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Chair Jacobs spoke to the Sons of Confederate Veterans and said that it is nice to have <br />them each year, and they do respect the heritage but they are content to have the State of <br />North Carolina honor them on the appropriate day. He said that the Orange County Board of <br />County Commissioners is not going to do anymore than they are doing this evening. <br />b. Matters on the Printed Agenda <br />(These matters were considered when the Board addressed that item on the agenda <br />below.} <br />3. Board Comments <br />Commissioner Gordon said that the Transportation Advisory Committee met and a <br />subcommittee of the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization and the <br />Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization came up with same points for the legislative <br />agenda and they passed this. She said that they were told that this area was going from non- <br />attainment to maintenance, which is good news. However, it takes a long time to go through all <br />of the steps. <br />Commissioner Foushee reported that the kickoff meeting for the Orange County Child <br />Care Task Force was held today at the Southern Human Services Center, and about 70°l° of <br />invitees were in attendance. She said that they were able to establish subcommittees today - <br />employers, public sector including elected officials, child care providers, business community, <br />and the users of child care. Their next meeting is set for June 15t" at the Southern Human <br />Services Center. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis said that he was pleased to see that Wal-Mart was going to <br />reassess what benefits it will be giving its part-time employees. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis said that, in meeting with the Friends of the Northern Orange <br />Senior Center, the seniors are getting ready and splitting the cost 50150 with the Department on <br />Aging for emergency cards for themselves. The cards will be filled out with medical needs and <br />placed on refrigerator doors in the event of an ambulance call. He said that they asked EMS <br />Director Jack Ball to put together a generic emergency card for all citizens. He said that they <br />should take advantage of the technology advances and see how this could be tied into EMS <br />somehow. He said that he would take this to the next Tech follow-up meeting to see if it can be <br />done. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis said that he has told all about his frustration with technology. <br />He said that he is no longer going to be available on the Internet for anybody. He said that on <br />April 3rd, an agency in Hillsborough sent out an email about a scholarship 28 times to his <br />computer and he does not have high-speed access. He said that this email crashed his <br />computer and he spent three hours trying to work through this mess. He said that he couldn't <br />deal with this anymore. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis said that he went to church on Easter Sunday and four senior <br />citizens came up to him at Palmers Grove United Methodist Church and these seniors told him <br />of a wonderful Orange County employee, who came to speak to a group of 35 senior citizens at <br />the church. This is Kate Barrett from the Department on Aging. The senior citizens said that <br />she was a wonderful ambassador for Orange County and Commissioner Halkiotis said that he <br />would like for her to be honored. He said that he has watched as people in their 30's, 40's, and <br />50's are treating older people like they are little children and showing disrespect and Kate <br />Barrett has transcended this and has treated these seniors with respect. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis said that he and Chair Jacobs were in a meeting with the <br />planning group for the Central Orange Senior Center, and he thinks that there needs to be a <br />meeting with the Sportsplex on how are they going to interface with other government agencies <br />and how senior center clients have access to the facilities already there at the Sportsplex. The <br />seniors feel that they need to have a reduced rate and he agrees. He asked the Chair to set up <br />