Minutes-04-04-2023-Business Meeting

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2 childcare openings not evenly distributed in the county. She said that it is a bigger issue than transportation. She said she attended the HBA housing summit in the previous week. She said the principal speaker was from the Strong Towns organization. She said the speaker described innovative and creative ways for thinking about development and neighborhoods. She said that April is re-entry month and there will be activities going on throughout the month. She said that earlier in the day she went to the opening of the Hillsborough site for Boomerang youth organization. She said that it is a great addition and alternative for young people. She said there will be a free summer program for children. Vice-Chair McKee thanked everyone who took time to attend the business meeting. Commissioner Hamilton said she attended the school safety committee meeting on March 231. She said the group is making steady progress for making the schools safer for students, teachers, and staff. Commissioner Portie-Ascott said that she was continuing to meet with departments as she learned about the county. She has met with Asset Management Services; Aging; Economic Development and took a tour of Economic Development zones; the Department of Environment, Agriculture, Arts, and Parks and Recreation; and Cooperative Extension. She said she also attended ribbon-cutting for Boomerang. She said she was not aware that they had an afterschool program for any youth that wanted to attend. She said they have a goal for getting a 15-passenger van. She said some youth want to attend but cannot due to transportation issues. Commissioner Fowler said that April is Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month. She encouraged people to attend an event at the Chapel Hill Public Library on April 15t" at 1 pm sponsored by the Town of Chapel Hill, B3 Coffee, and the Autism Society of North Carolina — Orange/Chatham Chapter. She said the event is called Autistic Children Grow Up and will feature a film titled Deej and panel discussion afterwards on autism and adulthood. She said it is a great event for learning how to be more inclusive. She said on March 24t" she attended the IDEAL Communities Action Team held at the Alliance office in Morrisville. She said IDEAL stands for inclusive, diverse, engaging, affordable, and lifelong. She said the initiative was started by HOPE (Housing Options for People with Exceptionalities), whose mission is to create inclusive communities where people of all abilities and ages experience a sense of belonging. She said their goal is for such a community to be mutually beneficial to all residents by increasing housing stability and affordability, enhance social connections, and reduce isolation. She said the goal is for approximately 25% of units to be set aside for adults with developmental disabilities, with the other units being occupied by older adults, single adults, and families. She said that, ideally, it would be walkable, close to transportation, economic opportunities, health care, etc. She said the next meeting is Friday, June 2n1 Chair Bedford said she attended a joint meeting with CAMPO (Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization) and the Durham Chapel Hill Carrboro MPO (Metropolitan Planning Organization). She said there was discussion about commuter rail and updates with TIP process. She said that there is an opportunity with Triangle J Council of Governments called Connect Region, which encourages communities in the Triangle area as a broader community and to consider regionality. She said that Triangle J is hoping to get $1.5 million to develop a plan of a regional vision and a strategy document that focuses on land use, housing, transportation, water/sewer, equity, public safety, and other issues. She said the plan would have goals, strategies, targets, and a connected region (voluntary) compact, with a commitment to refresh the plan every 5 years. She said that the group was supportive. She said that Granville County wanted to be remembered in the plan since they are affected by increased growth. She said that it would be good to consider some of the softer planning items, such as homelessness, hunger, aging services, mental health -the actual systems in the state that are failing residents.