Minutes 01-30-2018 AOG - Laserfiche WebLink

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13 Council Member Stegman said it is good to have a group that is looking at the “why”. She said there have been challenges identified with the proposed model, and she asked if other food councils have been reviewed regarding structure and funding. Ashley Heger said the partnership model was brought to the Council, but she does not personally think it is the best fit. She said most councils in North Carolina are grassroots organizations that have less than $20,000 budgets. She said some are directly connected to Council of Governments, but most councils depend on a fiscal sponsor or a fiscal agent. She said other councils focus on a particular area of the food sector, such as food access. Council Member Buansi said the action plan indicates three open council seats, and asked if these openings are being promoted. Ashley Heger said part of the promotion strategy is to take the liaisons on the Council and send them out to their communities and stakeholder groups to promote the Council. She said social media and the website are also used, as well as public speaking opportunities. She said they just received a micro grant to do listening sessions, which will be facilitated by the Jackson Center in Chapel Hill, and will connect directly to work around mapping and tracking racial equity in the food system. Commissioner Jacobs said the list of relevant stakeholders does not include any consumers. He said it is not hard to set up a 501(c)(3), and he urged the Food Council to look at this option again. His said his concern is there are organizations in Orange County that were left out of the Council’s matrix, and some of this reads like running in parallel to what already exists, rather than incorporating. Ashley Heger said the Council thoroughly reviewed the options of being within a fiscal sponsor, creating a 501(c)(3), and the County’s proposal. She said the Council operates by consensus, and chose to pursue the County’s proposal. Alderman Slade said he hoped that all of the boards could see the viability of this Food Council. 3. Manufactured Home Parks Sherrill Hampton, Orange County Housing Director, and Craig Benedict reviewed the following information and PowerPoint presentation: BACKGROUND: For many years the Orange County Board of County Commissioners had a keen interest in addressing the vulnerability of residents living in mobile home parks and thus allocated funding to address land banking for mobile home parks and/or to assist in the acquisition of property for future residential development as an affordable housing alternative. Following this action by the BOCC, local housing partners, County staff and other interested constituents began to discuss and evaluate the opportunities and obstacles associated with re-developing an existing mobile home park or developing new affordable housing to address the needs of mobile home park residents at risk. Thus the Affordable Housing Land Banking/Mobile Home Park Work Group was formed. The presentation will provide an update on the work of the Affordable Housing Land Banking/Mobile Home Park Work Group and the recommendations that were approved by the Orange County Board of County Commissioners on November 20, 2017 in regard to mobile home parks in the County, and proposed strategies for mitigating resident displacement and relocation challenges due to re-development efforts. Staff will provide any other information at the meeting, and the governing boards can discuss issues and provide feedback to staff related to this item as necessary.