Research showed there was a growing trend in homelessness. There had been some success, but it
8 had stagnated. The visibility of the homeless problem seemed to be cyclical. Temporary shelters
9 got people off the street, which is important, but didn't solve the problem of chronic homelessness.
10 - Housing First approach provided more support. To really address chronic homelessness takes time,
11 effort and leadership—not easy to pull off.
12 - With temporary shelters, the visibility wasn't as pronounced and pressure was eased up on.
13 - Shelters were funded by beds being occupied, not having empty beds. Other providers were also. If
14 you changed the mandate for keeping beds empty, there's no funding for that. Even showing up for
15 Coalition meetings weren't funded—had to volunteer to that.
16 - Whole system tends to gravitate toward the easy to do stuff. If you want to end homelessness, have
17 to figure out how to break the vicious cycle.
18
19 As a result of the work in systems thinking, homelessness didn't end,but did lessen. The group process
20 the Homeless Coalition used focused on:
21 - Reducing and reframing shelter use
22 - Sharing a vision of Housing First
23 - Investing in affordable housing with support services
24 - Asking the question: how are we implicated in this?
25 Outcomes
26 - Homeless Coalition coalesced around a plan and the plan was funded
27 - Homeless Coalition voted unanimously to reallocate HUD funding from one service provider's
28 transitional housing program to permanent supportive housing program run by another provider
29
30 Quantitative results: In the plan's first six years of operation (2007-2012), which included the
31 economic collapse of 2008, the county reported the following results:
32 Homelessness decreased by 14% (from 1658 to 1419)
33 DESPITE a 34%increase in unemployment and 7%increase in evictions
34
35 Deepening Our Understanding of Problems: The Iceberg
36 Mr. Goodman then invited participants to apply The Iceberg Framework to better understand
37 their issue of food insecurity. Participants were instructed to work in their small groups to
38 answer:
39 - Why do we have this issue or challenge?
40 - Identify the underlying Structure (Brainstorm list of factors or drivers)
41 - Why has it persisted this long?
42 - What are the barriers to improvement?
43 Remember: NOT WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT OR HOW TO FIX IT YET
44
45 Why are segments of the population more food insecure/lack access than others despite a
46 variety of interventions by several agencies/County Government?
11
I - Lack of attention/awareness
2 - Insufficient outreach/engagement with targeted populations
3 - Lack of effective coordination(food or other services/programs)
4 - Reliance on private/nonprofit
5 - Demographic changes
6 - Anti-immigration policies/fears
7 - Wages and financial management
8 - Healthcare costs
9 - Nutritional education
10 - Housing and transit—access to community resources
11 - Stress on parents
12 - Racism
13 - Intergovernmental cooperation (lack of)
14
15 Why aren't current County programs not reaching the needs of targeted populations despite
16 our affluence?
17 - Food charity efforts
18 - Income inequality
19 - Dependence on corporate food supply system
20 - Lack of education on system, gardening, nutrition
21 - Federal policy
22 - Food waste
23 - Misinterpretation of what help looks like
24 - Cost of nutritious food/supply
25 - Lack of coordination among providers
26 - Reluctance to address silos
27 - Lack of multi-lingual communication
28
29 Ms. Price underscored how important it is not to just focus on long-term solutions—people are
30 hurting now and need to have their needs responded to.
31
32 Lunch
33 Over lunch Travis Myren introduced participants to the TedTalk video about Diversity, Equity
34 and Inclusion featuring the author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. In the video, Adichie shares her
35 perspective about the danger of a single story when it comes to assuming who someone is. She
36 challenged audience members to continually look for multiple stories when determining
37 someone's identify.
38
39 Systems Thinking & hunger focus in Orange County, Continued Michael Goodman
40 Mr. Goodman introduced the concept of Mental Models as the thinking behind Systems
41 Thinking.
42
43 What are Mental Models?
44 Mr. Goodman defined Mental Models as habits of thought, the stories we tell ourselves. They
45 are those beliefs, assumptions, and models we have are about every aspect of ourselves, others,
46 our organizations, and how the world works.
12
1 - They are critical to our effectiveness
2 - They affect how we think and how we act
3 - They may be conscious, or unconscious; they can get us into trouble
4 - It's easier to see others' mental models and harder to see our own
5 - They are always incomplete and often flawed
6 - They are high leverage
7
8 Examples of Mental Models include beliefs we treat as facts, such as:
9 • "The only way anything changes around here is when our senior leaders change it. "
10 • "Learning is what we do outside of work. "
11 • "Home prices will always rise. "
12
13 Mental Models Exercise
14 Small groups identified and shared at their table the mental models at play that could be barriers
15 to change or improvement related to their issue. What are the mindsets that have perpetuated the
16 current situation?
17
18 Belief-Action-Results (BAR) Maps
19 Mr. Goodman explained the cycle of Beliefs—Actions—Results, noting it could be a positive or a
20 negative outcome. He provided a negative example of how the BAR Map works:
21 "Staff meetings are a waste of time."[Mental Model or Belief)
22 Therefore, I or we... "Don't really fully participate or contribute." [Action or Behavior]
23 Which leads to... Decisions don't get made, real issues never get brought up [Results or
24 Outcomes]
25
26 Team Exercise#4:
27 In small groups, participants worked on Belief-Action-Results Maps for one of the Mental
28 Models identified in the previous exercise.
29 It's not the responsibility of the government—it's a charity act Mental Model
30 Therefore... less reliance on the government—not asking people what they want
31 Which leads to nothing changing
32
33 Introduction to what we know about hunger in Orange County & an introduction to the current
34 programs to address it
35 Ashley Heger, Food Council Coordinator
36 Ms. Heger opened her presentation by emphasizing the importance of a"both/and approach"—
37 both addressing short-term needs and using a systems thinking mindset for systemic change.
38
39 How is hunger being addressed in Orange County:
40 1. Federal Nutrition Services & School Meals
41 SNAP, WIC, Senior vouchers, Free &Reduced Lunch &Universal free school
42 breakfast
43 2. Outside Agency Funding
44 Supporting existing and emerging food access programs
13
1 3. Nonprofit Services
2 Food pantries and meal deliveries; cross sector collaboration and emergency
3 services
4 School Systems
5 - Orange County Schools
6 Universal Free Breakfast Program in PreK- 5th grade
7 Free and reduced lunch program
8 Summer food service program(school and open community sites)
9
10 - Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools
11 Free and reduced lunch program
12 Summer food service program(Food for the Summer, focus on community sites with
13 support from CHCCS)
14
15 County funds spent on programs & partnerships
16 -DSS Funds spent on Food
17 Food Lion Gift Cards Emergency Assistance Program
18 FY 2017-18: $6,425.00
19 FY 2018-19: $4,875.00
20 FY 2019- Current: $1,225.00
21 -Outside Agency Funding
22 Funding for food&nutrition related agencies
23 FY 2017-18 total $151,165
24 FY 2018-19 total $132,190
25 FY 2019-20 exampected total $145,253
26
27 2017-2018 Food+Nutrition Outside Agencies
28 • Meals on Wheels $15,000
29 • Farmer Foodshare $6,250
30 • Orange Congregations in Mission $71,415
31 • Inter-Faith Council $50,000
32 • TABLE $8,500
33 FY 2017-18 total $151,165
34 2018-2019 Food +Nutrition Outside Agencies
35 • Meals on Wheels $15,900
36 • Farmer Foodshare $7,375
37 • Orange Congregations in Mission $77,715
38 • Orange County Rural Alliance $20,750
39 • TABLE $10,450
40 FY 2018-19 total $132,190
41
42 2019-2020 Food+Nutrition Outside Agencies
14
1 • Meals on Wheels $17,335
2 • Farmer Foodshare $7,375
3 • Orange Congregations in Mission $78,450
4 • Orange County Rural Alliance $27,488
5 • PORCH $3,780
6 • TABLE $10,450
7 • Transplanting Traditions $375
8 FY 2019-20 expected total $145,253
9
10 Orange County Funded Programs Related to Food Insecurity
11 Ms. Heger walked through the different programs that Orange County funds related to food
12 insecurity. Descriptions only include parts of their work related to food insecurity.
13
14 Meals on Wheels Chapel Hill- Carrboro
15 Mission: Chapel Hill/Carrboro Meals on Wheels nourishes the bodies and spirits of the
16 homebound with a balanced meal and the human connection they need to help them live
17 independently. Volunteers deliver a hot meal to the home every weekday. Resources and
18 referral services as needed
19 Goals & Services:
20 1. Provide affordable, nutritious and flavorful meals to the homebound individuals in the
21 community.
22 2. Reduce isolation, support independence and enhance the quality of life of our
23 recipients.
24 3. Engage families and community in partnerships that benefit both the volunteers and
25 recipients.
26
27 Farmer Foodshare
28 Mission: Farmer Foodshare connects people who grow food with people who need food
29 in ways that are economically sustainable and socially just. We believe that everyone has
30 a right to healthy, fresh food and that farmers deserve to make a fair wage—a system
31 where everyone wins.
32 Goals & Services: The Donation Station Program improves the health and nutrition of
33 residents in need by collecting fresh, local food gleaned from farmers' markets and/or
34 purchased from those farmers with funds donated by market shopper. Each farmers'
35 market is paired with a recipient agency of their choice. The fresh food is delivered the
36 day it is donated. The DSP and Community Foodshare Site projects are based on requests
37 from the participants of our partner organizations themselves. Includes: mobile market,
38 cooking classes and nutrition education.
39
40 Orange Congregations in Mission
41 Mission: To minister to the urgent needs of citizens of northern Orange County through
42 the volunteer efforts of diverse congregations and individuals inspired by faith in God,
43 and to enhance self-sufficiency and awareness of community resources.
44 Goals & Services: The Samaritan Relief Ministry provides groceries and additional
45 services to individuals and families. The Meals on Wheels Program provides a
46 nourishing, home delivered lunch, 5 days/week to homebound residents. A volunteer
15
1 network maintains consistent contact with the most fragile members of this community,
2 as well as promoting well-being
3
4 Orange County Rural Alliance
5 Mission: OCRA is part of a community-based alliance that is building awareness of the
6 needs of rural seniors and supports them with what they need to age in place with
7 independence and dignity. OCRA helps with access to county services, safe homes,
8 nutritious food and friendly human contact. OCRA delivers hot meals to rural seniors in
9 underserved areas
10 Goals & Services: Today more than 250 seniors are visited or contacted weekly. During
11 visits volunteers noticed unmet needs such as empty food pantries and the need for minor
12 home repairs (accessibility problems and the need for ramps, grab bars, etc.). OCRA now
13 provides meals similar to a Meals on Wheels program.
14
15 Inter-Faith Council
16 Mission: The Inter-Faith Council meets basic needs and helps individuals and families
17 achieve their goals. They provide shelter, food, direct services, advocacy and information to
18 people in need. The IFC accomplishes this through strong partnerships with volunteers, staff
19 and those we serve. They rely on the active involvement of caring individuals, congregations
20 and other community organizations
21 Goals & Services:
22 In 2018, IFC provided around 60,000 free meals to community members. Meals are free of
23 charge and are provided to anyone who is hungry as well as to the residents of Community
24 House and HomeStart. IFC provides additional services including a food pantry and crisis
25 intervention program.
26
27 TABLE
28 Mission: Bring together UNC college students and local community members to feed
29 hungry children in Chapel and Carrboro. TABLE began feeding 12 local elementary
30 school children in 2008 and has since expanded to provide healthy food to approximately
31 500 preschool, elementary and middle school children each week.
32 Goals & Services: TABLE has 3 goals: (1)to provide weekly emergency food aid to
33 local hungry children (2) to educate and expose our little ones to healthy foods and eating
34 habits (3)to increase community awareness of local childhood hunger.
35
36 PORCH
37 Mission: PORCH's mission is to alleviate hunger and promote better nutrition in the
38 community through monthly food drives.
39 Goals & Services:
40 Ensuring our local pantries are well-stocked with non-perishable food; Distributing fresh
41 food directly into the hands of families with children in the public schools identified as
42 food insecure; Creating pantries with healthy snacks in each of the 20 public schools and
43 the community's after-school programs; and Creating more public awareness about the
44 severity of hunger in the community, and the benefits of fresh food consumption.
45
46 Transplanting Traditions
16
1 Mission: Transplanting Traditions Community Farm(TTCF) works with refugees from
2 Burma to foster a healthier community and maintain agricultural traditions as they build
3 new lives in North Carolina.
4 Goals & Services: TTCF focuses on serving low-income families in the refugee and
5 immigrant community. Services include continued access to land to grow healthy
6 traditional foods, weekly translated workshops focused on agricultural topics and small
7 farm businesses; youth programming focused on nutrition, active living and leadership
8 development; implementation of a"Share a Share"program in collaboration with
9 PORCH, which provides traditional vegetables for refugee families in need on a monthly
10 basis while providing economic support for TTCF farmers.
11
12 Mr. Dorosin asked how someone knows if they are eligible for the programs and what they need
13 to do to access them.
14
15 Ms. Heger responded it depends on the program. In terms of visibility and disseminating
16 information, she noted a goal of the Food Council for the last couple of years has been to
17 consolidate resource guides into one. Previously, there were seven resource guides. Ms. Heger
18 said she updates the guide at least twice a year. She noted everyone is working together so
19 individuals are aware of all the services available to them. A primary goal of the Food Council is
20 to break down siloes.
21
22 Nancy Coston said NC 360 is coming out which will incorporate resources for the entire state.
23 Once that happens, it will make it easier for internal referrals and also for someone in the
24 community to check everything they need. All nonprofits need to get their information on line
25 and this will take time. It will be a warm hand off.
26
27 Chair Rich asked about if Justice United and the faith-based community it they were helping get
28 out the information out. Ms. Heger said faith-based organizations are important and they have
29 contact with some, but not all.
30
31 Reflecting on the day Maggie Chotas
32 Ms. Chotas invited responses from Commissioners about what they learned from the retreat,
33 including their thoughts about how a Systems Thinking framework might be different from the
34 way we tend to explore problems. She asked Commissioners to reflect on the deeper
35 questions/challenges arising.
36
37 Commissioner McKee said he is encouraged by what he heard and what was done during the
38 day, but wanted more information about the supporting data presented about hunger. One in five
39 kids or people in the County are hungry—that figure raised questions about how it was gathered,
40 how it was determined and how it applies to one demographic group or another. He emphasized
41 gross wages doesn't give a true picture because it is not spendable income—it's not money in
42 your pocket. He would like more real numbers as close to facts as possible.
43
44 Commissioner Marcoplos noted he appreciated the presentation and the processes. He said he
45 thought it was true they would make better decisions the more they incorporated systems
46 thinking and wanted to explore how could they incorporate this into their decision-making. He
17
1 suggested for smaller issues they don't anticipate taking as much time, to just keep this in mind
2 and don't spend a lot of time on it. But for larger issues which will take a lot of time, have a
3 dedicated work session where we do what we did today and spend time admiring the program.
4 Might not be able to do it for everything,but we could try it once in the spring and in the fall
5 with a topic and see how it works for us.
6
7 Chair Rich emphasized the need for flexibility in determining when to apply systems thinking.
8 She expressed not wanting systems thinking to stop us from having free flowing ideas like what
9 would be needed in emergency situations or items that come up throughout the year that might
10 need some money spent on them.
11
12 Commissioner Greene said the day was a good introduction to systems thinking and she
13 wondered about what the next steps are for the food/hunger issue. The board has started to
14 explore the topic at the retreat and she wanted to know how the board will bring a solution
15 forward.
16
17 Commissioner Bedford said this type of thinking does take time and wondered what it might
18 look like if they applied it—rather than the usual Task Force. For example, she brought up PreK
19 and reflected the focusing question for PreK could be, "Why aren't children ready for
20 kindergarten?"This type of thinking process may help with this issue. She mentioned the
21 understanding to challenge assumptions and make sure the right question will be asked.
22
23 Commissioner Bedford said she appreciated the video at lunch and wanted to remember how to
24 get the other stories—should be an issue for governments.
25
26 Chair Rich said it is important to have achievable goals at the end of every retreat. What is our
27 achievable goal? What will we say we have as our goals six months or a year out of this?
28
29 Commissioner Marcoplos gave the example of it being at the end of meetings and it is 1 1pm and
30 an issue comes up and they take about 10% of the time needed to discuss before making a
31 decision. He stated he would like to avoid this and make sure there is time for discussion.
32
33 Chair Rich noted you can ask to table an issue to the next meeting.
34
35 Commissioner Marcoplos said sometimes it happens quickly and we're all ready to get home.
36
37 Commissioner Dorosin shared his reflection that there is a need for short-term solutions. As
38 elected officials, he noted, we need to be wary of thinking of systems thinking as external. When
39 we talk about systems thinking, we as the policy makers in the County are the system and can
40 change the system from the inside as opposed to being an activist or a nonprofit group trying to
41 change the system from the outside. We are the people whose decisions entrench or expand those
42 institutionalized processes or change them. Universal pre-k or kindergarten readiness is a good
43 example. When we think about how to fix it, we're not looking at an external system; it's a
44 system we have a hand in creating and influencing and changing. One of the slides was about
45 how the system is working the way it's designed for it to work. We might say we want everyone
46 to have enough food,but the policies we've put into place or are continuing to put in place are
18
1 producing the outcomes they intend to produce. It's not like the policy work is great and
2 something has gone awry in implementation. That's why it's called institutional racism or
3 structural inequity—it's built into the structure. How we think about dismantling that is critical.
4 One of the systems to look at is how the board operates. It would be interesting to look at how
5 effective or efficient the work we do is. The board meets a lot. The idea that we should meet
6 more isn't necessarily the solution. I want to challenge us to work more efficiently. If it's not
7 efficient for us to be taking votes at 11:30, the agenda was too long and we need to push more to
8 the consent agenda. Think about how many votes we take that are 7-0 with almost no discussion
9 —that's not the best use of our time, staff time or the community's time.
10
11 Commissioner Price said that with the retreat, the board has owned food insecurity as an
12 issue/concern that needs to be addressed. We need to come up with some benchmarks/metrics to
13 measure as we're going forward in order to assess progress. In terms of the systems approach,
14 she said the board works from budget to budget, but staff has to look at the longer range, with
15 board support. If the systems approach works for Ms. Heger, then the board needs to continue to
16 back her up and any other programs that come into play. It might be a challenge for the board to
17 map out the systems approach for hunger, but staff can take the lead.
18
19
20 Identifying next steps Maggie Chotas
21 Ms. Chotas asked Commissioners if they wanted to identify possible next steps in regards to Systems
22 Thinking and hunger in Orange County.
23
24 Commissioner Dorosin asked staff their thoughts about next steps.
25 Nancy Coston commented on data, saying she thinks staff can fold the food insecurity data into their
26 discussion of poverty and with the mapping that the human services group is working on. She will
27 bring it forward at their next staff meeting.
28
29 Identifying gaps in data(Staff)
30 • Staff taking the lead(many departments) to see what the food landscape is and track what exists
31 now and fill in the gaps
32
33 Strengthen coordination on food related issues
34 • Identify how the towns/County work together on food related issues
35 • There are different local government agencies in Orange County involved in food issues
36 engage with their partners
37 • Food Council is a good place to start with this
38 • Identify the impediments
39
40 Continue focusing on the topic as a board
41 • Look at what we are doing to address poverty in Orange County
42 • Prioritize issues at a high level in the budget process
43 • Consider holding a work session on the topic of hunger
44
45 Public outreach
46 • Seek to build awareness about food insecurity in the County
19
1 • Develop and disseminate a one page infographic about hunger in Orange County(Staff will take
2 the lead on this)
3
4 3:50 Assessing the retreat Maggie Chotas
5 Ms. Chotas invited Commissioners to reflect on how well did the retreat reach its goals and what
6 to change for the future.
