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13 <br /> BACKGROUND: <br /> In the past, as part of the Board of Commissioners' annual planning and goal setting retreats, <br /> the Board requested and reviewed/provided feedback on annual plan summaries from the <br /> County's internal advisory boards and commissions. This information provided the Board with a <br /> yearly overview of the boards and commissions and their projected goals for the upcoming <br /> year. This particular process ended in 2007. The Board decided at its April 13, 2010 meeting <br /> to reinstate this process independent of the Board's annual retreats. <br /> Advisory Boards and Commissions Represented at this meeting: <br /> Board Name Representative(s) Presenting <br /> Chapel Hill Orange County Visitors Bureau Anthony Carey <br /> Economic Development Advisory Commission Anthony Carey <br /> Orange County Planning Board Dave Blankfard <br /> Orange Unified Transportation Board Eric Broo <br /> Anthony Carey discussed the work plan summary for the Chapel Hill Orange County <br /> Visitors Bureau. He said since March 2020 hotel revenue is down 69.9%, and tourism revenue <br /> is down 55%. He said together that is about a $122 million decrease in Orange County, due to <br /> the pandemic. He said CARES Act funds have been used promote businesses as the economy <br /> begins to open back up. He said weddings and small events are beginning to be scheduled. <br /> He said James Taylor will have an interactive exhibit at the new Visitors Center location. <br /> Anthony Carey discussed the work plan summary for the Economic Development <br /> Advisory Commission. He said the corridor around the Buckhorn Area Plan is of great interest <br /> to the Commission. He said the Advisory Commission gave out over$1 million in grants to <br /> small businesses and farmers. He said Steve Brantley, Economic Development Director, is <br /> working on long-term recovery plan and is encouraging non-residential growth. <br /> Commissioner Greene referred to the future plans for 2021. She said one of the items <br /> on which the Commissioners would like to focus is affordable housing partnerships. <br /> Anthony Carey said the Commission knows affordable housing is needed in Orange <br /> County, and economic recovery would need to keep affordable housing in mind. He said <br /> affordable housing is related to economic development. He said residents travel outside of the <br /> county to find employment, and it would be good to find ways to have jobs closer to home. <br /> Commissioner Greene asked if there is an update on a food processing center. <br /> Anthony Carey said there needs to be more focus on processing plants for farmers and <br /> restaurants. He said the pandemic put a pause on some of those developments. <br /> Chair Price encouraged continued relationships between the two boards represented by <br /> Anthony Carey. <br /> Dave Blankfard, Planning Board Chair, gave an update on its work plan. He reviewed <br /> the outputs from the Planning Board, amendments, and development projects. He said the <br /> Planning Board's projects, specifically RTLP and Buc-ee's, generated a lot of discussion. He <br /> said the 2020 census will assist the Planning Board in planning for the future, and will result in <br /> tweaks to the comprehensive plan. He said future initiatives will include streamlining some <br /> processes, but also creating processes that give developers time to analyze requests. <br /> Commissioner Dorosin said the RTLP and Buc-ee's projects generated a lot of bad <br /> feelings in the community and concerns about transparency in the process. He said the <br /> Planning Board is made up of community members, and he would like to consider how the <br /> process can be made better for the residents. He said if policies are in place, whether or not <br />