Agenda - 02-19-2019 8-a - Minutes

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4 1 Commissioner McKee asked if Bonnie Hammersley would contact Davenport to get a 2 report, prior to the February 191" meeting, regarding the additional cost incurred with the 3 changes to light rail (LRT) and exactly what "backstopping" means for Orange County's 4 finances and credit rating. 5 Commissioner McKee petitioned Bonnie Hammersley to contact the Chapel Hill 6 Manager prior to February 191" to ask Town staff to provide a report on Chapel Hill transit's 7 current and future met and unmet needs. 8 Commissioner McKee said the Board of County Commissioners put out a statement 9 about a year ago about not committing any more funds to light rail, and he petitioned that the 10 Board re-commit to that statement. 11 Commissioner Price said the Ag Summit is on Monday, February 111n 12 Commissioner Price said that she and others attended a Stepping UP Initiative 13 stakeholders' group in Buncombe County. She said she noticed the resources dedicated to 14 diversionary programming, and the comprehensive and cohesive approach that Buncombe 15 County takes. She said the group visited family justice center and the detention center, and it 16 was concluded that prosecution and incarceration cannot solve or remedy any of the pressing 17 social issues. 18 Commissioner Marcoplos petitioned the Planning Department to do a planning 19 assessment of the detached section of the rural buffer in the southeast corner of the County: 20 east of Old Lystra Road, on the edge of the Chapel Hill transition area. He said discussions 21 about the future of this area are inevitable, and it would be helpful for the Board to know the 22 implications of the land use in that area. 23 Commissioner Marcoplos respectfully added on to Commissioner McKee comments 24 about LRT, and said it would be money not well spent to pay Davenport to do any economic 25 analysis on the light rail, since the Federal Transportation Authority (FTA) has not returned a 26 report on the risk assessment. He said there are a lot of unknowns at this point, and it would 27 be fruitless to do such an analysis. 28 Commissioner Dorosin suggested that the County look into creating some Orange 29 County swag. 30 Commissioner Dorosin said the General Assembly is back in session and there have 31 already been several bills introduced that reflect priority items of the BOCC: expanding 32 Medicaid; repealing the confederate monument protections; raising minimum wage to $15/hour; 33 red flag laws regarding gun violence. 34 Commissioner Bedford said she attended the Legislative Breakfast on Mental Health, 35 and it is the time to be loud about the need for the expansion of Medicaid. 36 Commissioner Bedford said that she would like to engage Davenport, and have them on 37 standby, as Davenport will need to time to be prepared should the County need them. She 38 said she would like Davenport to analyze the proposed LRT cost sharing agreement that will be 39 coming to the Board, as assumptions have changed and the Board needs factual information. 40 Commissioner Bedford said the Board needs to understand the numbers, and 41 Davenport may just want to be ready. She said the Board needs a comparison — like a truth in 42 lending. 43 She said she is very concerned about the interest rates, and the Board needs an analysis from 44 an independent source so the Board knows exactly to what it is committed. 45 Chair Rich said Happy Chinese New Year, noting it is the year of the pig. 46 Chair Rich referred to the rural buffer discussion that happened at the Chapel Hill 47 Council meeting, and agreed that it would be good for the BOCC to get some information about 48 that southeastern corner of the County. She said would also like a bit more history on why this 49 portion of the County is in the rural buffer and information on the sensitive stream buffers and 50 watersheds. She said she heard that the ETJ stays the way it is as it is the open space for