7
8 Commissioners responded as follows:
9
What worked well What to change
Flow of information and exercises Work together as one group
Structure—conceptual model and one Add a fun teambuilding exercise—get outside
particular issue focus
Food was great Better job integrating staff—awkward for
board and staff to be separate; staff is an
integral part of the system
Presenter provided useful information
The flow of the day—day went quickly and
there was a good balance of activities
Working in a group and hearing others'
perspectives
Broader spectrum with two groups
Input from everybody throughout the day
10
11
12 4:00 Adjourn
13
14 The meeting adjourned at 4:15pm.
15
1
I Attachment 2
2
3 DRAFT MINUTES
4 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
5 CHAPEL HILL TOWN COUNCIL
6 HILLSBOROUGH BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
7 CARRBORO TOWN COUNCIL
8 January 28, 2020
9 ASSEMBLY OF GOVERNMENTS (AOG)
10
11 The Orange County Board of Commissioners (BOCC) met with the Towns of Chapel
12 Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough for an Assembly of Governments meeting on Tuesday, January
13 28, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. at the Whitted Building in Hillsborough, N.C.
14
15 COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Penny Rich and Commissioners Earl McKee
16 Jamezetta Bedford, Mark Dorosin, Sally Greene, Mark Marcoplos, and Renee Price
17 COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT:
18 COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: John Roberts
19 COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Bonnie Hammersley, Deputy County Manager
20 Travis Myren and Clerk to the Board Donna Baker (All other staff members will be identified
21 appropriately below)
22 CHAPEL HILL TOWN COUNCIL MEMBERS/STAFF PRESENT: Mayor Pam Hemminger and
23 Town Council Members Jessica Anderson, Alan Buansi, Michael Parker, Hongbin Gu, Ty
24 Huynh, Amy Ryan, Karen Stegman and Town Manager Maurice Jones
25 CHAPEL HILL TOWN COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSENT: Rachel Schaevitz
26 CARRBORO TOWN COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT/STAFF: Mayor Lydia Lavelle, and
27 Town Council Members Damien Seils, Sammy Slade, Randee Haven O'Donnell, Jacquelyn
28 Gist, Barbara Foushee, Susan Romaine and Town Manager David Andrews
29 CARRBORO TOWN COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSENT: None
30 TOWN OF HILLSBOROUGH COMMISSIONERS/STAFF: Mayor Jenn Weaver, Town
31 Commissioners Mark Bell, Kathleen Ferguson, Matt Hughes, Evelyn Lloyd, Robb English and
32 Town Manager Eric Peterson
33 TOWN OF HILLSBOROUGH COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: None
34
35 Welcome, Call to Order and Opening Comments
36 Chair Rich welcomed everyone at 7:01 p.m. She said Commissioner McKee had to
37 leave for a family issue.
38 Chair Rich is giving a brief history of the Whitted Building.
39 Chair Rich asked if each attendee would give their name, place of birth and birth order.
40
41 Greene Tract— Presentation and Discussion on Managers/Mayors/ Chair Proposal
42
43 The Greene Tract is a 104-acre parcel jointly by Orange County, the Town of Carrboro, and the
44 Town of Chapel Hill. An additional 60 acres is owned by Orange County and has been
45 designated for preservation as the Headwaters Preserve. The Greene Tract is located within
46 the Town of Chapel Hill's extraterritorial zoning jurisdiction. In 2002, the joint owners adopted a
47 resolution to designate 86 acres for open space and 18 acres for affordable housing. No
48 development has occurred on the jointly owned property since the adoption of the 2002
49 Resolution.
50
2
1 In 2017, the joint owners agreed to have the Managers, Mayors, and Chair (MMC) recommend
2 next steps by further considering preservation and development options.
3 Starting in May 2017, a joint staff work group began to examine the preservation and
4 development potential of the existing Greene Tract. That work culminated in the 2019
5 Greene Tract Resolution and Conceptual Plan which recommended a reconfiguration of the
6 jointly owned 104 acres and the 60 acre Headwaters Preserve and designated areas of the
7 property for specific preservation and development purposes.
8
9 In February of 2019, Orange County and the Town of Carrboro adopted identical 2019 Greene
10 Tract Resolution and Conceptual Plan documents. In July 2019, the Town of
11 Chapel Hill adopted a substantially similar resolution but modified the master plan map to
12 remove specific land use designations from the areas proposed for development. The
13 Town of Chapel Hill also adopted a companion resolution committing to hold a series of
14 community meetings, solicit input from the public and respective advisory boards regarding land
15 uses and densities, initiate environmental and connectivity assessment;
16 and initiate steps to protect the jointly-owned preserve and the Headwaters Preserve in
17 perpetuity.
18
19 In an effort to reconcile differences between the adopted resolutions, each jurisdiction is
20 considering a 2020 Greene Tract Resolution to supersede the resolutions adopted in
21 February 2019 by the Carrboro Board of Aldermen and the Orange County
22 Commissioners and the resolution adopted in July 2019 by the Chapel Hill Town Council.
23 The 2020 Greene Tract Resolution is scheduled for consideration at the January 21
24 Carrboro Town Council meeting, the January 21 Board of County Commissioners meeting, and
25 the January 22 Chapel Hill Town Council Meeting.
26
27 The 2020 Greene Tract Resolution establishes the following next steps:
28
29 1) Jointly pursue an environmental assessment of the entire 164 acres to consider
30 designating the most environmentally sensitive area as the Headwaters Preserve.
31 The cost of this analysis will be shared among the parties, 43% Orange County, 43%
32 Town of Chapel Hill, 14% Carrboro.
33 2) Jointly pursue a Memorandum of Understanding for future decision-making processes.
34 This document will be used to ensure the parties participate in good faith in the planning
35 process for potential development of the Greene Tract. The document will describe
36 community outreach efforts.
37 3) Jointly agree to not initiate formal public engagement until completion of the
38 Memorandum of Understanding document.
39 4) Jointly agree any potential developers of the Greene Tract may rely upon and utilize the
40 environmental assessment contemplated herein and shall not be required to conduct or
41 obtain a separate environmental assessment.
42 5) Jointly agree to a discussion of the Greene Tract at the 2020 Assembly of Governments
43 meeting on January 28, 2020.
44 Staff will provide any other information at the meeting, and the governing boards can
45 discuss issues and provide feedback to staff related to this item as necessary.
46
47 Attachment 1a — Greene Tract Vicinity Map
48 Attachment lb— Proposed 2020 Resolution
49
50 Travis Myren made the following PowerPoint presentation:
3
1
2 2020 Greene Tract Update
3 January 28, 2020
4 Assembly of Governments
5
6 Congratulations
7 Adoption of the 2020 Greene Tract Resolution and Interlocal Agreement for an Environmental
8 Assessment
9 January 21 — Board of Orange County Commissioners
10 January 21 — Carrboro Town Council
11 January 22— Chapel Hill Town Council
12
13 2020 Greene Tract Resolution and Environmental Assessment Interlocal Agreement
14 1. Jointly pursue an Environmental Assessment of the entire 164 acres to consider
15 designating the most environmentally sensitive area as the Headwaters Preserve. The
16 cost of this analysis will be shared among the parties, 43% Orange County, 43% Town
17 of Chapel Hill, 14% Carrboro.
18 Total Cost Estimated - $40,000
19 2. Jointly pursue a Memorandum of Understanding for future decision-making
20 processes. This document will be used to ensure the parties participate in good faith in
21 the planning process for potential development of the Greene Tract. The document will
22 describe community outreach efforts.
23 2020 Greene Tract Resolution and Environmental Assessment Interlocal Agreement
24 3. Jointly agrees to have a joint public information session that includes Orange
25 County, Chapel Hill, and Carrboro a minimum of 2 months after the Environmental
26 Assessment has been completed by the consultant and received by the jurisdictions.
27 4. Jointly agrees to not initiate formal further public engagement until completion of the
28 Memorandum of Understanding document.
29 5. Jointly agree to a discussion of the Greene Tract at the 2020 Assembly of
30 Governments meeting on January 28, 2020.
31
32 Environmental Assessment Timeline Highlights-handout
33
34 February 7 - Release RFQ for Environmental Assessment consultant
35 March 23 - Joint staff review of submittals
36 April 7 - Award contract to consultant
37 - Notice to proceed
38 June 7 - Draft Environmental Assessment completed
39 July - Review Environmental Assessment with School District and facilitate
40 next steps for analyzing school site
41 Mid-August - Review findings with Managers, Mayors, and Chair
42 September 14 - Jointly-planned community meeting to review and discuss the
43 Environmental Assessment
44
45 Memorandum of Understanding and Other Timeline Highlights
46 Mid- February - Mayors, Chair to review draft Memorandum of Understanding
47 June- August - Further revision and discussion of MOU
48 - Joint staffs develop goals and objectives to evaluate development
49 proposals informed by the draft Environmental Assessment
50
4
1 Mid-August - MMC meeting to review status of MOU, review Environmental
2 Assessment, review draft metrics, schedule presentations to governing
3 boards
4
5 Chair Rich said the AOG is considered a work session and the use of first names is
6 appropriate.
7 Carrboro Town Council Member Foushee referred to the MOU, and asked if it is going
8 to be made up of Managers/Mayors/Chair (MMC) and attorneys, and if a draft form might be
9 ready by June.
10 Travis Myren said the MMC group usually includes MMC, Managers, Attorneys and
11 planning staffs. He said this group will review the initial draft, and he is unsure of the timeline.
12 Mayor Hemminger said the MMC wanted to attend this AOG meeting, to understand
13 questions and concerns to discuss at its mid-February meeting, prior to making a timeline.
14 Mayor Hemminger said the group has a MOU template, and the attorneys are reviewing
15 this.
16 Mayor Lavelle said the attorneys are looking at a draft MOU now, and she hopes a draft
17 will be ready by June. She asked if Travis Myren could explain the legal ramifications of an
18 MOU.
19 Travis Myren said the MOU is an interlocal agreement between governments, and the
20 end goal of the document is to have some timeframe for things that happen; and if
21 disagreements arise, how to resolve these issues and move forward with the process. He said
22 each board will adopt the MOU.
23 Carrboro Town Council Member Gist referred to the schedule, and said it might be more
24 expedient for the draft MOU to come before the boards before all of the work has gone into it;
25 to check in with the various boards. She suggested adding check in points to the schedule.
26 Mayor Lavelle agreed, and said the MMC minutes are also helpful.
27 Carrboro Town Council Member Gist said to have each board put a formal check in on
28 their agendas, which will also make the public more aware of the process.
29 Chair Rich said the proposed MOU schedule is a first shot at a schedule so that the
30 group could have a starting point and some guidelines for tonight's meeting. She said there will
31 be check-ins along the way, but the attorneys have to start the process.
32 Chapel Hill Council Member Anderson referred to two places where the staffs were
33 collaborating together, and asked if staff will collaborate at any other times.
34 Travis Myren said yes, it is assumed staff will be working jointly throughout the entire
35 process.
36 Chapel Hill Town Council Member Anderson asked if the MMC would address
37 opportunities for the public to provide input, prior to a final document being created.
38 Mayor Lavelle said this is a legal document that references the resolution, which has
39 been passed by all the boards, but also has the legalese of what each party will do,
40 percentages, how to resolve disputes, etc. She said she does not see the MOU as explaining
41 how the Greene Tract will be developed.
42 John Roberts said the MOU is an outline, which will include public participation and
43 other legal requirements in it.
44 Mayor Lavelle said the MOU will be adopted in open session, allowing the public to
45 comment.
46 Chapel Hill Town Council Member Anderson said she is talking about the goals and
47 principles and the development plan.
48 Chair Rich said the development plan in not yet being discussed. She said the MOU is
49 a governing document.
50 Chapel Hill Town Council Member Anderson said she was talking about point#3.
5
1 Travis Myren said the MOU will come first, and staff can begin working on developing
2 goals, based on the broad goals that were adopted in the resolution. He said this will all
3 culminate in some sort of development proposal, which will include codified details for a
4 developer.
5 Chapel Hill Town Council Member Anderson said she understands what the MOU is, but
6 there is a piece that states: "review Greene Tract draft goals and metrics for evaluating
7 development proposals", which strikes her as something on which the public should weigh in.
8 She said if the MMC is receiving data, it would be helpful to have the information the websites
9 of each jurisdiction.
10 Commissioner Dorosin said this governing MOU will be pretty basic, and the questions
11 raised by the PowerPoint will be answered after the MOU is in place. He said the purpose of
12 the MOU is to determine how the boards will make decisions. He said it is good to talk about
13 this now while everyone is together, and his current understanding is that the MMC meet, hash
14 out their agenda, and report back to their boards, etc. He said when decisions need to be
15 made all three boards have to act unanimously. He asked if the MOU is designed to codify this
16 process, and, if so, is this the best way to proceed.
17 Commissioner Dorosin said if this document is designed to determine how the boards
18 get information, set agendas, vote, etc. it should be able to be done fairly quickly, assuming all
19 agree.
20 Commissioner Dorosin said another way to approach this process would be to appoint a
21 joint Greene Tract committee with representatives from the boards, which could have voting
22 ability. He said if an MOU is necessary, then he hopes there can be discussion tonight about
23 what this will look like. He said the MMC model may need to be tweaked.
24 Commissioner Dorosin said he has been Chair before, and he found the process to be
25 ineffective. He said he thought agreements had been reached previously, but it seems there
26 was not actual agreement.
27 Commissioner Dorosin said he wants to move forward thoughtfully, effectively,
28 efficiently, and in a way that making procedural decisions does not get in the way of the actual
29 substance.
30 Commissioner Dorosin said there is an agenda for the environmental assessment,
31 which should hopefully come back in June. He said this will be public document, which
32 everyone can discuss. He said the governance documents need to be completed by the time
33 the environmental assessment is returned.
34 Chair Rich said it is very helpful that the MMC meetings are being facilitated and
35 transcribed, as this keeps everyone informed and on track.
36 Chair Rich said the resolution states that a public meeting can occur before the MOU is
37 completed, but should wait until after the environmental assessment is completed and staff has
38 a chance to review it prior to presenting it to the public. She said if this process needs to be
39 changed, it should be discussed tonight.
40 Mayor Hemminger said the MMC did a good job at discussing how to take pragmatic
41 steps on each piece, instead of trying to bite off the whole thing at once. She said this should
42 help many things happen simultaneously, as opposed to waiting in a linear fashion.
43 Commissioner Dorosin said it is important to start the conversation about the MOU.
44 Chair Rich said she hopes this will be straightforward to hash out. She said the 2002
45 MOU was reached fairly easily, but at that time the Greene Tract was not in the extraterritorial
46 jurisdiction (ETJ). She said the 2002 MOU is not consistent with the current reality.
47 Carrboro Town Council Member Haven O'Donnell said the public engagement will start
48 with one public information session, and asked if there is a minimum amount of public
49 engagement that will occur, and will there be separate sessions in each jurisdiction.
6
1 Chair Rich asked if she was referring to discussing the environmental assessment with
2 the public.
3 Carrboro Town Council Member Haven O'Donnell said no, overall public engagement.
4 Chair Rich said these decisions have not been made yet.
5 Carrboro Town Council Member Haven O'Donnell said she would want to have a feel for
6 the check-ins and if these could engage the public.
7 Chair Rich said Reverend Campbell told the BOCC that he wanted to hear one voice,
8 and not several, when it comes to this issue. She said he desires a unified voice.
9 Commissioner Price said there should be a mechanism from the beginning to include
10 community engagement in the process and schedule.
11 Commissioner Price said the boards are waiting on the MOU and its purpose. She said
12 this process has taken a long time, and wonders if there is a lack of trust.
13 John Roberts said it is a process for the boards to move forward, and it will set out
14 public engagement, staff meetings, how to resolve disputes, etc. He said currently all three
15 parties must agree unanimously for things to move forward, and there has been no forward
16 movement for a significant amount of time.
17 Commissioner Dorosin asked if options are unanimous consent, vote by the parties, or
18 by percentage of ownership.
19 John Roberts said he has a basic draft, which includes an initial meeting of appointed
20 representatives of the three boards and Managers and Attorney to try and reach an agreement.
21 He said if that does not work he suggests bringing in a mediator, and if that still does not work
22 even after a lengthy time, then allow a vote of ownership by percentages. He said this is all just
23 his proposal and is subject to change.
24 Mayor Hemminger said overall clarification was needed, as there was varying
25 terminology, it was unclear who should sign, etc.
26 Mayor Hemminger said there is a working template, and the whole has been broke into
27 pieces to make it more manageable.
28 Mayor Lavelle said it is both complicated and not complicated. She said everyone wants
29 affordable housing, open space, connectivity, etc., but it is complicated because there are three
30 joint owners, but one owner is the permit issuing authority. She said the property is located in
31 an ETJ, which is also unusual
32 Mayor Lavelle said the biggest question is how to make decisions going forward. She
33 said the only example she can think of that is somewhat similar was the Solid Waste Advisory
34 Group (SWAG). She said there was a SWAG vote regarding the recycling fee, and every
35 jurisdiction had a vote and there had to be a resolution available if unanimity could not be
36 reached.
37 Commissioner Marcoplos referred to the issue of community engagement, and said
38 everyone is committed to that process. He said the boards will schedule these meetings later
39 when there is more information to share. He said it important to keep it simple with what is
40 being done now: the Environmental Assessment, the MOU, and the school site. He said it
41 would be wise to work through these three tasks without much distraction. He said it is
42 important to get it right this time.
43 Chapel Hill Council Member Bin said the timeline is process focused. She said she
44 would like to see more about what kind of information should be collected to reach the point
45 where the boards can agree. She said her Council talked about the importance of connectivity
46 analysis, environmental assessment, and what kind of financial commitments are needed. She
47 said these things need to be presented to the public, and she would like to know when these
48 key pieces of information will be known.
7
1 Mayor Hemminger said the environmental assessment and school site will inform the
2 connectivity piece. She said the MMC can discuss these items and share back out with the
3 various boards.
4 Mayor Hemminger said the MMC did agree that the local partners do not want to be the
5 developers.
6 Chair Rich said the MOU will guide the boards on how to move forward in the process
7 with the partners. She said discussions about actual development are far off.
8 Chapel Hill Council Member Bin said the MOU will layout the decision process and
9 resolution of disputes.
10 Chair Rich said yes, the MOU takes all the partners and guides them on how everyone
11 moves forward.
12 Chapel Hill Council Member Ryan said the time schedule notes that in August there will
13 be a time for refining goals and preservation, and she would like for the public to weigh in
14 before it gets back to the MMC. She said ideally it would be good to have public engagement in
15 June.
16 Travis Myren said points #2 and #3 are from staff's perspective, signaling what work
17 needs to be done before staff can make sense out of any development proposal.
18 Chapel Hill Council Member Ryan said as long as it happens in a way that allows public
19 engagement on the earlier end.
20 Carrboro Council Member Seils said #2 and #3 are separate activities from the process
21 of developing the MOU and beginning the environmental assessment. He said the MOU needs
22 to be in place first, and he appreciates the intent of staying focused on the most pressing items
23 first. He said he would like to consider what other approaches there may be, and asked
24 Commissioner Dorosin to expand on his previous thought.
25 Commissioner Dorosin said he thought the boards could do some brain-storming and
26 see what alternatives exist. He said there are inefficiencies in the unanimous consent
27 requirement, but some may think this is the best way. He said SWAG voting was done by
28 entity, and voting by percentages of ownership is another option. He said the MOU will define
29 how this project gets done; and it is important to consider how to proceed if agreement cannot
30 be reached.
31 Carrboro Council Member Seils said it sounds like the draft MOU will go to the MMC, but
32 asked if it will then back to the individual boards for discussion.
33 Commissioner Dorosin said the boards are here to give feedback tonight. He said he
34 personally does not want to adopt an MOU that requires unanimous agreement.
35 Chapel Hill Council Member Stegman said the MMC process has been frustrating in the
36 past, but has improved with the recent changes of facilitation and notes coming back to the
37 boards. She said it would be helpful to know the agendas are ahead of time, as well as set
38 meeting and check in times. She said unanimity is not working, and she would be interested to
39 hear more about other options.
40 Commissioner Marcoplos said right now the focus is the environmental assessment, the
41 school site, and the MOU, and there will not be much further progress without agreement on
42 those three items. He said once those are completed, further items could come down to a
43 majority vote.
