Minutes 02-25-2025-Business Meeting

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2 3. Announcements, Petitions and Comments by Board Members Commissioner Greene said she attended the dedication of the historical marker on February 1511 commemorating the lynchings of Washington Morrow, Daniel Morrow, and Thomas Jefferson Morrow. She said she was honored to represent the Board at this event and reread the apology approved by the Board a few years ago for all of the racial terror that took place in the post-Civil War era in Orange County's history. She emphasized the importance of remembering and understanding this history. She announced that the Drakeford Library grand opening was rescheduled due to the weather last week and will be rescheduled in the future. Commissioner Carter said she also attended the dedication of the historical marker on February 15'. She said it was a moving experience. She said she looks forward to hearing about upcoming events in March for Women's History Month and the celebration of Creek Week. She said next week, she will be in Washington DC at the NACo conference and looks forward to bringing information back to the Board. Vice-Chair Hamilton said she would like to share some reflections to close Black History Month. She said at the February 4tn meeting, the Board approved a proclamation for Black History Month, and she thanked staff for their work on that proclamation and the organization of Black History Month programming. She said she attended the dedication of the historical marker along with other Commissioners this month. She said the purpose of Black History Month is to reflect on the history of the United States and all of the people who contributed to building this nation. She said while it was founded on noble ideals, it was founded in not-so-noble realities like stolen land and stolen labor and the belief that some human beings were superior to others. She said we have progressed as a nation economically and socially towards fully embracing the noble ideals like our national motto, "E Pluribus Unum" (out of many one), and our pledge, "with liberty and justice for all". She said we have also moved away from some of our less noble ideals such as cheating, lying, feelings of superiority, and exploitation. She said she hopes our nation can make it back to what has made it great— its noble ideals. She said she is proud to be an American of mostly African descent but also Native American and European descent and appreciates the opportunity to serve the residents of Orange County. She said she looks forward to attending the NACo conference next week with Commissioner Carter and will bring back what she learns to be a better county commissioner. Chair Bedford reminded the Board about an MOU with Carrboro, Chapel Hill, UNC on the potential rails-to-trails project. She said the idea is that should UNC no longer use coal at the co-gen plant, it might open the door for a rails-to-trail project, or even a multimodal project. She said the DCHC MPO, now referred to as Triangle West Transportation Planning Organization (Triangle West TPO) is working on applying for a $400,000 grant that requires a $100,000 match. She said UNC has committed $20,000, the North Carolina Railroad Group has committed $50,000, Carrboro and Chapel Hill have each committed $10,000, and the request is for Orange County to commit $10,000 as well. She said the county's contribution does not have to be approved by the Board officially but wanted to update Board members since she is the liaison to this group. She said Amy Eckberg, Sustainability Coordinator, David Stancil, DEAPR Director, Nishith Trivedi, Transportation Director, and the County Manager are all involved in these discussions. She said there is opportunity here for housing, recreation, and multimodal use. She said if anyone has concerns, to let the County Manager know in the next few days. Commissioner Fowler said she attended the Triangle West TPO meeting this morning, where the board voted to release several items for public comment, including TIP Amendment #6, a Public Participation Plan, and Destination 2055 MTP Deficiency and Needs Analysis. She encouraged anyone with ideas of how to improve transportation planning to visit the Triangle West Transportation Planning Organization website. She said she also attended IDEAL, a collective action group, policy subcommittee meeting focused on potential policy advocacy to increase access to housing for folks with disabilities last week. She said she attended the Board of Health meeting as well and they are continuing to work on educating families on the impacts