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40 <br /> 1 Marston Youngblood said he lives on Marion's Ford Road. He said that he did not sign <br /> 2 up to speak but wanted to after hearing from the Spectrum representative. He said they went to <br /> 3 all the providers — and the results were unsustainable and had unaffordable prices. He said they <br /> 4 are deeply grateful to the county for going with the North State providers and that this will be <br /> 5 done in a legally valid way. <br /> 6 <br /> 7 Chair Price thanked the Broadband Task Force for their work on the issue. She said this <br /> 8 has been a longtime coming to get this far. She thanked staff, everyone that has been involved, <br /> 9 and North State. She thanked Jim Northrup for all his work on the issue. <br /> 10 Commissioner Fowler asked if Travis Myren or North State wanted to respond to the <br /> 11 legality of the contract. <br /> 12 John Roberts, County Attorney, said the county fully intends to comply with state law to <br /> 13 verify that there are no violations, and he will report back to the board and their next meeting. <br /> 14 Commissioner Bedford thanked the staff, the task force, the commissioners that have <br /> 15 worked on this, and Jim Northrup. She said that the pandemic exposed the needs for this utility <br /> 16 service, and she supports the County Manager's recommendation. <br /> 17 Commissioner McKee asked if there should be two motions, one on the project and one <br /> 18 on the allocation of the funding. <br /> 19 John Roberts said no. <br /> 20 Commissioner Greene said she and Commissioner McKee have worked on this since <br /> 21 March 2021 and met every two weeks. She listed the members of the Broadband Task Force. <br /> 22 She said a lot of things came together while the task force worked to get to this point. <br /> 23 <br /> 24 A motion was made by Commissioner Greene, seconded by Commissioner McKee, to <br /> 25 approve and authorize the County Manager to sign the attached contract and any amendments <br /> 26 that do not exceed the contract amount with North State Communications Advanced Services, <br /> 27 LLC to construct, operate, and maintain a fiber to the premises network in unserved parts of <br /> 28 Orange County, and to allocate an additional $5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds, for <br /> 29 a total of$10 million, to fully fund this agreement. <br /> 30 <br /> 31 VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br /> 32 <br /> 33 Commissioner McKee said the task force members were extremely dedicated. He said <br /> 34 when he made the petition for the task force in Fall 2020, he thought it would be $30 million. He <br /> 35 said the idea started off due to virtual schooling and feeling like children were not getting what <br /> 36 they needed. He said he did not have strong enough internet at his home to attend Board <br /> 37 meetings virtually. He said the Board stepped up with the investment. He thanked staff, the <br /> 38 Board, and the federal government for the ARPA funding. <br /> 39 <br /> 40 b. Proposal to Name a Conference Room at the Orange County Visitors Center as "The <br /> 41 Lee Pavao Conference Room" <br /> 42 The Board discussed naming a Conference Room in the Orange County Visitors Center to "The <br /> 43 Lee Pavao Conference Room". <br /> 44 <br /> 45 BACKGROUND: A number of community leaders (letters attached) have requested that the <br /> 46 Board of Orange County Commissioners consider naming a conference room in honor of the <br /> 47 late Lee Pavao. <br /> 48 <br /> 49 Lee Pavao was a well-respected resident of the Orange County community for many years. <br /> 50 <br />