Agenda - 12-15-2020; 4-a - Presentation of The Order of the Long Leaf Pine Award to Former Orange County Commissioner Dr. Alice M. Gordon

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4 • Created the Commission for the Environment, established in 1997, to advise the Orange County Commissioners on environmental matters. • Created, in 1998, the Environment and Resource Conservation Department (now Department of Environment, Agriculture, Parks and Recreation). • Created, in 1998, Orange County's innovative and national award-winning Lands Legacy Program (Comprehensive Resource Conservation Program). Since the year 2000, this program has preserved over 3000 acres of the county's most critical and high-priority natural and cultural resources before they could be damaged or destroyed. Having this program for critical resource protection already in place and functioning is an increasingly important asset in this era of global climate change. • In 2007 the Lands Legacy Program won the "Excellence in County Planning Award" from the National Association of County Planners. • To recognize her contributions, the Orange County Commission for the Environment dedicated two of their six State of the Environment Reports, in 2004 and again in 2014, to Commissioner Alice Gordon. The"State of the Environment 2004" dedication read in part: "In 1998, she proposed the creation of the Environment and Resource Conservation Department and the Comprehensive Resource Conservation Program now known as the Lands Legacy Program." The dedication also noted that the Commissioners had established the department and authorized the Lands Legacy Program. • Alice was a featured environmental leader in the 2008 book, Saving Magic Places, by Emily Eve Weinstein. B. EXCELLENT SCHOOLS - To champion excellent public schools, Alice worked both to build new schools when needed and to renovate older schools. • Chaired the county-wide group of elected officials that crafted the "Schools Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance" (SAPFO) to plan ahead for future school facility needs. Adopted in 2003, SAPFO ensures that there is a plan to build new schools when they are needed, thereby preventing overcrowding. • For many years promoted renovations and other improvements to all of the older schools in both of Orange County's school systems, and supported a systematic program of "substantial equivalence" to fund these improvements as soon as financially feasible. As part of that effort, she was a dedicated advocate for the addition of a science building to Culbreth Middle School in Chapel Hill. Her vision was that this building would be the first in a comprehensive program for the renovation and maintenance of all of the older schools in the county. • The Culbreth Middle School science building, completed in 2014, was named the "Alice Gordon Science Building" in her honor by the Chapel Hill - Carrboro City Schools Board of Education because of"Dr. Gordon's commitment to the success of all students." • Alice was honored as a "Town Treasure" by the Chapel Hill Historical Society in 2012 for her contributions to the Towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro over the years. The society recognized her contributions in the areas of public education, environmental protection, and regional transportation.