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30 <br /> 1 Roll call ensued <br /> 2 <br /> 3 VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br /> 4 <br /> 5 c. Appointments to the Orange County Broadband Task Force <br /> 6 <br /> 7 The Board considered: <br /> 8 1) appointing two Commissioners to the Task Force; <br /> 9 2) making five At Large appointments to the Orange County Broadband Task Force from the <br /> 10 applications received, and appoint representatives from the Orange County Manager's <br /> 11 Office, Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools, Orange County Schools, the NC Department of <br /> 12 Information Technology, and Durham Technical Community College; and <br /> 13 3) providing direction to staff that the County Manager's Designee, in conjunction with a <br /> 14 Facilitator, convene the first Task Force meeting no later than March 15, 2021, and that <br /> 15 the Task Force select a Chair at that meeting. <br /> 16 <br /> 17 BACKGROUND: <br /> 18 At the September 1, 2020 Board of Orange County Commissioners business meeting, a petition <br /> 19 was submitted by Commissioner Earl McKee to create an Orange County Broadband Task <br /> 20 Force. Stakeholders would include the County Manager, Information Technology Department <br /> 21 Director, a representative from the North Carolina Department of Information Technology <br /> 22 (NCDIT), Orange County Schools Superintendent, Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools <br /> 23 Superintendent and Community members living in the unincorporated areas of Orange County <br /> 24 who are underserved, including those with an interest in resolving the digital divide in Orange <br /> 25 County. <br /> 26 <br /> 27 The Board subsequently discussed the proposal further at its November 17, 2020 Business <br /> 28 meeting, including the composition as noted in the table below and the following charge: <br /> 29 <br /> 30 The Task Force charge will include but not necessarily be limited to: <br /> 31 1. Discuss broadband solutions that will improve the quality of high speed internet services <br /> 32 to Orange County residents; <br /> 33 2. Recommend a plan to the Board of Orange County Commissioners that will expand <br /> 34 reliable high-speed internet services to all county residents and businesses. <br /> 35 <br /> 36 The Board voted "to approve the charge and composition (12 total positions) of the Orange <br /> 37 County Broadband Taskforce and authorize the Clerk to the Board to advertise for residents to <br /> 38 apply for the Task Force." <br /> 39 <br /> 40 <br /> Special Representation Appointee <br /> County Manager (Designee) Travis Myren, Deputy County Manager <br /> Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools Doug Noell, Director of IT Operations <br /> Superintendent (Designee) <br />