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Brad Broadwell answered clarifying questions of the County Commissioners. <br /> Commissioner Nelson said that he is not convinced that the specific plans for the EDDs <br /> should be wrapped up in the economic plan. <br /> Commissioner Pelissier suggested that other departments need to be added in here. <br /> She said that outside of the EDDs relates to agriculture and she would like to include <br /> Cooperative Extension. <br /> Commissioner Jacobs said that he had talked about partnering at the retreat and the <br /> County needs a broader, more aggressive Economic Development plan with multiple partners. <br /> Brad said that the current deliverables relates to what he is talking about, such as the <br /> Value-Added Center, working with Cooperative Extension, working with Durham Technical <br /> Community College, agricultural training, etc. <br /> Commissioner Gordon said that there is a five-year strategic economic development <br /> plan, which ends in 2010. She asked if anyone was talking about redoing this plan and Brad <br /> Broadwell said that this is his question here. He said that the objectives are missing. The <br /> County will not create 5,000 jobs. Some of what has been done is immeasurable and some is <br /> measurable, but there is no objective to measure against. He wants to use the assets in the <br /> community. <br /> Discussion ensued about the Economic Development plan. <br /> Commissioner Gordon asked for more detail and information on what happens if there is <br /> no funding and what would drop out. <br /> Laura Blackmon said that these are draft priorities and actions. The staff has to do some <br /> basic groundwork first because there has been no discussion on implementation. <br /> Commissioner Yuhasz said that economic development needs to happen now, even <br /> though the fruits will not be seen for another 5-10 years. He wants to provide the Economic <br /> Development Director with the resources he needs for this. Economic Development needs to <br /> be at the top of the priority list and Commissioner Jacobs agreed. <br /> Commissioner Jacobs said that he would like a better understanding of what the two <br /> engineers do before talking about Engineering Services. <br /> P-4: Review services to identify and protect "safety net" programs and services <br /> including services for shelter, food/clothing, medical care and programs that assist the <br /> most vulnerable. <br /> Social Services Director Nancy Coston explained this priority. She said that any money <br /> within this priority is not currently in the budget. She said that she tries not to have more than <br /> 400 cases per social worker and this is likely to get worse. The emergency assistance <br /> programs are critical and she has $150,000 in her budget for this, but this will most likely be <br /> exhausted before June 301h. This will be an issue for this year and next year. <br /> Health Director Rosemary Summers said that one of the large items is the expansion of <br /> the service hours of the Health Department. The Health Department does not have the physical <br /> ability to expand services during the day, but it could in the evenings or weekends. Part-time <br /> staff could be used for these clinics. She said that the projected cuts in the State Health <br /> Department include cuts to local health departments. She said that the patients with insurance <br /> are down 30% as people are losing insurance. <br /> Commissioner Jacobs asked staff to communicate with Congressman Price about the <br /> monies for administrative fees for DSS and the Health Department. <br />