44 Commissioner Dorosin said everyone has agreed upon the environmental assessment,
45 and the MOU and the school site are the next topics for discussion. He said he does not think
46 unanimous agreement on these matters will come easily.
47 Commissioner Marcoplos said he does not think it will be easy either, but if there is one
48 party that does not agree to the MOU, then further discussions will fail as well.
49 Mayor Lavelle said it really does not make a difference if it is one vote each or a
50 percentage.
8
1 Chapel Hill Council Member Anderson said earlier she did not mean she did not
2 understand the purpose of the MOU, but rather she seeks clarity on point#2 and #3, and to
3 insure public input on these items earlier in the discussions.
4 Chapel Hill Council Member Anderson said the boards are not agreeing together on
5 what foundational information is needed to make decisions, or how to engage the public in
6 advance. She said it is right to do incremental steps, and she would like to see agreement on
7 what information is needed, or not needed, to make decisions and be fully informed. She said
8 the public should be engaged purposefully. She said the connectivity and environmental
9 analyses are critical to be able to make decisions.
10 Chapel Hill Council Member Parker said the two voting options are unanimity or 2/3. He
11 said the County Attorney has done a good job trying to bridge this by starting with a hope for
12 unanimity, but going to mediation and 2/3 voting if necessary.
13 Chapel Hill Council Member Parker said what is causing some confusion is that two
14 processes have been conflated: the process of figuring out the MOU (what is in it, decision
15 making processes, etc.) and the work plan itself, which should actually be a separate
16 document.
17 Carrboro Council Member Damon Seils said # 2 and 3 are important to the process, but
18 the boards need to focus on the MOU first. He said he would like to see the MOU approved
19 early on, and as quickly as possible.
20 Commissioner Greene said this vote is not like other votes the boards have taken,
21 because all are very interested in the real estate. She said there needs to be unanimous
22 agreement about the nature of the development, or mediation should be employed.
23 Chair Rich asked Commissioner Greene if she feels John Roberts is heading in right
24 direction with the draft MOU.
25 Commissioner Greene said yes.
26 Chapel Hill Council Member Huynh said the jointly planned community meeting is a
27 good idea to avoid confusion, but if there will only be one meeting he would like to insure that it
28 is recorded and posted on the website.
29 Chair Rich said there will be more than one meeting, and everything will go on the
30 Orange County website.
31 Chair Rich said the public can come to any of the BOCC's business meetings and make
32 comments.
33 Chair Rich asked if everyone feels the boards are heading in the right direction with the
34 draft MOU.
35 Chapel Hill Council Member Huynh said he is concerned about the presentation of the
36 materials, and making sure that the public is clear about the dates and locations of any
37 presentations.
38 Chair Rich said this is just a stab at a schedule, and nothing is written in stone.
39 Chapel Hill Council Member Ryan said actually no meetings are able to occur until the
40 MOU is signed.
41 Mayor Hemminger said that is not correct, and this point has been taken out of the
42 resolution. She said there will be a joint meeting once the environmental assessment is
43 completed. She said no one jurisdiction will have a special meeting for the public until the
44 information is together.
45 Chapel Hill Council Member Ryan said it also says, "we jointly agree not to initiate
46 further formal public engagement until completion of the MOU document." She asked if this
47 limits everyone to one formal meeting until the MOU is signed.
48 Mayor Hemminger said that was not the intention, rather that when meetings do occur
49 about the Greene Tract, it would include everyone together.
9
1 Chair Rich said the goal is to make sure everyone is together when meetings do occur.
2 She said this goes back for years, and when the public is engaged, all parties should be
3 involved.
4 Chapel Hill Council Member Ryan said the language is unclear.
5 Chapel Hill Mayor Hemminger said all parties have different environmental restrictions,
6 and staff wants to make sure it is working from the same assumptions, which was part of these
7 goals. She said staff wants to have it formalized in the MOU that the parties will use the most
8 restrictive, least restrictive, etc. She said some assumptions have been made, and staff did not
9 feel it had the support from all of the elected officials in any kind of understanding of these
10 processes.
11 Chair Rich asked if the boards are heading in the right direction, and with general
12 consensus, with the MOU, or does anyone want to offer anything about it. She said the MOU is
13 a guiding document, and she wants to gather any remaining input.
14 Carrboro Council Member Damon Seils said it is difficult to discuss in the abstract, but it
15 seems like the attorneys are going in the right direction. He asked if the MOU will address a
16 worse case scenario of total disagreement, and the options for resolution. He suggested that
17 the attorneys explore these issues, in particular.
18 Chapel Hill Council Member Buansi said there should be clear language about
19 mediation and parameters, but agreed that the attorneys seem to be going in the right direction.
20 Chapel Hill Council Member Gu said there are so many decision points, and it is
21 important to have a roadmap or work plan, and some agreement about the type of information
22 that must be collected. She said the current timeline is too vague, in her opinion.
23 Mayor Lavelle said she said she wants the MOU to address what happens to an entity if
24 it wants to get out of the process. She said Carrboro only has a 14% stake, and the land is not
25 in Carrboro. She said a time may come when Carrboro wants to voluntarily step away, and she
26 would like to have this process included in the MOU.
27 Chapel Hill Council Member Anderson agreed with Commissioner Greene, but then
28 found some confusion. She said it is her understanding that the draft MOU contains a weighted
29 vote system, but asked if this is accurate.
30 Chair Rich said the MOU addresses how to move forward if there is not an agreement,
31 and a weighted vote is one option. She said the currently existing MOU says all parties must
32 agree, and the new MOU will state the same, and Commissioner Dorosin has posed the
33 question of"is there a better way?"
34 Chapel Hill Council Member Anderson said the current MOU track seems reasonable.
35 Commissioner Price said John Roberts is on the right track and she would encourage
36 everyone to keep the process simple. She said having a work plan would be useful, as a
37 separate process to the MOU.
38 Chair Rich asked Commissioner Dorosin if this conversation has satisfied his
39 questioning. She said the attorneys are waiting for the boards to give advice.
40 Commissioner Dorosin said the conversation happened, but he is not completely
41 satisfied. He said his main point of interest is the time that is passing to accomplish anything.
42 He said the boards have been working on this land, and the communities have been waiting, for
43 years. He said he is interested in the MOU moving the process forward faster than it has
44 moved thus far, and is glad to have heard the comments of his peers. He said this
45 conversation has been a good start.
46
47 2. Orange County Complete Count Committee - Status and Efforts for 2020 Census
48
49 Mayor Weaver introduced item and Todd McGee, Community Relations Director,
50 reviewed the following information:
10
1
2 At its May 21, 2019 meeting, the Board of Commissioners approved the creation of an
3 Orange County Complete Count Committee (CCC) to develop and implement a 2020 Census
4 awareness campaign to encourage residents to respond. Board of Commissioners Vice Chair
5 Renee Price was appointed to lead the Committee, with Community Relations Director Todd
6 McGee as staff liaison.
7
8 The Committee is a group of community volunteers, local government elected officials and staff
9 dedicated to increasing awareness and motivating residents to respond to the 2020 Census.
10 The Committee held its first meeting in July and has been meeting regularly since. The
11 committee is comprised of 56 members representing 28 community organizations and local
12 governments. With increased awareness of the Census, more members are added to the CCC.
13 The CCC will work with community partners to focus on hard-to-count communities, including
14 people of color, non-English speaking communities, low-income families, people who live in
15 non-traditional housing and the refugee populations within the County. An accurate count of
16 these populations will ensure that all available federal resources will be provided to support
17 these communities.
18
19 Committee members represent a broad spectrum of government and community leaders from
20 business, non-profits, faith-based groups, and other community organizations. The Committee
21 has created a page on the Orange County website (www.orangecountync.gov/2020census) to
22 house information and materials, including links to resources for the public to use to help
23 promote awareness.
24
25 The Committee has created several subcommittees to focus on specific areas:
26 • Be Counted Sites: libraries, community centers, senior centers
27 • Publicity and Marketing: Public Information Officers for the County and Towns
28 • Hard to Count Non-English speaking: Chinese School, El Centro
29 • Hard To Count Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) with Clients:
30 Department of Social Services, Department of Health
31 • Housing: County, Town, Habitat for Humanity, EmPOWERment,
32 • Community Outreach: National Association for the Advancement of Colored
33 People (NAACP), churches, faith assemblies
34 • Business Community: Chambers of Commerce
35 • Schools: Orange County Schools, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools
36 • Colleges/Universities: Durham Technical Community College, UNC-Chapel Hill off-
37 campus
38 • Planning/GIS/Information Technology Support: Planning and Technology
39 Department Staffs
40 • Elected Officials: Serving as Ambassadors
41
42 Among the Strategies that the Committee plans to use are:
43 • Videos, Facebook, other social media outlets
44 • News online and in print
45 • Public Service Announcements on the radio, in buses
46 • Posters in local government facilities, medical clinics and businesses
47 • Get out the Count events
48 • Tabling at events
49 • Website with links
50 • Identify trusted partners within the hard-to-reach communities to deliver the message.
11
1 • Recruit community Census communicators who will spread the messages to
2 neighborhoods through listservs, e-mail newsletters, social media, Next Door and other
3 means.
4 • Kickoff events on Census Day (April 1, 2020) at all Be Counted Sites
5
6 Tentative schedule
7 January-February—The Census Bureau begins national awareness campaign.
8 The Orange County CCC will develop local messages to amplify the Census Bureau's
9 outreach efforts with a focus on the importance of participating in the Census. In
10 addition, the Committee will develop talking points that address specifically how the
11 Census data is used to benefit the local community. The
12 CCC will recruit community volunteers who will agree to share information with their
13 friends and neighbors through community emails, newsletters, etc.
14 • March —The Census Bureau mails postcards to households with unique identifying
15 numbers. Households will be able to complete the census online, by phone or by
16 requesting a paper form. The CCC message will shift to alerting residents to expect the
17 postcard and encouraging them to complete the questionnaire.
18 • April — Be Counted sites will open on Census Day (April 1) to provide online access to
19 residents who do not have Internet service. These sites will be located at libraries,
20 community centers and other facilities throughout Orange County (see attached map).
21 The Be Counted Subcommittee will look to add additional sites in areas that have
22 experienced low response rates in prior censuses.
23 May-July—The Committee will continue to promote responding to the census.
24
25 Next steps
26 The subcommittees and Committee will meet through winter and spring to identify strategies to
27 accomplish their objectives.
28 Staff will provide any other information at the meeting, and the governing boards can discuss
29 issues and provide feedback to staff related to this item as necessary.
30 Attachment 2a — 2020 Census Invitation Letter and Questionnaire
31 Attachment 2b— Map of Be Counted Site Locations
32
33 Todd McGee made the following PowerPoint presentation:
34
35 Everyone County
36 The 2020 Census:
37 What it means to Orange County
38
39 What's at stake
40 • Political Representation
41 • Federal Funding
42 • Community Planning and Economic Development
43
44 Map
45
46 Federal Funding
47 • $675 billion a year for schools, transportation, roads, social services, etc.
48 • Each person counted in North Carolina is about $1,600 in federal funding for the state
49 and another $200 in state funding.
12
1
2 Data
3 • Businesses use data to determine locations or expansions
4 • Local governments use the data for planning purposes
5
6 What's New in 2020
7 • Online response
8 • Telephone response
9 • 121anguages
10 • More dual-language enumerators
11
12 Schedule
13 March 12-20 — Invitations mailed
14
15 SAMPLE SLIDE OF INVITATION-Letter
16
17 Schedule
18 • March 16-24 — Reminder letters sent
19 • March 26-April 3 — Reminder postcards sent to those who have not responded
20 • April 8-16 — Reminder letter and paper questionnaire sent
21 • April 20-27 — Final reminder postcards sent before in-person follow-ups begin
22
23 Challenges
24 • Digital Divide
25 • Hard To Count Communities
26 • Inadequate and late funding
27
28 -In the 2020 Census, about 95 percent of housing units will receive their census invitations in
29 the mail. The U.S. Census Bureau will send up to five mailings to encourage you to respond
30 online, by mail or by phone.
31 • The initial mailing will go out March 12-20. This will include information about how to
32 respond online or by phone.
33 • A reminder letter will come about a week later. If you haven't responded by the end of
34 March, the Census bureau will send a reminder postcard. A fourth mailing a week later
35 will include a copy of the paper questionnaire. These will be sent from April 8-16.
36 • If you still haven't responded by April 20, you will receive one more reminder
37 postcard. Follow up in-home visits will start at the end of April and early May for
38 those who have not yet responded.
39 • In Orange County, almost everyone will first receive a letter asking you to go
40 online to complete the census questionnaire.
41 • One census tract in Chapel Hill has been identified as an area less likely to
42 respond online, so they will receive a paper questionnaire along with their first
43 invitation.
44
45 Complete Count Committees (CCCs)
46 • Led by Vice Chair Renee Price
47 • More than 50 members and growing
48 • Stacey Carless, Executive Director, NC Counts Coalition
13
1 • Bob Coats, Governor's Census Liaison
2 • Eric Edelheit, Census Bureau Liaison
3
4 MAP of CCC Committees in NC
5
6 CCC Role
7 • Promote awareness of the Census
8 • Encourage participation
9 • Identify hard-to-reach communities
10 • Work with trusted leaders in those communities
11
12 The Census staff has already begun sowing CCC seeds. The NC CCC shouldn't reinvent the
13 wheel, but we can support existing CCC and encourage CCC growth.
14
15 • LOCAL ownership of the Census is key.
16 • There's no set playbook for CCCs. They vary by the communities they serve, but there
17 are some consistent components — assess, plan, budget, and communicate.
18 • Almost every county in North Carolina has created a Complete Count Committee.
19 • Counties understand what is at stake in terms of funding and political representation.
20
21 Subcommittees
22 • Be Counted Sites
23 • Publicity and Marketing
24 • Hard to Count Non-English Speaking
25 • Hard to Count NGOs with clients
26 • Community Outreach
27 • Business Community
28 • Schools
29 • GIS/IT support
30 • Elected Officials
31
32 Be Counted Sites
33 • Addresses the Digital Divide
34 • Public Computers
35 • Non-staffed (self-service)
36 • Available during regular business hours
37 • Pop up sites
38
39 Hard to Count Committees
40 • Homeless
41 • Non-English speaking
42 • College students
43 • Young children
44
45 Todd McGee said nearly one million children under the age of 5 were uncounted in the
46 2010 census
47
48 Counting the Homeless
49 • Service-Based Enumeration (SBE)
14
1 • March 30-April 1
2 • In-person interviews with individuals using a paper form
3 • Enumeration at Transitory Locations (ETL)
4 • Hotels, motels, campgrounds surveyed in the fall
5 • April 9-May 4.
6
7 Todd McGee said people experiencing homelessness likely have been undercounted in
8 the decennial census for decades. He said there are a number of ways that the 2020 Census
9 will count people experiencing homelessness in the United States. He said the primary
10 operations for counting people experiencing homelessness in the 2020 Census are the Service-
II Based Enumeration (SBE), which is part of the broader Group Quarters operation, and
12 Enumeration at Transitory Locations (ETL). He said the SBE operation locate people at places
13 where they receive services and at outdoor locations, including shelters and soup kitchens. The
14 effort targets outdoor locations, including encampments and other locations where people sleep
15 unsheltered. He said the SBE operation will run from March 30 through April 1, and during the
16 SBE, census takers will conduct in-person interviews with individuals using a paper census
17 form.
18 Todd McGee said non-sheltered outdoor locations, which will be identified in advance,
19 will be counted on April 1, 2020. He said the Census Bureau will identify service-based and
20 outdoor locations through internet research, outreach to advocacy organizations, and outreach
21 to elected officials of state, local, and tribal governments. He said ETL operations count people
22 in transitory locations who do not have a stable home elsewhere, including people experiencing
23 homelessness. Hotels, motels and campgrounds are included in this operation. Potential
24 locations were identified in Fall 2019.
25 Todd McGee said the ETL operation will take place from April 9 to May 4, 2020.13
26
27 Non- English Speaking
28 • Census Bureau making information available in 12 languages.
29 • Trusted community leaders
30 • Schools
31
32 Foreign Languages
33 • Arabic
34 • Chinese
35 • French
36 • Haitian Creole
37 • Japanese
38 • Korean
39 • Polish
40 • Portuguese
41 • Russian
42 . Spanish
43 • Tagalong
44 . Vietnamese
45 • Burmese
46 • Karen
47 • Kinyarwanda (Swahili)
48
49
15
1 Todd McGee said the Census Bureau is translating the information to 12 languages,
2 and in addition, the Family Success Alliance (FSA) has identified three additional languages
3 that are more common in Orange County than some of the languages on the Census Bureau's
4 list:
5 Burmese
6 Karen
7 Kinyarwanda
8
9 Todd McGee said staff will work with the FSA to translate some of the Census materials
10 into these languages as well.
11
12 Group Quarters Enumeration (GQE)
13 • Group homes
14 • Nursing facilities/skilled nursing facilities (nursing homes)
15 • Residential treatment facilities
16 • College/university or seminary student housing
17 • Religious group living quarters
18 • Correctional facilities
19 • In-patient hospice facilities
20 • Hospitals
21 • Workers' group living quarters
22 • Job Corps centers or vocational training facilities
23
24 The Bureau uses multiple approaches to try to get an accurate enumeration of people living in
25 group quarters including:
26 Electronic Response Data Transfer (eResponse)
27 • In-person Interview
28 • Drop Off/Pick Up of Questionnaire
29 • Paper Response Data Collection
30
31 Mayor Hemminger said she spoke with the University of North Carolina (UNC)
32 yesterday, and the University is ready to spread the message to all UNC students, and explain
33 the differential. She said UNC is just waiting to get information from the boards, and is happy to
34 broadcast it widely.
35 Todd McGee said staff is working on this currently, and UNC is part of the complete
36 count committee.
37
38 Outreach strategies
39 • Census Captains
40 • PSAs
41 . Interviews
42 . April 1 kickoff events
43 • Public speaking
44
45 Todd McGee asked if each elected official in attendance would be a census captain,
46 and to put the census information on personal social media feeds.
47 Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (CHHCS) Board Chair Joal Broun said the two school
48 systems are working together, and Cedar Ridge High School's video group is making a video
49 emphasizing child nutrition, which will be another PSA.
16
1 Carrboro Town Council Member Gist said staff is doing a great job, and she asked if
2 people will be scared to talk to census takers for fear of immigration repercussions.
3 Todd McGee said security is one of the main issues that staff will focus on, especially in
4 February. He said every `be counted' site will have cards available highlighting the steps taken
5 by the census bureau to explain that the data cannot be shared for 72 years. He said census
6 data has been used in the past to locate wanted persons, and so the fear is understandable.
7 Commissioner Price said the committee has made a conscious effort to involve people
8 from the Latinx community as trusted messengers to take the information back to their
9 communities. She said trust is a huge issue, and always has been throughout the history of the
10 census.
11 Carrboro Town Council Member Ferguson said it is important to emphasize the
12 confidentiality laws, which did not exist in the past. She said the census is locked down, and
13 the consequences for violating privacy are extremely serious.
14 Commissioner Greene said both she and Kathleen Ferguson were at a Triangle J
15 Council of Governments (TJCOG) meeting last week, where a presentation was made about
16 the census and the severity of the fines. She said Orange County is only 40-60% towards
17 reaching its recruitment goal for census workers. She said those interested in being a census
18 worker can go to 2020census.gov/jobs and apply on line. She said the pay is good.
19 Commissioner Greene said the census will not ask for a Social Security Number, credit
20 card, etc. but all those things have already happened in North Carolina. She said all census
21 workers who go house to house will be well identified, with official IDs.
22 Chapel Hill Council Member Buansi said there is risk of false census documents, and
23 asked if there are any public campaigns to advise people on how to identify the real form the
24 fake.
25 Todd McGee said staff will start promoting a sample letter. He said there will be no
26 phone calls made by the census bureau, and letters will not be addressed to people by name.
