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<br />APPROVED 1 21412 0 0 6 <br />MINUTES <br />ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />REGULAR MEETING <br />November 2, 2006 <br />7:00 p.m. <br />The Orange County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Thursday, <br />November 2, 2Q06 at 7:OQ p.m. in the F. Gordon Battle Courtroom in Hillsborough, North <br />Carolina. <br />COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Barry Jacobs and Commissioners Moses <br />Carey, Jr., Valerie P. Foushee, Alice M. Gordon, and Stephen Halkiotis <br />COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill <br />COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: Interim County Manager Rod Visser, Assistant County <br />Manager Gwen Harvey, and Clerk to the Board Donna S. Baker (All other staff members will be <br />identified appropriately below) <br />NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT <br />AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE. ALL RECORDINGS OF THE MEETING WILL BE <br />KEPT FOR 5 YEARS. <br />1. Additions or Chances to the Agenda <br />Chair Jacobs went through the items at the County Commissioners' places. <br />PUBLIC CHARGE <br />The Chair dispensed wifh the reading of the public charge. <br />2. Public Comments <br />a. Matters not an the Printed Agenda <br />Jamie Daniel is a candidate for County Commissioner. He said that during the last <br />election in 2004, his wife almost died and was taken to Duke Hospital by ambulance provided <br />by Orange Rescue. He said that he learned a lot about the rescue squad, which has gone <br />without public funding since 1968. He said that over the last few years the Squad has come to <br />the Board and asked on several occasions far help and has been denied. He said that he has <br />joined the Rescue Squad since then. He said that it is a misconception that the Rescue Squad <br />is funded with tax money. He challenged each of the County Commissioners to ga out and see <br />haw the Rescue Squad works. He asked the Board to please fund the Rescue Squad. <br />Brian Matthews, Chief of Orange County Rescue Squad, said that the squad has been in <br />service since 1968 and has never gotten direct funding from the County. There have been <br />contracts with the County for leasing the building and providing transport services, but it was <br />always a cost for something that the County needed from the Rescue Squad. He said that the <br />Squad has always assisted the County. In the past four years, the Squad has been seeking <br />funds from the County and have been passed over. Atone time, the Squad was told to wait an <br />the Sage report, and it was not a good report. He said that the only valid thing in the report was <br />that the Rescue Squad services needed to be funded. He said that the Rescue Squad was put <br />under Emergency Management and neither he nor his members agreed with that. The Rescue <br />Squad prefers to be an independent agency just like all of the other fire departments and just <br />