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will give them 75% funds to help them towards watering systems, etc. They are really concerned that <br />most of the livestock producers are using their winter feed now. They have only had four farmers come <br />in and ask for assistance with their wells. Another issue from the drought is increased diseases. One <br />disease in tobacco has been the split worm that is between the leaves. <br />Commissioner Gordon asked if farmers were going to be forced out of business. Fletcher Barber <br />said that some farmers are on the edge of going out of business. <br />Commissioner Gordon asked if the County could do anything. Fletcher Barber said that he was <br />meeting with the drought committee and they are trying to formulate some recommendations. <br />Commissioner Gordon said that we have been trying to encourage farmers to keep farming and it <br />would be too bad if some of them went out of business. <br />Commissioner Carey asked about the 75% money available and Fletcher Barber said that it is loan <br />money through the North Carolina Agriculture Cost Share Program and the Environmental Quality <br />Incentive Program. These are bath administered through the Soil and Water Conservation Service. <br />Commissioner Brawn asked for any information about how many farmers are using irrigation. <br />Fletcher Barber said that he would try and provide this to her through his report. <br />Chair Jacobs told Fletcher Barber to remind farmers who are short on funds that the County does <br />have funds for purchasing conservation easements, which is a way to capitalize some of the other parts <br />of their operation. <br />5. RESOLUTIONS/PROCLAMATIONS <br />a. Proclamation Celebrating 250th Anniversary of Orange County <br />The Board considered a proclamation officially designating the year beginning September 9, <br />2002 as a year of celebration of Orange County's 250th Anniversary. <br />Economic Development Director Dianne Reid made the presentation and distributed a revised <br />preliminary budget. There have been some additional contributions. Sheer Associates designed and <br />laid out a general information brochure. This is a draft. It equates to $1,885. There was a significant <br />discount on the flagpoles for the banners from Dual Supply. She reminded the Board of the events on <br />Sunday and Monday. On Sunday, beginning at 12:30, people who wish to walk from near the original <br />site of the first court of Orange County may come into Hillsborough and park at the Sheriff's Department. <br />There will be shuttle buses. It will be a three and a half mile hike with stops along the way. At 4:00, the <br />Hillsborough Historical Society is presenting a speaker. On Monday, which is the official anniversary, at <br />noon, church and other bells will ring throughout the County 25 times and there will be a brief ceremony. <br />Schools have been invited also. <br />Commissioner Gordon asked how many brochures would be published. Dianne Reid said that <br />there would be 2500 printed initially. <br />Dianne Reid distributed items to the Board of County Commissioners - t-shirts and pins. <br />Chair Jacobs read the proclamation. <br />A motion was made by Commissioner Brown, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to approve and <br />authorize the Chair to sign the proclamation as stated below: <br />TO PROCLAIM A YEARLONG CELEBRATION BEGINNING SEPTEMBER 9, 2002 TO <br />COMMEMORATE THE 250T" ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING OF ORANGE COUNTY <br />WHEREAS, on September 9, 1752, a new county was born of the North Carolina colonial back country - <br />a county that spanned the area from present-day Greensboro to present-day Cary, from the Virginia line <br />to the Uwharrie mountains, and <br />WHEREAS, on that day Orange County became a reality as the first colonial Court of Pleas and Quarter <br />Sessions was held at Grayfields along the Eno River, and <br />WHEREAS, the new County -originally inhabited by the Occaneechi/Saponi nation and other native <br />American tribes -included 4,000 persons and a land area of 3,500 square miles, including all of present <br />day Alamance, Caswell, Person, Durham and Chatham counties as well as parts of Wake, Lee, <br />Randolph, Guilford and Rockingham counties, and <br />