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19 <br /> Chair Dorosin said Golden LEAF is designed to provide grants for the more distressed <br /> counties, and Orange County is a Tier 3 county. <br /> Steve Brantley said Golden LEAF liked the County's EDDs near to the interstates, and <br /> neighboring Alamance County is a Tier 2 County, and Caswell County is a Tier 1 County, to <br /> the north of Orange County. He said the labor draw, within one hour, to the EDDs is also <br /> considered and valued. He said the Piedmont Food & Agricultural Processing Center (PFAF) <br /> project left a favorable impression, and it does not cost the County anything to make a bid on <br /> one to three events. <br /> Commissioner McKee said it is important to pick projects that are shovel ready and <br /> laser focused. He said these are agriculture monies, and Orange County use to be a major <br /> player in tobacco. He prioritized the projects as follows: <br /> - Piedmont Food & Agricultural Processing Center - $280,000. He said he would rank <br /> this project as a number one priority. <br /> - Hillsborough EDD- $400,000. He said it is critical to move this forward. <br /> - Buckhorn EDD — he said he thinks it is critical to push this forward as fast as possible, <br /> and infrastructure in this area is vital. <br /> - Eno EDD — he said it is unclear what is needed and wanted here, and this is not ready <br /> to proceed. <br /> - Town of Carrboro- Light Industry/Flex Park- he said the BOCC received a <br /> presentation last fall on this item, and has heard little since. He said there needs to <br /> be more of a public conversation on this item. <br /> Commissioner Jacobs agreed with Commissioner McKee's prioritizations, and he is <br /> disappointed in the Carrboro project, finding the way that it has come forward to be <br /> disrespectful. He said there has never been a public hearing on this project, which is <br /> disrespectful to the public. He said the lack of a collaborative process is not good, and it has <br /> been a year since the joint entities discussed this and asked questions, with no response from <br /> Carrboro on anything. He reviewed minutes from the October 16th 2016 joint meeting with <br /> Carrboro, and said the Town has completely failed to respond to any of the BOCC's concerns <br /> and questions. <br /> Commissioner Jacobs said the Town of Carrboro blew off Orange County, and he will <br /> never support this project until the BOCC receives responses to their questions, and the public <br /> is informed. He said he is disappointed that this project was even allowed to be included in <br /> these proposals. He said the BOCC represents the residents in this area, not Carrboro. <br /> Commissioner Burroughs said she is torn with the Carrboro project, and one of her <br /> concerns is that she is not sure this is a viable application since you have to have funds in <br /> hand as a match, and the USDA funding decision may not come forward until December. <br /> Bonnie Hammersley said she brought this project forward as a courtesy to the Town of <br /> Carrboro and for her to have stopped it at her desk would not have been the right thing to do, <br /> and thus it was brought forward to the Board of County Commissioners. <br /> Commissioner Marcoplos said he agreed with Commissioner McKee's assessment, and <br /> the Buckhorn EDD is a promising place to provide jobs, and should be looked as often as <br /> possible. He said this is the first time he was involved in this process, but he did hear the <br /> proposal from Carrboro last year, which could be a good project; but the community has not <br /> been involved like it should be. He said the BOCC has a responsibility to the residents in that <br /> area. He said he hopes the details will be pursued, but the project does not seem ready at this <br /> time. <br />