27 He said staff will provide information on any scams of which it is aware.
28 Mayor Lavelle said she has an article that outlines the laws that protect census data.
29 Chair Rich asked if residents in the northern part of the County will have reliable
30 broadband access.
31 Todd McGee said staff will bring hotspots.
32 Hillsborough Town Commissioner Hughes said the Town of Hillsborough Board has
33 committed at least $5000 matching funds for marketing in Orange County, and encouraged
34 other towns to do the same. He said completed census data directly connects to Orange
35 County receiving Federal funds, and it is very important that residents complete the form.
36 Carrboro Council Member Romaine asked if instructions for completing the census will
37 be widely available, as it can be a difficult form to understand.
38 Todd McGee said the census contains 10 questions, and he can forward the sample
39 letter to the boards. He said it is not terribly complicated to understand, and the biggest issue is
40 understanding that this information is about households, not necessarily families.
41 Carrboro Council Member Romaine asked if it is known how long it will take to complete
42 the form.
43 Todd McGee said about 10-15 minutes, and the sample one is in the boards' agenda
44 packet. He said the form is not complicated, and the greater challenge is convincing people to
45 fill it out.
46 Carrboro Council Member Slade encouraged his board to invest in the census, as there
47 is real return on the investment.
48 Todd McGee said the state was going to invest $1.5 million, which was only 14 cents
49 per person, but has ultimately chosen to invest nothing. He said North Carolina is one of many
50 states that are not investing in the census, and local support will be very important.
17
1 Commissioner Price said people have applied for census jobs but have not heard back
2 from the Census bureau yet. She said census workers will have identification on them. She
3 said Orange County has invested $1500 already, and will invest an additional another $5000.
4 Commissioner Price said the census website has about 100 languages.
5 Commissioner Greene said the official hot line # is: 1-800-424-6974
6 Mayor Weaver thanked the Census Count Committees.
7 Mayor Hemminger introduced the item below:
8
9 3. Update on the County's Emergency Response Time and Co-Location Efforts
10
11
12 Background
13 Dinah Jeffries, Emergency Services Director, presented this item along with Kim
14 Woodward, Emergency Medical Services Operations Manager.
15
16 Background
17 In FY 2019-20 (July 1, 2019 to January 17, 2020), Orange County Emergency Medical
18 Services (EMS) has responded to 9,033 calls, with a projected outlook for the year of 16,500
19 calls. During this period, approximately 208 times, the County has needed to request
20 assistance from surrounding counties (Durham, Alamance, Chatham, Caswell and Person) to
21 respond to calls when no EMS units were available. With the addition of the UNC-Hillsborough
22 Emergency Department (ED), EMS has been able to reduce the discharge time for patients and
23 report available for service. This does not affect the call volume; however, it does reduce the
24 length of time that a unit is out of service, thus reducing the time that County partners must
25 remain on standby to respond into Orange County for calls.
26
27 Issue 1: UNC-Hillsborough Hospital and the relationship to EMS response times
28 Traditionally, Orange County EMS transported all of patients to UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke/Durham
29 Regional and/or Alamance Regional. With the new UNC-Hillsborough location opening in 2015,
30 transports to Duke have dramatically decreased, which in turn clears units quicker to return for
31 service.
32
33 UNC Hillsborough (UNC-H) is typically served by Medic 1 (Revere Road, Hillsborough), Medic 4
34 (Mt. Willing Road, Efland), Medic 5 (St. Mary's Road, Hillsborough), and Medic 7 (NC 86 South
35 — across from Camp New Hope, Chapel Hill). Patients are being transported to UNC-H by
36 ambulance from northern Chapel Hill and northern Orange County. In 2019 Orange County
37 EMS transported 1,254 patients to UNC-H. The average turn-around time of an ambulance
38 transporting to UNC-H was 26 minutes 29 seconds, in stark contrast to the 37 minute 53
39 second average - around time for ambulances transporting to Duke University Medical Center.
40 While impossible to analyze fully, this quicker turn-around time, accompanied by the shorter
41 transport time to UNC-H, allows ambulances to clear up faster from each call. Response time is
42 dependent on the number of available ambulances and the proximity to the requested
43 response. The opening of UNC-H also allowed many of the northern Orange County patients,
44 who would have otherwise been taken to Duke or UNC Main Campus in Chapel Hill, to be
45 transported to a closer hospital with a shorter turn-around time.
46
47 Background
48 Orange County EMS is a single EMS district, which delivers response to the entire County
49 encompassing approximately 398 square miles to include the three municipalities. The highest
50 percentage of EMS calls occur within and proximate to Chapel Hill, followed by Hillsborough
18
1 and then Carrboro. The Hillsborough responses have increased steadily due to the addition of
2 multiple medical and nursing facilities. EMS currently staffs six (6) 24-hour stations, with four (4)
3 of those stations co-locating, and two (2) 12-hour stations, with both of those stations co-
4 locating. It is important to note that with the exception of the Chapel Hill Fire Station in Glen
5 Lennox, also known as EMS Station 3, none of the current facilities were originally built or
6 intended to accommodate EMS operations, including the stand-along stations that house two of
7 the northern stations. Co-locations have allowed EMS to protect the ambulances and drugs in a
8 temperature controlled, enclosed and secure environment.
9
10 Issue 2: How are the co-locations with the Fire Departments going?
11
12 EMS is currently housing ambulances at the following colocations:
13 Medic 2 — Carrboro Fire Rescue Station 1 (S. Main Street)
14 Medic 3— Chapel Hill Fire Station 2 (Hamilton Road)
15 Medic 5— Eno Fire Station 2 (St. Mary's Road)
16 Medic 6 — Carrboro Fire Station 2 (Homestead Road)
17 Medic 7— New Hope Fire Station 2 (Hwy 86)
18 *Medic 9— Orange Grove Fire Station (Orange Grove Road)
19
20 The co-locations are effective and advantageous for the communities and offer strategic
21 placement of equipment and personnel. The County's partnerships with each fire department
22 have strengthened, as the arrangement allows crews to routinely train with Fire Department
23 personnel. Chapel Hill Fire and Orange Grove Fire both advanced to EMT level fire
24 departments since the co locations. EMS is currently working with New Hope and Eno Fire to
25 also advance to the EMT level in the upcoming year. EMS has improved its geographic
26 knowledge in the service areas. These co-locations have also led to ambulances being housed
27 inside, which greatly improved medication temperature control as well as keeping ambulances
28 plugged into shorelines and preserving the ambulances. Ambulances were fitted with plymovent
29 adaptors in FY 2018-2019 for those stations with plymovent exhaust systems.
30
31 The County has experienced space issues at the majority of the co-location stations already
32 established and designed for fire logistics and personnel. During weather events, EMS
33 recognizes that fire departments increase staffing that continues the challenge of providing
34 lodging for additional staff or relief staff for the following day. All of the County's co-locating
35 partners have been extremely gracious and accommodating in adjusting operations and the
36 living environment for EMS staff. Strategically, co-locations are placed in high demand areas
37 with the exception of two locations that have the lowest utilization system wide; however, EMS
38 is using these units to provide relief for the high demand stations, as well as provide visibility in
39 communities that have not commonly experienced EMS presence.
40
41 Future Co- locations
42 Co-location with Orange Rural Fire Department
43 • Waterstone Fire/EMS Station:
44 . Entering design stage with Orange Rural Fire Department
45 • Strategically placed to respond to the heavy numbers of medical facilities and senior
46 housing in Hillsborough
47 • EMS stand-a-lone station in Efland
48 • Replaces the existing station
49 • Strategically placed to quickly access major roadways
50 • EMS stand a-lone Northern Cedar Grove
19
1 Located in center of Northern Orange County
2
3 CONCLUSION
4 • More strategic planning needed
5 • Continue our work with fire partners
6 • Continuing providing excellence in service
7 • Prepared, Coordinated and Integrated Emergency Services System
8
9 Future Protections- Dinah Jeffries
10 Orange County Emergency Services EMS is an on-going and at times almost continuous
11 service that functions 24-hours a day throughout the entire County. Not all existing locations
12 were based on strategic planning, so this concern must be addressed as a long term issue in
13 future planning. Fire and EMS personnel work together throughout the county every day and
14 the common goal to always provide more than is expected remains throughout the system.
15 Staff will provide any other information at the meeting, and the governing boards can discuss
16 issues and provide feedback to staff related to this item as necessary.
17
18 Dinah Jeffries said the vision is that this emergency services system be prepared,
19 coordinated, and integrated, and this requires the continued cooperation of all involved parties,
20 for which she is very grateful. She said Orange County has some of the best trained, and most
21 professional, responders in the State, and the nation.
22 Carrboro Council Member Slade said Carrboro just completed a facility assessment, and
23 he is intrigued to hear about co-location, as the Carrboro fire station has some adjacent space.
24 He said if the County provided funding, there could be room to build onto the station in
25 Carrboro. He said the stand-alone station in downtown Carrboro is an economic development
26 opportunity.
27 Dinah Jeffries said her department is open to all invites. She said that the stand-alone
28 station in Carrboro is South Orange Rescue Squad (SORS), which has very limited space to
29 co-locate EMS there.
30 Commissioner McKee commended EMS and the fire departments, and said he
31 remembered the skepticism years ago about co-locations. He encouraged the re-staffing of the
32 Orange Grove Fire Department co-location. He said he is aware of 2 situations where the
33 ambulance being in Orange Grove allowed for tragedy to be avoided.
34 Mayor Lavelle said Carrboro has one of the highest call volumes, and asked if EMS is at
35 fire station number 1 in Carrboro.
36 Kim Woodward said EMS is located at both fire stations in Carrboro, but call locations
37 are all calls in Carrboro.
38 Mayor Lavelle said Carrboro has a new Fire Chief called Dave Schmidt.
39 Hillsborough Commissioner Member Hughes said Hillsborough has the second highest
40 call volume, and asked if this refers to Hillsborough proper or the greater Hillsborough
41 Township.
42 Dinah Jeffries said the greater Hillsborough Township, and this includes station 1 and 5.
43 She said the reason Hillsborough's numbers have grown so much is due to the additional
44 medical facilities in the area. She said there EMS is there daily.
45 Chapel Hill Council Member Buansi thanked Emergency Services, and asked if the need
46 for mutual aid partners is comparable with past years.
47 Kim Woodard said the need is less now, as compared to 2010, but the trend is moving
48 up, and staff is keeping a close eye. She said it would be great if Orange and surrounding
49 counties could work this out, but there are days that are surge days, and they do not parse out
20
1 to insure equal staffing. She said thus far, Orange County's surge days have not corresponded
2 with other counties, which is fortunate.
3 Hillsborough Commissioner Hughes said Alamance and Durham counties are most
4 frequently mentioned, and asked if this is Orange County helping its neighbors, or neighbors
5 coming to help Orange County.
6 Kim Woodard said it is neighbors coming to help Orange County in call response. She
7 said South Orange is utilized frequently, and she is proud of this relationship.
8 Hillsborough Commissioner Hughes asked if there are typical situations that require
9 extra help.
10 Kim Woodard said the telecommunicators prioritize the responses, and send the closest
11 ambulances to the highest acuity call, with longest distance traveling ambulances going to non-
12 emergency calls.
13 Mayor Hemminger said Chapel Hill also has a new Fire Chief called Vencelin Harris,
14 who will be sworn in next week.
15 Mayor Lavelle said noted the following information items:
16
17 4. Information Items (Written Updates — Not for Specific Discussion)
18
19 a) Orange County Climate Action Committee Update
20 b) Orange County Transit Plan Steering Committee Update
21 c) HOME Consortium Project Update
22 d) Update on Orange County Northern Campus Project
23 e) Update on Collins Ridge
24 f) Update on the Carrboro Economic Development - Lloyd Farm, etc.
25 g) Update on Chapel Hill Economic Development - Opportunity Zone, Project Well, etc.
26 h) Update on Orange County Economic Development
27 i) Update on the Colonial Inn
28
29 The meeting adjourned at 9:31 p.m.
30
31
32 Penny Rich, Chair
33
34
35 Donna Baker
36 Clerk to the Board
1
1 Attachment 3
2
3 DRAFT MINUTES
4 BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
5 BUSINESS MEETING
6 February 4, 2020
7 7:00 p.m.
8
9 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met in a Business Meeting on Tuesday,
10 February 4, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. at the Whitted Human Services Center in Hillsborough, N.C.
11
12 COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Penny Rich and Commissioners Jamezetta
13 Bedford, Mark Dorosin, Earl McKee, Mark Marcoplos, and Renee Price
14 COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Commissioner Greene
15 COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: John Roberts
16 COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Bonnie Hammersley, Deputy County Manager
17 Travis Myren, and Clerk to the Board Donna Baker (All other staff members will be identified
18 appropriately below.)
19
20 Chair Rich called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
21
22 1. Additions or Changes to the Agenda
23
24 Chair Rich noted the following item at the Commissioners' places:
25 - PowerPoint for Item 5-a
26
27 PUBLIC CHARGE
28 The Chair acknowledged the public charge.
29
30 Arts Moment
31 Dan Mayer, Orange County Arts Commission Member, introduced Nancy Peacock:
32 Nancy Peacock, served as Piedmont Laureate in 2018, and is the author of the novels
33 Life Without Water (chosen as a New York Times Notable Book), Home Across the Road, and
34 The Life and Times of Persimmon Wilson, winner of Shelf Unbound Best Self Published Novel,
35 and Writer's Digest Best Self-Published Book in Mainstream Fiction, later traditionally published
36 by Atria Press. She is also the author of the memoir and "writing-in-the-real-world" guide A
37 Broom of One's Own: Words on Writing, Housecleaning and Life, which chronicles the many
38 years she spent dusting her own books as she earned a living cleaning houses, and what she
39 learned about writing from that humbling experience. Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild, says of A
40 Broom of One's Own, "Each essay is an engaging, well-written, funny and poignant journey into
41 Nancy Peacock's generous spirit, humble heart and incisive mind." Nancy runs writing groups
42 for women and for 16 years has facilitated a popular, free Prompt Writing Workshop, now held
43 at Flyleaf Books the second Saturday of every month.
44 Nancy Peacock read a piece called, "Cookies".
45
46 2. Public Comments
47
48 a. Matters not on the Printed Agenda
49 Annette Moore introduced Frances Castillo, the new Chair of the Human Relations
50 Commission (HRC), and said they are here to talk about the 301" anniversary of the Pauli
2
1 Murray Awards, which will be held on February 23rd from 3:00-5:00 p.m. She said the guest
2 speaker will be Ed Pavlic, Ph.D., a Distinguished Research Professor of English and African
3 American Studies at the University of Georgia, and the evening will also include poetry, dance,
4 and music.
5 Frances Castillo said the winners of the Pauli Murray Awards were:
6 Mae McLendon Adult Awardee
7 Thea Barrett Youth Awardee
8 Annette Moore said the HRC created a task force to work on increasing diversity on
9 boards and commissions. She said the task force has already created a survey, and will be
10 sending it out to all volunteers who are currently serving on the boards and commissions to
11 gather demographic information.
12 Commissioner McKee said he would regretfully be unable to attend the Pauli Murray
13 awards ceremony, as he will be out of state.
14
15 b. Matters on the Printed Agenda
16 (These matters will be considered when the Board addresses that item on the agenda
17 below.)
18
19 3. Announcements, Petitions and Comments by Board Members
20 Commissioner Dorosin asked if the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) could get
21 a one-page information sheet that explains the County's budget process, especially regarding
22 school funding and the monitoring of funds that occurs once the County has approved the
23 budget. He said this would be very helpful to hand out to the public.
24 Commissioner Price said this is Black History Month and Black History is a part of
25 American history. She encouraged everyone to check out the many programs taking place
26 throughout the County.
27 Commissioner Price said the Census Bureau still has part-time jobs available.
28 Commissioner Price recognized David Caldwell for all he has done in Orange County,
29 noting that he just retired.
30 Commissioner McKee said a resident has petitioned the Board to consider reciting the
31 pledge of allegiance at meetings. He said this item should have been a Board discussion and
32 not an information item. He petitioned to bring this back as an agenda item.
33 Commissioner Price said the information sheet on this item states that Chair/Vice Chair
34 agreed that this would be an information item, but she did not agree to such a decision. She
35 said the page in the Commissioners' packets is incorrect.
36 Commissioner Bedford said there will be another job fair in the County in March.
37 Chair Rich asked if staff would provide more information on the job fair.
38 Commissioner Marcoplos said he appreciated and supported Commissioner Dorosin's
39 request on the budget process.
40 Commissioner McKee said he and Commissioner Price attended the GoTriangle Special
41 Tax meeting, and were given information, which he will share with the Board electronically. He
42 said there was a great video on electric buses, which he will also share.
43 Chair Rich thanked Commissioner Dorosin for his request, and said the questions asked
44 at last night's candidate forum were not correct. She said either the schools or the general
45 public do not understand the County's budget process, and it is important to have accurate
46 information.
47 Chair Rich agreed with recognizing David Caldwell.
48 Chair Rich said she met some high school students at last night's meeting from the
49 "Sunrise Movement", who are very concerned about climate change. She invited them to come
50 to a BOCC meeting, and address the Board.
3
1
2
3 4. Proclamations/ Resolutions/ Special Presentations
4
5 a. National Register Approval for Cedar Grove School and the Schley Grange Hall
6 The Board considered the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) recommendation
7 that the historic properties known as the Cedar Grove School and the Schley Grange Hall be
8 approved and forwarded to the State Historic Preservation Office for listing in the National
9 Register of Historic Places and authorizing the Chair to sign.
10 Peter Sandbeck, Cultural Resources Coordinator reviewed this information below,
11 presented a PowerPoint (photos only) of both sites, as well as an oral history.
12
13 BACKGROUND: The federal process for listing a property in the National Register of Historic
14 Places include a provision giving the BOCC the opportunity to offer a recommendation
15 supporting or opposing the listing of historic properties within its jurisdiction. The HPC fully
16 supports the nomination of these properties to the National Register. As required, the HPC held
17 a public hearing and received public comment about these proposed National Register listings
18 at its regular meeting on January 22, 2020.
19
20 DEAPR contracted with consultants to prepare the National Register Reports to promote
21 recognition for properties of special historical, architectural or cultural significance to Orange
22 County. This is an ongoing HPC program to protect and preserve historic resources. Funding
23 was provided through the County's Lands Legacy Program, which includes as one of its
24 priorities the protection of"lands of historic, cultural, or archaeological significance."
25 The National Register is an honorary designation that carries no local regulatory burden, but
26 does provide a federal and state process for protection in the case of projects receiving federal
27 or state funding, or projects that require some form of federal or state permit or license.
28 The attached excerpts from the National Register Reports provide brief statements on the
29 significance and describe how the properties meet the applicable National Register criteria
30 (Attachments 1 and 2).
31
32 FINANCIAL IMPACT: The National Register Reports were funded in part from the Lands
33 Legacy Program budget for FY 2018-19. The Cedar Grove School cost was $3,500 (less than
34 usual cost due to DEAPR staff providing much of the research). The Schley Grange Hall cost
35 totaled $2,750 in County funds, plus $2,750 in matching funds provided by the Schley Grange.
36
37 Commissioner McKee said he enjoyed hearing the history of these two important
38 buildings. He said the Grange was very active and then fell off years ago, but has been revived
39 by some of the originally involved families.
40 Peter Sandbeck said this is so true, and the Grange is really on solid footing these days.
41 Commissioner Price said compliments to all for bringing this about. She said historic
42 preservation is typically about the best of the best, and preserving places that have such a
43 legacy is so important. She said at one time both buildings were going to be deconstructed, but
44 community activism saved them. She said both of these buildings were built and existed during
45 the days of segregation, but they are no longer this way.
46 Chair Rich asked if the County will have any responsibility for these sites if they are
47 placed onto the national registry.
48 Peter Sandbeck said this is an honorary program, not a regulatory one, and the County
49 is expected to follow the advice of its HPC in terms of preserving the character and appearance
50 of the buildings, and trying to maintain them in good condition. He said the County would have
4
1 no official review control over it, and the expectation exists, but without a "hammer". He said
2 the community has considered having these buildings designated as County landmarks for
3 future protection.
