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. ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION. AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: January 29, 2001 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. <br />SUBJECT: Sign Translation Project -Board of County Commissioners' Goal <br />DEPARTMENT: County Commissioners PUBLIC HEARING: (YIN) No <br />ATTACHMENT(S): <br />Breakdowri of Estimated Sign Costs <br />Listing of department signs INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />N.C. Selected Hispanic/Latino Facts Beverly Blythe <br />1990 US Census Data for Orange County Wayne Fenton, Kimberly Cannon <br />1998 US Census General Profile for Orange TELEPHONE NUMBERS: <br />County <br />Draft example of `Safety Sign' Hillsborough 732-8181 <br />Chapel Hill 968-4501 <br />Durham 688-7331 <br />Mebane 336-227-2031 <br />PURPOSE: To clarify the scope of the 1999-2000 Board of County Commissioners-approved <br />goal to: "Translate signs into Spanish especially at key government buildings." <br />BACKGROUND: The BOCC adopted the goal to, "Translate signs into Spanish especially at <br />key government buildings," on June 21, 1999. This goal was formulated in response to the <br />needs of the growing Hispanic/Latino population in Orange County. A subcommittee of the <br />Orange County Risk Management team has been compiling information on the project since <br />June 2000. The committee asks the BOCC to evaluate this information and recommend a <br />course of action. <br />The committee found that current signage is inadequate in many cases for both English and <br />Spanish speakers using County services. Some signs do not meet ADA standards; other- <br />buildings have acquired a wide variety of sign styles over many years. Citizens may have a <br />hard time finding their way around some buildings. <br />In July of 1999, the United States Census Bureau estimated the total Hispanic population of <br />Orange County to be 3,266 (2.9% of the total population of Orange County). This represents a <br />156.2% increase over the 1990 count of 1,275. The overall population of Orange County <br />increased an estimated 19.1 % during the same time span. Other population-related statistics <br />are presented in Attachments 3, 4, and 5. <br />An informal poll of Department Heads with heavy public contact yielded an estimate of about <br />100 visits by Spanish-speaking people per month to Orange County buildings.