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2 <br /> easements will be available, and they are supported. She said that farming is a local business, <br /> and this county supports local businesses. <br /> Susan Walser said she is part of the Maple View community and there was a meeting last <br /> week to educate the community on the agritourism improvement requests from Union Grove <br /> Farm. She said these requests are detrimental to the Maple View community and neighbors. She <br /> said that this was a standing room only crowd and she estimates there were 300 at the event and <br /> they were all in support of the neighbors and the community. She said that they will be making <br /> public comments to the Board at the next several meetings. She said that one of the largest <br /> concerns is seeing bona fide farm owners abusing the agritourism statute to advance their goals <br /> of large commercial enterprising in areas of the county where the businesses would never be <br /> permitted but for the loose definition of agrotourism. She said the farm exemption properties are <br /> exempt from zoning except for electrical, water, and septic reviews. She said there are no other <br /> inspections. She said that they have concerns about public safety. She said this is especially true <br /> in the rural buffer. She said agrotourism can be better defined and they are already working with <br /> legislators to do that. She asked the Board to review their website. <br /> Marilee McTigue said that she is a thirty-year resident of Bingham Township. She said that <br /> she wanted to add some to what Susan Walser spoke about. She said that there was a party in <br /> Northern Orange County recently with 2,500 people. She said the party was in the rural buffer <br /> and in a protected watershed. She said the implications of this are clear. <br /> Elizabeth Young said she met with a resident that wanted to do an appeal of her property <br /> valuation. She said the latest revaluation was one of the largest in history. She thanked the Board <br /> for taking this issue seriously and said that it is important to address each neighborhood issue. <br /> b. Matters on the Printed Agenda <br /> (These matters will be considered when the Board addresses that item on the agenda below.) <br /> 3. Announcements, Petitions, and Comments by Board Members <br /> Commissioner Fowler said she attended the Board of Health meeting last Wednesday and <br /> heard updates from the Child Fatality Task Force. She said local teams are no longer required to <br /> review every death of a resident child, and instead will review deaths of residents under age 18 <br /> that fall into one of 9 categories. She said interestingly, perinatal deaths were removed from the <br /> list, which was one of the largest subsets. She said she believes they should still be investigated <br /> in order to understand factors that affect prematurity and perinatal deaths. She said the Board of <br /> Health also received an update on the opioid settlement and approved allocations for the coming <br /> year. She said she also heard concerns from a Board of Health member who is an Emergency <br /> Room physician at a private hospital in Roxboro. She indicated that the hospital offered a $120 <br /> million parachute to their departing CEO, while she has trouble finding sutures in order to sew up <br /> people in the ER.Along those lines, she said the Board received a letter from a resident concerned <br /> about the state of care for seniors in nursing care facilities. She said the corporatization of medical <br /> care is to blame in this case as well. She explained that direct care workers are stretched thin <br /> across large number of seniors who are therefore receiving inadequate care. She thanked the <br /> Adult Care Home and Nursing Home Community Advisory Committee for their regular visits to <br /> these facilities. She said this is another reason the Board should continue to advocate for <br /> Medicaid funding. This past Friday, she said she attended the measles symposium, which <br /> included a table-talk exercise on how to respond to a measles outbreak. She acknowledged that <br /> the Board has heard many concerns about the revaluation and the impact it will have on residents, <br /> with particular concern about vertical inequity. She said something of particular concern to her is <br /> that commercial apartment properties were valued less than recent sale values, while single <br /> family homes saw a much larger increase. She said she is glad residents can appeal their <br /> revaluation and encouraged them to do so. She said there is an avenue for more systematic <br /> review via the Board of Equalization and Review and hopes the county will use what tools are <br />