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10 DRAFT 57 58 INTRODUCTION TO THE PUBLIC CHARGE 59 The Board of County Commissioners, under the authority of North Carolina General Statute, appoints 60 the Orange County Planning Board (OCPB) to uphold the written land development law of the County. 61 The general purpose of OCPB is to guide and accomplish coordinated and harmonious development. 62 OCPB shall do so in a manner, which considers the present and future needs of its citizens and 63 businesses through efficient and responsive process that contributes to and promotes the health, safety, 64 and welfare of the overall County. The OCPB will make every effort to uphold a vision of responsive 65 governance and quality public services during our deliberations, decisions, and recommendations. 66 67 PUBLIC CHARGE 68 The Planning Board pledges to the citizens of Orange County its respect. The Board asks its citizens to 69 conduct themselves in a respectful, courteous manner, both with the Board and with fellow citizens. At 70 any time, should any member of the Board or any citizen fail to observe this public charge, the Chair will 71 ask the offending member to leave the meeting until that individual regains personal control. Should 72 decorum fail to be restored, the Chair will recess the meeting until such time that a genuine commitment 73 to this public charge is observed. 74 75 76 AGENDA ITEM 6: CHAIR COMMENTS 77 78 There were none 79 80 Craig Benedict gave an update on when the Planning Board might expect to resume in-person meeting once the County 81 starts making decisions and developing protocols, which should start in August 2021. 82 83 Alexandra Allman:Will there be an optional virtual and in-person hybrid choice? 84 85 Craig Benedict: We are working with the County Attorney. It doesn't currently look like a hybrid version is allowed. 86 87 Perdita Holtz: Prior to the pandemic, no virtual or calling in by phone was allowed. That is because state law did not allow 88 for it. The reason local governments were able to start meeting virtually because of Covid was because legislation was 89 passed by the General Assembly to allow for virtual meetings. The way it was passed was that only during a Governor or 90 General Assembly declared state of emergency could virtual meeting occur. Once that state of emergency goes away we 91 may not be able to meet virtually unless that law is changed. The state governs local government. 92 93 Whitney Watson: On a social media post, I saw an RFP for evaluation of the Planning Department. What is the 94 background and will it impact the Planning Advisory Board. 95 96 Craig Benedict: The rules of the Planning Board are related to state law and to policies that the County Commissioners 97 adopt that are wrapping into the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO). I do not think there will be much effect of how the 98 Planning Board operates. The program evaluation that will be conducted in the department is done on a regular basis 99 among various departments to analyze the function within the department and the interaction of the department with other 100 departments. We have a central permitting division that interacts with the Fire Marshall, Environmental Health, Building 101 Inspections and the Planning Division so this program evaluation will take a look at some of these functions between 102 departments and find out if they are following a path that is up to date or could be modified for some efficiencies. After the 103 consultant is chosen,they will come up with a list of questions and if they involve the Planning Board Chair/Vice-Chair or 104 questioning the Board members in general,we will let you know. 105 106 107 AGENDA ITEM 7: ADJOURNMENT 108 Meeting was adjourned by consensus at 7:20 p.m. 109 110 111 David Blankfard, Chair