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,i <br />out of water for their animals, and most are having to haul water in or move the cattle to other <br />farms. There have been many educational efforts to help farmers minimize losses. She <br />distributed a handout about these efforts and reviewed it. <br />There are some federal agencies that offer some assistance. The Farm Service <br />Agency offers assistance. There is a Crop Disaster program in effect, and signup is currently <br />underway for that. Some farmers have federal crop insurance, and many will qualify for losses <br />from that. There is also a program called Environmental Conservation Program, which will <br />offer some monetary help to assist producers who have run out of water for livestock. The <br />North Carolina Ag Cost-Share Program will have some funding for Orange County. The North <br />Carolina Department of Agriculture has a Golden Hay Program, where it gives a little money to <br />help offset cost of transporting hay within the state. There is also a Hay Alert Hotline that gives <br />listings of where to look for hay. Orange County will be coordinating with other agricultural <br />agencies to try and coordinate efforts. The educational efforts will continue. <br />Regarding the future implications, there will be decreased net farm income and small <br />farmers will be going out of business as well as some older farmers. She said that one of the <br />glaring holes in assistance from the USDA is the Livestock Assistance Program, which has <br />taken place in previous drought years. <br />Commissioner Jacobs asked Karen McAdams to put together a draft letter for the Chair <br />to send to Congressman David Price about the Livestock Assistance Program. He made <br />reference to the Small Business Loan program and asked if this would help some of the small <br />farmers. Karen McAdams said that it could possibly help. Commissioner Jacobs suggested <br />that Karen McAdams get together with Assistant County Manager Willie Best, who is <br />overseeing Economic Development, and see if there is an interest using the loan program. <br />8. Board Comments <br />Commissioner Gordon said that she has a nephew that just returned from his third <br />deployment in Iraq. He is a Marine helicopter pilot who flew casualty evacuation missions. <br />Commissioner Gordon made reference to the Special Transit Advisory Commission and <br />said that there would be an update to the joint MPO Transportation Advisory Committees on <br />October 31St at the Airport Authority. This will only be an update. The final report is in January. <br />The TAC meeting report is in the packet. <br />Commissioner Gordon made reference to the Recreation and Parks Advisory <br />Committee meeting, where the joint use of school facilities was discussed. This has been <br />discussed for many years. <br />Commissioner Nelson -none. <br />Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the Whitted Building and said that if the <br />Manager finds that the Board of County Commissioners was in error in cutting corners for the <br />last renovations, he would like to know this. <br />Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the follow up action sheet and said that he <br />thought that by the end of October that there was supposed to be a presentation about the <br />waste treatment center at the Northern Human Services Center. He asked about the status of <br />this. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said that he thinks that three of the County Commissioners <br />thought that the Board did something different during the budget process regarding the Energy <br />Conservation Team. He made a motion to direct the County Manager to come back to the <br />Board no later than the second meeting in December with a proposal to create ahalf-time <br />position with funds made available during the 2008 budget process to create a single position <br />in the Manager's Office to be charged solely with spearheading the County's energy and water <br />