4 Commissioner Dorosin asked if it would be possible to expand or add onto the
5 community center.
6 Peter Sandbeck said this has been discussed, and is always acceptable. He said the
7 HPC and the County would work together on any such project.
8
9 A motion was made by Commissioner McKee, seconded by Commissioner Price for the
10 Board to endorse the National Register Nominations of the Cedar Grove School and Schley
11 Grange Hall and authorize the Chair to sign the Elected Official Comment Letters (Attachment
12 3) to indicate the Board's recommendation for listing both properties in the National Register.
13
14 VOTE: UNANIMOUS
15
16 Chair Rich said Commissioner Greene is absent tonight because she is taking weekly
17 course at the School of Government.
18
19 5. Public Hearings7
20
21 a. Amendment of the Master Telecommunication Plan Map (MTP)
22 The Board held a public hearing, receive comment, and consider action on a request to
23 modify the Master Telecommunication Plan Map (MTP) in accordance with the provisions of
24 Section 5.10.2 Master Telecommunication Plan of the Orange County Unified Development
25 Ordinance (UDO). Specifically, the BOCC is considering a request to add 7203 Union Grove
26 Church Road to the MTP.
27 Michael Harvey, Current Planning and Zoning Supervisor, presented the item:
28
29 BACKGROUND: There are portions of the County that are either not served, or are
30 underserved, by telecommunication services. This has become an impediment to essential
31 County communications for several departments (i.e. Emergency Management, Sheriff,
32 Information Technologies, Building Inspections, Health Department, etc.) and has negatively
33 impacted local residents. In an attempt to address these issues, the County created the MTP.
34 The MTP is, ultimately, a marketing tool identifying properties where owners have expressed an
35 interest in allowing the development of telecommunication facilities. Staff encourages providers
36 to develop facilities on these properties in an effort to promote the efficient distribution of
37 telecommunication facilities serving the public at large as well as public safety
38 telecommunication networks.
39
40 Requests to include/remove properties from the MTP are processed consistent with the
41 provisions of Section 5.10.2 of the UDO. Such requests must be submitted to the Planning
42 Department by December 1 of each year and are reviewed annually, as warranted, by the
43 BOCC at the first public hearing of the calendar year.
44 The MTP was originally approved by the BOCC on February 28, 2011.
45
46 Minutes from that meeting can be accessed at:
47 http://server3.co.orange.nc.us:8088/WebLink/0/doc/22420/Pagel.aspx.
48 At this time the MTP, a copy of which is contained in Attachment 1, includes 15 parcels
49 identified as follows:
50 1. The Cedar Grove Fire Department, PIN 9838-85-4442 (P-1);
5
1 2. The Cedar Grove County Park, PIN 9858-84-9350 (P-2);
2 3. The Caldwell Fire Department, PIN 9898-57-4171 (P-3);
3 4. The future County Northeast Park, PIN 9887-52-0801 (P-4);
4 5. The Walnut Grove County Solid Waste facility, PIN 9867-41-9070 (P-5);
5 6. The Eno Fire Department, PIN 9896-80-8705 (P-6);
6 7. Property off of Buckhorn Road, PIN 9834-28-9281 (P-7);
7 8. The County's soccer field complex off of West Ten Road, PIN 9834-28-9281 (P-8);
8 9. The County's Blackwood park property off of NC Highway 86, PIN 9872-55-7302 (P-9);
9 10. The County's Millhouse Road park property, PIN 9871-51-9160 (P-10);
10 11. An OWASA site, PIN 9830-25-2373 (P-11);
11 12. The American Stone Quarry site off of NC Highway 54, PIN 9759-54-4146 (P-12);
12 13. White Cross Volunteer Fire Department, PIN 9738-50-6758 (P-13);
13 14. 2200 Mangum Court, PIN 9797-32-6626 (P-14);
14 15. 3820 Cedar Run Court, PIN 9846-65-1414 (P-15).
15
16 Inclusion of a parcel on the MTP does not exempt telecommunication facilities from complying
17 with applicable development standards as prescribed within Section 5.10 of the LIDO. A
18 synopsis of existing allowances/requirements is contained within Attachment 2.
19 As previously indicated, staff has received a request from Mr. Greg Bohlen, the property owner,
20 to include 7203 Union Grove Church Road on the MTP. The property, further identified utilizing
21 Orange County Parcel Identification Number (PIN) 9860-28-9935, is an approximately 10 acre
22 parcel of property zoned Rural Buffer (RB) University Lake Protected Watershed Protection
23 Overlay District.
24
25 Please refer to Attachment 3 for a copy of the legal advertisement for this hearing and
26 Attachment 4 for a map of the property.
27
28 This is an area where existing telecommunication services (i.e. cell phone, emergency
29 communications, broadband, etc.) have been found to be deficient.
30
31 Planning Director's Recommendation: The Director has determined there is a need for
32 additional telecommunication infrastructure/services in this area to address the need for reliable
33 cellular service, increase the effectiveness of the existing emergency communications network
34 and increasing opportunities for broadband services. Further, the Director has found the
35 request consistent with several provisions of the 2030 Comprehensive Plan, notably:
36
37 • Land Use Overarching Goal: Coordination of the amount, location, pattern and
38 designation of future land uses, with availability of County services and facilities
39 sufficient to meet the needs of Orange County's population and economy consistent
40 with other Comprehensive Plan element goals and objectives.
41 • Services and Community Facilities Goal 7: Efficient and effective public safety
42 including, police, fire, telecommunications, emergency services, and animal services.
43 • Objective PS-T-6: Develop a mechanism for cooperation with telecommunication
44 facilities stakeholders regarding the siting and design of towers.
45 • Objective PS-T-7: Manage the number of future wireless telecommunication facilities by
46 identifying preferred locations capable of accommodating service Countywide.
47 • Objective PS-T-8: Encourage the expansion of affordable, high-speed Internet access,
48 fiber-optic lines, and other high-speed communication networks to rural and
49 underserved areas.
6
1 Objective PS-9: Maintain a radio communication system that ensures reliable
2 notification and oversight of emergency assets, such as personnel, vehicles, and
3 response equipment, throughout Orange County and inter-operability of communication
4 among jurisdictions.
5
6 The Director recommends approval of the request to amend the MTP to include 7203 Union
7 Grove Church Road as Site P-16.
8
9 As the adoption/modification of the MTP does not involve the approval of a specific
10 development project, establish regulatory guidelines, make formal recommendations on
11 revising development criteria or establish recommendations on modifying development policies
12 (i.e. small area plans), or provide any form of development approval, the Planning Board is not
13 required to review or make a recommendation on the MTP.
14
15 Attachment 5 includes the resolution modifying the MTP to include 7203 Union Grove Church
16 Road.
17
18 Michael Harvey made the following PowerPoint presentation:
19
20 ITEM 5 (a) - PUBLIC HEARING
21 AMENDMENT of Master Telecommunication Plan Map (MTP)
22 Board of County Commissioners Public Hearing
23 February 4, 2020
24
25 Background
26 • There are portions of the County not served and/or underserved by
27 telecommunication services;
28 • This impacts essential communications (i.e. Emergency Management, Sheriff,
29 Information Technologies, Building Inspections, Health Department, etc.) and
30 negatively impacts local residents;
31 In an attempt to address these issues, the County created the MTP.
32
33 Background-What does the MTP do?
34 Serves as a marketing tool identifying properties where owners, including public
35 properties, have expressed an interest in allowing development of
36 telecommunication facilities;
37 • Assists staff in addressing impediments to essential communications with
38 providers;
39 • Represents a proactive step by the County to comprehensively address local
40 communication issues and access to services.
41
42 MTP
43 • Originally adopted by BOCC in 2011;
44 Contains 15 properties (includes County owned, volunteer fire departments,
45 utility sites, private property)
46
47 What does the MTP not do:
48 Exempt properties from the normal review and approval processes for towers (i.e. admin
49 site plan approval, issuance of special use permit, etc.);
7
1 Eliminate the need for permits prior to the start of construction (i.e. Zoning Compliance,
2 Erosion Control, Building, etc.);
3 Convey or establish a greater use of property than otherwise exists within the UDO.
4
5
6 Why are we here:
7 Staff has received a request to include a parcel of property off Union Grove Church
8 Road (PIN 9860-28-9935) on the MTP;
9
10 Staff Findings:
11 There is a need for additional infrastructure in the area to:
12 o Address reliable cellular service,
13 o Increase effectiveness of the existing emergency communications,
14 o Increasing opportunities for broadband services.
15 Request is consistent with adopted Comprehensive Plan;
16 Complements existing properties already part of the MTP.
17
18 RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends the Board:
19 1. Receive the request;
20 2. Conduct the public hearing and accept comment;
21 3. Close the public hearing. (Note that, because this is a legislative decision, additional
22 comments at a later date are permitted);
23 4. Approve Attachment 5 amending the MTP to include adding PIN 9860-28-9935.
24
25 Commissioner Dorosin clarified that the decision to add this property is just that, and
26 there has been no further process or proceeding with the property.
27 Michael Harvey said the owner of the property would like to bring in his own tower permit
28 immediately, and intends to offer the County a slot on the tower in order to erect
29 telecommunication equipment. He said staff is keen to help the owner move forward, but it
30 would not exempt the owner from getting all applicable permits.
31 Commissioner Dorosin said this one is likely to move forward.
32 Michael Harvey said this is on a fast track as the property owner thinks there is a unique
33 and immediate interest to help the telecommunications needs of the local fire department.
34 Commissioner Dorosin referred to the map, and asked if there are higher priority areas.
35 He said there are currently 16 sites, mostly in the northern and western parts of the County. He
36 said if this marketing tool works, and someone wants to build tower, would staff have a priority
37 order in which to direct tower building.
38 Michael Harvey said yes, and attachment 2 explains that all applicants are required to
39 demonstrate being able to locate on one of the identified 16 sites, assuming BOCC approval.
40 He said the applicant cannot do so, it must justify why.
41 Commissioner Dorosin asked if there is any hierarchy within these 16 sites that could be
42 incentivized.
43 Michael Harvey said no, there is not a hierarchy within these 16 sites, but all
44 development applications go the Development Advisory Committee, which is an internal staff
45 committee that is attended by all County departments, most notably Emergency Services
46 (EMS). He said there have been instances where EMS staff has identified areas with greater
47 need, and has steered work in that direction.
48 Michael Harvey said the map itself shows coverage gaps throughout the area and staff
49 will push these areas of greater need, but lack a willing development partner.
8
1 Commissioner Dorosin said that is helpful. He said the maps shows coverage gaps but
2 no willing partner, and really there is just no coverage at all due to the lack of towers.
3 Michael Harvey said there are towers throughout the County, but there are still coverage
4 gaps, and a lack of partnerships with private property owners. He said staff does remain
5 hopeful.
6 Commissioner Marcoplos asked if staff has a sense of how long it might take before
7 tower developers start putting up towers.
8 Michael Harvey said each year he is required to hold a meeting with all teleproviders,
9 but none have attended for the last three years because providers are changing their models.
10 He said teleproviders are petitioning the state to allow small cell sites in public rights of way,
11 which would eliminate the need for towers altogether.
12 Commissioner Marcoplos asked if the expectation is this will engender more interest.
13 Michael Harvey said he hopes so, but with the changes forthcoming in this industry in
14 the next 15-20 years, he expects there will be a massive change in how the telecommunication
15 tower industry handles its business and installs infrastructure. He said he hopes companies will
16 still take a look at the Cedar Grove Community Center.
17 Commissioner Dorosin said last week the BOCC heard from Jim Northup, Chief
18 Information Officer, about the broadband project and the issues around that and trees getting in
19 the way. He asked if there is any overlapping collaboration between these two projects.
20 Michael Harvey said everyone tries to coordinate, but his staff has not been as involved
21 in the process as it would have hoped. He said there are several applications being reviewed
22 currently, but these applications contain major issues, which staff is working through. He said
23 the taller the structure, the better the signal will be.
24 Commissioner Dorosin said the changes in the industry are important to keep in mind,
25 but asked if should Board to consider how dire the situation is, and whether it would be
26 worthwhile to incentivize meeting critical needs. He asked if the County has authority to erect a
27 tower, if the need were deemed dire enough.
28 Bonnie Hammersely said yes.
29 Michael Harvey said the County has been to the 5-yard line with this type of action
30 before, but not to the end zone.
31 Commissioner McKee said this been has part of the conversation since 2012-2013.
32 Michael Harvey said his department has a stellar working relationship with Emergency
33 Services, and tries to coordinate whenever possible. He said as interest increases, he hopes
34 that all emergency communication needs can be addressed.
35 Chair Rich asked if Commissioner Dorosin would like to put this topic on a work session.
36 Commissioner Dorosin said yes, and that it may be useful to have information from the
37 Sheriff's Department, EMS, and Jim Northrup about the urgency of getting this infrastructure in
38 place. He said it sounds like the Planning Department is doing all it can to engage private
39 entities, and he wonders if there is anything more the County should be doing. He said this,
40 coupled with the broadband issue, impacts a lot of people.
41
42 A motion was made by Commissioner McKee, seconded by Commissioner Bedford for
43 the Board to open the public hearing.
44
45 VOTE: UNANIMOUS
46
47 NO PUBLIC COMMENT
48
49 A motion was made by Commissioner Price, seconded by Commissioner McKee to
50 close the public hearing.
9
1
2 VOTE: UNANIMOUS (Note that, because this is a legislative decision, additional comments at
3 a later date are permitted).
4
5 Commissioner Dorosin said Jim Northrup is in the audience, and asked if he had any
6 additional comment.
7 Jim Northrup said not at this time.
8 Bonnie Hammersley said staff can bring back additional information on this.
9
10 A motion was made by Commissioner McKee, seconded by Commissioner Price to
11 approve Attachment 5 amending the MTP to include adding 7203 Union Grove Church Road.
12
13 VOTE: UNANIMOUS
14
15 5. Regular Agenda
16
17 a. Climate Action Tax Recommendations for FY 2019-20
18 The Board received a report on climate change mitigation projects that could be funded
19 through the FY 2019-20 Orange County Climate Action Tax, and the initial ranking of projects
20 by the Commission for the Environment; and consider voting to approve funding for the
21 recommended Climate Action Tax projects for FY 2019-20 as outlined in the attached report.
22 Chair Rich said the Board will consider the first two recommendations tonight, with the
23 last two possibly coming back in two weeks.
24
25 BACKGROUND: As part of the FY 2019-20 budget, the Board of Orange County
26 Commissioners authorized an additional '/4 cent property tax to provide an estimated $469,272
27 dedicated to accelerating climate change mitigation through the new Climate Change Mitigation
28 Project in the Capital Investment Plan.
29
30 When the tax was authorized, the BOCC stated that it would decide the final prioritization of
31 projects to be funded, and the Board requested that the Commission for the Environment (CFE)
32 provide feedback on prospective projects in advance of BOCC review. The BOCC has
33 emphasized the need to consider racial equity first, so that those who benefit most directly from
34 the proposed action are the people who most need assistance. With that in mind, the Board
35 directed staff to develop a project scoring formula for the CFE to use while completing its initial
36 project ranking.
37
38 Staff developed an initial list of climate change mitigation projects and then created the
39 requested scoring formula based on six (6) key criteria:
40 • racial equity
41 • emissions reduced
42 • efficient use of funds
43 • time to complete
44 • ease of understanding/messaging/visibility
45 • likelihood of success After review by the County Manager, four projects focusing on
46 climate actions outside of County operations were presented to the CFE at its meeting on
47 November 11, 2019.
48
49 The attached report includes the brief description of the projects and the assessment criteria
50 that was given to the CFE, and lays out the CFE's scoring and ranking of the projects. In
10
1 addition to the four projects created by staff, the CFE put forward a fifth project and scored it as
2 well. Since these potential projects involve investments outside of County operations, all
3 prospective partners such as the school districts and housing coalition organizers have received
4 an initial notification and brief description of the initially scored projects. No detailed project
5 discussions have occurred in advance of BOCC direction.
6 Brennan Bouma, Sustainability Coordinator, made the following PowerPoint
7 presentation:
8
9 Climate Action Tax Projects FY20
10 Orange County Sustainability Program
11 "FOR A GREENER ORANGE"
12
13 Background
14 • Climate Action Tax approved for current budget
15 • $469,272/yr. for additional climate action
16 • Commission for the Environment scored and ranked projects
17 • Requesting approval of recommended projects
18
19 History of Climate Action
20 • 2005 Greenhouse Gas Emissions inventory
21 • 2009 Geothermal systems begin to be installed
22 • 2010 Electric Vehicle charging network installed
23 • 2017 SolSmart Silver Designation
24 • 2017 Commitment to Paris Climate Accord - 26% reduction in total emissions by
25 2025.
26 • 2017 Commitment to transition to 100% renewable energy countywide by 2050.
27 • 2018 Triangle Regional Resilience Assessment
28 • 2019 Orange County Climate Council and Climate Action Tax
29
30 Current Climate Work
31 • Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory update in final edits
32 • Climate Action Planning in initial phase
33 • Orange County Climate Council work underway
34 • Grant-funded fleet electrification work ongoing
35 • Orange County Commuter Options program
36 • Global Covenant of Mayors annual reporting
37 • Climate Action Tax
38
39 Recommended FY20 Climate Actions
40 CFE Scoring: 6 part formula prioritizing racial equity
41 o Racial Equity (0 to 3pts)
42 o Emissions reduced (0 to 2 pts)
43 o Efficient use of Funds (0 to 2 pts)
44 o Time to complete (0 to 1 pt)
45 o Ease of understanding/visibility/messaging (0 to 1 pt)
46 o Likelihood of success (0 to 1 pt)
47
48 Recommended FY20 Climate Actions (chart)
49
11
I Recommended FY20 Climate Actions:
2 Supplemental Weatherization
3
4 • If <50% of Area Median Income, 12% of all income spent on energy
5 • Leverage ongoing partnerships: OCHPC, OCAHC
6 • Coalition organizers notified of potential project
7
8 Recommended FY20 Climate Actions
9 LED Campaign:
10
11 • LEDs can lower energy bills 7-10% and they last 10 times longer
12 • LIEAP and FSA are already serving energy insecure households
13 • Pledge and energy efficiency impact
14 . Partner departments notified of potential project
15
16 Recommended FY20 Climate Actions
17 Solar for Schools:
18 • 3 proposed grant requirements
19 -Consider leasing to maximize investment
20 -Report energy output and % offset
21 -Install a monitor for education
22 • Schools notified of potential project
23
24 Recommended FY20 Climate Actions (chart)
25
26 Commissioner Marcoplos thanked staff for its work. He said he has done a lot of air-
27 sealing in his career, and he imagined that more than 15-20 houses would be completed. He
28 said replacing windows is a lot more expensive than caulking and foaming, and he asked if
29 various options can be investigated to see if more homes can be air sealed through a variety of
30 methods. He said he would like to get more bang for the buck, and help as many people as
31 possible.
32 Brennan Bouma said that is possible. He said the more he learns about this, the more
33 complicated he understands it to be. He said he wanted to propose a conservative estimate, in
34 case more houses have greater needs, such as HVAC systems, windows, etc. He said the
35 pictures in the presentation are lower cost interventions, and if these are the types of
36 improvements that the grant will fund, then more homes will be treated.
37 Commissioner Marcoplos said he assumed air-sealing, weatherization, and insulation
38 would take top priority. He said this would be a significant upgrade to a lot of houses.
39 Commissioner Price referred to the solar array for the schools, and clarified that it is
40 going to be a lease, with smaller amounts each year. She asked if there is a life expectancy for
41 the equipment, and if there will be a party designated to handle repairs.
42 Brennan Bouma said the recommendation is for the schools to consider leasing as one
43 of two primary financing strategies. He said this is a fairly new funding arrangement that was
44 enabled by house bill 589 in 2017. He said there are RFP examples that require the bidding
45 companies to present two options: within the funding amount show how much solar could be
46 achieved via an outright purchase; and how much could be achieved through a leasing
47 arrangement. He said there are provisions for maintenance of the solar arrays that can be
48 baked into the lease, along with the size of the systems, etc.
