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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: March 18, 2014 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. 6 -e <br />SUBJECT: Durham - Chapel Hill - Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization <br />Member Agencies Memorandum of Understanding Revisions <br />DEPARTMENT: Planning and Inspections PUBLIC HEARING: (Y /N) No <br />ATTACHMENT(S): <br />1. Flowchart of the MOU Revision Process <br />2. Updated MOU with Changes Noted <br />3. Existing MOU (Executed 1994) <br />1 <br />INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />Bret Martin, Transportation Planner, 245- <br />2582 <br />Tom Altieri, Comprehensive Planning <br />Supervisor, 245 -2579 <br />Craig Benedict, Planning Director, 245 -2592 <br />PURPOSE: To approve and authorize the Chair to sign a final draft of an updated /revised <br />Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) among the member agencies of the Durham - Chapel <br />Hill - Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization (DCHC MPO). <br />BACKGROUND: The DCHC MPO is a transportation planning agency charged with fulfilling <br />federally mandated metropolitan planning requirements influencing the use of federal <br />transportation funding within the Durham Urbanized Area (UZA) and the area beyond the UZA <br />boundary expected to become urbanized within 20 years. The MPO is a partnership of the <br />member governments within the Durham UZA/MPO planning area and the North Carolina <br />Department of Transportation in cooperation with the United States Department of <br />Transportation. Membership within the MPO is established through an MOU between its local <br />government member organizations /jurisdictions that was last executed in 1994. <br />The MPO has developed an updated /revised member agency MOU reflecting changes in <br />federal and state legislation and regulations, the MPO's function and structure, and its and its <br />member government responsibilities. In concert with the MOU update /revision process <br />illustrated in Attachment 1, the BOCC first reviewed a draft updated MOU at its September 5, <br />2013 meeting, provided comments on the draft revisions, and submitted these comments to the <br />MPO along with comments generated by other MPO member governments. These comments <br />were reviewed by the MPO's Technical Coordinating Committee (TCC) and governing board, <br />and the MPO subsequently made changes to the draft MOU based on these comments. <br />At its January 23, 2014 meeting, the BOCC reviewed and considered the updated /revised MOU <br />with the changes having been incorporated. However, the BOCC did not approve the MOU and <br />asked that clarifying language regarding what constitutes a quorum of the MPO Board as well <br />as other minor edits be incorporated into the MOU. These comments were echoed by some <br />other member governments and were subsequently incorporated into a new draft of the MOU to <br />be redistributed for adoption by the member local governments. The incorporation of these <br />