Agenda - 09-06-2022; 8-a - Minutes

Browse Search

12 1 Chet Mottershead said that the new Capital Area Workforce Board set policies for all 2 counties in the zone. He said that those policies would apply to all counties equally. 3 Commissioner Fowler asked if they could all be serving the new company or those job 4 seekers. 5 Chet Mottershead said yes. He said that right now it is a regional partnership and Moore 6 and Montgomery counties are working with Orange County to determine what the priorities 7 should be. He said they believe Orange County's customers will be better served working with 8 Capital Area. 9 Commissioner Greene asked when the realignment will take place. 10 Bonnie Hammersley said tonight the Board will direct staff to draft a letter of intent for the 11 NC Works Commission. She said that will then be brought back to the Board for a vote, 12 hopefully by June 21St 13 Chair Price said she was on the workforce development board and attended meetings in 14 Alamance and Moore counties and it was so different than the work happening there. She said 15 that the issues here are part of the Triangle. She said that some of the interests of Randolph 16 and Moore are so different than the jobs that they are seeking here because Orange County is 17 part of the Triangle. She said she is encouraged by this because it brings Orange County into 18 the Capital Area and working regionally on these issues just makes sense to be aligned. She 19 said that for 3-4 years she was on a steering committee called community, economic, and 20 workforce development and they looked at all those issues at the same time so to see the 21 property zones aligning with the workforce boards is common sense. 22 23 A motion was made by Commissioner Bedford, seconded by Commissioner Richards, to 24 authorize staff to coordinate the realignment process as prescribed by the Department of 25 Commerce and to provide a recommendation to the Board of Commissioners. 26 27 Commissioner Bedford said it is important that Orange County be aligned with Durham 28 because of Durham Tech, so Orange County may need some flexibility, just as Durham has 29 been given on the timeline. 30 Chair Price said that Durham Tech is on board and in support of this realignment. She 31 said that Durham County is taking a bit longer because of their structure. 32 33 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 34 35 b. Voluntary Agricultural District Designation — Multiple Farms 36 The Board received a presentation from North Carolina Department of Commerce staff 37 regarding the realignment of regional workforce development boards, options for Orange 38 County for future alignment, and the approval process for proposed realignments. 39 40 BACKGROUND: Orange County's Voluntary Farmland Preservation Program was started in 41 1992. To date there are 138 farms in both the Voluntary Agricultural District (VAD) and the 42 Enhanced Voluntary Agricultural District (EVAD) program —totaling 16,845 * acres. 43 44 The County's Voluntary Farmland Protection Ordinance (VFPO) outlines a procedure for the 45 Agricultural Preservation Board to review and approve applications for qualifying farmland, and 46 to make recommendations to the Board of Commissioners concerning the establishment and 47 modification of agricultural districts. Section VII of the VFPO contains the requirements for 48 inclusion in a voluntary agricultural district. To be certified as qualifying farmland, a farm must: 49 50 (1) Be located in the unincorporated area of Orange County;