Agenda - 09-04-2014 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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13 1 Commissioner Rich said one of the problems they had in Chapel Hill when promoting 2 programs in the past was an inability to get to the people that really needed it because of the 3 affordability of some of the fixes. She said it is important to consider that lower income families 4 might need some funding. 5 Chair Jacobs said when there was stimulus money, there was funding to do what 6 Commissioner Rich is suggesting. He said there may be entities established to bring together 7 funding for energy rehab for low income families, and he suggested this might be an avenue to 8 follow. 9 He said Economic Development needs to be a part of this process. He imagines there 10 are non-profit foundations that would give grant money to incentivize businesses to be greener. 11 He said if the County has to make an investment in this, it would have a return for the 12 community. 13 David Neal said a proposal was put together about two years ago to have Counties put 14 together a rebate system to encourage residential and commercial buildings to be built more 15 efficiently. He said there are only a couple of counties that have taken advantage of this. He 16 said this is another way to incentivize on the efficiency side through the rebate of permitting 17 fees. He said there was another idea for how to incentivize the use of solar. He said the 18 Green Plus Program that came out of Chapel Hill would be another potential partner. 19 Commissioner Pelissier emphasized the need for collaboration with other partners in the 20 community. She said there are so many groups that are doing things and putting on 21 presentations. She said she would welcome any suggestions the group may have for the 22 Board of County Commissioners and for future legislative goals. 23 Chair Jacobs asked what is needed from the Board at this point. 24 David Neal said the group would like the blessing of the Board and any encouragement 25 the Board can offer other volunteer boards to encourage partnership and engagement in this 26 effort. 27 Commissioner Price asked if work is still being done with the planning department. 28 David Neal said he realizes that the planning board has a full work load and he does not 29 want to overburden them, but there is a need for some way to communicate policy 30 recommendations and suggestions. 31 Chair Jacobs said this could come in a budget recommendation from Dave Stancil's 32 department. He said the next way to move forward would be through the budget process and 33 either a budget public hearing or staff's request to the manager. 34 Commissioner Gordon asked for clarification on what kind of encouragement is needed. 35 Dave Stancil said he was looking to see if the Board sees this as an area of value that is 36 worthy of exploration. 37 Chair Jacobs said yes, and the Board agreed. He said there is a sense of direction to 38 work with the advisory board and then move forward with other departments or come back to 39 the Commissioners. 40 Dave Stancil said there is enough direction to run with this. 41 David Neal said he thinks a pilot run is needed to get a better sense of limitations and 42 capacity. 43 Commissioner McKee likes the idea of a pilot run. 44 45 2. Environmental Responsibility in County Government/ Energy Scorecard: 46 Dave Stancil said this is the annual update on Environmental responsibility. Dave Stancil 47 reviewed the following PowerPoint slides: 48 49 Environmental Responsibility in Orange County Government 50 Purpose: