Agenda 8-a - Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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27 1 Commissioner Marcoplos asked when the BOCC will next be able to make comment on 2 this item. 3 Nishith Trivedi said CAMPO will be adopting this plan on February 24th, and DCHC -MPO 4 on March 14th. He said the date for public comment for DCHC -MPO is March 2 nd 5 Commissioner Marcoplos asked if there will be opportunity for comment thereafter. 6 Nishith Trivedi said this process comes up every 5 years or so. 7 8 RECOMMENDATION(S): 9 The Manager recommends the Board: 10 1. Receive the presentation (Attachment 1); 11 2. Provide any final comments the Board may have on the Connect 2045 MTP. 12 13 b. Broadband Initiatives and Event Timeline 14 The Board received an update on the County's current broadband initiatives and 15 received a timeline of relevant events. 16 Jim Northrup, Chief Information Officer, reviewed the following information and 17 PowerPoint presentation: 18 19 BACKGROUND: 20 Since 2014, Orange County Information Technologies (IT) has been tasked with working 21 toward improving broadband technology for Orange County residents. Many of the tasks below 22 were accomplished through collaboration with residents, business partners, State and local 23 representatives, government agencies, and towns. 24 25 • The largest current initiative currently underway is the $500,000 Broadband Incentive 26 Request for Proposals (RFP) whereby the County is soliciting Internet Service Providers 27 (ISPs) for proposals on how to improve broadband in both unserved and underserved 28 areas in Orange County. This Request for Proposal was released in January of 2018. 29 The intention is to find a vendor that can improve broadband speed and services in the 30 rural areas of the county. 31 • A larger initiative in terms of dollars, but at this time only tangentially related to 32 broadband, is the County's Fiber Project Phase 1. Currently, the County is partnering 33 with the Town of Hillsborough in order to reduce costs for both parties. The County and 34 Town are currently in the process of vendor section after successfully releasing an RFP 35 in November of 2018. Phase 1 is currently funded in Fiscal Year 2017 -18, and Phases 2 36 & 3 are planned in upcoming fiscal years. Once complete, this project will connect 37 County buildings from Cedar Grove to Carrboro and have fiber running east -west along 38 the Highway 70 corridor connecting from the Efland Cheeks Community Center to points 39 close to the Durham County line. The excess dark fiber will be available to other 40 organizations and individuals outside of Orange County Government for both broadband 41 and economic development purposes. 42 • Orange County Chief Information Officer (CIO) Jim Northrup has attended and 43 presented at multiple community meetings. Most recently, Orange County IT presented 44 at the Schley Grange along with Internet Service Providers and State representatives, 45 including NC House Representative Graig Meyer. 46 • Orange County Information Technologies has been acting as a clearinghouse for all 47 resident broadband service issue concerns. Typically, the CIO responds to every 48 Orange County resident email and call personally and tries to facilitate solutions 49 between residents and ISPs while at the same time setting realistic expectations. Often 50 this is simply a matter of connecting residents with the right person in the ISP's