Orange County NC Website
The Board considered a resolution to refer the Shaping Orange County's Future <br />provisional report to appropriate advisory boards. <br />Environment and Resource Conservation Director David Stancil said that this resolution <br />will refer the report to various advisory boards asking them to return comments in time for the January <br />29t" Assembly of Governments Meeting. <br />Commissioner Gordon made reference to the minutes and the statement that the Board of <br />County Commissioners would discuss the report in a work session before sending this to the <br />Assembly of Governments meeting. There was a consensus to cancel the January 29th Assembly of <br />Governments meeting to allow time for advisory boards to make comments and time far the Board of <br />County Commissioners to have a work session. <br />A motion was made by Commissioner Brown, seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to refer <br />the Shaping Orange County's Future Provisional Report to the advisory boards for comments to be <br />returned by February 15, 2001. <br />VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br />6. SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS <br />a. Community College Task Force <br />The Board heard a report from the Community College Task Force. <br />Chair Carey made reference to the report and the recommendations as listed on the last <br />page of the report. He said that the report is the result of the County Commissioners appointing a <br />task force to determine if a community college is feasible for Orange County. He commended the <br />members of the committee. The report concluded that there is a need for a satellite campus of <br />Durham Technical Community College (DTCC) in Orange County. Over 6,500 residents of Orange <br />County take one or more courses at a community college each year. Also, a vast majority of those <br />take courses at DTCC. Orange County residents composed about 22°l0 of DTCC's enrollment in <br />1999. DTCC offers courses in many different locations in Orange County, for credit and non-credit. <br />There were some focus groups that met to discuss the need for a satellite campus and there was <br />quite a bit of support. The task force recommends that Orange County pursue locating a branch of <br />DTCC in Orange County and that the location should be in central Orange. The Board of County <br />Commissioners will ultimately decide the location of the campus. The task force also recommended a <br />set of criteria that the Board could use in siting a facility. <br />Dr. Phail Wynn, President of DTCC, said that DTCC has enjoyed the partnership that they <br />have with Orange County in offering courses in Orange County, Hillsborough, and Chapel Hill. He <br />feels that the Skills Development Center has afforded a great opportunity for Orange County citizens <br />and allowed DTCC to expand programming in the County. Orange County citizens have always <br />supported and made great use of higher education. The approval rate in Orange County for the <br />higher education bond issue was 83°~, which was second in the state among the larger counties. He <br />said that this was an endorsement of the efforts of the Board of County Commissioners' support for <br />providing educational opportunities for citizens in Orange County. He mentioned that two of the 12 <br />members of the DTCC Board of Trustees were from Orange County. However, the Orange County <br />Board of Commissioners will not make any appointments to the DTCC Board of Trustees. Those <br />appointments are made by other entities such as the Durham County Board of Commissioners. He <br />concluded by saying that this recommendation provides another opportunity to make amends to him <br />for the injustice that was done to him 16 years ago when his secretary was hired away from him to <br />became the Clerk of the Orange County Board of Commissioners. <br />Chair Carey said that he found out today that the state band passed in every county by a <br />margin no less than 60%. <br />Commissioner Gordon asked what the relationship would be to the Skills Development <br />Center. Chair Carey said that a satellite campus would not lessen the need for the classes held at the <br />Skills Development Center. Classes will continue to be held in various locations in the County. <br />Commissioner Gordon made reference to the idea of co-locating the satellite campus with <br />the new Orange County High School. Chair Carey said that the task force did tour a co-location site <br />in Caswell County. As the task force reviewed the Orange County high school site, it determined that <br />co-location might not be feasible because of the size of the site. <br /> <br />