49 Commissioner Price asked if there are benefits to leasing over purchasing.
12
1 Brennan Bouma said the benefit of leasing over purchasing is that a much larger solar
2 array can be obtained immediately, and thus the up front climate impact is larger.
3 Commissioner Price said this is a hypothetical, and asked if there is a difference
4 between leasing and purchasing with installments. She asked if staff is suggesting a lease to
5 own process.
6 Brennan Bouma said staff is more likely thinking about lease to own. He said he
7 assisted Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA) with leasing solar at 5 different
8 locations, and this is a good model to work from.
9 Commissioner Price said in the Board's packet it says each school district is supposed
10 to work through a grant, and asked if this would be a grant from the County.
11 Brennan Bouma said yes.
12 Commissioner Price agreed with Commissioner Marcoplos' comments about serving
13 more homes.
14 Commissioner Price said she is concerned as to whether weatherization is what people
15 really need. She said the needs may be much larger.
16 Commissioner Price referred to the proposal criteria, which mentions racial equity, but
17 this is really an issue of socioeconomic needs. She said she realizes there are a
18 disproportionate number of people of color with greater socioeconomic needs, but she wants to
19 be clear that Black does not equal poor. She said people of all races are living below the
20 poverty line, and she asked if there will be a way to insure that minority populations take
21 advantage of the program, thus insuring racial equity, because the program is based on
22 income.
23 Brennan Bouma said this is a good question, and he will consider it.
24 Commissioner Price said it is difficult to market this as having racial equity as a first
25 priority, when there is no guarantee of racial equity. She said it is difficult to trust that it will just
26 happen.
27 Commissioner Dorosin said it may be useful to get some information about the
28 demographics that the current County programs are serving.
29 Commissioner Price said one's race and ethnicity should not matter, and people in need
30 should be served.
31 Chair Rich said the direction for racial equity came from the Board of Commissioners
32 and staff should not take responsibility for it. She said some fine-tuning is needed.
33 Commissioner Dorosin said it could be changed to economic equity.
34 Commissioner Bedford said she read the resolution adopted by the BOCC last June,
35 which states, "according to a formula that weighs the social justice and racial equity impacts."
36 She said Commissioner Price's point is very valid, and the Board must consider how the racial
37 equity piece will be covered.
38 Commissioner Dorosin said he appreciated the provision for monitoring of program
39 effectiveness, at least in regards to the solar panels. He said the light bulb portion has a pledge
40 to ask people how many light bulbs they change. He asked if before and after assessments will
41 be made, in regards to utility savings, once the weatherization improvements are made. He
42 said there is an educational component of this program, and having data about savings on hand
43 will be important.
44 Commissioner Dorosin clarified that the plan is to put the school recommendations on
45 hold until there are subsequent meetings with the staff and the schools.
46 Chair Rich said that is correct, and the schools asked for a little extra time to review the
47 information. She said McDougal and East already have small solar panels.
48 Commissioner Dorosin asked if the idea is to have roof top panels on two schools, one
49 in each district.
13
1 Brennan Bouma said that is the vision, but it could be spelled out in a recommendation if
2 needed. He said he can talk with the schools about these details.
3 Commissioner McKee said he is very much in favor of the weatherization effort and the
4 LED recommended projects.
5 Commissioner McKee said he found the back up information on the schools' projects
6 sorely lacking, and he is glad that these projects are going to be deferred for further
7 conversation, and buy in from school partners. He said he will send his questions to staff and
8 the Board his questions, and there are a lot of details involved in these types of projects.
9 Chair Rich said the Board signed onto a petition with Duke Energy to get solar onto the
10 schools, and asked if this project would be in partnership with that one.
11 Commissioner Marcoplos said this is completely separate.
12 Chair Rich said if that is the case, then feasibly more than two schools could have solar
13 panels.
14 Commissioner Marcoplos said there will be a meeting with Duke Energy in the coming
15 weeks including the Durham County Commissioners, Chatham County Commissioners, former
16 Apex Town Councilman, and himself. He said the goal is to ask Duke Energy to duplicate its
17 efforts in California and Arizona where it installed solar arrays on schools at no cost.
18 Commissioner Marcoplos said the first solar array in North Carolina was built in Raleigh
19 in a park and ride lot, so there are many options.
20 Commissioner McKee said there should be more options than just placing the array on a
21 roof.
22 Commissioner Marcoplos said the Board spoke in recent months about putting solar
23 arrays on some schools, and staff said more power could be generated, for the money, from
24 one system, which made sense to him. He said one option would be to do a large array in one
25 school system, followed by another large array in the other school system a year later. He
26 asked if there is any merit to this idea, as there would be more energy generated for the dollar.
27 Brennan Bouma said it is possible, and he could research this further. He said the
28 $150,000 was chosen as a budgeting item based on a quote received to put solar on the roof of
29 the Central Recreation Center, which was identified in the County's feasibility assessment as a
30 top option, due to a recently replaced roof, good solar access, etc.
31 Brennan Bouma said the Commission for the Environment is concerned with being
32 equitable between the schools districts.
33 Commissioner Marcoplos said he is curious if the amount of energy generated, for the
34 cost invested, was significantly higher. He said he would like to have more information on the
35 weatherization, and stressed the importance of keeping careful records and analyses on these
36 projects. He said strong outreach around these projects will be very important, as there will be
37 skeptics. He said he feels these projects will be successful, and having data will allay
38 skepticism. He thanked staff for all its work.
39 Commissioner Price referred to the LED campaign, and said one one matrix has a cost
40 of$19,000 while the appendix lists it as $12,000. She asked if one number is more accurate.
41 Brennan Bouma said the Commission for the Environment saw a cost of$12,000, and
42 the hope was to reproduce the program in the way the Commission saw it. He said the costs
43 were increased after conversations with project partners about needs being greater. He said
44 the $19,000 is closer to what the actual cost will be.
45 Commissioner Price said in the past there was a discussion of putting solar arrays in
46 front of businesses and homes, but this option was determined to be unsightly, which may be in
47 the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO). She asked if staff would look into this, and possibly
48 have this removed from the UDO. She said telephone poles are unsightly, and she does not
49 want restrictions in place that will prevent cleaner and more efficient energy from moving
50 forward.
14
1 Commissioner Marcoplos said homeowner associations are likely the greatest
2 impediment to these projects.
3 Commissioner Bedford referred to the solar rooftop portion, and asked if Duke Energy is
4 involved in the funding.
5 Brennan Bouma said there is currently a rooftop solar rebate, which is available to
6 residents, businesses, governments and non-profits. He said, in the last two years, there has
7 been money left over in the governments and non-profits section. He said for any one system
8 there is up to $75,000 incentive from Duke Energy, depending on the size of the array.
9 Commissioner Bedford asked if staff will know about this funding rebate prior to starting
10 a project.
11 Brennan Bouma said he needs to learn more about how the timing works, and those
12 bidding on the projects would be very familiar with that process.
13 Commissioner Bedford asked if rebates are guaranteed, or part of a lottery system for
14 the year.
15 Brennan Bouma said he believes it is first come first served, but as he mentioned, there
16 have been unused grant funds in recent years so the odds of being awarded grants funds are
17 likely.
18 Commissioner Bedford said it would be more efficient if County tax dollars could be
19 used in combination with grant funding.
20 Commissioner Bedford said she is very interested in the hydropower feasibility study,
21 and asked if staff would bring back information. She thanked staff for all its work, and looks
22 forward to further conversations.
23 Commissioner Price asked of staff could include information on who this would really
24 impact.
25 Brennan Bouma asked if Commissioner Price is interested in the impacts on power
26 output.
27 Commissioner Price said yes, when everything is in tip-top-shape, what are the benefits.
28 Brennan Bouma said that is one of the questions that would be answered in the
29 feasibility assessment.
30
31 A motion was made by Commissioner Price, seconded by Commissioner Bedford for the
32 Board to approve funding for the recommended Climate Action Tax projects below for FY 19-
33 20:
34
Supplemental Weatherization for Low Income Households 1 $150,000
Countywide LED Campaign 2 $19,272
35
36 Commissioner Dorosin asked if funds can be reallocated if the schools are not prepared
37 to move forward this year.
38 Chair Rich said yes.
39 Commissioner Marcoplos said he has spoken before about a school in Union County
40 that has screens in the hallways displaying energy use readouts within 4 zones, and the zones
41 compete with each other for efficiency. He said this was an amazing educational opportunity
42 that he would like to discuss with the school districts as well. He said he will send information to
43 the Manager to forward to the schools prior to the upcoming meeting.
15
1 Commissioner Price said she has a surplus of LED lights from Duke Energy, and asked
2 if anyone else use them.
3 Brennan Bouma said yes, and staff is thinking about how to get families signed up for
4 the free box of 15 LED bulbs from Duke Energy every 3 years, as it would allow the funds to
5 stretch even further. He said it would be great to have an LED donation campaign on earth
6 day.
7
8 VOTE: UNANIMOUS
9
10 7. Reports
11 NONE
12
13 8. Consent Agenda
14
15 • Removal of Any Items from Consent Agenda
16 Commissioner Dorosin pulled item 8-f
17
18 • Approval of Remaining Consent Agenda
19
20 A motion was made by Commissioner McKee, seconded by Commissioner Bedford to
21 approve the remaining items on the Consent Agenda except f.
22
23 VOTE: UNANIMOUS
24
25 Discussion and Approval of the Items Removed from the Consent Agenda
26
27 f- Fiscal Year 2019-20 Budget Amendment#5
28 The Board considered voting to approve budget, grant and school capital project
29 ordinance amendments for fiscal year 2019-20.
30 Commissioner Dorosin referred to attachment 3, and asked if this spreadsheet could be
31 explained.
32 Paul Laughton, Finance and Administrative Services, said the spreadsheet shows
33 repurposing of funds for projects that the Board of Education approved to close out and
34 repurpose for some critical issues, three of which are mechanical systems.
35 Commissioner Dorosin said the funds in the left money column represent extra money
36 from completed projects.
37 Paul Laughton said yes, there was surplus from the finished projects that could be
38 repurposed for other reasons. He said the Board of Education will vote on that and bring a
39 resolution to the BOCC for approval to change the capital project ordinances.
40 Commissioner Dorosin asked if the approximately $610,000 is left over from a
41 completed project, or if the project scope has been changed.
42 Paul Laughton said the scope of the project has been changed, and the CHCCS Board
43 approved moving and repurposing the funds to set up a contingency reserve for the Chapel Hill
44 High School bond project.
45 Commissioner Dorosin said it would be helpful to have more information in these charts:
46 what the project originally was; the current status, more transparency, etc. He said the surplus
47 funds are easy to understand but those projects that change scope needs more information.
48 Commissioner Marcoplos asked if there is background on the process and how
49 communication occurs between County staff and school staff.
16
1 Paul Laughton said the County and school staffs meet a few times a year to review all
2 currently funded projects. He said there are 6-month, as well as an annual review at the end of
3 each fiscal year to look at the balances of each of the projects, current status, available surplus,
4 etc. He said County staff receives resolutions from the School boards, which allows staff to
5 write the budget amendment as well as the capital project ordinances that correspond to the
6 changes.
7 Commissioner Marcoplos asked if the BOCC can receive reports from those joint staffs'
8 meetings.
9 Paul Laughton said yes.
10 Commissioner Bedford said historically projects were not being closed out, and the
11 County had to write off$5 million, followed by another $3 million. She said the process was
12 tightened up greatly to avoid such issues from recurring.
13 Chair Rich said BOCC candidates are asking questions, since this is an election year,
14 and the public is very curious. She said there is a lack of understanding about how money is
15 moved around, and a bit more information would be really helpful.
16
17 A motion was made by Commissioner Dorosin, seconded by Commissioner McKee to
18 approve budget, grant and school capital project ordinance amendments for fiscal year 2019-20
19 for Department on Aging; Sheriff's Office; Animal Services; and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City
20 Schools.
21
22 VOTE: UNANIMOUS
23
24 a. Minutes
25 The Board approved the minutes from January 21, 2020 as submitted by the Clerk to the Board
26 b. Motor Vehicle Property Tax Releases/Refunds
27 The Board adopted a resolution, which is incorporated by reference, to release motor vehicle
28 property tax values for two taxpayers with a total of two bills that will result in a reduction of
29 revenue in accordance with NCGS.
30 c. Property Tax Releases/Refunds
31 The Board adopted a resolution, which is incorporated by reference, to release property tax
32 values for four taxpayers with a total of four bills that will result in a reduction of revenue in
33 accordance with North Carolina General Statute 105-381.
34 d. Application for Property Tax Exemption/Exclusion
35 The Board considered one untimely application for exemption/exclusion from ad valorem
36 taxation for one bill for the 2019 tax year.
37 e. Advertisement of Tax Liens on Real Property
38 The Board received the report on the amount of unpaid taxes for the current year that are liens
39 on real property as required by North Carolina General Statute (NCGS) 105-369 and consider
40 voting to approve March 18, 2020 as the date set by the Board for the tax lien advertisement
41 and authorize the Chair to sign.
42 f. Fiscal Year 2019-20 Budget Amendment#5
43 The Board approved budget, grant and school capital project ordinance amendments for fiscal
44 year 2019-20 for Department on Aging; Sheriff's Office; Animal Services; and Chapel Hill-
45 Carrboro City Schools.
46 g. Change in BOCC Meeting Schedule for 2020
47 The Board approved one change to the Board of Commissioners' meeting calendar for 2020 to
48 move the March 17 work session from Chapel Hill to Hillsborough.
17
1 h. Request for Road Additions to the State Maintained Secondary Road System for
2 Henderson Woods Lane, Martin Madden Way, and Shakori Trail in Henderson Woods
3 Subdivision
4 The Board made a recommendation to the North Carolina Department of Transportation
5 (NCDOT), and the North Carolina Board of Transportation (NC BOT), concerning a petition to
6 add Henderson Woods Lane, Martin Madden Way, and Shakori Trail in Henderson Woods
7 Subdivision to the State Maintained Secondary Road System.
8 i. Agreement Ratification of the Cane Creek Fire Protection District Amendment and
9 Approval of Orange County Volunteer Fire Department Updated Agreements
10 The Board voted to ratify the County Manager's signature to approve the 2020 Agreement
11 between Orange County and Orange Grove Fire Department; and approve 2020 Fire Protection
12 and Emergency Services Updated Agreements with Efland Fire Department, Cedar Grove Fire
13 Department, Caldwell Fire Department and New Hope Fire Department and authorized the
14 Chair to sign.
15
16 9. County Manager's Report
17 Bonnie Hammersely said the February 111" work session will be held at Southern
18 Human Services Center, with an update on the schools joint action committee, related to class
19 sizes and pre-K. She said the rest of the meeting will be Appointments discussion.
20
21 10. County Attorney's Report
22 NONE
23
24 11. *Appointments
25 NONE
26
27 12. Information Items
28
29 • January 21, 2020 BOCC Meeting Follow-up Actions List
30 • Tax Collector's Report— Numerical Analysis
31 • Tax Collector's Report— Measure of Enforced Collections
32 • Tax Assessor's Report— Releases/Refunds under$100
33
34 13. Closed Session
35 NONE
36
37 14. Adjournment
38
39 A motion was made by Commissioner McKee, seconded by Commissioner Bedford to
40 adjourn the meeting at 8:57 p.m.
41
42 VOTE: UNANIMOUS
43
44
45 Penny Rich, Chair
46
47 Donna Baker
48 Clerk to the Board
49
1
1 Attachment 4
2
3 DRAFT MINUTES
4 BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
5 WORK SESSION
6 February 11, 2020
7 7:00 p.m.
8
9 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a work session on Tuesday, February 11,
10 2020 at 7:00 p.m. at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, N.C.
11
12 COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Rich and Commissioners Jamezetta Bedford,
13 Mark Dorosin, Sally Greene, Earl McKee, Mark Marcoplos, and Renee Price
14 COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT:
15 COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: John Roberts
16 COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Bonnie Hammersley, Deputy County Manager
17 Travis Myren and Clerk to the Board Donna Baker (All other staff members will be identified
18 appropriately below)
19
20 Chair Rich called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
21 Chair Rich said the Board needs to add a closed session at the end of tonight's meeting.
22
23 A motion was made by Commissioner Price, seconded by Commissioner Bedford to add
24 a closed session for the purpose of: Pursuant to 143-318.11(a)(3) To consult with an attorney
25 employed or retained by the public body in order to preserve the attorney-client privilege
26 between the attorney and the public body.
27
28 VOTE: UNANIMOUS
29
30 Chair Rich said the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) has no regular agenda
31 items on the 2/18 meeting, and it has been suggested that the BOCC cancel the February 18`"
32 meeting. She said there are two time sensitive items (Spay/Neuter Day Proclamation and
33 Proposed Consent and Subordination Agreement to Provide Greenfield Commons Access to
34 and Use of Dumpster Facilities Located at Greenfield), and she asked if the Board would be
35 amendable to adding those two items to this evening's agenda. She asked if John Roberts
36 would share his opinion.
37 John Roberts said if there are decision items, it would be best to defer since no public
38 notice was given of the changes.
39 Greg Wilder, Manager's office, said the housing item has a closing scheduled and if it
40 not addressed this evening, or on February 18, this item would not be able to come before the
41 BOCC until the March10, which would be after the already scheduled closing.
42 John Roberts said the BOCC can add to tonight's meeting, but has not typically made
43 these types of changes, due to the lack of public awareness.
44 Commissioner McKee said he would object. He said there is a standing practice of two
45 Board of County Commissioners business meetings per month, and there is an expectation that
46 the public is notified of the Board's agendas. He said it would be a very small inconvenience to
47 hold the February 181" meeting.
48 Chair Rich said the Board would only be coming on the 18t" to vote for one thing, and
49 she would prefer to move the item to the March 10t" meeting.
2
1 Commissioner Bedford asked if the item could be added to the February 25I"joint
2 meeting with the schools.
3 Chair Rich said there will not be any time.
4 Commissioner Bedford said 10 minutes could be added.
5 Commissioner Price agreed with Commissioner Bedford, and said the item cannot wait
6 until March, due to it being time sensitive. She said she would like to find a compromise.
7 Commissioner Dorosin arrived at 7:05 p.m.
8 Commissioner Bedford asked if it is a consent agenda item, because, if so, it will be very
9 brief.
10 Chair Rich said this item is a consent agenda item for someone to use a dumpster. She
11 said the BOCC does not typically discuss consent agendas during joint meetings with the
12 schools.
13 Bonnie Hammersley said this is an item from the Housing Department, and the closing
14 is scheduled for February 20th.
15 Emila Harris, Housing Director, said this item is allowing access to a dumpster between
16 two properties: Greenfield Place and Greenfield Commons. She said the County has HOME
17 funds in Greenfield Place, and needs to grant an easement for Greenfield Commons, a senior
18 property, to allow for use of the dumpster. She said all of the Greenfield Place investors have
19 to subordinate their loans, so that the easement will be still be allowed in the case of a
20 foreclosure.
21 Chair Rich said it is senseless for the BOCC to come in for one item.
22 Commissioner McKee said the BOCC gets paid to be Commissioners, and there are
23 only two meetings per month for business to be conducted. He said this item should be
24 considered in a formal meeting.
25 Commissioner Marcoplos asked if there is a level of controversy around this issue.
26 John Roberts said none is expected, but the BOCC rules do allow the Board to add
27 items to agendas. He said the only difference here is that this item was already planned for
28 another agenda. He said public notice is the only issue in question, but public notice is not
29 legally required for these items.
30 Commissioner Greene asked if the time sensitivity of the matter could be clarified.
31 Emila Harris said the senior property needs to close, and cannot do so until the consent
32 to subordinate occurs. She said all other funders have already consented to the subordination,
33 and are waiting on the County.
