Minutes 04-14-2026-Work Session - Laserfiche WebLink

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