Minutes 01-29-2019 Assembly of Governments

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19 and a staff person from each entity. She said there is a benefit to collaborating nationally, and referenced the monthly climate mayors' phone call that sites best practices and new ideas. She said the Town facilities represent a small percentage of the community, and it is vital to get residents involved in making change. She said UNC is doing some amazing things, and would be a good partner to have at the table, as well as the K-12 schools. Commissioner Marcoplos asked if there is a way to set this group up. Mayor Hemminger said each entity can appoint somebody. Commissioner Marcoplos asked if this group can be created within a month. Mayor Hemminger said Mayors can make a recommendation, and Councils can discuss/approve at next meeting. She said she is happy to share all information that she learns from the climate mayors' phone call. Chair Rich said she would like for the members of the ad hoc group to continue on, and suggested inviting someone from Mebane to join as well. Mayor Lavelle spoke for Commissioner Price who had lost her voice: she said citizen input should be a part of this committee. Chair Rich said there were over 100 people at an event on Sunday, and the conversation was amazing. She said this input will not be ignored. 5. Water and Sewer Management, Planning and Boundary Agreement (WASMPBA) — Discussion Regarding Potential Line Change for Two Properties on Millhouse Road DEFERRED 6. Census Update Mayor Hemminger said she is on the state census committee, and the federal government is not going to be funding as much as it did in the past and the Governor stepped in and said he wants to make sure that North Carolina counts, as direct dollars are given out depending on how many people are counted. She said not as many enumerators will be hired to go out and follow up with people who fail to return the census form, and the governor has asked local entities to come up with a plan to bring people to complete the census online. She said the entire census will be done online on one day only: April 1st, 2020. She said libraries and senior centers are great partners. She said if people mail in forms that is wonderful, but there will be no census staff following up on paper forms. She said plans need to be created to communicate all this information, as well as ways to make access to online forms and people to help on site. Mayor Hemminger said a staff committee is needed to make sure that all people are counted. She said data will be provided on areas that typically underreport, but there needs to be a strategy to make use of this data. She said volunteer enumerators are one possibility, but would be labor intensive. She is particularly concerned about rural residents without electronic access, as well as the entire online system crashing on April 1. She said the local and state populations have changed drastically in the last 10 years, and it is vital to get all the state and federal dollars that are available. She said these numbers are used for so many things, and accuracy is paramount. Commissioner Dorosin said the County had a committee in 2000 that was more of an public education campaign, which the County funded, and there were a lot of volunteers. He asked if it was possible to have enumerators to follow up. Mayor Hemminger said the Governor is trying to figure out the best strategies, and there is a census committee for the State. She said the online component is an unknown. She said initially paper forms were not even going to be sent, but now they are. Commissioner Dorosin asked if enumerators can be hired at the County level to follow up.