34 Commissioner Greene said she appreciates Commissioner McKee's point, but since
35 John Roberts said there is no legal issue, she would be in favor of proceeding this evening.
36 Commissioner Dorosin clarified that one property is affordable.
37 Emila Harris said one is senior housing.
38 Commissioner Dorosin clarified that it is affordable senior housing.
39 Emila Harris said yes.
40 Commissioner Dorosin asked if the County provides support for both of these
41 properties.
42 Emila Harris said just one property.
43 Commissioner Dorosin asked if both properties provide affordable housing.
44 Emila Harris said yes.
45 Commissioner Dorosin said he is in favor of moving forward tonight, as it is the most
46 efficient option.
47 Commissioner Bedford asked if it is possible to have a call in meeting, with 48 hours
48 notice to the public, and four Commissioners on the call.
3
1 John Roberts said call in meetings are allowed by law, but this board does not have any
2 procedures addressing call in meetings and the BOCC would need to vote to set aside the rules
3 of procedure for that purpose.
4 Commissioner Marcoplos clarified that all other entities have signed off on this item,
5 without any controversy.
6 Emila Harris said all have signed, without controversy.
7 Commissioner Marcoplos said those involved seem to need and want this taken care of
8 as soon as possible and he is favor of getting it done this evening.
9 Commissioner Dorosin said addressing this item tonight is not against the rules, or
10 without precedence.
11 John Roberts said it is just a matter of whether the Board wants to add this to the
12 agenda.
13 Commissioner McKee said his comment has nothing to do with being for or against any
14 rules, but rather his comment is meant to show that the 18t" is just as expedient as tonight, and
15 the BOCC sits as a body twice a month, and voting tonight is simply being done for the
16 Commissioners' convenience, which should not be the priority. He said he will not vote in favor
17 of this, as he is well paid to serve in the role of Commissioner, and takes the obligation
18 seriously. He said just because there has been no controversy thus far is irrelevant. He said
19 the public may wish to say something at the BOCC meeting, but will not have the chance to do
20 so if the meeting does not occur.
21 Commissioner Price asked if the other entities, involved with this item, allowed for public
22 comment.
23 Emila Harris said she does not know if the Town of Chapel Hill allowed for public
24 comment, but the Town did sign off on the item.
25
26 A motion was made by Commissioner Marcoplos, seconded by Commissioner Dorosin
27 to cancel the February 18t" BOCC Business meeting.
28
29 VOTE: Ayes, 5 (Chair Rich, Commissioner Marcoplos, Commissioner Price,
30 Commissioner Greene, Commissioner Dorosin); Nays, 2 (Commissioner McKee and
31 Commissioner Bedford)
32
33 A motion was made by Commissioner Greene, seconded by Commissioner Dorosin to
34 add the housing item, Proposed Consent and Subordination Agreement to Provide Greenfield
35 Commons Access to and Use of Dumpster Facilities Located at Greenfield, to the agenda
36 tonight.
37
38 VOTE: Ayes, 5 (Chair Rich, Commissioner Marcoplos, Commissioner Price,
39 Commissioner Greene, Commissioner Dorosin); Nays, 2 (Commissioner McKee and
40 Commissioner Bedford)
41
42 Chair Rich said that James Williams was recently appointed by the Governor to the
43 Martin Luther King (MLK) Jr. Commission, and she would like to swear him in tonight at this
44 meeting. She asked if the Board was amendable to this swearing in.
45 The Board agreed by consensus to add this item to the agenda.
46 James Williams said his appointment to the MLK Jr. Commission was made by
47 Governor Cooper to represent Orange County. He said he is honored to be appointed, as MLK
48 had an impact on him personally.
4
1 Commissioner Dorosin said he is excited about this, and it is a great accolade for James
2 Williams. He thanks James Williams for his past, present, and future efforts around racial
3 justice and racial equality.
4 James Williams said he gave thought as to who should swear him in. He said about 2
5 years ago the Board of County Commissioners recognized him for the work he has does in the
6 cause justice, which meant a lot to him.
7 Chair Rich swore James Williams in.
8
9 John Roberts asked if the Board would add another reason to go into closed session:
10 [N.C.G.S. 143-318.11(a)(5)]: To establish or instruct the staff or agent concerning the
11 negotiation of the price and terms of a contract concerning the acquisition of real property.
12 A motion was made by Commissioner Price, seconded by Commissioner McKee to add
13 another closed session item for the purpose of:
14 [N.C.G.S. 143-318.11(a)(5)]: To establish or instruct the staff or agent concerning the
15 negotiation of the price and terms of a contract concerning the acquisition of real property.
16
17 VOTE: UNANIMOUS
18
19 Chair Rich asked if the Board would like to take a few minutes to review the Housing
20 item, so that it can be addressed, and staff can go home.
21 The Board agreed.
22
23 Addition to the Agenda:
24 *Proposed Consent and Subordination Agreement to Provide Greenfield Commons
25 Access to and Use of Dumpster Facilities Located at Greenfield
26 The Board will consider authorizing the Chair to sign a Consent and Subordination Agreement
27 to provide Greenfield Commons access to and us of dumpster facilities located at Greenfield
28 Place.
29
30 BACKGROUND: The County allocated $154,500 in FY 2015-16 HOME funds to the Downtown
31 Housing Improvement Corporation, Inc. (DHIC) to support the new construction of Greenfield
32 Place, a development of 80 apartment homes for households at less than 60% AMI. Greenfield
33 Workforce Housing, LLC, owner of Greenfield Place, granted Orange County a deed of trust on
34 the property.
35
36 DHIC has developed a second affordable multifamily property, Greenfield Commons, adjacent
37 to Greenfield Place. In order to close on its permanent loan for Greenfield Commons,
38 Greenfield Senior Housing, LLC, owner of Greenfield Commons, needs the County to
39 subordinate its deed of trust to an easement allowing access to dumpster facilities located just
40 to the south of the common property line between the two developments, entirely on the
41 Greenfield Place development. The subordination ensures the easement will continue to exist
42 were the County to foreclose on its deed of trust.
43
44 The dumpster facilities are located just to the south of the common property line between the
45 two developments, entirely on the Greenfield Place development. The dumpster pad and
46 facilities are identified on the attached survey as "Concrete Dumpster Pad and Enclosure".
47
48 The easement agreement between Greenfield Workforce Housing, LLC, as grantor, and
49 Greenfield Senior Housing, LLC as grantee: provides Greenfield Commons with access to and
5
1 use of the dumpster facilities and provides for the cost sharing of servicing and maintenance of
2 the facilities between Greenfield Place and Greenfield Commons.
3 The attached Consent and Subordination Agreement affirms the County's consent to the
4 easement granted by Greenfield Workforce Housing, LLC, and the subordination of its
5 respective deed of trust to the easement. The subordination ensures that the easement will
6 continue to exist were the County to foreclose on its deed of trust. The Town of Chapel Hill,
7 North Carolina Housing Finance Agency, DHIC, and State Employees' Credit Union have all
8 signed similar Consent and Subordination Agreements.
9
10 Commissioner Marcoplos clarified that all necessary parties have agreed to this item.
11 Emila Harris said yes.
12 Commissioner Price clarified that everything is on Greenfield property.
13 Emila Harris answered yes.
14 A motion was made by Commissioner Marcoplos, seconded by Commissioner Price to
15 authorize the Chair to sign a Consent and Subordination Agreement to provide Greenfield
16 Commons access to and us of dumpster facilities located at Greenfield Place.
17
18 Commissioner Dorosin said he appreciated Commissioner McKee's concerns about the
19 process, but sees this as an example of elevating process over substance, had the Board
20 chosen to delay this vote.
21 Commissioner Dorosin said he respectfully disagrees with Commissioner McKee that
22 the Board is not working hard by moving this vote. He said this characterization is unfair, and
23 the BOCC has many meetings in the upcoming months, and moving this vote to this evening, is
24 in no way shirking the Board's responsibilities.
25 Commissioner McKee said he referred to two formal meetings a month, not any/all
26 meetings. He said his personal opinion is that the Commissioners are well paid to attend every
27 meeting that is on the approved calendar, of which the public is aware and expecting. He said
28 the public has the opportunity to speak at business meetings to any item, not just this one, and
29 by removing the meeting the Board removes the opportunity for public discourse.
30
31 VOTE: UNANIMOUS
32
33 1. Update on Schools Joint Action Committee Related to Class Sizes and Pre-K
34
35 BACKGROUND: The State of North Carolina enacted legislation in 2017 resulting in a
36 decrease in class size averages from 1:20 to 1:17 for kindergarten to third grade for the 2018-
37 2019 school year. Due to significant statewide ramifications as a result of the reduced class
38 size averages, the North Carolina General Assembly approved House Bill 90, which allows for a
39 phasing-in process to address the decrease in class size averages over the next four years.
40 Based on House Bill 90, average class sizes for kindergarten to third grade will be phased-in as
41 provided below:
42
43 In January 2018, due to impacts anticipated to elementary school capacity resulting from these
44 reductions, the Schools Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance Technical Advisory Committee
45 (SAPFOTAC) identified the need for the Schools Joint Action Committee (SJAC) to meet in
46 order to discuss options and determine how to implement the school capacity changes.
47 Schools Joint Action Committee (SJAC)
48
49 Based on the adopted SAPFO Memoranda of Understanding, school building capacity shall be
50 determined by reference to state guidelines and school district guidelines and by a joint action
6
1 of the School Boards and Orange County Board of Commissioners. The SJAC is comprised of
2 elected officials from the Orange County Board of Education, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools
3 Board of Education, and Orange County Board of Commissioners. Appointed members include:
4 • Rani Dasi, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education
5 • Dr. Stephen Halkiotis, Orange County Board of Education
6 • Penny Rich, Orange County Board of Commissioners
7
8
9 Changes in Class Size Ratios
10 The SJAC has conducted three meetings to review impacts resulting from changes in class size
11 and options before determining how to implement elementary school class size reductions for
12 SAPFO purposes.
13
14 January 31, 2019
15 Reviewed changes in class size ratios outlined in House Bills 13 and 90.
16
17 March 8, 2019
18 Reviewed student projections and potential impacts resulting from changes in class size
19 ratios. Student projections reviewed at this meeting included the 2019 SAPFOTAC 10-
20 year projections. No capacity needs were identified in the 10-year period based on
21 existing class size (1:20) and student membership and capacity numbers received from
22 the schools in November 2018.
23 SJAC requested revised projections illustrating the impacts from the phasing-in of class
24 size changes over the next three years.
25 Proposed and discussed various options to implement class size changes and
26 requested staff to draft summary report outlining and detailing options for further
27 analysis.
28
29 April 10, 2019
30 To determine future impacts related to changes in class size ratios and assist the SJAC
31 with making a recommendation to implement changes in class size, school staff
32 completed updated classroom and capacity calculations prior to the April SJAC meeting.
33 During this process, it was discovered that updated classroom capacity numbers
34 provided from school staff were not consistent with November 15, 2018 school capacity
35 numbers submitted in order to draft 10-year student projection sheets and the 2019
36 SAPFOTAC Annual Report. School capacity numbers provided were higher than those
37 received in November 2018. One reason for the discrepancy may be due to classrooms
38 being utilized for Pre-K not being counted in the total elementary school capacity.
39 o Based on the existing SAPFO Memoranda of Understanding, capacity
40 (classrooms) being utilized for Pre-K must be included in the total elementary
41 school capacity number collected every November for the drafting of the annual
42 SAPFOTAC Report. Adopted MOUs do not allow for Pre-K student membership
43 to be included in the total elementary student membership numbers collected
44 every November. Jointly agreed to School Construction standards from 1996 and
45 2007 included the square footage of these spaces as if used by K— 5 grade
46 levels. School Construction standards include classroom and capacity standards
47 for grades K— 5, flex classroom space, and Special/Exceptional/Speech
48 Language classes.
49
7
1 Following this finding, 10-year projections were drafted utilizing the April 2019 numbers.
2 These projections showed the following school capacity needs in the 10-year projection
3 period:
4 o OCS — No capacity needs.
5 o CHCCS — Capacity needed 2026-27 school year.
6 SJAC also reviewed options to implement class size changes for SAPFO purposes. Ten
7 options were proposed and analyzed. Following elimination of seven options, the three
8 options still being explored are listed below:
9 o Suspend the Certificate of Adequate Public Schools (CAPS) test for the
10 elementary school level for a specified period of time (short-term solution)
11 o Discontinue the Certificate of Adequate Public Schools (CAPS) test for both
12 districts. (short-term solution)
13 o Fund the construction of a "school swing space" (mid-term solution)
14
15
16 Pre-K
17 As a result of the findings at the April 10 SJAC meeting, school representatives identified
18 concerns with Pre-K classroom capacities being included in total elementary school capacity
19 numbers and whether a review of the existing MOUs is warranted to exclude the square
20 footage of Pre-K classrooms in total school capacity numbers.
21
22 Additional 10-year projections were drafted utilizing the April 2019 numbers, but excluding Pre-
23 K classroom capacity to determine impacts from class size changes. When Pre-K classroom
24 capacities are excluded, the impacts from reductions in class size is worsened at the
25 elementary school level. These projections showed the following school capacity needs in the
26 10-year projection period:
27
28 • OCS — Capacity needed 2024-25 school year
29 • CHCCS — Capacity needed 2021-22 school year
30
31 This information was presented at the Schools Collaboration meeting on October 18, 2019. A
32 SJAC update, which included impacts from changes in class size and Pre-K, was provided to
33 Chapel Hill — Carrboro City Schools on December 5, 2019 and Orange County Schools on
34 December 9, 2019.
35
36 Orange County and school staff continue to analyze school capacity numbers to determine the
37 most accurate count for use by the SJAC and School Boards to make an informed and final
38 recommendation to implement class size changes.
39
40 Craig Benedict, Planning Director, made the following PowerPoint presentation:
41
42 Item 1
43 School Joint Action Committee (SJAC) Update
44 — Changes in Class Size and Pre-K Impacts
45
46 Background
47 Schools Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (SAPFO)
48 o Outlines criteria for maintaining a two part system including:
49 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) linked to the needs identified by student
50 projections and available capacity
8
1 Issuing Certificate of Adequate Public Schools (CAPS) for new residential
2 developments
3
4 o Purpose is to ensure that new residential growth within the county occurs at a
5 pace that allows the County and school districts to provide adequate school
6 facilities to serve students from the new developments.
7 o Building capacity shall be determined by a joint action of the School Boards and
8 Orange County Board of Commissioners.
9 Includes changes in class size ratios
10
11 Purpose
12 The SJAC is a short-term committee comprised of elected officials from the Chapel Hill-
13 Carrboro City Schools Board of Education, Orange County Board of Education, and
14 Orange County Board of Commissioners. Appointed members include:
15 o Rani Dasi, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education
16 o Dr. Stephen Halkiotis, Orange County Board of Education
17 o Penny Rich, Orange County Board of Commissioners
18
19 SJAC also includes staff support from Orange County Managers Office, Orange County
20 Planning Department, Orange County Schools, and Chapel Hill — Carrboro City Schools
21 To discuss legislative implications (i.e. class size impacts to school capacity) for
22 inclusion into the Schools Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (SAPFO) projections
23 and provide recommendations on how/when to implement.
24
25 Background
26 SJAC have conducted three meetings to review impacts and options before determining
27 how to implement elementary school class size reductions for SAPFO purposes.
28 o January 31 — Reviewed changes in class size ratios outlined in House Bills 13
29 and 90
30 o March 8 — Reviewed student projections and potential impacts resulting from
31 changes in class size ratios
32 o April 10 — Reviewed implementation options
33 Identified concerns with Pre-K classroom capacities being included in
34 total elementary school capacity numbers. If coupled with the actual Pre-
35 K use of school space (which is not part of the SAPFO capacity standard)
36 the problem is worsened.
37
38 Student Capacity and Projections (chart)
39
40 Commissioner Dorosin asked if the projections are based in anything in particular.
41 Craig Benedict said staff looks at the enrollment for past years, and projects those
42 numbers forwards. He said in the ten year cohort projection, staff goes back 10 years and sees
43 how kindergarten graduates to first, first to second, etc. He said three and five year cohorts
44 have a smaller picture. He said if there is a major spike in a three year period, the projection
45 would show it a lot faster. He said the other two projections are mathematical and linear, and it
46 takes past history into the future. He said the MOU requires the numbers to be averaged to
47 create a muted model.
48 Commissioner Dorosin asked if this process takes the rise in charter schools into
49 account, in the Orange County School (OCS) system, in particular. He asked if it also takes
50 into account what is on the drawing board, due to developments in Hillsborough.
9
1 Craig Benedict said it does not account for the enrollment within the charter schools, but
2 only the traditional public schools.
3 Commissioner Dorosin said children are leaving to go to charter schools, and the actual
4 enrollment in the school system is impacted, and asked if this is accounted for.
5 Craig Benedict said yes, and the projections of development in the area would probably
6 show under other circumstances, without charter schools, a higher enrollment. He said both
7 school districts show less than would appear under normal circumstances; therefore, the
8 projections of growth are more muted moving into future years.
9 Commissioner Dorosin said that answer does not account for expansion of charter
10 schools (from K-8 to K-12), which would have an impact that is not accounted for looking
11 backwards.
12 Craig Benedict said that is correct. He said that shows up in those cohort projections.
13 Craig Benedict said staff acknowledges charter school and pre-K enrollment in the
14 annual SAPFO report, but this is a sidebar to the model and the MOU as written.
15 Commissioner Marcoplos said after middle schools, there is an influx of charter schools
16 students into the high schools.
17 Craig Benedict said that does show up, and staff can plot out the entire high school
18 enrollment and see how it has changyed over the years. He said middle schools show higher
19 graduation rates, between 8I" and 9t grades, which reflect these types of influxes.
20 Craig Benedict resumed the PowerPoint presentation:
21
22 Student Capacity and Projections (chart)
23
24 Impacts from Class Size Changes: Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (graphic)
25
26 Commissioner McKee asked if the 534-seat loss includes the impact of Pre-K
27 Craig Benedict said it does not. He said there was enough capacity in CHCCS to
28 accommodate class size changes over the allotted time, and to absorb the loss of the 534
29 seats. He said it does bring the need for a new school much closer, which had previously been
30 10+ years out.
31 Commissioner Dorosin asked if these numbers assume that all other class sizes will
32 remain constant, as opposed to increasing 4t" grade, etc.
33 Craig Benedict said yes.
34 Commissioner Price asked if the 534-seat number was determined in some particular
35 way.
36 Craig Benedict said staff went school-by-school, working with school board staff, and did
37 the numbers for K through 3Id grade, 4t" grade and 5t" grade. He said this information is in the
38 Commissioners' packets. He said there are 165 classrooms in K-3, and the amount of capacity
39 will go down as the class size restrictions are fully implemented.
40
41 Impacts from Class Size Changes: Orange County Schools (graphic)
42
43 Commissioner Dorosin asked if, to date, the County has ever had to restrict
44 development due to SAPFP predictions.
45 Craig Benedict said no, this has never occurred. He said staff sometimes sees that it
46 may occur in a few years, and a developer can load the development over a period of time. He
47 said staff refines the model each year, and it has never been a problem, to date.
48
49 Options to Implement Class Size Ratios
50 A. Options which have been eliminated by SJAC:
10
1 1. Allow SAPFO to implement cessation of CAPS issuance (would stop issuance of
2 building permits)
3 Present enrollment/capacity conditions would not create this
4 condition in the short term
5 2. Increase the adopted 105% Level of Service (LOS) for the elementary school
6 level permanently or for a specific period of time
7 Example: 3,365 students at 100%, 3,533 students at 105%, and
8 3,601 students at 107%
9 3. Allow modular, mobile, and/or temporary classrooms to be included in
10 elementary school building capacity numbers permanently or for a specific period
11 of time
12
13 Options to Implement Class Size Ratios
14 A. Options which have been eliminated by SJAC:
15 4. Coordinate all "special" classrooms or non-capacity spaces (i.e. art, music,
16 computer) to be located in modular, mobile, and/or temporary classrooms
17 5. Fund renovations and improvements to unused or underutilized spaces (i.e. staff
18 offices, teacher workrooms) identified as potential classroom space by school
19 staff in order to increase building capacity within permanent school buildings
20 6. Fund school renovation and/or expansion projects which increase elementary
21 school capacity within permanent school buildings
22 7. Fund the construction of a new elementary school
23
24 Options to Implement Class Size Ratios
25 B. Options still being explored:
26 1. Suspend the Certificate of Adequate Public Schools (CAPS) test for the
27 elementary school level for a specified period of time (short-term solution)
28 i. Coincide with Pre-K capacity discussions and decisions (Pre-K use of
29 space within schools further decrease capacity for K-5, so effective
30 capacity vs. SAPFO regulated capacity is lower than actual).
