Minutes 09-02-2021 Virtual Business Meeting

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3 b. Matters on the Printed Agenda (These matters will be considered when the Board addresses that item on the agenda below.) 3. Announcements, Petitions and Comments by Board Members Commissioner Hamilton said she is glad to be back and encouraged residents to take COVID-19 seriously and follow guidelines of the health directives. She said hospitals are filling up with COVID patients, which affects others seeking health care. Commissioner Fowler said she attended the Triangle Area Rural Planning Organization (TARPO) meeting on August 12, and the NCDOT is planning to suspend the prioritization 6.0 process, due to over programming, and will move onto the 2024-2033 plan. She said the US Congress infrastructure bill may provide benefits in terms of roads, bridges, public transit, etc. She said there is a surplus in fund balance, due to lack of travel, in the amount of$30,000 in local funds. She said there was a request to put $34,000 towards a plotter, which was approved. She said she attended a behavioral health task force meeting on August 19, and the Crisis Diversion Subcommittee reported it is entering phase 2 of planning facility design work. She said they also heard from Alliance about its realignment from Cardinal, and there is a timeline they are following to get providers onboard. She said they heard a presentation from UNC School of Public Health on the burden of excess alcohol use in Orange County, which is one of the few studies at a county level in the entire nation. She said this issue costs Orange County $11.8 million per year in lost productivity, health care, criminal justice, etc. Commissioner Greene welcomed back her colleagues. She said the Broadband Taskforce is on the cusp of putting out an RFP to get potential partners in the mission to get broadband to rural Orange County. Chair Price said Commissioner Greene received an Outstanding County Commissioner Award. Commissioner Bedford said she attended the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization (DCHCMPO) meeting, and there are plans for 2050 to be done with more analysis and scenarios to include bike/ped projects and what that would look like. She said she attended the school collaboration meeting this week, and the joint meeting with the Board and the schools will be September 23. She encouraged the Commissioners to send any agenda items to Chair Price. She said Orange County has been approved to move to Alliance MCO, with December 15 as the target date for the transition, and there will be more news to come. She said Travis Myren, Deputy County Manager, is the contact person and is managing all of that work. Commissioner McKee said the Broadband Task Force has been busy, and the RFP is ready to go out. He said Commissioner Greene's leadership on this has been exemplary and has really helped move this work along. He said this is a long process, but hopefully it will get moving along with responses from providers. He made a petition, to the extent possible, that the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) receive a report on performance of students and grade levels at the joint meeting with the schools. He said he heard a report on the radio that only 47% of students are scoring proficient in multiple areas now, which is not a pretty picture. He petitioned the Board to schedule an item for an upcoming work session on creating a policy to require any entity funded through the BOCC to set aside a time slot in their formal standing meetings to receive public comment. He said he is concerned that those who are allocating and spending public money should be willing to set aside a time slot for anyone to come to their meetings for public discourse. He said there should be a time for people to speak their minds because the County is spending their money. Chair Price said there is an information item on the BOCC Elections Advisory Group (BEAG) that will be discussed on October 5. She said the public is welcome to make