Agenda - 04-20-2021; 8-a - Minutes

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6 1 on how to meaningfully engage Orange County citizens so that our county's resources are 2 appropriately used for the good of the community and protected, as necessary. Perhaps some 3 joint training with the Commission for the Environment (CFE) should be considered for the 4 planners and citizens, alike. 5 6 b. Matters on the Printed Agenda 7 (These matters will be considered when the Board addresses that item on the agenda below.) 8 9 3. Announcements, Petitions and Comments by Board Members 10 Commissioner Greene said the Broadband Task Force, which she and Commissioner 11 McKee are co-chairing, has met once and will meet again on March 17, 2021. She said a 12 member of the task force is helping the committee examine grants and other funding sources. 13 She said the task force will meet every two weeks. 14 Commissioner Greene said the transit policy committee, which she and Commissioner 15 Dorosin are co-chairing, has completed Phase 1 of planning, which involves examining the 16 landscape and receiving public engagement. She said the next steps are to examine how much 17 revenue is projected for is Article 43 sales tax, and determining the priorities, in order to present 18 back to the public. She said through 2025, revenue to support extra transit projects is very 19 constrained, under$1 million per year. She said from 2025 to 2035, the tax revenue will 20 increase to $4.8 million annually. She said after 2035, tax revenue will increase to $8 million 21 annually. She said, for perspective, a bus rapid transit system costs between $12 and $80 22 million per mile. She said the policy committee determined that the 2017 plan is good, except 23 that it lacks connectivity to Durham County, due to light rail no longer being an option. She said 24 the policy committee is looking at a bus connector to Durham, or other type of rapid transit 25 connector, depending on the available budget. She said when the draft plan goes back for 26 public comment, the policy committee will consider other ideas for meeting underserved areas 27 of the County; however, revenue for the next several years will continue to be constrained. She 28 said the transit policy committee will meet with the Durham County Board of Commissioners to 29 discuss connection between the counties. 30 Commissioner Greene said she and Commissioner Bedford attended the Family 31 Success Alliance (FSA) meeting, and she chaired the Area Agency on Aging board meeting in 32 the past week. She said both boards discussed how partner organizations are doing. She said 33 one partner, Volunteers for Youth, needs mentors for ages 8-14. She said the goal of 34 Volunteers for Youth is to keep young people out of the teen court program. She said at the 35 Area Agency on Aging meeting, she learned about direct care providers, and that there is a 36 shortage of workers in that field due to low wages. She said 40%of these workers are 37 undocumented. She said the takeaway is that some of our community are doing fine, pandemic 38 or not, but many in the community are just hanging on. She read a quote attributed to several 39 people, "Be kind to everyone, for everyone you meet is facing a great battle." 40 Commissioner McKee thanked Commissioner Greene for the comments for the 41 Broadband Task Force. He said there is interest from state legislators for addressing the 42 broadband needs in the community, and he has hope for moving forward. 43 Commissioner Bedford said she attended the Partnership to End Homelessness 44 meeting, which involves many agencies in the community. She said the committee is doing a 45 significant amount of work on racial equity training. 46 Commissioner Bedford petitioned the Board to consider changing the current 47 appointment structure to the Family Success Alliance and the Affordable Housing Advisory 48 Board. She said the Family Success Alliance has two commissioner liaisons, but there are 49 none to Affordable Housing Advisory Board. Commissioner Bedford asked if the Board would 50 consider moving one liaison position to the Affordable Housing Advisory Board from the Family 51 Success Alliance.