Minutes 04-04-2017 - Laserfiche WebLink

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2 Commissioner Price said she appreciated staff for following up on her concerns at the DOT luncheon. Commissioner Marcoplos had none. Chair Dorosin said the Board has received some inquiries about the capacity of the April 18th meeting at Southern Human Services Center (SHSC). He said it is important to keep the meeting at that location for several reasons: there have been two public transit meetings at the Whitted building, the SHSC can live stream the meeting, and everyone that signs up to speak will be able to speak. Commissioner Rich followed up with a suggestion that if there are many people wanting to speak at the April 18th meeting, it may be worth considering reducing public comments from three minutes to two minutes per person. Commissioner McKee respectfully objected to limiting the time limit. He said there is an obligation for the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) to hear every comment on a project of this size. Commissioner Price agreed with Commissioner McKee, and suggested when someone finishes speaking that they go into the hallway, allowing those waiting in the hallway to come in to speak. Commissioner Rich said when she served on the Chapel Hill Town Council there was a policy that reduced the public comment time per person when the total number of speakers hit a certain threshold. She said it is important to be fair to the public. Commissioner Jacobs said there was an instance like this in the past concerning the tethering of dogs and the hearing ran two nights, with the public being asked to express their agreement with comments made by other members of the public if they were in line with their own sentiments. He said a limit was set on the total amount of time that would be given to public comment. Commissioner Marcoplos agreed with this approach. He said he does not want to limit the public's chance to speak, but also does not want to hear repeated statements. Commissioner Burroughs said on a board where she previously served, a two-minute time limit was set on nights with large crowds, and it was successful. 4. Proclamations/ Resolutions/ Special Presentations a. 2017 Sunshine Award from North Carolina Open Government Coalition The Board received the 2017 Sunshine Award from North Carolina Open Government Coalition recognizing Orange County for its efforts to achieve the transparency goals of the Board of Commissioners and County administration. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board accept the 2017 Sunshine Award from North Carolina Open Government Coalition and express appreciation to staff who Contributed to the County achieving this recognition. Todd McGee, Community Relations Director, introduced Jonathan Jones, Director, North Carolina Open Government Coalition, Instructor, Elon University School of Communications. Jonathan Jones reviewed the North Carolina Open Government Coalition, noting it was a non-partisan non-profit promoting citizen access to government information. He reviewed the award, and presented it to the Orange County Government for its efforts in keeping citizens informed, particularly through the transparency portal, and the addition to the transparency portal on line of a great deal of financial data.