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11 <br /> 1 Bill Kaiser said the Commission prepares news articles on environmental issues for <br /> 2 publication in papers. He said he would like to get more information on water resources in <br /> 3 Orange County, and to look for funding resources. He said he is interested in invasive plants, <br /> 4 which are insidious. <br /> 5 Commissioner McKee noted the severity of the hydrilla in the Eno River, and <br /> 6 encouraged the Commission to monitor this closely. <br /> 7 Bill Kaiser said the Commission is being kept aware of this. <br /> 8 <br /> 9 • Economic Development Advisory Board: Jim Kitchen, Chair and Steve Brantley <br /> 10 Jim Kitchen thanked the BOCC for appointing three new board members last week. He <br /> 11 reviewed the following highlights: <br /> 12 o Small Business Grant Program has awarded 72 grants to date, and 245 jobs <br /> 13 have been created or retained from these grants. The grants have primarily <br /> 14 funded existing Orange County businesses in need of capital to expand <br /> 15 operations. On occasion grants have been given to LAUNCH. <br /> 16 o More fund requests submitted than grant funding available. To spread funds <br /> 17 around, the average grant for the last two quarters has been around $2500. <br /> 18 o Grant program funded at $100,000 per year, or $25,000 per quarter. Request <br /> 19 made for BOCC to allocate additional funds to this program. <br /> 20 o Orange County Farm Grant Program awarded 30 grants, with 83 jobs created or <br /> 21 retained. Also more grants requested than funds available. <br /> 22 o Working on a SWOT analysis to take a macro and micro look at the Economic <br /> 23 Development Districts (EDDs). This analysis is important because there is a <br /> 24 need to diversify the current tax place and make economic development a <br /> 25 priority. <br /> 26 <br /> 27 Commissioner Marcoplos said there used to be a state of the economy annual <br /> 28 breakfast, which the Chamber of Commerce eventually took on. He asked if this event could <br /> 29 be reclaimed by Orange County. <br /> 30 Jim Kitchen said they will research this. <br /> 31 Commissioner Price asked if there has been any discussion to expand the digital <br /> 32 infrastructure. <br /> 33 Steve Brantley, Economic Development Director, said there are regions within the <br /> 34 EDDS and the associated areas in Efland that are being reviewed. He said there is some <br /> 35 amount of existing fiber and IT infrastructure in these areas. He said the Planning and IT <br /> 36 departments are working on this, and he remains in contact with them. He said expansion is <br /> 37 being encouraged in the rural areas. <br /> 38 Commissioner Price said she wondered if the lack of access in the rural areas was a <br /> 39 hindrance to business growth. <br /> 40 Commissioner Jacobs supported Commissioner Marcoplos' suggestion about the state <br /> 41 of the economy breakfast coming back to Orange County. <br /> 42 Steve Brantley said this will be discussed by the board and staff. <br /> 43 <br /> 44 • Historic Preservation Commission: Chair Todd Dickinson and Peter Sandbeck, <br /> 45 Staff <br /> 46 Todd Dickinson said in 2016 the Commission completed their final inventory of historical <br /> 47 structures in Orange County. He said the Commission is partnering with Hillsborough to create <br /> 48 a book of Orange County's significant historic resources. He said the Commission is slowly <br /> 49 taking more responsibility for those historical resources that have fallen through the cracks. He <br />