Agenda 8-a - Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

5 1 reasonable and unflappable, and Commissioner Jacobs brings so much knowledge on many 2 issues. He wished good luck to them both. 3 Chair Dorosin echoed everyone's comments, and said Commissioner Burroughs had 4 grown as a commissioner in the last 4 years. He said he appreciated the grace, openness and 5 thoughtfulness that she brought to the position. 6 Chair Dorosin said Commissioner Jacobs was a mentor to him, and he learned a lot 7 about being the Chair from watching him. He said his historical knowledge will certainly be 8 missed, and will present some challenges while also signifying real change. He said he 9 appreciated Commissioner Jacobs' candor, and his giving of praise and encouragement, as 10 well as critique and constructive criticism. 11 Chair Dorosin introduced Senator Foushee and Representative Graig Meyer and asked 12 them to come to the podium for a special presentation. 13 Representative Graig Meyer thanked Commissioner Burroughs for her service, and said 14 he is here tonight with a special recognition for Commissioner Jacobs for his service, not only to 15 the County, but to people of the State of North Carolina. He reviewed the following highlights of 16 Commissioner Jacobs' years of service: 17 18 In 1985, Barry Jacobs applied to and was granted a seat on the Orange County Planning 19 Board, the beginning of his public service journey. Within six months of appointment he was 20 elected Chair of the Board. Barry Jacobs served on the team that created the Orange County- 21 Chapel Hill-Carrboro Joint Planning agreement, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 22 October. In 1995 he was appointed as Orange County Representative to the Board of Directors 23 of OWASA, where he served for five years. 24 25 He was elected to the BOCC in 1998. As commissioner, Jacobs worked to create the Orange 26 County Lands Legacy Program, which provides for the acquisition and protection of highly 27 important natural and cultural resource lands. In the past 20 years, the county's natural areas 28 and farmland protection programs have leveraged $5 million in state and federal grants and 29 protected more than 3,000 acres of land. 30 31 Commissioner Jacobs has ensured Orange County pays a living wage to all county employees, 32 and has continually supported funding for the Orange County and Chapel Hill- Carrboro City 33 Schools, taking pride in making sure every single school has a full time nurse. 34 He also supported the commercial redevelopment plan for the Fairview community in 35 Hillsborough, including the redevelopment of the Fairview Community Park. 36 37 Commissioner Jacobs has been a champion of historic preservation, becoming the site 38 supervisor of the Historic Moorefields Estate in 1978. He created a nonprofit, Friend of 39 Moorefield, to assume responsibility of the property. He has advocated for additional historic 40 sites within the state through nominating all of them for the National Register of Historic Places. 41 These sites included the Greensboro Train Station, the Edenton Peanut Factory, the Durham 42 Hosiery Mill, and the Glencoe Mill Village Historic District. 43 44 Representative Meyer said we would be remiss if we did not thank Commissioner 45 Jacobs for his service to all of us, for his role as a freelance writer, authoring five books, 46 hundreds of articles on sports history and the environment for newspapers, magazines, and the 47 internet, writing multiple copies of fans guides to ACC basketball and continuing through today 48 as a weekly sports columnist for the Raleigh `News and Observer,' fostering one of our many 49 favorite things about North Carolina: basketball rivalry.