1-3-24 PB Agenda Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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By allowing us to use our Millhouse Rd property for an expanded headquarters, Orange County aligns itself with its Guiding Principle “to provide employment opportunities close to the areas where people live in Orange County” (Comprehensive Plan, p 3-16), facilitating the following: ●ED Goal 3: Effective systems to train and support residents and those who work in Orange County. ●Objective ED-3.1: Develop and nurture partnerships that support workers and their families at all stages of their lives and provide opportunities for lifelong learning and retraining in response to changing economic conditions. ●Objective ED-3.2: Promote access to living wage jobs that offer benefits and career advancement potential. ●Objective ED-3.3: Form partnerships with Durham Technical Community College, UNC-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill/Carrboro Schools, Orange County Schools,and others to provide adequate training and education to enable workers in Orange County to obtain high quality jobs. (Italics added) 5. Public Education about Trees and Tree Care Most homeowners in our area will eventually have a concern about trees that calls for professional attention. When this happens they will often call an arborist. We receive approximately 75 requests every week from concerned local homeowners requesting an in-person property visit from one of our consulting arborists, and we fulfill these property visits requests typically within the subsequent week. Over 85% of those visits are provided by us at no cost to the property owner, and many of these requests are primarily requests for our advice. These advice requests run the gamut and are incredible opportunities to educate and inform the public about their trees. Many of our clients cannot distinguish a birch from a beech. They may have called us because they fear a large white oak that is leaning slightly towards a child’s bedroom, or because of a dead black gum in their backyard, or because their slippery elm appears to be dying. As often as not, we are able to assuage their tree fears, directing the homeowner towards more valuable and ecologically sound investments in their property. For the white oak, we might discuss the many virtues of Quercus alba and why its lean doesn’t of itself constitute a high risk of tree failure. We might provide them with risk mitigation options that will save the tree and be less costly than whole tree removal. If their dead back gum is suitably located, we’ll point out that leaving it in place is a reasonable option, even beneficial for its wildlife habitat value and ecological function. If their apparently dying elm is merely defoliated by elm leaf beetle, a common native insect in our area, we will inform them that, despite appearances, the tree will prove itself to be entirely healthy the following spring. Next 9 26