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15 <br /> 1 Commissioner Bedford said no. She said the new hold harmless program would be applied first. <br /> 2 She said there would not be any double dipping. <br /> 3 Commissioner Carter said they need to review what they can legally do and suggested the Board <br /> 4 and staff do more work on developing the project. She said she supported a tiered approach within the <br /> 5 Longtime Homeowner's Assistance program. <br /> 6 Commissioner McKee said this will take more work by the Board and staff to develop a program <br /> 7 to help homeowners from being taxed out. <br /> 8 Commissioner Bedford asked Vice-Chair Fowler she meant applicants would come through the <br /> 9 program for Chapel Hill or Carrboro funds. <br /> 10 Vice-Chair Fowler said she was trying to figure out how Longtime Homeowners Assistance and <br /> 11 hold harmless would work together. She said she preferred Chair Hamilton's and Commissioner Carter's <br /> 12 suggestion to prioritize. <br /> 13 Commissioner Bedford said $1,000 might not be enough, but it's a target. <br /> 14 Chair Hamilton asked staff for more information on how the proposal would work, including an <br /> 15 example case study, and the cost of the proposal. <br /> 16 Blake Rosser said he could extrapolate the 100 households to determine the cost. the staff <br /> 17 proposal would free up funds that could be used for the hold harmless proposal. <br /> 18 Vice-Chair Fowler said she is supportive of increasing the eligibility requirement to 10 years. She <br /> 19 recalled that the reason the program was originally changed because in the first year the county had only <br /> 20 used $16,000 and they thought they should open it up to more people. She said it was probably because <br /> 21 a lot of people didn't know about it. She said it was fine to go back to that. <br /> 22 Chair Hamilton said she remembered differently. She recalled that representatives from the <br /> 23 Jackson Center requested changes to support homeownership among young people, and that was the <br /> 24 reason they went to 5 years. <br /> 25 Blake Rosser said he would check on it. <br /> 26 Commissioner Carter thanked staff for their work on the proposals and administering the <br /> 27 programs. She emphasized the importance of municipal partnership conversations about the need and <br /> 28 how they can grow their contributions to the program. She said these conversations could help make the <br /> 29 program more robust. <br /> 30 Chair Hamilton asked if the other commissioners are interested in having those conversations <br /> 31 with the towns. <br /> 32 The Board indicated their agreement. <br /> 33 Blake Rosser said Chapel Hill increased their financial support and Carrboro participated for the <br /> 34 first time. <br /> 35 Commissioner Bedford asked if the eligibility requirements are on the application. <br /> 36 Blake Rosser said the requirements are all included in the formula. He said they can weigh that <br /> 37 formula however is preferred and introduce new criteria. He said it will be difficult to compare that to <br /> 38 the two-tier setup that was originally considered. He said at some point they will have to decide and try <br /> 39 it out. <br /> 40 Commissioner McKee thanked Blake Rosser for his efforts in helping him develop the proposal. <br /> 41 <br /> 42 3. Draft Orange County Trails Plan <br /> 43 The Board reviewed the draft Orange County Trails Plan and provided direction to the consultant and staff <br /> 44 on next steps. <br /> 45 <br /> 46 BACKGROUND: BACKGROUND: Based on trail planning discussions held with the Triangle Trails Initiative <br /> 47 and County Manager and Board members,the Board instructed staff in 2024 to develop a strategy for an <br /> 48 Orange County Trails Plan. While trails planning has occurred over the years on a case-by- case basis in <br />