31 ii. Continue to issue CAPS for tracking purposes, but building permits will
32 not be denied when capacity is met
33 iii. Recommended at the October 18 School Collaboration meeting
34 iv. This is not an emergency situation even with class size reductions; lower
35 capacity does not create a CAPS deferral until 2026-27.
36 2. Discontinue the Certificate of Adequate Public Schools (CAPS) test for both
37 districts (short-term solution)
38 3. Fund the construction of a "school swing space" (mid-term solution)
39
40 Next Steps
41 November 2019
42 o Orange County Planning staff will commence the 2020 SAPFOTAC Report
43 process on November 4.
44 Due to timing, capacity numbers collected from the schools for the 2020
45 SAPFOTAC Report may not incorporate the SJAC's final
46 recommendation. However, the report will include an update on the
47 SJAC and changes in class size in the executive summary.
48 December 2019
49 o Presentation to the Orange County Board of Education and the Chapel Hill —
50 Carrboro Board of Education.
11
1 • January 2020
2 o Annual SAPFO Technical Advisory Committee meeting to review capacity,
3 student membership, and 10-year projections.
4 • February 2020
5 o Presentation to the joint schools meeting for final recommendation
6 Orange County Planning staff will transmit final recommendation to the
7 Towns. Based on the final recommendation, this may include additional
8 steps for the local governments.
9 March 2020
10 o Formal transmittal of draft 2020 SAPFOTAC Report
11
12 Commissioner Price asked if staff could clarify the term resolution.
13 Craig Benedict said the resolution of pre-K. He said this presentation is in two parts, as
14 the SJAC was tasked with talking about legislative class size changes, as well as pre-K. He
15 said if the number of seats is reduced in schools where pre-K is being used, then the need for
16 new elementary schools in CHCCS arises even sooner. He said this issue cannot easily be
17 resolved by some of the options posed by staff and SJAC. He said if pre-K classrooms are
18 excluded in CHCCS, an additional 495 seats is lost, and would push the need for a new
19 elementary school up to the year 2021-2022. He said there are more than 13 pre-K classrooms
20 in CHCCS, and some are in mobile buildings, while others are in bricks and mortar buildings,
21 and staff will reconcile these numbers. He said trying to accommodate the legislative
22 classroom size changes, as well as excluding the 221 pre-K seats, is a looming concern.
23
24 Questions and Comments
25
26 Impacts from Class Size Changes (graphic)
27 (Excluding Pre-K Classroom Capacities)
28
29 Impacts from Class Size Changes (graphic)
30 (Excluding Pre-K Classroom Capacities)
31
32 Student Capacity and Projections (chart)
33
34 Commissioner McKee said the CHCCS slides show a 775-seat loss, when considering
35 the two factors, but page 4 of the packet indicates a loss of 495 in CHCCS. He asked if these
36 numbers could be clarified.
37 Ashley Moncado said staff utilizes capacities not including pre-K, which are shown on
38 the slide, to which Commissioner McKee referred. She said staff is showing the difference
39 between 2018-19 and 2021-22.
40 Craig Benedict referred to the slide that shows the numbers when implementing both
41 changes at the same time by 2021-22, which would require a new school in CHCCS. He said
42 OCS is similar, and when the pre-K accommodation is also taken into account, a new school
43 will be needed in 2024-25. He said if pre-K is not included in OCS, the need for a new school
44 was years away. He reviewed the SJAC recommendations, and said the need for new schools
45 will occur sooner rather than later if trying to address the legislative mandates, as well as pre-K.
46 He said the mission of the SJAC was to identify the problems, and a larger group will determine
47 the solutions.
48 Commissioner McKee asked if the CHCCS elementary schools have an average size.
49 Craig Benedict said low 500s for CHCCS.
12
1 Commissioner McKee asked if, in a worse case scenario, the County may be looking at
2 2 '/2 new schools county wide by 2026, if it chooses to implement full pre-K, in addition to the
3 legislative mandates.
4 Craig Benedict said when SAPFO was first put together the model to increase capacity
5 was to build a new school, but now the model is not necessarily a new build as there is so much
6 work to be done on the existing schools. He said capacity has been added to some of the
7 schools in recent years, and the new model may be redevelopment of existing buildings, as
8 opposed to new builds.
9 Commissioner McKee said the existing schools are in need of extensive work, costing
10 millions of dollars, and if this worse case were to come to pass, it would be another —$75 million
11 for new schools.
12 Craig Benedict referred to the slide that indicates 775 seats lost due to legislative
13 mandates and pre-K, and said that equates to 1.5 schools. He said OCS would also have
14 enough seats lost to warrant an additional school.
15 Commissioner McKee said regardless of how the problem is tackled, it will cost money.
16 Commissioner Marcoplos said he is concerned about the reduced class size, and asked
17 if this has been well thought out and if there are better ways to deal with this. He asked if the
18 County is bound to follow the class size formula, or could the class size be a bit bigger but an
19 additional teacher added to the room.
20 Commissioner Bedford said if the County fails to comply, the State would take over the
21 school board, and suspend the license of the superintendent.
22 Commissioner Marcoplos said the current legislature would do that, and he asked if the
23 current educational establishment might have alternate ways to deal with classroom numbers.
24 He said these are unfunded mandates from the State.
25
26 Student Capacity and Projections (chart)
27
28 Commissioner McKee asked if the school board staffs and members would like to
29 comment.
30 Commissioner Dorosin asked if the first set of numbers are based on changing class
31 size and the second set of numbers are based on the pre-k seats currently taking up space in
32 the schools.
33 Craig Benedict said there are pre-K students in the schools, and staff takes that
34 capacity and assumes it is used for K-5, but they are actually used for pre-K as well.
35 Commissioner Dorosin said a school might have 585 students, and asked if that number
36 includes the pre-K students or not.
37 Craig Benedict said staff is counting the capacity of the school, and assumes the
38 capacity is for use of K-5t" only, when actually a certain number of seats are being used by pre-
39 K.
40 Commissioner Dorosin said he is still not clear. He said a school has x number of
41 spaces for K-5, based on the classroom size mandates set out by the legislature. He said, for
42 example a school has 585 seats, and when the students are counted and number 585, then the
43 school is at 100% capacity. He said if the number is higher the school is over capacity, and if it
44 is lower the school is under capacity.
45 Craig Benedict said yes.
46 Commissioner Dorosin asked if pre-K students are currently included, when students
47 sitting in seats are counted.
48 Craig Benedict said no, pre-K students are not counted. He said the original MOU said
49 to not count pre-K against the capacity in the school.
13
1 Commissioner Dorosin said there could be a school that has 585 student capacity that
2 has 500 K-5 students, and 150 pre-K students, totaling 650, but would show up as being less
3 than 100% capacity.
4 Craig Benedict said correct.
5 Commissioner Dorosin asked if there are any pre-K classroom size restrictions.
6 Craig Benedict said he does not know.
7 Commissioner Dorosin considered the same hypothetical scenario as above, and asked
8 if the pre-K students were removed to somewhere else, would the report presented this evening
9 change.
10 Craig Benedict said the capacity of the school would still be 585. He said there would
11 be more room for the K-5 students with the pre-K students gone.
12 Commissioner Dorosin asked if the SAPFO number for that school would go down due
13 to space being freed up by the removal of pre-K. He said it seems that the freed up space was
14 already included in the SAPFO number because they were in the 585 number. He said it might
15 change how crowded any particular classroom is, because there would be room for the
16 students given the class size mandates.
17 Craig Benedict said that is a reasonable way to look at it.
18 Will Atherton, OCS Chair, said Commissioner Dorosin is correct. He said currently pre-
19 K students are not counted in the school numbers. He said the challenge is to decide what
20 happens to pre-K given the upcoming class size mandates. He said pre-K is being used
21 generically, but there are state mandated pre-Ks, especially for exceptional children.
22 Commissioner Dorosin said if the pre-K students are moved, the ability to meet the class
23 size mandates would be impacted.
24 Will Atherton said pre-K is not counted today, so it would not impact SAPFO. He said
25 what it affects is the timing of when a new school is needed. He said the County has been
26 discussing the expansion of pre-K, which would push this discussion even further left, and the
27 question becomes where do these kids go, as growth is not included. He said the best case is
28 the current numbers of when a new school is needed, and worst case is it is counted, there is
29 more growth and the number comes in even further, which would present a new challenge.
30 Commissioner Dorosin said he is just trying to clarify what is happening in the building.
31 He said if the mandates go into effect, the schools will have to meet them. He said one option
32 is build a new elementary school and one is to build a pre-K center. He said if pre-K was
33 housed elsewhere, there would be room freed up in the current schools to move closer to
34 meeting the class size mandates.
35 Will Atherton said it would in the long term.
36 Will Atherton said pre-k is not in every school, so some of this would help capacity but
37 would also cause some re-districting.
38 Commissioner Dorosin asked if pre-K is only housed in elementary schools.
39 Will Atherton said yes, and this is due to unique requirements that exist for pre-K
40 classrooms.
41 Patrick Able, CHCCS, said the same is true in CHCCS, which still has 6 pre-K
42 classrooms in mobile units, and does not account for them in the core spaces of the building
43 (gym, cafeteria, etc.). He said there are 44 mobiles units in CHCCS, and moving pre-K
44 students would likely get other students out of the mobile units and into brick and mortar. He
45 said this is a great conversation, and appreciates the opportunity to comment. He said the
46 slides shown tonight are the reality in CHCCS and OCS. He said all those involved are
47 discussing this because there is not enough capacity, and the class size mandates have
48 already begun. HE said CHCCS has had a waiver that ends June 30, 2020, and the district
49 now has 2 years to fully implement the mandates. He said any additional help to insure future
50 capacity is necessary, and all options should be considered.
14
1 Commissioner Marcoplos said prior to committing to building new schools, the County
2 needs to have all of the remodeling and redistricting options. He asked if staff knows when it
3 will have this information.
4 Patrick Able said staff will bring some information to the joint meeting on February 251n
5 and the district is getting as many classrooms ready as possible now, and next year will have
6 reassignment for the start of the 2021-22 school year. He said class size reductions will be
7 heavily considered in this planning process.
8 Will Atherton said the redistricting has a bit of a chicken and the egg quality to it, and if
9 pre-K is an unknown, it is difficult to determine where to move other students. He said
10 redistricting now would look very different than redistricting with the removal of pre-K.
11 Patrick Able said the February 25th discussion will include the aging facilities and
12 needed renovations.
13 Commissioner Price referred to the renovations piece, and said some campuses, such
14 as Grady Brown, need to be secured. She asked if doing so would build capacity, and if this is
15 considered in the numbers.
16 Craig Benedict said through the Capital Improvement Planning (CIP) process, staff will
17 develop a CIP that may or may not include capacity increases, and once that reaches a feasible
18 fundable CIP, in the years targeted, then they can include capacity. He said it must be
19 financially feasible.
20 Commissioner Price asked if the school boards are expecting that capacity will be added
21 if renovations occur.
22 Will Atherton said OCS CIP focus has been for repairing schools for safety measures,
23 and he said they are exploring whether increased capacity is possible through renovation,
24 which will not be realistic in some of the older buildings.
25 Patrick Able said CHCCS long-range facility planning processes did include some
26 feasibility studies and assessment as to what makes sense with large-scale capital projects and
27 meeting capacity needs. He said it is unclear if these capacity increases would align with the
28 reassignment processes. He said this will all be shared at the February 251" meeting.
29 Commissioner McKee said going forward all the boards need to have an in depth
30 discussion about pre-K.
31 Commissioner Price referred to the mandatory pre-K programs, and asked if these
32 students are included in head counts.
33 Will Atherton said no, but exceptional children (EC) classrooms are adjusted correctly
34 for the sizes.
35 Commissioner Bedford thanked the committee that worked on this, and she said
36 SAPFO is a good tool for the County and assists in predicting capacity and allows for changes
37 in capital budgeting.
38 Commissioner Bedford said the notion of suspending the ability to deny CAPS does not
39 solve the problem, but what it does do, if pre-K numbers were added in, is prevent law suits and
40 waste of money defending them.
41 Commissioner Bedford said some of the trailers at Ephesus Elementary School are
42 beyond their useful life, and are not used full time for the kids. She said remaining trailers at
43 the school are used for children full time, and are a security issue for children. She said trailers
44 are not part of SAPFO, which is good, but in reality they are used but really should not be so
45 any longer.
46 Commissioner Bedford said the best choices moving forward may be different for the
47 two school districts. She said in 2013 CHCCS brought forward the issue of pre-K, and there
48 may be more land in OCS than CHCCS. She said she has always wanted pre-K numbers
49 included in SAPFO, and believes pre-K is one of the greatest strategies for closing the
50 achievement gap.
15
1 Commissioner Bedford read minutes from the joint meeting of April 2013 indicating her
2 long held concern about older buildings in both districts. She said this is not news, and
3 everyone will have to work together to address the renovations and the need for more seats.
4 Commissioner Dorosin said the original bond discussion included Chapel Hill High
5 School, as well as renovating the Lincoln Center to house pre-K.
6 Commissioner Greene said she would like to know how many pre-K students are
7 mandated versus the number that is not.
8 Will Atherton said OCS has 2 EC classes serving 20 students.
9 Commissioner Dorosin asked if some of these students are subsidized, and if some are
10 able to pay.
11 Will Atherton said OCS offers paid pre-K slots, but they have never been used. He said
12 70% of pre-K students qualify for free meals, and the remaining 30% qualify for reduced meals.
13 Patrick Able said he does not have this information, but will get it to the Board. He said
14 EC students are mixed in with regular students, not contained separately in one classroom.
15 Will Atherton said if pre-K is centralized transportation would need to be provided.
16 Commissioner Dorosin said he knows this may be an issue, but pre-K was strongly
17 supported in the bond discussions.
18
19
20
21 Appointments
22 The current appointment process would be to move these agreed upon appointments to
23 the next BOCC Business Meeting and they would be listed under the Consent Agenda. The
24 next BOCC Business Meeting that was scheduled for February 18, 2020 has been officially
25 cancelled, this Consent Agenda item will now be presented at the BOCC Business Meeting on
26 March 10, 2020.
27 Advisory Board members who are to be re-appointed may continue to serve in their
28 same capacity. Individuals who are new appointments, may attend meetings, but will officially
29 assume their participation on March 11, 2020.
30
31 2. Adult Care Home Community Advisory Committee
32
33 Position #1 —Tiketha Collins
34 Position #3 —Alison Brown
35 Position #6 — Shade Little
36
37 The Board agreed by consensus.
38 Commissioner Dorosin asked if other counties have difficulty filling these positions, and
39 if there are better ways to recruit people.
40 Donna Baker said Janice Tyler, Department on Aging Director, is aware of this need as
41 well and it takes a great deal of training and commitment to serve.
42 Commissioner Dorosin said he would like staff to survey other counties to see if Orange
43 County is missing something, and perhaps the ability to serve should not be so onerous and the
44 Board could advocate in this regard.
45 Thom Freeman asked John Roberts if there had been discussions about merging this
46 board with the Nursing home CAC.
47 John Roberts said there has been some discussion, and someone was supposed to
48 come from Triangle J Council of Governments to talk about it. He said the boards can be
49 combined, which would reduce the overall number of appointees.
50 Chair Rich asked if staff would follow up on this idea.
16
1
2 3. Affordable Housing Advisory Board
3
4 Position #3 — Olivia Fisher
5
6 The Board agreed by consensus.
7
8 4. Animal Services Advisory Board
9
10 Position #2 — Sunita Driehuys
11 Position #3 — Sue Millager
12
13 The Board agreed by consensus.
14
15 5. Animal Services Hearing Panel Pool
16
17 Position #1 — Michelle Walker
18 Position #7—Tony Whitaker
19 Position #10 — Matthew Bonds
20 Position #13 — Cathy Munnier
21 Position #15 — Dr. Beth Grooms (moved from Position #17)
22 Position #16 — Edmund Tiryakian
23 Position #17 — Casey Ferrell (replacing Dr. Beth Grooms)
24
25 The Board agreed by consensus with these appointments.
26
27 6. Board of Equalization and Review
28 Position #7— Susan T. Ballard
29 Position #8— Dr. Andrew Landstrom
30 Position #9—Adejuwon Ojebuoboh
31
32 The Board agreed by consensus on these appointments.
33
34 7. Chapel Hill Planning Commission
35 Position #1 — James Baxter
36
37 The Board agreed by consensus on this appointment.
38
39 8. Chapel Hill Orange County Visitors Bureau
40 Position #6 — Kayla Dempsey
41 Position #7— Mark Bell
42 Position #9— Lydia Lavelle
43 Position #13 —Anita "Spring" Council
44
45 Commissioner Dorosin asked if there is a reason the High School Athletics Association
46 has a seat on this board.
47 Commissioner Bedford said it brings in a large amount of hotel revenue via sporting
48 events.
49 Commissioner Marcoplos asked if this Association contributes financially to the Visitors
50 Bureau.
17
1 It was unknown.
2 Commissioner Greene said this is the state headquarters of this Association, and it
3 brings in a great deal of revenue.
4 The Board agreed by consensus on these appointments.
5
6 9. Commission for the Environment
7 Position #2 — Francis Binkowski
8 Position #3 — Kim Livingston
9 Position #4 — Dr. Bill Ward
10 Position #5— Elizabeth McWhorter
11 Position #6 — K. Alan Parry
12 Position #7— Jaya Nair
13 Position #8 — Carrie Fletcher
14
15 Commissioner Bedford noted that reappointments Carrie Fletcher and K. Alan Perry did
16 not have the best attendance records, and should be encouraged to do better moving forward.
17 Donna Baker said staff would follow up.
18 The Board agreed by consensus on these appointments.
19
20 10. Nursing Home Community Advisory Committee
21 Position #11 — Dr. Carol Kelly
22 Position #12 —Vibeke Talley
23
24 The Board agreed by consensus on these appointments.
25
26 11. Orange County Planning Board
27
28 Position #5— David Blankfard
29 Position #9—Alexandra Allman
30 Position # 11 — Susan Hunter
31 Position #12 — Julian (Randy) Marshall, Jr.
32
33 The Board agreed by consensus on these appointments.
34
35 12. Orange Unified Transportation Board
36 Position #2 — David Laudicina
37 Position #4 — Roy Schonberg
38 Position #13 — Tom Gray
39 Position # 14 — Erik Broo
40
41 The Board agreed by consensus on these appointments.
42
43 A motion was made by Commissioner McKee seconded by Commissioner Bedford to go
44 into closed session at 9:15 p.m. for the purposed listed below:
45 Pursuant to 143-318.11(a)(3) To consult with an attorney employed or retained by the public
46 body in order to preserve the attorney-client privilege between the attorney and the public; and
47 Pursuant to [N.C.G.S. 143-318.11(a)(5)] : To establish or instruct the staff or agent concerning
48 the negotiation of the price and terms of a contract concerning the acquisition of real property.
49
50 VOTE: UNANIMOUS
18
1
2
3
4 RECONVENE INTO REGULAR SESSION
5
6 A motion was made by Commissioner Dorosin seconded by Commissioner Greene to
7 reconvene into regular session at 10:OOp.m.
8
9 Adjournment
10
11 A motion was made by Commissioner Dorosin seconded by Commissioner Greene to adjourn
12 the meeting at 10:OOp.m.
13
14 VOTE: UNANIMOUS
15
16
17 Penny Rich, Chair
18
19
20 Donna Baker
21 Clerk to the Board
22