Agenda 04-05-22; 8-a - Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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2 1 Commissioner McKee said he requested the Board go back to meeting in public 2 several months ago and expressed thanks to the Board for this return tonight. He said he 3 appreciates the decision made today to revise the mask mandates and he believes this is the 4 right step. He said he intended to ask for an addition to the agenda this evening for a public 5 discussion on when and how to end the mask mandate but that was circumvented by the 6 decision today. 7 Commissioner Richards said today is the start of Women's History Month and 8 seconded Chair Price's comments regarding the Board of Commissioners having six women 9 members for the first time in its history. She said she looks forward to reading the press release 10 tomorrow on the changes to the mandate and expressed thanks to Chair Price and other local 11 leaders for moving the county forward. 12 Commissioner Bedford had no comments. 13 Commissioner Hamilton thanked members of the public who shared their views on the 14 mask mandate with the Board. She said the Board received emails encouraging the removal of 15 the mask mandate, as well as maintaining protections. She said that no matter what perspective 16 was shared, it was clear how difficult life has been for everyone during the pandemic. She said 17 that the frustrations of the guidelines not being communicated clearly has added to everyone's 18 suffering. She said she serves on a subcommittee of the Board of Health that reviewed the 19 current CDC guidelines to assess the relevance for the community. She said that the 20 subcommittee determined the guidelines were useful for determining when to end local mask 21 mandates. She explained that local data was also reviewed, which showed that Orange County 22 is moving in the right direction, and that local mandates would likely be lifted within a week. She 23 said that this is consistent with the decision made today. She noted that COVID-19 is still 24 circulating in the community, and many people will continue to wear masks out of necessity. 25 She encouraged respect for those who continue to wear masks. She noted the importance of 26 the number of hospitalizations being used as a metric to determine when to lift the mask 27 mandate. She explained that if hospitals are filled with COVID patients or there are staffing 28 shortages, it makes it harder for patients with other issues to be served. She said that she 29 thinks it is important to follow guidelines. She said it is unknown if there will be more variants. 30 She said she will advocate for a more transparent approach to making the decisions. She said 31 the decision-making power should be expanded beyond the chairs and the mayors and should 32 include the boards and councils. 33 Commissioner Greene commended Carrboro for being recognized as one of the top 34 five small arts communities in the country. She said that the North Carolina Association of 35 County Commissioners (NCACC) is continuing its series of webinars on strategies for using the 36 opioid settlement money. She shared that she moderated one of the sessions yesterday about 37 how to work with justice-involved individuals. She said a lot involved the FIT program and it was 38 very rewarding and useful. 39 Commissioner Fowler said she attended the ABC Board meeting on February 22nd. 40 She said that they increased their minimum wage to meet the new living wage criteria and 41 adjusted other salaries to address compression. She said they want to revisit raising the 42 General Manager's salary and will be bringing a formal request to the Board. She said that they 43 heard presentations from various community organizations that work to address substance 44 abuse. She said that the presenter from Campus and Community Collision pointed out that 45 excessive drinking leads to $111 billion costs to community. She said she appreciates the 46 opinions and comments of the public but that she believes the mandate should be based on 47 data with clear criteria. She said this decision was made by the Chair and mayors, with input 48 from the health department, and they used guidelines rather than opinions. She said that the 49 CDC website is changing daily. She said that she believes the county will be in a "safe" range to 50 make masks recommended rather than required by March 7, 2022. She noted that the schools 51 have a lot of vacancies and few substitutes to fill those needs. She said that the current