Minutes 11-07-2019 Regular Meeting

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3 Commissioner Marcoplos said a list of roster spots was sent out to the agencies and governments across the County, who, in turn, made the appointments. He said there was some diversity at the first meeting, and all entities are very concerned with diversity, and the word has been put out there. Chair Rich asked if Commissioner Bedford received the draft minutes from the last meeting, and if Sherri Ingersoll could send them to Commissioner Bedford. Commissioner Bedford said Governor Cooper gave an Executive Order in April banning questions by state agencies on pay history. She petitioned to review Orange County’s HR practices and policy on this matter, and consider changes if those types of questions are being asked. Commissioner Bedford said she attended the recent Cardinal Innovations (CI) Board meeting, and they are reorganizing as a five county Central Region Health Council, and there will be a local Orange County community council. She said one must apply by November 24 for a seat, if interested. She requested that the County administration promote this need, and possibly ask CI to extend the deadline for the local Orange County advisory council application process, to encourage better participation. Commissioner McKee said he would like to echo the comments to those who ran, and congratulate those who won the election. Commissioner Marcoplos said the commuter rail project study is to be completed by the end of the year, and in January the committee expects to have some questions answered, and the study will be able to shed some light on which configurations look best. He said the Hillsborough extension might be in the first phase to go to Mebane, or possibly towards Johnston County. He said he is on the GoTriangle negotiating committee with the NC railroad, and one of its goals is to get early commitments on the division of responsibilities, and the timetable for agreements. Commissioner Marcoplos said he went to the Regional Transportation Alliance (RTA) event on bus rapid transit. He said several groups discussed the challenges of this in various regions, and shared information, which is available on the RTA website. He said RTA has a map that shows bus transit across the State, and one of the maps was for NC 54. He said the Board will need to look ahead to the primaries, and see how transit can be extended to get voters to the polls. Commissioner Marcoplos said he also attended the recent Solid Waste Advisory Group (SWAG) meeting, where they discussed organic recycling options and a possible textile-recycling program. Commissioner Price thanked all who put together the Farm to School tour. She said it was a great opportunity to allow children to understand agriculture and the environment. She said she also attended a tour of the Chapel Hill High School renovations, which was very exciting. She reminded everyone of the upcoming Veterans Day programs, including the Saturday grappling tournament, and Monday’s Veterans memorial program with David Price. Commissioner Price congratulated all who ran and won elections. She said she spoke with the Board of Elections, who will have a meeting on 12/5 to decide on the hours for weekend voting for the 2020 primaries. Commissioner Dorosin said he would like to follow up on his petition about universal pre-K. He said the Board’s colleagues in Durham are moving ahead with this program, and Orange County can learn a lot about this from them. He said Durham is investing in training, certifications, technical assistance, and funding with their program, and are considering it an economic development program for minority-owned businesses. Chair Rich said this topic was discussed at Agenda Review, and the plan is to discuss this with Durham. Commissioner Greene said she also enjoyed the tour of the Chapel Hill High School construction, and the garden tour, and thanked the Orange County Food Council for putting