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20 <br /> Mr. Stevens asked for clarification on what the Work Group means by collaboration in a larger <br /> sense. What is specific beyond working together? We're partners and will have joint ownership <br /> of some things, but not everything should be collaborative. At times we need to cooperate, <br /> communicate or coordinate but doesn't mean we're taking joint ownership of everything we <br /> do. Collaboration always takes a lot of effort, gets more people involved and there's a cost for <br /> doing that. We should collaborate when 2+2=42. If 2+2=4, don't necessarily need to collaborate. <br /> As the town and county work together, he continued, we need to practice discernment about <br /> the level of collaboration with partnership. Ms. Price agreed, adding some projects require just <br /> checking in with each other. <br /> Ms. Hammersly elaborated the model being used for the Work Group is similar to the one used <br /> with school collaboration, as Ms. Rich described earlier. One of the important reasons the <br /> county and the schools have those meetings is to identify what we collaborate on and what we <br /> don't. There might be barriers to certain issues or maybe the schools don't need the county's <br /> help on something and that is fine. <br /> Mr. Stevens continued with recognition for the constraints the town and the county are under. <br /> Ms. Hammersley added if we can't collaborate, it's not a bad thing. Mr. Stevens said sometimes <br /> he thinks the town isn't appreciated for how small the bandwidth is and the county isn't <br /> appreciated for the possibility of precedence if one town does something the others might too. <br /> Ms. Hauth reminded the group about the importance of doing a good job in carrying the <br /> messages back to everyone else who isn't in the Work Group meetings. She reflected everyone <br /> in the Work Group will hear things straight from the person we wanted to hear them from and <br /> it will be up to us to translate what is said so everyone hears it with the same authority and <br /> certainty with which it was intended. <br /> Ms. Rich shared in the Carrboro Work Group meeting one member was specific in identifying <br /> when he was sharing his personal opinion versus the opinion of the board. In sharing his <br /> personal opinions, it didn't mean he wasn't going to bring the conversations back to the board. <br /> Ms. Hauth added it's important to let the Work Group know which of our multiple roles we are <br /> speaking from at a given time. <br /> Ms. Chotas asked if there was anything specific to be added to ensure communication is carried <br /> back to board and staff members who aren't present—beyond what has already been <br /> described in terms of adding verbatim notes to the public docket. Ms. Hauth responded we will <br /> have to see what comes up in the meeting. Ms. Chotas emphasized the pilot nature of the <br /> meetings and the desire to extract lessons learned along the way and make changes as needed <br /> to ensure action steps and an effective process. <br /> Prioritizing topics for discussion <br /> Work Group members identified the following topics prior to the meeting: <br /> 1. Valley Forge Road <br /> - Bridge and road repairs <br /> Hillsborough Work Group, October 2019, Page 3 <br />