Agenda 12-04-23; 8-a - Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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10 1 Vice-Chair McKee thanked Forrest Westall for his comments on agriculture meeting its 2 obligations. He said the agriculture community was very concerned when the regulations first 3 came about. He said going forward, we must acknowledge that sometimes the numbers don't 4 quite make sense. He said the idea in the agriculture community now is that it is working and 5 there is less concern about unintended consequences. 6 Commissioner Greene thanked Forrest Westall for the presentation. She said it was her 7 good fortune to see the culmination of this work and appreciated how long it took and the creativity 8 required. She said the NC Collaborative helped a lot as well. She said the approach is congruent 9 with Orange County's plans and is nice to see how the interests dovetail. 10 Commissioner Fowler said it was interesting to see that despite not meeting chlorophyll 11 goals, the lake was still meeting the needs for recreation and water quality in general. She said 12 she agrees it aligns with LIDO and the county's goals in general. 13 Commissioner Greene said she remembers hearing once that Durham County would have 14 to erase all of downtown Durham in order to meet the regulations as previously mentioned. 15 Forrest Westall said modeling shows even if everyone left the watershed and trees grew 16 over, it still would not meet the requirements. He said they were really dealing with something that 17 was impossible to achieve. 18 Chair Bedford said she appreciates the big picture/systems approach. She said this wants 19 this to be shared with the legislative delegates at the Legislative Breakfast. She said this sounds 20 like a great start. 21 Commissioner Hamilton thanked Forrest Westall for the report. She said it is timely to hear 22 this tonight along with the Climate Action Plan and as they are in the Comprehensive Planning 23 process. 24 25 A motion was made by Commissioner Greene, seconded by Vice-Chair McKee, to 26 approve and authorize the Chair to sign the attached Resolution endorsing the UNRBA 27 Consensus Principles II for Revised Falls Lake Rules and authorize the County's representative 28 at UNRBA to indicate Orange County's support at the upcoming UNRBA Board of Directors 29 meeting on November 15, 2023. 30 31 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 32 33 Vice-Chair McKee said the recreation opportunities available in the watershed should 34 really be emphasized. 35 36 5. Public Hearings 37 None. 38 39 6. Regular Agenda 40 a. Orange County Climate Action Plan and Greenhouse Gas Inventory— Final Report 41 The Board received the final Climate Action Plan (CAP) containing the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) 42 inventory report from Bluestrike Environmental Consulting and approve the Climate Action Plan. 43 44 BACKGROUND: The next few years are critical in limiting global temperature to a 1.5° C 45 increase and mitigating the most severe impacts of climate change. To do so, global emissions 46 need to be halved by 2030, and net zero emissions must be achieved by 2050. Investments now 47 will reduce long-term operation costs, reduce recovery costs from climate-related disasters, and 48 promote growth in local jobs and the economy. The climate action plan addresses the specific 49 strategies that will help the County meet the climate change mitigation goals set by the Board in 50 recent years including: