Board of Commissioners · Regular Meeting · December 4, 2023

morning welcome to the uh December 4th 2023 2023 meeting of the Gilford County Board of Commissioners now I know you're not take that back brother I'm sorry Monday December 4th 2023 Durham Durham you said sorry my apologies I don't sit in this chair very much so um in anyway obviously I'm not the normal person you see speaking here I'm here only for a brief moment today as a momentum this occasion the general statutes provide that annually the board of County Commissioners will select the chair for the following year and during that brief moment as we collect the votes for that um the person uh who's sitting here the County Attorney typically will lead that vote and then I will immediately relinquish it to the chair for the vice chair vote so just a

little bit different than what we normally do for a moment but thank you for your time and attention so what the plan plan is I'll ask for nominations for the chair vote and then we will proceed taking a vote and go from there so having said that is there a nomination from the floor for the position of chair of the Durham County Commissioners Mr attorney I'd like to nominate n Alam for chair thank you commissioner Carter so commissioner Nea Alam has been nominated for chair and we'll take a v vote now so that we can um we can do we need a second for that nomination I'm not sure I don't think we actually do for this but um I will second that thank you forgive that procedure but so we have a nomination and a second for chair and the vote is for commissioner neither

alarm so we'll take a Voice vote and we'll go by name so that we record it properly commissioner Al I commissioner Carter I commissioner Jacobs I commissioner Burns uhuh commissioner Howton okay so that vote results in a vote in favor of commissioner Allam Alan by the majority of the board of Commissioners so commissioner Alam you can come now and you can take over the meeting to vote for vice [Applause]

chair thank you so much attorney Andrews thank you everyone um at this time now I will open up the floor for nominations for the role of Vice chair uh Madam chair I'd like to nominate commissioner Burns for the role of Vice chair thank you commissioner Jacobs we have a nomination for commissioner Burns for the role of Vice chair uh we will now take a roll call vote start with commissioner Burns hi commissioner Jacobs I commissioner Carter I commissioner Howton and I am an i with that we have unanimously voted to approve commissioner Vice chair Burton to be our next Vice chair of this board [Applause] congratulations commissioner Burns and Jacobs if you'd like to Swit SE sir

okay before I ask uh Vice chair Burton if she has any comments I'll read the public charge for the meeting the Board of Commissioners asks its members and citizens to conduct themselves in a respectful courteous manner both with the board and fellow citizens at any time should any member of the board or any citizen fail to observe this public charge the chair will ask the offending person to leave the meeting until the IND individual regains personal control should theorum fail to be restored the chair chair will recess the meeting until such time that a genuine commitment to the public charge is observed as a courtesy to others please turn off your cell phones during the meeting Vice chair Burton I would like to pass it along to you if you have any comments I have several comments but I'll keep it brief because we do have an entire work session uh I do see some of my family members here I'm certainly

thankful that you all were able to show up uh I have never been one to to go to be first um I want Derm to be its best I think that we focus too much on being historic and first and not best we are sitting at a pivotal time right now where gun violence is plaguing our community and we have not been focused on that not as a United Board of three I hope that with this election we can stay focused on the task at hand and that is protecting DM's people elevating derms people and putting them first first and foremost I would also like to elevate the thought that meeting with all bodies in Durham is important African-Americans make up 36% of this County they are elected officials who are refuse to meet with

people who look like me the days of elected officials being silent about that issue ends today in my Administration there has been a lot of work put in over the years by myself and this board to elevate black maternal Health to move forward with a Economic Development agenda that puts all people first that makes sure that people in durm get jobs first we've worked to expand how we work with our agricultural Community because we want to make sure that we're feeding our friends and our family food that is grown close to home we're going to continue that I want to make sure that as we go out into this community and we support our small businesses that have pivoted out of the pandemic that we do so in a way that make sure that they can continue to create jobs for people that work and live here I look forward to working along with the school board to improve our matriculation rate because that's that's what our children deserve

I want folks to put public schools first I want people to put people in durm first durm is an industrial Juggernaut it is a southern city that is a beacon to the South people are looking to us to do the right thing this board has survive the way it has because we have decided to put this Community First anyone in the audience who does not want to continue on with that same vision cannot work with this board cannot work in this community I am hopeful that under my Administration along with commissioner LOM that we can start to carve out a path that does not continue to leave people in durm behind that does not Endeavor to be first but Endeavors to be best I am hopeful that after today's meeting we can step out and work with the other two boards along with our business community and our nonprofit Community to close the gap that we've seen created by the chasma of the covid-19 pandemic I will end my comments here some people think that advice is a bad

thing you hate to love it you love to hate it you love to love it I just look forward to becoming DM's favorite new Vice thank you thank you Vice chair Burton I have some comments myself uh to share first and foremost I have a few thank yous thank you to chair Howton and vice and former Vice chair Jacobs for your mentorship and support over these past three years you've set a high bar for what it looks like to lead this board and I'm thrilled to work with Vice chair Burns to build on your example I'd also like to thank the county staff County attorney Andrews our County Manager Dr soel our board clerk Nida Wallace and every single person who works to make this chamber function smoothly the five of of us may be up here making votes but the county only thrives because of our

incredible team it's not always glamorous work it's not always in the spotlight but it is absolutely vital to the strength of our community thank you to every staff member from our classified staff to Frontline staff up to management thank you I would be remissed if I didn't thank my family my mama and papa my siblings and niece afin aren Muhammad Zan and Ana and of course toir and my sweet baby girl Alia all of your support and unconditional love has given me the strength to serve and I'd finally like to thank the people of Durham County for putting their trust in all of us as chair it will be my honor to reflect the values of this County to make life easier for everyday individuals and families after all this is not my board this is not our board it's the people's board and that's what our call to service is all about my journey to Public Service started nearly a decade ago I was just an undergraduate

student down the road NC State when my best friends were killed in a brutal hate crime the yur and Rzonca were funny they were smart they were driven and they had Big Dreams and Bright Futures and they never got a chance to fulfill them they were stolen from us too early right on the brink of the rest of their lives from that day on I made a commitment to carry on their legacy to serve with their humility kindness and generosity of spirit to make the world safe for every person who has ever been threatened because of who they are what they believe where they live or who they love and today feels like a milestone in that Journey because even amid a record rise in bigotry and hate this board looked at this Muslim woman who has grown up in a post 911 America being called called a terrorist told to go back to where she came from and y'all chose to call me chair I think back to my parents coming

to the United States to make a better life for my sisters and I growing up they stretched every dollar to move us closer to the best schools they gave back to their family overseas and served their neighbors in their own backyard at food pantries in the mosques my parents taught me that I'm not living for this life that each of us is placed on this Earth to achieve our true purpose to bring light to those around us and smooth the path for the next generation and I can't even find the words to describe how grateful I am for everything they sacrific to make it easier for me to reach my purpose my parents and I are naturalized citizens but they still live on the margins because of how we dress how we look how we pray and they've always been aware of the Target on our backs but mama and Papa today that Target is a badge of honor because we aren't just part of their this community we can help lead it and for the next year that's exactly

what this board will do we'll continue the work that we've already started in the tradition of Decades of amazing public servant here in Durham County and across the state with respect for the people and for one another we'll further our commitment to guaranteed basic income tax relief and assistance and elev a the voices of Working Class People and together we'll join hands in the pursuit of our shared purpose the dignity and integrity of every person in Durham County thank [Applause] you thank you all I would like to pass it to uh chair Howard commissioner Howard Norton and commissioner Jacobs if they have any comments or commissioner Carter as

well thank you I still forget to turn the mic on uh it has been a pleasure and an honor to serve as a chair for the last three years and the things that we've been able to accomplish for durm county has been amazing and due to the work that the staff our staff has done and our partners in the community we got it done we got and there's so much more to do so so what we did over the last three years and what there is to do going forth is just a sampling of what this community still needs so I'm I'm just honored to still be here surveying this community because it is about it's about being a servant leader and a servant leader the work is not about me it's really about the community so it's been my honor and my privilege to serve as a chair for the last few years in I look forward to

continuing to serve this community so thank you madam chair thank you thank you madam chair uh I would first just like to congratulate you uh chair Alam and vice chair Burns uh in your in your new leadership roles on our board and I'm really excited also for this board to model elevating younger women in leadership and supporting women in leadership um I'm really excited about uh the year ahead and I look forward to supporting both of you in your new roles I would also like to thank commissioner Howton for your leadership over the past three years of our historic all female board and helping us through many

transitions it has been a pleasure to work with you as Vice chair and I really enjoyed our partnership and teamwork together I believe in the power of local government to make positive and Progressive change so that people in our community can Thrive and live well this power is due to the collective force of of our community our staff and our board working together to make these changes and again I look forward to our board the community and our staff working collaboratively and collectively to continue to move our community forward thank you thank you for the chance to make a few remarks I had not planned to do so I'll

start also by congratulating Vice chair Burton and chair Alam I look forward to what I know is going to be um a warm spirited and strong leadership from both of you um I want to say how happy it makes me feel to look out and see family members and friends and and colleagues and staff members and people who care deeply about Durham who are here today for this meeting just a work session but also where we elect leadership thanks for being here um this will be my 20th year as an elected um servant in Durham and it has been a gift to me to get to do this work for the past 19 years I'm not seeking reelection however I am not retiring

from the work I look forward to another year of fighting for what we believe in in Durham fighting for our Public Schools uh our Public Schools across this country are definitely fighting for their lives and so we have another year of that fighting for all of the things that this board believes in all of the things for which we have common shared values and um I am committed to that work for a whole another year and look forward to giving it my all thank you Commissioners I appreciate all your comments and congratulations at this time we'll move to Citizen comments I believe uh clerk Wallace we only have one person signed up for citizen comments a DN K Langley is joining us virtually if there's anyone who hadn't who wanted to speak and hadn't had the opportunity to sign up you can please

come over to Nida over at the corner to speak with her de Warren can you hear us you are still muted dearen and you have three minutes for your public comment thank you de waren you are still muted Deen please unmute yourself we can't hear you dear we see your lips moving but you still have the red mic next to your name on Zoom he said I

know well thank you so very much I like to start by congratulating chair Alum as well as Vice chair burns on your election as chair and VI Vice chair of the board of County Commissioners I'm here to speak on behalf of the Charles pamilton Houston Foundation which provides a Continuum of intense strategy centered skill based and career focused program services and mentorship to facilitate academic leadership and professional development to prepare boards and young men of color for academic success in the competitive Workforce the absence of academic proficiency coped with high suspensions and delinquency referrals correlates with juvenile delinquency for boys of color often leading to adult Justice involvement to break this cycle a critical emphasis on high quality education early career exposure and Workforce ready Readiness is imperative your support for the Charles Hamilton Houston Foundation would be more than just

financial assistance it will fuel our mission to provide tailored academic leadership and professional development for boys of color in grades 6 through 12 as well as young men age 18 to 25 by investing in their future we cultivate confidence home skills and facilitate the creation of personalized plans to pursue their dream careers together we Bridge opportunity and Workforce Readiness gaps creating a pathway to expanded career opportunities and economic success we prioritize tangible results and measurable outcomes that directly contribute to enhancing the educational and career Prospect of boys and women of color we work with them by setting clear goals and targets monitoring their prog and working with them to adjust strategies to ensure desire outcomes are met we measured the effectiveness of our programs mentorships and services to maximize positive impact on their success reflecting on my own personal

Journey from struggling with reading to enduring teasing and questioning of my intelligence I emphasize the importance of respecting sacrifices sacrifices of volunteering in the community but also the need to invest in community based organizations that are on the front line of the work to ensure that all in our community are able to identify develop and reach their full potential in order to reap the benefit of the great Renaissance that we're seeing economically in our community we actively work to dismantle oppressive systems but we also while working to provide individual level interventions know that in order for us to have long-term success it requires system level change which is why one of the things that we did in my term as chair of the board uh the Durham County Juvenile crime prevention Council was brought forth the recommendation for you all to increase that funding by $100,000 so I will be reaching out to

each one of you to share about the work of the Charles Hamilton Houston Foundation our programs and services and hopes that you all will invest in the work that we do thank you so much for the opportunity to speak and I wish you a productive meeting thank you Mr Langley and thank you for your service to our community with that we don't have any other individuals signed up for public comment so we will move to consent agenda and I will pass it along to manager so there we go okay thank you so much Madam chair we will begin with agenda item 23088 budget ordinance amendment number 24 BCC 000058 Public Health to recognize $1,200

from the national network of Public Health institutes for the racial Justice competency model rjcm pilot program M agenda item 23809 budget ordinance amendment number 24 BCC 000057 Public Health to recognize $100,000 from the National Association of County and City officials for covid-19 education and access 23832 approval of an interlocal agreement Ila with the city of Durham for a joint crisis Communications plan with Durham County's share not to exceed $50,000 just one quick question Dr so we're putting this out for RFP is that what we're approving I'm sorry I didn't click on this one to be it we are we will not be leading it but I think the city is actually leading it so I will

ask okay ACM Brenson do you know what the process will be for us to procure the plan good morning um this is an item that we have talked about um for a couple of months in light of all of the things that we cannot anticipate crisis management um we just had a situation next door last month Monday unfortunately that would fall into this category we feel it's important for us to plan together to be able to respond when we have these unfortunate incidents incidences and um the city and um the county have been working together to bring this forward and um my last understanding was that the city would be taking the lead but we will share in the cost and we will review the RFP well no

I I've always wanted us to have a csis communication plan so number one that's not the issue but when y'all do find out the answer on who is lead or who is or if it is going to RFP because a lot of times there are outside firms that do this yes and so if we are going to send this one out and they're going to be lead I'd just like to know when it was posted absolutely we will bring that to you thank you I think Vice I'm sorry commissioner Jacobs yes um yeah I was also really excited to see this and wondering also how I see um board member buyers here with us today I was wondering how the schools would also be involved with this because um unfortunately I know in the description there are many different purposes that this could be used for absolutely and one of them is unfort you know was related to the kind of uh you know lockdowns and gun violence that we've seen um so um so one of my questions was how how will the schools

be involved and secondly um I I'd be really curious what kind of system that we come up with because I think a great model that we have honestly is Duke Energy with power outages um you know when when you have a power outage you have a lot of ways to report the outage and then there is like a constant feedback loop that you're getting from Duke Energy with text messages there's a map you can go on and look and see where the work is being done um I I think this is a really complicated issue of you know number one where people can re how people can report things but also some type of centralized way that people can get updated information I know this references a website um but I think there's and then you know how how information is

continually updated and then again gotten back to people so um I just want to say I think this is very important and how we do it with social media and what kind of platforms that we use is um it's a great opportunity so thank you all good points that you made and certainly the work that we do will take advantage of best practices that are there and we want to bring forward the best plan possible the most upto-date plan possible using all the tools and techniques that are currently available to keep our community informed and be able to respond to whatever comes down the pike and again we'll be working with our Emergency Management professionals to bring that forward to you okay thank you there you are good morning Commissioners congratulations chair Vice chair um I do have one comment to add emergency

management is actually going to be leading the RFP process so we serve as a city and county um division so there will be a lot of collaboration um we will be working very closely with the county teams as well as the city teams uh this is a complicated process there are many many stakeholders which is why we want to go about it in a very um intentional manner uh which is why we're getting an Ila and going through the process as we are um but we will be more than been happy to keep you all informed as we make um progress um as we select um a particular um company to to assist us with this process thank you and I do want to repeat that please do include the schools as one of the key stakeholders thank you absolutely and how we can partner with them thank you thank you any other questions about this item thank you okay thank you so

much item 23845 approval of McKim and Creed contract Amendment for the utilities division for arc flash analysis services in the amount of $1,748 bringing the contract amount from 94807 to 105555 with a not to exceed amount of $120,000 okay item 23851 budget ordinance amendment number 24 BCC 000034 Public Health to recognize $597 43 from Guilford County's division of Public Health for staff development and training 23853 Public Health requests approval for fee schedule changes and a change in the charge Master

rate sure your microphone I still okay I'll say it again so would you have staff talk about the feed changes because that kind of gets people a little bit uh uneasy when we start talking about fee changes sure I'll ask ACM pi come up and explain that good morning Joanne Pierce assistant County Manager for Community Health and wellbeing uh good morning to the board to the manager County County attorney just want to share each year um Public Health looks at its fees and the schedule and make adjustments accordingly um to um follow guidelines and it gets approved by the Board of Health and then they present it to you um and certainly they look at to make sure it's affordable but just adjust it slightly um as required and so this comes to you annually me and this me and this mic

what's the percentage of increase it depends on what the item is um it states in the um agenda action form is there specific item um you are seeking information about because it varies depending on what the service is and the overall percentage change is 3% yes the overall overall 3% if there's anything specific um I can get that for you no um just basically when you I know that from the community's perspective when we start talking about increases they have a lot of questions about what is increasing and how much so if it's any way we can break that down a little bit more absolutely absolutely and I will add often the people who um may come for our services um they fall on a slideing fee schedule and often time uh the fee is z so there's that as well thank you

thank you okay all right we'll move now to 23854 approval of relocation of abandoned Emme Cemetery 23870 approve alternate appointment to the 2023 Board of Equalization and review 23871 approval of contract with Wert Inc DBA data Cloud Solutions in the amount of $887 for mobile assessor product to transition to AA field process to paperless environment 23872 delegation of authority to the tax assessor to Grant individual extensions for the listing of 2024 business

personal property 23882 Capital project amendment number 24 CPA 0013 appropriating 600 ,000 of limit of limited obligation Bond funding lobs for the new Emergency Operations Center EOC in backup 911 Sheriff's call center Capital project 4730 dc1 158 and execution of contract for architectural design Advanced planning services with O'Brien Atkins Associates for the EOC and backup 911 Sheriff's calls Center project commissioner Jacobs uh thank you manager soel I know this is an issue that I you and I have already communicated about but I just wanted to raise it with the board which is I hope that we can really get a grasp

on why we have two separate 911 centers and get some type of assessment of you know whether this is the most cost effective and efficient way to deliver services to people in our community um it's one of these things where we keep moving forward with the same system and now we're going to be spending money to do a backup for something that doesn't seem to make sense at least to me and um so I I would I would just hope that we'll be able to also take a look at that and see um if we're we're going to try to move towards something integrated can we have an can we start with the backup system um but anyway obviously it's something that we need the staff to have the expertise to look at um but it it just raises questions for me and especially as we look at um hopefully moving the heart program um countywide

which I know the sheriff does support um what would that look like because the way that heart works is the first stage is for 911 operators to um assess the calls and divert calls even at that 911 level to um people who have mental health and um expertise so you know again I just hope it we'll kind of understand what we're doing here before we keep spending money on this thank you and I'll just briefly say that we have already had had exploratory conversations with City leadership um but as you can imagine this is a very complicated and integrative process and so it will take us a while to even identify what steps we would need to take in order to consolidate services but those our conversations that we are having um Dr so well one thank y'all for

trying to make improvements to A system that many people in this community rely on not just for their own public Public Safety but for the own healthare requirements so that's number one um I do think it's important not to put words in the mouths of other elected officials in their absence so I do want to elevate that number three I think it's important to also Elevate that we have 911 centers in this community that have not made St met state standards for almost a year so I'm happy that that doesn't reside here from my understanding it resides at the other body so I'm happy happy that we're making these updates because since I've sat in this chair there have been numerous days where we have gotten reports both from the media and from the public where folks will call 911 and it has to go to Orange County or has to go to wake so I like the fact that we have a backup so that we don't continuously have these gaps as someone who has had to call 911 minute I am blessed that I

have not ever had to be rerouted and that is because we've had a backup and so I'm I'm excited that we're moving forward with these Improv improvements and I do hope that other people will make improvements to their system so that the state will not once again come back and say you have once again not met standards I'm happy that we're meeting standards so that's all I want to say about that and I know Dr SW has mentioned that she has spoken with City I've actually had a conversation with the sheriff about you know the fact that we have two and he has expressed interest and support of the idea of exploring because he also recognizes and like his staff his uh the county side is fully staffed the 911 call center and so looking at how do we improve this service for All County residents he's open to that conversation great all right we'll move on now to 23885 recognition of a rebate in the amount of $49,950 from the Duke Energy NC solar

rebate program for the new Durham County Youth Home Project yeah I just wanted to say how great it is that Duke Energy has this incentive program first of all for uh putting um solar um making our rooftop solar ready and I'm so glad that the county is being aggressive and moving in this direction um putting more solar on our rooftops and hope we'll continue to do so it's great to see the the timeline for you know how long it will take for this to pay for itself and it's not that long what was it nine years 10 years six okay a little longer but still that's fantastic thanks so much Perry and staff for all the work on this okay all righty then item 23091 approval of the 2024 Board of County Commissioners meeting

schedule Madam chair um I see manager swell that there's uh notes about suspending the rules to approve this I did have a question though if we could tentatively approve this because I know we're still waiting on uh the schedule from the school board for our joint meetings with the school as well as if there's any other changes or additions but a tentative approval of the meeting till then could we well um instead of ATT tenative approval can we just move the approval to the 11th and the school board might be ready by then is that fair for everybody yeah I was actually going to make a comment on that yes I was going to ask um there was a type eror in the manager's recommendation so it will actually need to be approved at the 11th meeting because I am waiting on um the two dates from the school board which was February 13th and the August date um there was a conflict so um I'm waiting

on a additional dates from them and then yes we have legislative that okay thank you ma'am can we can I make a motion to pull that off consent agenda that way we can approve we keep it and then we move to the Limit it move to the 11th with correction any corrections that's needed thank you commissioner Jacobs I I just had one requested um addition uh Nida which is that Monday April 22nd I believe is Passover and I'm not sure if that will conflict with our meeting or not but if you could just double check that yes ma'am thank you so that would be the only correction or addition 11th or 12th I think it was I think it's April 22nd 2024 okay any other comments on that one Madam chair that concludes the

consent agenda thank you Dr so that moves us to our discussion items starting really really quick before we move to discussion items I've always liked to take the time to embarrass our staff whenever it's prudent happy birthday not a name variant happy birthday today is not a name variant's birthday everybody so please hope fun at her in the hallway sing happy songs do all the things give her cupcakes than but yeah happy birthday not a name variant somebody just thank you by shurn happy birthday not a name variant we'll start with our presentation on the RTP social District uh led by our Deputy County Manager Maurice and Amanda senior director of placemaking at RTP and I see you have a guest with you if you can also introduce yourself hi Linda Hall good morning chair Commissioners manager well and attorney Andrews I'm

Maurice Jones Deputy County Manager for external Affairs I'm pleased to be with you this morning to discuss two subjects related to the Research Triangle Park a little bit later this morning we'll discuss the future of all of the park and what it will entail to to make that Vision a reality but first we'll focus on the Research Triangle foundation's request to implement a social District in what is known as The Hub the location of rtfs headquarters and a home to a new mixed use development that will in include not only office space uh but four new multif family residential complexes a hotel and Retail spaces throughout a social District allows people to purchase beer wine or cocktails from participating businesses and carry those drinks outside of one particular property and throughout a designated area last year you may recall the city of durm created a social District called the bullpen for pretty much all of downtown citing the positive economic benefits of having such a district today Miss Ronan senior director of placemaking at RTF is here

to provide you with some background on rtfs interest in establishing a social District at the Hub after her presentation she'll take any questions that you may have and seek guidance from you uh as well miss Ronin thank you so much and thank you all for having me today really appreciate being on the agenda um I'm Randa Ronin senior director of placemaking for the foundation and I'm here today to talk to you about the future Hub RTP social District okay gotta moves fast um as many of us in this room are passionate about Hub I'm sure this is not the first time you're hearing about it so I won't dwell on these too long but Hub RTP is 100 Acre Site that sits in Durham County in the Research Triangle Park um the west side of the site right now is active with with um our tenants who are um office lab space as well as boxyard RTP the next phase is a 44 acre class a mixed

center that is on the east side of the campus it will Encompass more office and lab space residential units retail food beverage and a hotel um this space really will be the new downtown of RTP and we are excited to have this opportunity to truly create community in the Research Triangle Park this this new development would not be possible without our collaboration Partners um of course our funding partners RTF is the master developer but we have 20 million from Durham County so we do appreciate that in helping us get this community built um we have 10 million from RTP companies and then two billion in private developers our office in retail is with with wh white Point Partners out of Charlotte um we are calling that horseshoe uh our residential partners are MAA and that product is called Nixie our life science lab is through Long Fellow and we're calling that via our office towers are will will be with KD and our hotel will is with Alamo Manhattan and next point and it will be a renaissance

Marriot one part that we are really proud of in this project is leaning into that PE in the Research Triangle Park and having burdens Creek storm water Meadow and 16 Acres of green space that connect to our already existing Trails that's really one of the big drivers that that has propelled us to want to apply for this social District because we want people joining or coming to our site to really enjoy these amenities and be able to leave um the four walls of a building and get outside so I'm coming to you today um asking for guidance and partnership in moving forward with getting a social District app approved at the Hub site for the full 100 acres um as I will get to in future slides we don't plan to have the full 100 acres be the social District to start um externally I want to go ahead for um Simplicity in terms of paperwork in everyone's time to go and apply for the full 100 acres but only externally allow a certain boundary um on the the east side of the campus

the hope would be eventually down the line to have the full 100 acres and incorporate boxyard that's on the far west side but to start we want to be prudent with our resources and be able to to evaluate how things are going so to start this would be phase one um this is really centering around that horseshoe which is our retail um food and beverage concept our stream and and our amenities that include a stage a public lawn and a splash pad again the idea is to get people out enjoying the beautiful nature that we have in North Carolina um collaborating building that Community outside of four walls this is a zoomed in view of what that actually looks like um those blue signage um markers they would be the signage that we would have around the site to make sure people are not traveling to Highway 54 um we would want to keep them contained on the site safely um really bu building that Community around the epicenter which is BF I and J K being our

Stream So actions taken to date um I have been meeting with downtown durm Inc to learn how the bullpen has been going Lessons Learned and um things that they have changed um I've had an exploratory meeting with Maurice and Allan and um they've given me a path forward to today so I really appreciate their Council there and then I've had a briefing with all of our current boxyard RT vendors our current office tenants on the campus and then the Research Triangle High School just so they know what's coming they feel comfortable and everyone understands how this may or may not affect them and then what's next um we still got a ways to go um of course this meeting is a huge step but um we are working with our marketing team now to make sure we have a robust landing page on HUB rp. since social districts are very new to this region it's important that Community is informed and understands what can and cannot go on there um so this Hub landing page will include a map a list of the businesses participating rules and regulations fa contact information and feedback we're

m. and happy to take any questions thank you all so much CHS it is on one thank y'all so much I see that your president is here how you doing Scott good morning I see you have a board member hello Dr Anita Brown Graham welcome as always to our Chambers

I you answered one of my questions um when you said you had already had an initial conversation with the school so I can kind of sort of Mark that one off because I know it it's like right across the street there's actually a bus stop the lights interchange where you have to slow and cannot cross for the kids I could I drive past that one every day so I do I I am happy uh to see that uh on the construction piece I know we're supposed to be talking about the social District I did see that little caveat congratulations on hitting over 35% for your mwbe spend but I did notice that there was a ASC that that was for construction which is great would love to know in the future if you can bring it back to us what that looks like on the Professional Services side probably won't be as high but we want to know because we we probably got some folks that do some architectural design have some folks who can lend their ear to PR so forth and so on this see the new website um I want to jump back I know that Raley also has a social District now and um we have one as far as you

said you've had preliminary conversations I would like to know what is some of the feedback you've gotten both negative and positive and how can we help to uh massage or support any of those concerns or any of those um um or or or support any of or Aid in giveing any support for things that they think that they might need I only throw this out I remember when I first got on the board Scott said they were gonna do entertainment four nights a week right and I was like how in the world are you gonna do that during Co he said I'm just gonna get my bongo drums and a CD player and we gonna make this it's on video so I remember when you said that I I always want Hub RTP to be successful bless you and so I I just want to know what it looks like because you know I think meat and Graves doesn't serve alcohol but there's alcohol that's already out there so you know just the thought process across the campus how do we feel because I'm pretty sure at HUB RTP there's going to be alcohol at boxyard what is the feeling for this huge gap of a parking lot

between so just speak to that now let y'all go so that is part of the reason that we're going to focus on the east side to start is we really want to understand what it would look like for someone to travel potentially from RTP to boxyard and what that looks from a safety perspective customer experience perspective what are they doing during that that walk we have some ideas but we don't have we don't have them out yet um but we're really trying to evaluate that from a standpoint of Lessons Learned um from downtown durm they said one of the um the big issues going into it or one of the perceived issues was going to be safety and trash they were they were worried that you know people would be getting drunk acting unruly um bringing in outside off alcohol trashing local public public places and they just really hadn't seen that um they were prepared for it which was great they went they went and took the steps for it but but they were not seeing that so um we on our campus we have employed cane security and we have been so happy with them they have been such such such a

great force in our community and we plan to have them on the Hub site as well so they will be there to help us kind of evaluate from that safety standpoint because I think that's probably the biggest thing for me as well since we do have these public amenities we want to to be safe we want it to be clean we want it to be a good experience and I think they'll really help us a that quick followup uh so that's the 100 acres is who is for his for who's on the campus I would be interested to know and I I don't usually ask the transit question but I imagine that when this is approved and all of this is built up the street about a mile and a half two miles three miles will be apple across the street is Fidelity Net app there all these other folks who are probably going to want to say all right it's after 5: I'm going to HUB RTP uh how do we the traffic pattern even are we having that conversation and the only reason why I ask the 14,000 jobs that are about to be put on Davis Drive alone without a social District are going to be a problem and now here's this nice bright shiny thing so what kind of Transit

0 okay and Scott will be up here as well as Travis Katon and we do have um that on the Forefront excuse me but appreciate the question we do plan on having trans Transportation within Hub in the future and they can address it probably more technically than than we can I would also like to address the question which was a great question on the high school being across the street right we were I think last time we were here um giving an update on HUB uh you know the we I did report out that we do have cane Security on site we were finding that without

with just County Sheriff service that we needed we didn't have we don't have City police or EMS right uh that we had to to subsidize that so we've invested about half a million um and also will invest privately through the association hubs um security so we have definitely beaked up Security in um support of the safety of the the entire 100 acres but also just that the high school couldn't afford uh crossing guards Etc so we have that taken care of as well thank than you and congratulations chair and vice chair thank you commissioner Jacobs Well thank you I I also want to clarify that this is something that our board will need to approve according to State Statute um it will be something that our board has to take up so I'm

just wondering one of my questions is what is your timeline of when you need us to take action on this um so we would love for this to sync up with our opening of horseshoe which is projected for Q4 2024 um so comeing up quick um so I hope today um and maybe I can speak with Maurice after any any outstanding items that you need in order to make that decision I'm happy to start gathering this okay and I'll just say I 100% support this um I think this is really important we have social districts now all over the United States if we are not doing this then we are not staying competitive we are not keeping up with what is happening in every city that has that is thriving um and um to your point the roll out of the bullpen has actually been kind of a non it's really been a nonissue uh so um you know it's been

really seamless and I and I will say I have personally benefited from it um one night my husband and I were eating um at the daily bar which is right down from here and we had tickets to deack he was drinking a beer and then we realized we needed to get going and walk over to deepack and instead of having to basically you know not finish his beer he was able to take it with him um so it was really nice to all of a sudden realize we didn't he could take it with him so um yeah so I think that um it's a great I'm really glad that you were going to be doing this at um The Hub and I fully support it thank you Carter yes thanks for this fun presentation um I have maybe just one concern and I've raised it about the social District the bullpen here as well and that is what are um you know what are locals

Across the Nation doing to reduce waste that's associated with this I guess when you get your beer at a at a at a restaurant you typically drink it in a glass that's going to be washed and so here I know you'll have a to-go container and I know that um you know RTP is is really pushing the progressive envelope I I believe I remember reading that um at the boxyard you may be um you may have a contract with the service to do washing of glass CLW so you are reducing waste and I'm wondering if you have some thoughts on that for the social District as well yeah I think that's a great thought and honestly that's not something I have explored yet um but it's good to kind of think on that early since our tenants are in negotiation at this point for before they're leased so that could be something we build in having some sort of mechanism I know one of the rules though is that it has to be a glass that

is disposable they can write on um so it can't be glass but maybe there's some sort of material that can be um a better fit who makes that rule that's actually a part of the legislation that governs this it has to be they have to write on the cup the date and that they actually purchased but it has to be disposable literally it can't be something you can just write on and I don't know you know let green to go you know you can you put these go containers that are not disposable they're washed all throughout Duram and so why couldn't there be some really cool Progressive project like that so excellent question I think um another great example I don't know what's wrong with my throat it's I will yeah thank you um the town of carry just opened its downtown park and it is it is a social district and there are two there's a hotel the mainen in and also Cotton House of Brewery they're on the

same Block it's about seven acres um the I actually live right downtown so I've seen how many people have come in and I do I it is what they are using is a recycled cup material and they do have to put the date and the time for control purposes and safety but I will tell you that what I've seen is that they reuse that cup so if somebody orders more than one they typically will reuse the cup they they have to control it with the date and the time because they don't want people coming in with their own alcohol you know at other on different days Etc so I think what I've seen is it was very clean um and people are very respectful so in terms of the Recycled I think it's just the product that you use and that could be something that we can explore meaning that you wouldn't be

dispo and Carrie they're not disposing of these sound you sounds like they're reusing them that's that's what I'm for they reuse them during that day but they have to throw it away well could we look at compostable materials or anything you know just theirs is made out of I think it's aluminum but it's um recyclable material and we can help look at that we have um our sustainability um coordinator that we can connect you all to to help look into that it's a great point it is a great point it's just we have to navate because and RTP of all you know of us who trying to should be the one that could maybe figure this out and be the model for the rest of us for ways to improve and and I'll just add another resource would be the Central Park Durham Central Park um I've gone to a lot of their concerts at the city of Durham hosts and they have a special cup and then they have a that people use for beer and then they have a special collection bin for those cups and my my

understanding is that they wash them and then reuse them at the next event so there's some that's another resource to look at the piece we just I'll just say the piece we have to be careful about is it is governed that you have to be able to put on there the date and the time and so you'll have to consider all of that in looking at the materials that we use so we may be able to um procure something that can be used reused throughout the day but at some point that cup will probably have to be disposed of and so we'll be judicious in making sure that we minimize um how often we have to dispose of it let's do the best we can yes ma'am yes ma'am we got it and this is I'll just say one other thing this is why we asked them to come before you all because this board will have to approve the social district and so this is exactly what we were hoping to get your questions concerns that they can go back and and take take a look into addressing any of the

questions and concerns you have thank you commissioner howon thank you madam chair so I want to CH in as well and thank you for your presentation and as I I think I thought about this as I was reading through it over the weekend um I think it's time I think it's time and as we look at the growth that's happening in RTP and the housing and the transit going to happen in that area I think it's time um and the fact that I don't live very far from it makes it even even nicer um but I I think the real key is the fact that it will be uh a housing Hub there and as for and transportation as well so thank you I'm I'm looking forward to it you and I just like to add my comments I don't drink but I am still excited about this opportunity um and I'm glad you brought up the carry uh new

downtown park because that was kind of what I was thinking as you were explaining the splash pad and other spaces uh outdoor spaces not just for individuals who are coming uh to drink but just socialize in other ways um ditto to what my Commissioners and colleagues have said um definitely ditto to Heidi about you know can we look at like those paper compostable cups that can still be written on or even like those collectible you know when you go to like Starbucks and caribou and you can buy their mugs and reuse them and then you get like some sort of discount for bringing that back um if there's a way we could look at even that and making them writable uh being able to write on them thank you so much uh do we have any other questions or comments commission B oh no y'all will give a lot of credit to folks who are gonna be led that's all I'm saying to bring their CS back um with that okay thank you so much Madam chair Madam chair yes just one

0 project we have 60 Minutes allocated for this item and Deputy County Manager Maurice will stay with us we will be joined by Scott Leviton president and CEO of RTP and Travis kraton RTF senior director of

0 it's a vision you received a glimpse of back in August since then rtfs team has been working hard to seek guidance from their board of directors and the various companies that call RTP home they're researching the visibility of or I'm sorry the feasibility of this

vision and they've been collaborating with staff from Durham County the city of Durham and Wake County to develop the next steps in this Vision today they will asked your feedback on this Vision as they continue their efforts to transform RTP it's my pleasure to introduce to you Scott levian the rtfs president and CEO thank you Maurice um first of all I want to note I'm I'm actually using notes today and I don't think I've ever presented to you without notes but this is such an important Enterprise that we're embarking on for our region and our country that I want to make sure that we get it right and so um I'd like to introduce the other folks at at the table Linda Hall for our I call her my partner but she is the Executive Vice President and COO of of the foundation and Travis kraton who is our senior director of planning Travis will be actually making the presentation again given the import of this um activity we

have had board members join us this morning um we have Jud Bowman who is our outgoing chair if you could move up on yeah that's good um we have Barbara Maly who is our incoming chair who will be chair as of January 1st Greg Lui who is president of the r2p owners and tenants Association um Daniel was gonna Daniel Andis from duke was going to join us he I don't see him so he may have been uh taken away Anita Brown Graham who is also a board member and farad Ali had a personal um thing come up this morning and he was unable to to attend but he he sent his his appreciation um I also personally want to thank um and congratulate chair Alli we're looking forward to working with you and vice chair Burns um you've always been a great supporter and thank commissioner howon for her support and given how long I've been here now um commissioner

Jacobs was the first commissioner that I presented to so we appreciate um all of that and and I also want to particularly thank County manager soel she has been so engaged with us since her arrival in Durham and um all of her staff um have been and her leadership have been very engaged with us um she was very kind to designate uh Deputy manager uh Jones to be sort of our Point person on this project because it is so important um we wanted to have ongoing continual process um commissioner Deputy uh Deputy manager Jones has brought in uh f folks from durm City because we although the durm city is not RTP is not part of durm city um there this project is too important to not move forward without the city engagement and we're also running a

0 and the concept and so um we feel like we've done our job and we're pleased that you you all have been very engaged with us in this conversation I might be better doing things without notes but I'm G to try this morning this is an experiment so this is a 50-year plan for RTP RTP as an integral part of our region as it has been for the past 64 years um we feel we feel like the the presentation that you're going to see today there will be a lot of resonance and consistency with the comprehensive plan

0 as an opportunity to embrace all of those I think we have to from a fundamental basic Point acknowledge that RTP isn't broken uh RTP has been a huge success story for our region and for our state and for our country um but the model the development model for RTP has not really kept up with the way Innovation communities

around our country and around the world have evolved and so our goal here is to look at the 7,000 Acres of RTP as an asset for our region and our state and think about how that 7,000 Acres can be more optimally used and deployed for the for the vision for our region um our goal on this is to we started in 2022 with a conceptual plan which we presented to you in August and our goal is to achieve the approvals to implement this plan by the end of 2024 and that's a pretty audacious goal given what we're taking on the requirements there are two major requirements one is that um we would revise the Zoning for RTP and the other is one that is not within the commissioner's control um all the land in RTP is subject to land covenants which are governed by the owners and tenants Association so this

0 to occur the 7,000 acres is half the size of Manhattan Island which is really a huge piece of dirt um and and what and and you know we we've been successful even recently since 2020 we've had over seven billion dollars of announcement of new new private investment in RTP but the 1960s model just really isn't relevant anymore 20% of RTP is parking lots 20% of RTP has 1,400 acres of land which is surface parking lots um but it but RTP is serviced by significant infrastructure and it's

optimally located to help our region grow intelligently Travis is going to present in more detail but I want to emphasize a few points our board is not and we have not been charged with creating a real estate Bonanza opportunity for developers the land first of all we don't own the amount of land that we own in RTP is minimal we are we were under a model where we borrowed money our our Founders borrowed money to purchase the land and then in order to pay off the debt for that land they had to sell land so you ly among research Parks we don't we can't just unilaterally say our land is going to be used for this we have to motivate and encourage land owners to think responsibly and creatively about how to put that asset to a better use so we want to set a framework for what the future is and how we can proceed into

the future but we can't control the future we have to manage collaborate coer and set incentives for people to think about our their land differently we want to implement Equity into the development strategy for RTP we don't know specifically what that looks like but we won't be measured suc as a success if this is this if this is not an inclusive strategy in the end we we need to help our region grow in a sustainable Manner and Travis is going to um provide some touch points about what the projection for growth of our region is and it is it is scary um we we have an opportunity to not grow like other major Innovation centers like Austin and Salt Lake City and even the suburbs of Washington DC where transportation and equity and

sustainability now it's almost impossible for them to be able to claw that back and then we want to we want to develop a strategy to fund Innovative programs around Transportation housing Family Services education for our counties I know that those are issues that are that are that resonate with the Commissioners from from your policy Retreat and then lastly and I think this is very important um and our board is very committed to this you know we have four universities that sit on our board um UNC oh I'm sorry UNC um Chapel Hill Duke University NC State and North Carolina Central University we have Partnerships that we've started over the past two years among Shaw University and and North Carolina A&M ENT I'm sorry excuse me Dr soel but and we want to do more in that

0 can provide meaningful support for us to to be able to be more competitively competitive to retain our top tier Innovation region status in the country and so um that is very important um to our board and to particularly the universities of our board so with that I will stop again I very much appreciate the opportunity to be here as you can tell from Amanda's amazing presentation all the work is done by our team um and we appreciate

your support and questions at the end so I'll turn it over to Travis thank you Scott and good morning uh chair Alam Vice chair Burton and Commissioners it's a pleasure to be back in front of you again uh this is my third time before you this year so I hope that demonstrates our continued collaboration with you all um and our excitement to collaborate with you on the future of RTP uh Scott gave a a great overview and introduction and I know that you all know us well so I'll be brief on a couple of these introductory slides and then dive into the specifics that I'm sure you all are eager to hear about and we're certainly eager to hear your thoughts on um as we continue to embark on this planning process um I always like to start these presentations with just a slide of our mission to emphasize um why it is we're doing what we're doing and why we are planning for the future of RTP and the way that we are our mission has always been about the collaboration between the universities uh that that impact between the universities and Industry and our bottom line as a 501c4 nonprofit uh is to deliver an economic impact for the

residents of North Carolina so when we talk about the physical planning that we're embarking on and the vision that we're charting it all comes back to this Mission and this is why we see the need to think about the future of RTP for the next 50 years in the way that we do uh Scott already talked about the universities on our board and their importance there so um I will let that stand and move right along um just to underscore a couple of key things that Scott also mentioned this is our map of RTP today highlighting a number of our largest companies throughout um our 7,000 Acres uh we estimate we have about 55,000 employees associated with our RTP companies of which there are approximately 375 at our last count um and we're continually monitoring that number and trying to get as many updates as we can on that um and unique to our region and among research Parks we also have a variety of Industries represented in RTP um as you can see here by looking at just a couple of our top industries in the park so Scott uh introduced the size of RTP and and we always like to sort of

give a little bit more context and scale to what it means when we say RTP is 7,000 Acres uh sitting in the center of our region so one way we do that is to just do a regional comparison so on the right side of the screen here you see the outline of RTP that's our 7,000 Acres that's the uh physical boundaries of the park and on the left you see a number of destinations in our region that we know uh so downtown Durham uh the campuses of NC Central Duke our other universities and also downtown Raleigh so these these are places that many of us know we walk through every day we can visualize uh very easily in our heads and what we find uh really underscores the point and the opportunity we have when we talk about RTP is if you take these six areas uh that we know and identify in our region they all will fit in RTP 7,000 Acres so this is really the scale that we're talking about when we talk about uh the size of RTP and really the reason that we're planning for the utilization of this land in the way that we are uh with Amanda's presentation before

0 model which you see here this is the original 1958 sketch plan for the park

0 there's just a couple of key points uh that underscore what it is it really is

0 as a planning process really dates back to fall of 2021 when our strategic engagement team at that time undertook an effort called 300100 and that was an effort um with

the goal of speaking to all 300 which we thought was the number of companies at the time uh Park companies uh in a 100 day time frame and that effort really led to u a lot of valuable feedback from our Park companies particularly at a moment where many of them were grappling with return to office uh in a post-pandemic environment how have things changed what are their worries what are their concerns what are their needs needs a lot of that was all very prevalent at this moment in time and one of the key things um that we heard through that and and through the identification of some Trends there uh was concern about Talent attraction and retention and the increasing competitiveness of the markets in which our companies operate um how can we provide the amenities that our employees want and demand to be able to continue to attract Talent retain talent and allow our businesses to grow really successfully and as a result of that we really identified that that that has a key physical and planning component to it right how do we create the physical environment to allow Talent attraction and retention to really succeed and to

grow an innovation ecosystem for not just RTP but really for our region and state over time so that way as we look 50 years into the future we really are positioned to continue to attract that talent that we want to need and create that environment for Innovation to thrive so that led us to an April of 2022 last year to kick off a feasibility study um and the feasibility study was termed that um because it really was meant to just be an exploratory effort to understand what might be possible what's happening in other Innovation districts business Parks uh markets that we're competing with and what will our companies uh accept so we really guided that with a couple of key questions you know we used Hub as that Catalyst to say well this is one example of new mixed use development in the park what does that mean for the rest of the park you know as we talk with our companies um who've really developed under one specific development model you know what what would they be supportive of as we think about a different vision and related to that as we think about an overall resoning strategy what are many

of the considerations that we need to build into that so through that feasibility study process um we had a really robust engagement with our companies um our largest companies in the park to get some feedback we had some initial conversations uh with staff at a government level to understand some of the considerations related to zoning and things we need to think about about um and we really had a a number of key takeaways from that process a lot of what we heard was uh support for the vision of RTP and this is really what RTP has always done right we've always been that economic Catalyst for our region and state we want to keep doing that and whatever we do we don't want to lose that right um I've said Talent attraction and retention a lot here that has been a key theme and concern from our companies so it really is whatever we do we want to make sure we ground it in retaining that Talent who's coming out of our area universities keeping here nurturing them making them part of our Innovation ecosystem continuing to attract Global Talent uh as we've had many successes uh in the past we want to keep doing that and we want to root it

all in groundbreaking research and uh and development and technological discovery which really is what rtps purpose is so we don't want to lose that but we also heard we want to be more responsive to that Talent attraction and retention concern you know Hub is one example of response to that creating an environment where Innovation can Thrive what more can we do do and how can we put the right framework in place to be more responsive to that as we look at the markets that our companies are increasingly competing with um you know we look to places like South Lake Union in Seattle the Bay Area DC Boston New York areas where Talent might want to locate how do we continue to position RTP to compete effectively against those markets and other emerging markets that we'll likely be competing with over the next 50 years and Central to the feedback that we heard was support for this key idea which has really underscored the work that we've done since the feasibility study and that is support for the idea of additional mixed use nodes in RTP so while H RTP will be the first and likely the most important as our downtown our anchoring Center the

0 process that happened in March of this year and the whole purpose of phase two is to get into those granular details right how do we go from this key support for this vision and this idea to actually realizing that and so the guiding questions we've taken into phase two are you know how do we take that vision and how do we go from from idea to implementation how do we thinkning a new mixed RTP what are the right authorities that we need to put place to sucessfully uh nurture that and Steward it over the next 50 years and what are all of the plans

0 Vision the other key piece of this is that we we are doing this not in a vacuum we recognize that RTP and its 7,000 acres is part of our triangle region and when we look around the region we are planning for the future of a business park in a growing region if we look just um from the past two censuses so from 2010 to 2020 our combined uh Research Triangle region both the Raleigh and Durham msas was the third fastest growing Metropolitan region in the country uh we are projected to continue that and I know you all know this we're going to grow by a million people by 2050 and that's only sort of about halfway in our 50-year planning Horizon that we're thinking about for RTP so there's a real need to think about RTP in this context as well

right how do we better utilize rtps land resources and its proximity its location in the center of our region to contribute positively to the growth that in some cases the growth of RTP companies is contributing to and creating and how do we do that responsibly we we really see this as not just an opportunity to better utilize the land resource and RTP but really as a responsibility that we have to the region to ensure that the planning that we put in place addresses those growth challenges proactively so through the process to date we've really landed on a couple of of key guiding principles and ideas and that's what this slide is is really meant to summarize here through all the conversations we've really arrived on this this key uh goal of maintaining RTP as that global epicenter of innovation we want to make RTP more sustainable we know that that's really important for our companies it's important for our region and our world how do we embed that in our thinking and how do we do it all to strengthen rtps position as an economic driver for our

region some of the ways that we see uh needing to do that are diversifying those uses in the park so going from one type of of Campus you're allowed to build in one type of environment to a multiplicity of of different environment types including not just the opportunity to work in the park but also live in the park visit the park have Recreation experiences in the park realize it as a as a fully realized Place uh we see a need to add those amenities again to support Talent attraction and retention at its core thinking about um those placemaking strategies that activate the park create public and Open Spaces to invite people who otherwise would never work in the park but now have new reasons to be in the park and experience the park um as an important part of our region and from a foundation perspective going back to our stewardship role we see a really critical need to do this in a really connected and thoughtful way so the goal is to realize RTP as one place and to do that requires thinking about Mobility connectivity uh Greenways uh alternative modes of transportation and Transit which we can talk more about um

0 model they might want to retain that and we think that's okay that can still be an allowed use in the park we can continue to support those companies and their growth uh but in

7,000 Acres we think there's an opportunity for a multiplicity of uses and a way to create those mixed centers elsewhere in the park so we're going to continue to validate that um and work through uh a variety of ways that RTP might evolve over time so through the framework uh work to date we've really organized our thinking into to three key new place types that we want to introduce in the park so it can evolve over time so I'll walk through just some examples and precedents we've looked at to inspire us as we think about the future of RTP and just to set the stage here you know this is again a map of our 7,000 Acres um it gives you a sense of some of the natural environments that flow through the park our lakes and streams our protected areas and you can also see some of the building footprints outlined on this map to again give you a sense of what's on the ground today um and how much land there is still in the park as we think about this this future growth we've organized our framework concept again into these these three kind of key Place types and as Scott emphasized we don't own the land in the

park so it really has to be a framework that provides opportunities to our land owners to say this aligns with my business strategy my repositioning of my land um and I want to buy into that so we're creating opportunities for our land owners to think differently about their campuses and allow them to evolve over time and it really is meant to be a flexible framework to respond to those different needs of our companies at different points in time um and so that's how we we really approached this process and developed it to date uh what you see here is just a very conceptual rendering um of our PR predominant existing Place type in the park right so you see the building kind of in the middle of the parcel surrounded by surface parking and buffered on all sides by Green Space that's uh due to the regulations in the zoning how pretty much every campus in the park is developed today so how might this evolve over time one of those models we've thought about that might make sense for some of our companies and allow RTP to develop uh and address these challenges we've identified is through what we've termed the enhanced corporate campus so for some of our companies who um want to

0 is introducing residential neighborhoods into the park um and we really want to do this through a 15minute city lens so connected streets amenities that support residential so grocery stores bars shops restaurants Services all of those would be incorporated into these neighborhoods and also in terms of the housing type we

really see this as not um a predominant single family housing type but a variety of housing types touching on those missing middle housing types duplexes triplexes multiple unit houses um apartment buildings all of that could create and activate new residential neighborhoods in the park as we think about our housing need um in that growth and also from a talent attraction and retention standpoint demand to be able to live closer to where you work and be able to walk or bike to work which is currently something that RTP employees by and large can't do and lastly there's that place type of the mixed use density node so that's that Hub RTP model a fully realized mixed use dense community and for some of our our uh campuses in the park this might be a way to reposition that land and create those additional mixed juuse centers that we hear are important and could really support the Park's economic growth well into the future so these renderings are all very conceptual right they're just sort of laid out um uh using sort of a modeling software so what does this actually look like in reality so one thing that we've done is

look around the country and in some cases internationally for some precedent examples that showcase the type of environment we would like to create in the park and that we see as uh supporting Innovation as we grow forward so to give you some examples of that uh that mixed juuse density node what might that look like in the park we have Hub as one model but we've been inspired by other examples as well so this is an example uh from uh the University of British Columbia just south of their campus in Vancouver uh this is called Westbrook Place uh and this aial gives you a sense of how they've created a mixed juice density node um it also is almost sort of carved out of the natural environment right so you see the forest uh just to the South here um we hear from employees in the park all the time that that existing Forest environment is an important defining characteristic of the park so this prestent example shows a way we might add mixed use but still preserve that natural setting that's important to the park history right you can see how they sort of carved out um those higher rise residential Towers along the edge there's lower density residential in the middle there's a

fully realized grocery store a school other shops and amenities all in this mixed juice density node right so this is an example of some of what we are hoping an Aspire to create in the park on a little bit more of a ground level here so this is within that development you can see some of the The Experience walking around here the the variety of different types of housing the different scales the different sizes some of the public Plaza spaces um and the last photo on the bottom right here that's actually a full-size grocery store with apartments above it integrated really well into a robust public realm in this mixed juice environment so this is one way that that we've thought you know this is a press n we could look at and and try to think about how it would apply in a North Carolina context for those residential neighborhoods what might that look like um this is an example of a neighborhood in Portland Oregon in northeast Portland called Kars um and it sort of underscores a couple of those key principles we want to think about for residential development in the park uh it has connected grided streets there's a major retail Corridor on the the very bottom of the the screen here that

Burnside Street Corridor uh there's a school located right in the center of this community there's two grocery stores and a variety of residential densities this this neighborhood is probably a little bit uh lower density than we would think in the park probably has more single family but it also has a number of these Courtyard style uh buildings which has a multiplicity of units integrated right into the residential neighborhood and that's um a key housing type we've thought about for the future of the park um to get a sense of kind of the street scale here you can see there's there's the Whole Foods on the Burnside Corridor that major retail Corridor in this neighborhood in the bottom left is one of those Courtyard style buildings so this has about 10 units uh integrated facing a courtyard a denser style of house housing which we don't have much of in North Carolina as a whole and another streetcape on the the bottom right here to show how those trees have evolved over time there's again a variety of residential density on both the left and right side of the street to create a a really uh compelling neighborhood to live in but at a greater level of density to provide more housing for folks and lastly that enhanced corporate campus model so what might that look

like this is an example uh from Indianapolis the Eli Lily headquarters it's located just south of downtown Indianapolis on about 100 acres and you know if you look at just the different types of what's on this campus it looks like a lot of RTP campuses today there's a recreation component there's a lake there's some trails and connectivity but this is done at a much denser scale than you typically see in RTP so you have um much taller buildings you have multiple parking decks so that going from surface parking to structured parking um you still have the natural environment included in it uh to the north of this site they've actually created a public park on a part of the campus to kind of connect the campus to the neighborhood and they still have some surface parking that could again be repurposed in the future here so this gives you a sense of of how RTP campuses might evolve over time still wanting to retain that campus characteristic but becoming more integrated um and dense over time as a part of the evolution and to get again on the ground here uh the top photo is actually taken from um this was on the stop of the durm

0 on achieving those Community objectives as well and that's

0 Vision was really the antithesis of that so how do we redevelop the park in a way to align with this core part of uh the Durham comprehensive plan and the core part of the vision for the future of Durham the other excerpt I just want to call out is the employment campus Place type and if you look at the place type map and the comprehensive plan this is by far the dominant Place type uh in RTP really with the exception of Hub which is a transit or opportunity area everything else is an employment campus in the park and some of the language

0

0 process as well that includes a specific sort of sub area plan for the

nc5 54 Corridor through the park recognizing that that Corridor is essential to the future of Transportation in our region it's where a number of Transportation connections regionally are envisioned to converge in our planning documents it's also the site of Hub which really is our our first and most important mix node so we've done some specific visioning for that Corridor and how it may evolve over time we've worked very closely with our partners at go triangle on developing a transit or development vision for the parcel inside RTP where the regional transit center is anticipated to relocate now called the triangle Mobility Hub we've done some specific uh sub area planning for that parcel and we also will produce a separate Greenway plan for RTP that includes not just anticipating the future triangle Bikeway which will pass through the park but also a north south Greenway to provide uh connectivity throughout RTP 7,000 Acres um and connect to our existing 20 miles of trails in the park as well as upgrading those over time um and also importantly connecting them to things like the American Tobacco Trail and our neighboring Trail Network so we really realize a fully Regional Trail Network

connecting to all the communities bordering the park we also anticipate producing a number of development standards so for us to really create this highquality environment that requires the standards that say here's how a street should look in RTP here's how the streetscape should be designed here's how we integrate multimodal Transportation so that as Redevelopment occurs over time it creates a really high quality public realm which we see as integral to the success of RTP as a place an innovation district and and as the center of that innovation ecosystem for the future of our region and lastly we're also working on a number of policies incentives and requirements uh for a number of key areas that we recognize are challenges for our region so uh these include things like how do we produce affordable housing in the park how do we ensure that as development occurs there are is sustainability embedded in the building the site plan um the the overall site design how do we ensure that space is set aside for open space and Recreation how do we make sure that there's a process for thinking about land that's needed for schools libraries and other

0 and that's really to position RTP as the premier 21st century Innovation Community it's to facilitate the growth of our overall uh Regional Innovation ecosystem not just in the park but across the region and also anchoring the R&D activities coming out of our University in a strength and Innovation Hub in RTP so how do we build that relationship up and whatever the next big thing is how can we make sure it happens in RTP that's what we're aspiring to do here um lastly I just want to dive in specifically on the zoning piece since that is obviously a key part uh and point of collaboration where we will need to have with you all we've given

some preliminary thought to this and are eager for your feedback on this we've also shared this with director young and her staff uh to get some input from them as the planning department but we've preliminarily thought about how we might begin to realize this vision and and we think uh what might make the most sense is to keep our existing RTP zoning as the Baseline zoning so for companies that you know want to continue to build up to um their corporate campus under that existing entitlement they can do so but for companies who want to develop differently and choose one of these new place types develop more densely introduce uses that to date are currently prohibited we would create an overlay District or possibly overlay districts depending on exactly how we want to structure the regulations that would incorporate all those new regulations and requirements and so that way uh that overlay would become the way to to implement these New Uses Place types and denser uses in the park and companies would choose to opt into that I also would just want to give you some sense of how we've begun to think about the development process so let's suppose a landowner uh we if this is

implemented a landowner wants to move forward with a new development in the park that either is more dense than allowed or introduces those those New Uses what might that look like so today the way this process works in the park due to the combination of the covenants and the zoning it's a pretty straightforward process so if you want to develop your campus stay in the park you go through the county process to do that you submit your development plan your site plan all those reviews and permits that goes through the County government process the RTF piece of this comes at a pretty late stage in the process when you have your final construction drawings you're required to get approval from the RTP Board of design and that's a creation of the covenants and so there is an architectural level of review that occurs at the foundation going forward we want to introduce a private process before uh folks would move into this County process and so we've proposed uh creating privately in the covenants um a process that we imagine land owners would go through to utilize a new use or a denser use they would come to us as the foundation and propose

what they want to do with their site here's the uses we would like to do here's the development intensity here's a concept plan how we imagine this unfolding we would then under the covenants create an internal planning board to the foundation that would review that proposal and importantly that uh that planning board would also review a number of the privately enforced development requirements we anticipate creating so you may recall on the earlier slide those policies incentives and requirements some of those include some things that are not typically done in North Carolina we think we have an opportunity to privately through our covenants have those standards and have them be enforceable through a private mechanism like this so we would want to create this board to ensure that that board would adopt those standards and then review applications to ensure that they are in compliance with those privately enforced standards done at an RTF level and if if that review determines that that uh proposal is in line with those required and privately enforced standards that board would Grant approval and then it would just be the normal standard process they would go through the county process to submit all of their site plan approvals uh development reviews inspections all of

those things that the county already does that would keep doing after that private process and we would still retain a design review um as we currently do in the park at the end of the process to ensure that those uh streetscape standards Street standards uh that really important public realm is still enforced and realized uh through a private mechanism as well at the end of the process I know we're holding questions to the end but Travis I'm stop you right there just so I can make sure I'm clear on this um and it's just for clarification I know people get scared when I ask questions it's just for clarification so in the event somebody were to go through the three-step process that you all would put within your Covenant and they did not pass through that process what mechanism do you imagine you would have in place uh with our office so that that person could not submit independently that's a great question I think there's uh we certainly would want to make sure that we have the developed relationships with the planning staff to ensure that they're notified that you know this we did not approve this development proposal um we we you know we would not

0 Vision continue to report out as we get more detail into what those will be again I want to underscore this is truly a collaborative process and none of this is possible without the buyin from you all as our local government partner and Wake County as our local government partner and our companies because that's the nature of governance in the Park it's a shared governance model and so we value your input today to make sure we have this Vision right and that it aligns with where Durham wants to go um and we are going to continue to work uh toward our schedule of producing these internal

deliveres from the RTF team by summer of next year with a goal of of bringing you all a zoning proposal that hopefully meets your needs and ours uh next summer for your consideration into the fall of next year and I'm happy to stop there and we're happy to have a robust discussion and answer any of your questions thank you so much for that presentation I filled with notes um um I will open it up to uh our board members first before I ask my questions hiy commissioner Carter what a fantastic presentation um you did a f just a great job of making the work that you're trying to do really clear um and uh making it exciting at the same time really appreciate this presentation and these very detailed slides for us to keep as reference points um I'm just going to jump right to the very end uh the privately enforced development requirements seems like a

really neat opportunity um almost I guess I can say this out loud almost like a workaround in a way um for things that we can't do but would you am I understanding this correctly that like you would be able to have privately enforced development requirements that we might not be able to have so very Co yes as long as they're privately enforced to a covenant our lawyers advise us that is a contractual agreement and so it does not run a foul of any um govern limitation there because it's purely a private contract great and and you're hoping to have a new RTP planning board that will you know enforce these requirements who will Who will uh draft the requirements and and how will you do that uh we anticipate our so we're working with a a very robust Consulting team on all these deliverables um led by air St gr out of Baltimore a master planner there with a number of subc Consultants we in we envisioned that they would produce those those initial

0 be able to include development requirements like inclusive Zoning for affordable housing that kind of thing yes which would help you advance your Equity goals and and help you achieve all of the goals that are in um that we have in our comp plan I loved how you laid out how well aligned the work that you're trying to do is with the comp plan which is fabulous the 15 minute City model and the employment campus it just really is um a nice neat package in the way that it aligns um what about could you talk a little bit more

about you the incorporation of public uses for example schools I'm really interested in schools like what do you see there what kinds of things are you talking about there well I'll I'll let Scott talk in a moment but I will say we're very much aware of the need to plan for that um we haven't quite landed on necessarily what is the mechanism um we've spoken with Wake County Public Schools about this and we're speaking with Durham Public Schools tomorrow actually have a call with their growth planner to talk about the growth needs and how we might allow this to happen um you know one of the things we working on with our Consulting team is is there an incentive to donate land for a School site or if a library is identified as a desired use you know might there be some incentive mechanism to allow a developer to do more if they set aside that land or donate that land for that we're again working out on how that might happen and hoping to talk with the school system about how might that technically work can you receive the land what you know what do we need to understand from your internal processes to make that a success so that's just one idea but we hope to have a more robust discussion with the school system about how to align that I wanted to provide one other

comment on that um in the end sometimes it all comes down to money and so aspirations are wonderful um but we need to think about how to fund this so the development is likely to mostly be private ly funded development but in the in the in the revenue stack to support public amenities desired or required there really are three ways of of funding those so one there is going to be incremental tax because as we can imagine the value of the land in RTP over time will will really increase significantly the other is there is already regulation which allows overlay districts called urd you don't want me to mention this I have which I don't know we might run out of time but if you want to put the slides up that would be it's Urban research and science District so that

allows once a urd is overlaid on a particular site it allows an Inc a designated additional tax on that land to support benefits for for that land so um the it's really interesting thank you for this slide and we can share this with you um it allows you to increase the tax on that designated parcel up to the level of the adjacent Municipal tax rate so you all know there is the there is already the ger wake service District because we are not Incorporated within any any municipality but there is a significant increment also that could be generated from the urd imposed on particular Parcels around RTP and the third is really an aspiration of ours along the way there is going to be significant increased value created in

the land now for existing land owners first of all development happens when a for-profit developer is motivated to be able to make a return on their investment so nothing nothing will happen if if the Developers for sites aren't going to be able to make a profit on what they're doing but in that context the incremental value created in just the land or the residual value in the land that is Created from upzoning that land and changing the covenants on that land could be significant and so part of the analysis that we we' have undertaken is to determine is there a private fund for bookmarking it we're calling the RTP reinvestment fund that some of that enhanced land value could ACR to a this fund that would also be able to uh address aspirational Investments

to be made in RTP or aspirational Investments to be made to help our universities be more competitive when they're seeking research dollars and research funding or for the next big thing that will maintain uh competitiveness for our region and that would be a discretionary fund to be able to use to be able to jumpstart some strategic initiatives that come out of rtp3 very cool so much you've given us to really Ponder on here um thanks for that additional explanation and I would like to have that slide the one that's authorized but wasn't used it is in your packet in the packet okay great um thanks that I you know I there plenty other things I could mention but I'll I'll hold with that thank you so much chair BS okay so you did ask answer already one thank you for this presentation as always it's always very

thorough when you all come up here thank you commissioner yeah that which means I have to ask really hard questions now uh the chief of staff said one day I've dro creamer she said um first I give you sugar and then uh it comes the salt at least I'm on brand so it's not gonna be that bad um here's where my struggle is I always want Duram to build out processes that Outlast people and it seems that that's what this has done right we want to build something that is inclusive you all have taken the time to align it with our plan you will all have been conscientious enough to go to our schools and to come to us first and to go to w County so all that's really really great but here's where my rub is and it's it's not necessarily with this it is with who comes after you who comes after that good for our board all three right but all three and I love many of your board

members say it that way many of your board members but you know Linda we've had a talk I know you care about affordable housing Travis I love your glasses and I know you care about affordable housing Scott we've talked about like affordable housing and transit in the event you are all hit by a bus I need to make sure that like these are things that we can put in place so I'm GNA give a random example I chair Joint City County planning and there are things that board we are very limited in like what we can do to kind of sort of elevate some commissioner Carter said I think it's great that we're going to be in a position for you all to put covenants in place to do things that that our hands have traditionally been too tied to do but what usually happens we see certain people come into this body or to that meeting or to the Planning Commission or go over to the city and they'll say we're going to do all of these things and those things include we will give money to the schools I'm not going to give the the the name I'm not going to elevate uh the name of that project but there was one recently you know it's

four billion doll project and they said we're going to give money to the schools it was $23,000 muing pays more for ink pens and poits than $23,000 nor were the schools even talked to about like what the donation would look like is this $23,000 actually something that we need you know did we say we were going to put this on uh debt for student you know what I'm saying like it wasn't even just take our $23,000 and we did what we said we were gonna do again that's not you all same thing to be said we're they say we'll do a set aside for affordable housing that set aside isn't in Covenant is not in the trust so now they can sell it the next year sell it the next month and now we that that inventory doesn't exist so I'll say all that to say I feel pretty good about the fact that you all are going to put some things in place that will that will hold people to the fire to do what they say they're going to do but again once you all are gone having

this kind of privatized model somebody could come in here and really go 100 miles hour to the right of what we've tried to build here and so I I wanted to elevate that somewhat um because I do know this is a development is a private development and my liberal ideas of like what I want my home see I had to be very careful people say Duram I say my home to look like um so I I would I would be interested in seeing like the devil in the details because I think that's what's killing this County right now is the fact that we have these loopholes you can drive Mac trucks through and I can tell you all are trying to be intentional but I want you all to help me find a pitfalls and that intentionality because I guarantee you somebody in the private sector is watching this and they are thinking of ways to drive that truck through this so that's that's to elevate just a thought around it and we can talk about it later do want to go back you gave some

examples of what it would look like I'm going to use like y'all been defend right is that what we are imagining here because you know I saw the Eli Lily campus we were all in Indiana together like are we looking to do something that is that tight and I ask and I hate to use them as an example I worry sometimes about office space right we see New York Times and everybody saying we're not coming back and we're seeing these very dense spaces being developed right now and then you see the office spaces empty so one how do we plan on working with that as folks don't want to come back to work and also are we position to say you know what we won't use this as office space we will flip this to a restaurant like how malleable are the spaces that you are are developing there that way we can say all right can't build this maybe we'll build it this way and I'll stop on that one so I'm G to try to respond that was one question the other one was elevated oratory I actually I I know that the first one was your most important

statement and um I think it's important I think you framed it very well and and I appreciate it I'm glad our board is here to hear your passion around that and I think it is a challenge that we clearly as a legacy want to make sure that the vision and the aspiration for the amazing asset that is RTP remains consistent with the plan that we're setting out here so you're in government you know what happens to comprehensive plans and we need to do our best and we need need input from the the counties and our other constituents and our companies to to create those not roadblocks but those you know parentheses in which we make we we can be confident that the plan will be implemented um to your second Point uh this the development will be dri again we do not own the we we don't

own most of the land in RTP so the development is going to be Market driven and I think the development the people who implemented the private developers or the companies or who implement the private development are going to be responding to the market where we sit today it feels like there is a significant need to add housing in the Triangle region so Travis had a number up there 400,000 dwelling units it sounds like a big number but the the reality is that the in the in the three count region we're producing about 9,000 dwelling units a year and from the slide that Trav had Travis had up there a demand for 400,000 over the next 20 years we should be producing 20,000 dwelling units a year and we see what has what impact that has had on our housing market and So within the foreseeable future one

could Envision that the development that wants to happen in RTP is going to be about around residential residential amenities amenitized office and lab and research space because that's what the market is saying it wants to be I don't think we can prescribe today what the Market's going to be in 40 years and so that's why we need um stewards of this plan to be able to respond to how the market Market evolves Linda I don't know if you wanted to yeah excellent your first question was an excellent question I Echo Scott on that um I think the slide that we're looking at right here helps because there's really two layers if you think about the the the if you if you talk about the private process or the planning process for the entitlements yes there there could be loopholes um you as you said that Mac

trucks can run through but in terms of legacy and public dollars the ussd which was created in 2015 by the general assembly of North Carolina that is a a local a component unit of local government so if that and Scott mentioned it it would be the adjacent um city tax equivalent to that so that's 31 um that could be added to that overlay District or a district within the district um and if schools are or and it and it can only go to public uses so it could go to affordable housing it could go to schools could go to um public parks it could be used as a mechanism to uh create synthetic tiffs for financing so there's a lot

of um Power that could be within that but it it is still a public entity so it would be separate and apart from the planning board that Travis presented it would be an advisory committee that would have the the county managers you know very similar to how the RTP special tax District set up so I think that's a distinction that may not be as clear but it is another tool in the toolbox and I think it does it it will be able to be protected um in terms of use of funds that are derived from that subdistrict so that thank you for that and I Know Travis you you didn't even get a chance to get to this slide so you're gonna present it um just if you could highlight who else has one of these like yes so C because I'm looking at on the general assembly's website I went looked

5 on public transportation so this applies to the entire park and again Linda alluded to some of the structures on this the

governance of this is that there is an advisory committee that you all appoint based on recommendations from the owners and tenants Association that advisory committee on an annual basis recommends uh what every year we spend those funds on and then it becomes part of your budget ordinance uh for approval and that advisory committee um as happened this year asked for an increase in that tax rate and ultimately you all have jurisdiction over what that rate is set at um and that's sort of the structure there the urds are are you can think of these like subd districts within our existing RTP tax district and they're structured in the exact same way um so this was added to the legislation uh as Linda said about 2014 or 2015 it was actually originally envisioned to be used at HUB that is that's not ultimately the um direction that that we decided to move in with Hub but it is still on the books and is now a a public financing mechanism available really to you all as the county to help fund some of the infrastructure and programs to support uh the urbanization of of of portions of the park um so the way that

these work is essentially the land owner would come to you as a petition and say hi we would like you to create an urban research Service District to fund services in the district um those revenues very explicitly in the statutes can be used for Debt Service uh so if there are significant infrastructure pieces to that need to be created the revenue from this can be used for that um all the funds must be used for the benefit of that District so as it's drawn um whatever the public project is has to have some some sort of Nexus to provide that benefit to the district to use those funds um we can create many of there's no limit to how many of these we can create it's just a matter of of uh needing to create them um in a defined District to be able to again provide those services and provide that Nexus between uh the public and the private there and the tax rate limitations on this are tagged to the uh rate of the largest neighboring municipality in that county so for Durham County that ties any Durham urds to the Durham city tax rate and that would be the maximum rate that you could charge in this District

um if so that that current rate is is uh 55 cents is currently the Durham city tax rate um it'll be tagged to that as that tax rate changes over time um one of the things we've thought about too is the need to to Le to to include and consider those additional taxes that are levied on that so RTP taxpayers pay that um RTP special uh tax District that exists today that rate plus the um Durham County Fire District rate uh for that service as well so if you kind of pull those out that pulls that 55 cents down if we don't want to over tax and go above um on an equivalent basis what that would be but it does provide a a mechanism to generate additional Revenue to provide those additional services and infrastructure for these uh newly developed more dense areas of uh the county commissioner Jacobs thank you so much much for this presentation and thank you for your work on this I mean this is just really

incredible and really really exciting moment for all of us really is um I I feel like this um is a pivotal time not just for RTP but our entire region and um I think you said it somewhere in the presentation that the decisions that we we make now the Investments that we make now are really going to determine our future for the next 50 years and that's the same for RTP but it's also the same for Durham and so we really have this Collective moment where we're doing the same thing with end Durham you know with our comp plan with our Transit plan but we're also doing a downtown Durham study we're doing a cultural arts master plan we're doing a discover Durham tourism plan but they're really all about the same thing and so I I really love the way that you have you know um dove into the

comprehensive land use plan and are really aligning that because that's what we have to do we we just don't we've got to be all moving in the same direction and working together and I see your further slides Travis are about Transit and how we're aligning with our transportation and Transit a plan so um I just I really want to applaud you and I think we can really learn from each other you know when I looked at um you know the comp plan and how you all um are going to help to deliver on the 15minute city or a 15minute community um that's coming from the Durham community so I think for me I know you obviously we live in a capitalistic society that is governed by the market but we can still have the power through a lot of different mechanisms and you have some that we don't have we can

figure out how to Leverage The Market to deliver on what the community wants and the vision of the community and the business owners in RTP so um I I um you know so it's a powerful force and I I hope as we move forward with with our comprehensive plan that we do work work really really closely together because we're going to be the next step for us is our unified development ordinances and you know we can we can all help each other because you're going to be doing the same thing as how do you translate the plan into actuality um and the funding is really key so so this um tool you know this mechanism is is very important because let's face it we don't have enough money to do all the things that we don't have and our hands are often very much tied at the state

level um so I I think the key thing and commissioner Verns kind of alluded to this a little bit is going to be how we really stay true to some of the values and I think the biggest challenge for Us is around Workforce housing and affordable housing how are we really going to from a market perspective really make that happen because again we've got to have people who are working at all different levels and RTP able to live there and we want to have diverse inclusive communities so we're going to and so it's great that you're looking at National and you know International models for that um just a few little things I I love you know we're working for universities I know you're working with Durham Tech as well I I would say let's let's Elevate that and include Durham Tech across the board because now what we're seeing is Durham

Tech is being a Lynch pin you know we've had recent announcements with a partnership with Duke and Derm Tech with a nursing and um pipeline a new announcement with with um North Carolina Central and Durham Tech uh for students so what I see is all of our educational universities are strengthening their connection to each other so I think we need to really recognize the key role that our community college plays in our education our two career pipeline um see I'm G to make sure I mentioned um and I'm really grateful to the way that you already are using your tax District to help with some of our regional goals with um the bike ways

plan with the mobility Hub and want to thank you for also partnering on the ncdot uh Federal application for Mobility hubs as well so fantastic so um what the the one point I want to make though is that the when you look back at the vision where the vision retain local talent attract Global Talent groundbreaking research research and development technological Discovery the key to all of this is our talent development is our education system we are at a crisis right now in this state where we we rank 50th in per capita public education what I'm really worried about is that if we I want to generate local

0 RTP and getting these great paying fulfilling jobs but if our state does not step up and fully fund our public education system we are not going to be able to generate the local talent that we need for this Vision so what I would like to say and to the RTP board members who are here in the audience we need you to Advocate and speak up to the crisis that we are having and the critical need to fund public education in the state we cannot be at the bottom of the barrel and think that we are going to compete not just nationally but internationally we will not be able to and so we we need the voices of our business

0 and and our whole region so just want to say that and thank you I look forward to all of us working together I'm not going to Bel her at this point but I am happy that um commissioner Jacobs brought up that the board members were here and so y' can advocate so I ain't got to beat up on them I can beat up on the rest of y'all wonderful I did want to throw out um two things two things along those lines so we did not get to do it I'm happy I'm Vice chair now because it will be on the agenda for the Joint City County school board meeting is the research being done by my future NC so

we all know that they have an educational attainment goal that they have set by 2030 if I'm not mistaken for that additional credential is 2 million more more individuals having an additional credential outside of high school and I cannot think of the number off the top of my head but they have done an algorithm that showcases exactly how many folks we need matriculating through dur public schools in order for us to meet our appropriated amount to get to that two million I want to say it's over 60 some thousand but I don't want to throw that out there and be like insanely wrong but the numbers out there and it's available on the website Cecilia Holden's done some great work there I only throw that out because we we we talk about making sure that folks uh can live and work here I think our board has done a really good job of um when we are trying to recruit jobs thank you Andy marle that we work very closely with Duram Tech thank you president Bon and we think of really really um creative incentives to move up that percentage because we want them to

we want to be advantageous for them to hire people here all that being said the other thing that we are seeing and I I would hope you all would somehow figure out how to put that in your Covenant you know we want to see you know get with Andy and and some of the pinest ideas that myself and commissioner Alam have around if you hire somebody who's just as involved it's a little bit harder when you work for a pharmaceutical company because you're fing don't want you on the lines might be different with a battery system we're doing a better like Vin fast is here Kim power is here so that's going to be a force multiplier for like who's going to be able to work on these things and these are technical jobs that people can do with their hands and so that's one I I do hope that we're we're doing that with yes you don't own the land but the folks who are coming in is this important to them I also want to throw out their daycare I never would have thought in my generation That Daycare would become a bipartisan issue but to God be the glory it finally has and so as we're bringing companies in we're saying you want an additional tax incentive are you bringing a daycare

with you are you building one of your campers you look across the street the housing that we're building used to be 68 beds is now 86 I want to see and the reason why I say it's somewhat bipartisan if you go right now the Chamber of Commerce it's actually put out their own white paper and guiding principles on what they want to see for child care and then you finally see instead of using affordable housing you see District saying Workforce housing and we see these bills coming down so as you all are writing this and inviting people and redeveloping these covenants I would love to see in those incentives are you building a daycare are you going to build some housing for yourself are you going to help our students entertainment goals are you going to partner with dur public schools are you interested in making sure that your CEOs are in the classrooms speaking of a CEO and residence I'm not gonna this big hand clap for Anita Brown Graham and uh Carolina cross 100 I know you're really embarrass you're welcome uh she saved 4,000 kids last year because she was able to bring companies into schools and here we have these disconnected Youth

Opportunity youth excuse me let me use the correct word uh these 16 to 24 year olds who are not in school who are not working and how can we get them reconnected back I know that that seems like a heavy lift to ask of you all which is why I'm not asking it of you all I'm asking it of all y'all like that is we're we're dedicated to that we have a model that's been proving to work so I do hope that our business community and you wonderful folks that are sitting at this table write that in there because what I have found they want to work here they want to live here so when you ask them they kind of just Kanye shrug and say yeah we'll do it so I just wanted to you know Kanye strug and do it and then we move on because these are not deal breakers for these companies that want to come in here and access our wonderful beautiful community and so I'm done commissioner Lee chair Allam thank you thank you all so much J for this presentation I did have a few questions just to close us out the main thing was uh you said

that yeah currently RTP is 7,000 Acres that's the total RTP area not just the area that the foundation owns right and then okay correct and then so how much did RTF like originally purchase when they were formed and purchased the land so um it's a it's a great story and I will send you the book um but um it cost $4 million to buy the land um it was done in two tranches um because it started out in durm county and then wake saw a good thing and so it was expanded to wake and we couldn't get state or any other funding to raise the 4 million to buy the land I say we our forbearers and so they actually had to take loans out from two million from the residents of North Carolina where um the leaders from the Triad went around and raised $2 million and then only after they did that was the governor willing to put in

$2 million loan from the state and so that's the unusual ual characteristic of our model because if you look at most research Parks they either they or the state or the university own the land and there were Ground leases and so there's much more control um but $4 million in the 1950s was a lot of money so hats off to the folks who creatively were able to come up with that business model because there was no other alternative that's great yeah if you can send me that book and like how much that how many acres that original $4 million got us cuz wondering like I know you mentioned that RTF doesn't own the land you have to continuously sell the land so how much of that acreage is still left within rtfs holding we know or Lind might know it's about 400 Acres okay or so and that includes the hundred of Hub right no that no it doesn't include Hub those sites that are available

yeah thank you and then I'm glad um commissioner Carter and I'm sure my other colleagues are on the same way like the same first thing I was thinking I was like loopholes inclusionary zoning loopholes um made me a kid but also it made me wonder wonder if Durham County can govern under covenants get more loopholes of our land but I see our attorney already knew where I was headed there but um to the conversation of the Covenant of when it comes to selling the land are you going to have those guidelines for what the preferences are for before selling the land pre-written or are they going to kind of be Case by case on different Parcels of land so this would apply to already sold land essentially so the the we would simply The Proposal would be to rewrite the Covenant to create these new structures to establish those requirements our goal is to have them be um as predictable as possible so if you want to redevelop X number of acres and you want to do a mixed juice campus that

triggers these specific set of requirements um we're working out exactly how to do that and what those thresholds should be and we also want to acknowledge that in some cases um the park has some very unique topography and development over time has led to some unique characteristics so there may be cases where we do need some mechanism um to allow exceptions to that so we're trying to figure out what's the right level to set them at but our goal would be to have predictable standards that can be met by a developer to say okay I need to provide these things here's how I'm going to meet them and then you know the the work of the planning board would be to just verify that those plans are in place and legally we have the structures needed to enforce them okay yeah that's really great to hear because as commissioner Burns was vice chair Burns was saying you know if you guys aren't here you know tomorrow you guys hopefully don't leave to R pastures because these are the best pastures of RTP um but we also want to be very thoughtful about this and

0 so it's both of those we want yes and on that thank you and then my last Point um is more so a point than a question is just around one thing that was really

concerning and shocking to me was concerning of just like the vastness of it of you were mentioning that over a thousand acres of RTP is just parking lots and that we're expected to reach 1 million people in just RTP within the next 20 years so like that Transit conversation I'm glad you have that in the um additional materials I think that I would like to see that become more at the Forefront of these conversations um especially I see Ellen Beckman our Transit director is here making sure that she's in the loop of how do we make sure that we're being sustainable with the growth of keeping up with the growth of our Transit plans too because I don't want to see another Thousand Acres going towards parking lots in the found in the park we agree yeah thank you all so much again thank you so much we appreciate it so that brings us to our break we have the arpa discussion next how does

the board feel about uh working lunch or if we just want to go through this I think I think we could just keep going since we're doing good on the time yeah okay that is good when the um Deputy County Manager Hager birthday girl if you want to come up with uh John kefir our grant administrator and Ella har management anal analyst good morning everyone thank you

this will um be a high level conversation and we'll move through um pretty expeditiously one of my birthday presents to myself now I'm just messing no but this is our usual um update to the board and we'll have conversations and upcoming meetings as we get almost to the Finish Line um we give some quick funding Recaps um some status updates on projects and talk about some upcoming allocations um conversations with the board and then next steps I always show this slide um the initial framework in areas in which the funding categories occurred and we have um touched almost all of the different places and we are um as you know moving closer to having all the dollars either encumbered or bringing forth that budget for the

particular items um the guidelines as you know happened early 2021 the board then came up with some guiding principles which ultimately became a plan and a framework which we've been working for the last um 204 well well for since May of 2022 and so so um that framework uh Set uh a areas of priority based on your adopted strategic plan and as we shared at that time it was a living document and as we've evolved as other dollars have been allocated from the state and the federal government there have been shifts and as we have um partnered more with our um city of Durham uh We've also made other realignments and we will present a document that shows those realignments in an upcoming

meeting uh at that time we also as a reminder uh set aside some dollars potentially that we may need for um priorities as we worked the plan um the federal rules and how they allow spending levels can be a little bit more rigid at times and so we knew um in developing this work we wanted a path just in case we needed to shift and pivot and so and that's what we've been doing along the journey as you know um we've done some projects funded with local dollars some funded with arpa and we've shipped it as accordingly we've actually have two nonprofits that we want to move to local dollars just because of the rigidness of how the federal dollars are and we'll bring that to the board in another meeting but uh we are grateful for the board supporting staff's um recommendation in this space and I can say we are have a lot to be

really proud about we have 68% of our funds enur encumbered or committed as to date although there's a plan for all of it I know folks may see the Gap and they say oh when can I apply for a new round and the board's already set some priorities and and so we we do have some additional rfps but they are for some targeted areas uh we shared with you in September some targets and um as we continue um working the the nuances of things sometimes we shift and we had some targets for for instance an interlocal agreement thought we could bring that to you by now as well as some of our rfps related to the affordable housing so we're shifting a couple of months will not um cause a a problem but we are in the um three-year calendar time frame so we have um about

almost 1100 days left for those who may be counting um in and so U but we're we're well on our way to meeting our Target of trying to have all of the dollars incumbered which means that you have a contract for it when it's applicable and uh and so um the efforts that the board have done over the last couple of months the big one with the water sewer RFP anytime you do infrastructure types of projects those are are more cumbersome and more inclined to cause a um a little bit um more challenge as you get to the end of project completion but with all of the projects our intent is to finalize them um by um of the well ahead of the deadline um this is a reading uh um test to see how your eyes work but no I'm just missing um this just shows a summary of what's

also in your document there's a a document that captures all of the projects um that we have to date we're up to 55 projects um right now and there are many on the way to we have about 10 plus that we'll be finalizing um the nonprofit Community grants all of those are for a 24mon period and they're staggered we're spending quite a bit of time making sure that they're successful in their implementation for some of you who serve on boards um such as with DSS of Public Health you're quite familiar with the um the single audit process which is very involved the nonprofits have to go through the same process so um we are trying to make sure that they're ready for those types of reviews and as we talk about in January the structure that we need to expand in our shop to to help with that work um we

will explain more what that will look like again our goal is to make sure all the dollars on the back end of this are are um accepted as appropriate but that means that your front end continues to be correct um aror projects are targeted to end by September 2026 and that first slide says you know with the uh the community grants they should enter they should finish by 2025 because they're for two years the remaining um at the would finish by 2026 of September and um again about the compliance infrastructure some quick updates on imp pending items um that will come before you soon we have one impending RFP related to business Community Support I'll talk a little bit more about that that RFP um happened back in October time frame and we actually will recommend um some

nonprofits related to that at your next board meeting um there are some areas related to housing security and again as I shared we've vetted further about funding levels and as well as Focus areas and have refined the list slightly um and we will pull those triggers definitely in January and and we feel comfortable about the time frame with us having the three-year period the Broadband uplate uh and realignments we continue to work with the state on the Partnerships there and the ilas related to the Arts area as well as digital investment will come forth to the board in 2024 and that last bullet says Grant Administration but it's also encompassing of other areas related to arpa and we'll also have a discussion about that in um 2024 and that's the the

compliance component or contract Administration it is involved and um uh we just want to make sure through 2026 we have a clear plan of how that works um this is an area we've not talked as much about um and we'll spend some time in January talking further it's those areas that we had planned early on in the plan with set as size for or we uh allocated dollars within the budget for an example uh we allocated money for public school health nurses and those dollars have been set aside for that we've not expended it because the dollars uh the the positions have not been filled recent changes in legislation may allow for us to um have success with positions getting filled faster there was a um but we'll have some conversation about that in January

U there are a few other items that we had set azed for um related to transitional housing um dco on the that is one that we right now have paid with local funds but we can but we did show potentially as arpa funds and it was a a vehicle that I think it was two years or three U two years for um actual um constru production and and outfitting so the next one is um there was a set aside also um for prek expansion we've been funding prek for um throughout over the past several years with local dollars and this Revenue replacement category is one that we funded for projects that um not necessarily just for revenue and replacement but the rules allow for flexible use of arpa funds for anything

that the local government does but you don't have to have the stringent Federal rules um as it relates to Grant Management and then there's an amount that's um showing that we've not allocated and so uh we'll spend more time at the January meeting on this area we have some more work to do um to make sure that we can flesh out what uh some of the details are but wanted to remind you of these areas as we think about um the final steps with funding I know that there are um places that the board has also asked us to revisit as potential fun use um such as eviction of diversion or other places but uh we we wanted to put this list there so uh real quickly that shows the sort of where we are and with within the next

two months we expect um pretty much most of the dollars to be committed or um in an encumbrance State as far as next steps as I mentioned we did have the um small business support RFP it went out on October 11th and the intent was for the applicants to establish and maintain an Ural support system for small business owners impacted by covid as well as provide targeted small business support for Quality qualifying small business and again that will tentatively come to the board on the 12th and the digital Equity one we've talked about this before it is the $735,000 this and this has been a timing issue the city is helping to take lead on this particular one and they've recently hired the staff member that will um guide this process

and uh we will partner with them but it's just been a timing issue while because we've just not brought it to the board and then lastly the culture arts funding this has evolved U over the past year or so uh we were to partner with the Arts Council there is an effort by the city to coordinate what this looks like as I mentioned earlier the nonprofit serving having to do the same subrecipient Grant Management which is very involved has um caused us some has caused the city to sort of pivot somewhat in how they've done the partnership role uh there is an intent to use the dollars for projects that are near some of the development uh in the haai um development that's happening on

fedil and some of the dollars will be managed by one of the nonprofit communities um partners and so I'm broad because I'm waiting for some clarification but it's been a lot trying to to finish up what that looks like and so this has evolved a lot um but we're trying to make sure before we bring it to the elected bodies is something that will um be seamless on the back end because of the complexities of it um so as far as next steps um we we will have some recommendations for the board for your December 11th meeting we will send some information out um this week similar to what we did with the uh nonprofit Community grants we'll share the folder with the proposals and the recommendations um and then we'll have ongoing recommendations uh at the January 24th work session I can entertain any questions we

2 million so let's celebrate that Milestone um it's fantastic and I I know we've asked for this before but I really the list of that list you know there's a whole that whole hardto read chart I I really would love to see some way that we can really push that out to give it the credit that it's due I mean not just all the work that has gone into that and

all the different things that are being funded um I know it may be you know very detailed but I I I still feel like we haven't really celebrated that enough and so I I hope that we can can do that um Can Can we allow um DCM Hager that's actually in the works I don't know if we're ready to put it out but it's yes ma' good and part of that um commissioner Jacobs um we showed some of the up changes to the website and so there is a lot underway and we will do a more aggressive campaign of look at us and what the board has supported and what the community is doing we're starting um we did there's a lot of vetting that goes before we start um toting horns on some of our partners but you're absolutely right we do yeah and not just the toting the horn but actually just getting information out to the community that this is these are all of the programs that are being funded

and supported and you know even if it was just like a one pager or a report to the community on arpa the status of the arpa funding even just like a written readable right report um so that was one um I did want to get more information about the category that said planning and infrastructure to support home security efforts for two million because as as you know we've had lots of conversations I'm really concerned to make sure that we do something around a day Center which is a really critical need um in our community some type of a day Center to support the whole our our infrastructure around homelessness and support services and that whole Corridor that we have with the 300 and project Library urban

ministries you know our all of our investments so so that was one thing I wanted to hear more about and second of all I mean glad to see the reference to the RFP related to land trust housing repair fantastic um the other big need that had come to my attention was for um re-entry housing for women specifically um and I'm glad to see the money going towards the rehab for our existing re-entry but so those were the two things um I wanted to follow up on so and I'll let me go to that list one of the items that commissioner Jacob's reference was the planning infrastructure fund to support home security efforts there's $2 million there and this is one that we

will come to the board in January with um further information there is a joint City County conversation about our homeless um and housing security efforts um this month and we wanted to hear that discussion as well as get further feedback and have additional dialogue before we uh move forward with the RFP and um I'll let the manager share further or that's okay okay that that is correct so we didn't want to make any type of commitments or proposals until we got to hear from from the um committee and the boards that are working on those um homelessness initiatives okay so I would also encourage checking in with Rashana Parker with our Justice service is as well because the specifically the need for reentry housing for women is is

another critical need that I've heard over and over again we do yeah yes thank you um but again thank you so much this is really I mean good birthday present for you yes it's a a huge achievement um to get to this point and again I want to thank you and lot team work it's like I'm the face but it's a hundreds of folks helping in this process commission Jacob um commission Vice chair Burton it's okay it's a it's a new day it's a new day I do want to go back one congratulations on 68% of this money being encumbered properly like that is what I want to you know Echo for everyone because we did take the time to do the review and wait for the final rule to come out and there are counties from not just Murphy to mano but Murphy to LA county and Maine to Florida to Miami uh who who didn't take the time to

do it right and so one I I I don't just want to congratulate us on spending I want to congratulate us on a process a Equitable process and a lot of man hours I do want to uplift you the 850,000 for Grants Administration I I really wish we could almost do that like volunteer hour and quantify them because I know that there was a lot more Sweat Equity put in by multiple staffers across multiple departments and so we know that that's minuscule like it is it when you think about it in comparison to$ 62 million that is a very small amount so I hope no one you know outside gets sticker shot because we that's not even 10% administrative cost so you know that's number one I did want to throw out a couple of things one we are starting a little bit behind what some of the potential timelines might have been for some of the nonprofits potentially because they appli um I want to know you know when

everyone signed are do are do you get a sense from my nonprofits that they feel good about starting now uh moving up their uh moving up their timeline and being able to do the work that they might have requested to do previously that's a great question so what we're doing as we finalize contracts we revisit scope of work right okay um they have 24 months regardless of the start time so although let's say last year this time we identified our partners over this past 12 months we've refined what their um targets will be what their outcomes will be and we're also refining that even though we finalized the contract if that makes s right and so uh this is a um iterative process I'm laughing because it's many of us involved and um and and so

although some may be a little disappointed it didn't happen sooner as they're now getting into the process of implementation and Reporting and everything they can appreciate our pace so I will say um um to your point there may have been a little bit of disappointment it was taking longer uh at first but we wanted to do it right we wanted to do it right but I have not heard any no that's helpful and the reason why I throw that out the other thing I think we were very creative um in the framework the Equitable framework that you and your staff developed and making sure that yes there going to be some really bright shiny nonprofits that are going to come through with these awesome proposals but we're also going to have some folks who really do great work in the community and might not necessarily be in a position to do uh every bit of paperwork that we need like again you pointed out that single audit uh being able to report this back of the treasury I just

want to ask because as much as we're like oh exhale today this is where hard work starts this is hard I I I get the reporting starts now because so these people who are used to just going out and doing the good work the hard work now have to look at me and you with our glasses every couple of months and come back with uh this was our outcome this was our measurement and so are we or have we decided because I want people to be successful are we in a position and I don't know that might be a staffing thing to kind of sort of check in with folks and say okay listen this is the way this should be laid out and are we are we doing our partner do a little bit more handholding not for everybody but those that really need it but we see gosh outcomes are great but gosh this paperwork needs prayer so so you you know you I I've been there I had my finger on the button waiting for you to finish because I will say I really appreciate DCM hager's tact and how she

answered your question right this has been a very labor intensive process and DCM Hagar and our staff have had to become downright indignant with some of the processes I would say I would you I would you and so where we have some Community Partners that were you know well structured and the infrastructure was there to support it they have literally had to hold hand yeah and you all will hear behind the scenes we probably will switch the funding source for some because we're afraid that some of it'll hit that Treasury seal in get right back down yes ma'am so but and that's not a bad thing it's and and so it is but it is the and that's why when we talk about um and for me I always hate to go back to the to the past but my first job was with the Smart Start initiative North partnership for children and I worked with the nonprofits and um I had not seen so much

R in my life from Auditors the state Auditors but it taught me so much about the difference with nonprofits in their structure versus government but that administrative side many of them have not worked had to report at this level and so as as as the manager has said this has been labor intensive which we knew going into it but we also want to build this capacity so that they can then compete for dollars outside of you know what they're getting now and so they'll be stronger when they get on the other side of it so that's right so that's what we want that's what the board was committed to do and so when we come to you in January we'll be able to say well based on our experience this is what we're seeing we meet with the manager weekly for about 30 minutes we give her updates on where we are on all of these um projects um the ones that elevate for that particular week that

whether it's the Ila with the city or um where we may need to shift and it's again with from Grant funds to local funds not a bad thing but we our compliance team and finance can't thank them enough for what they do they have that same lens and experience we're looking for the potential Pitfall and we don't want anyone to have a situation that's um a negative thing so so and I did and I can wait because I want to take time from my colleagues but I did have two more and if you have to follow up with me I I understand it one's kind of an easy yes or no so I'm excited about the grants the repair for our seniors and I know you said we're gonna talk about that in January I'm just wondering that is a RFP for what the RFP is for services the RFP is to see if we can feasibly start to do additional work that's the first question and then question number two um who I know the cultural resource plan

at $2 million um I know you said the city might take lead but even if they take will they be uh ad ministering or will it be the Arts Council boom boom boom like so those are my two questions if we know them so with the um to expand the housing repair programs we would do an RFP Pro RFP to identify entities nonprofits that could help facilitate that work okay that's that's that yeah this is labor intensive and we had a small Grant in this before and this this so we're trying to figure out the best way to do do it that is not so labor intensive and I'm excited because I remember like folks will ask me and I can think in rule I know who you need to call it USDA in certain senses tracks I remember me and Rod Jenkins were having this conversation so I'm just excited about that's why I ask and then the other one who might administer that two million that is the city okay yes ma'am perfect that's good we will give them

all that we're grateful that they're willing to partner with us in that way thank you man' thank you do you have question yes just a couple comments or maybe one question first not a name variant thanks so much for being so careful and how you're you've led us through the whole entire arpa process from the beginning to I guess we're in the middle now we're not at the end yet right we're more in the middle um but every time you present it is you the it's reemphasized for us how labor intensive this is and the reporting requirements and just the onus it's put on our St staff to be able to get this money out the door um and and especially with the you know the large number of projects that there are so we we all really appreciate it um and I feel very supportive of of um I really appreciate the update and feel very supportive of all the the areas um that are sort of highlighted for future

funding um and I would just say in particular the one on home security the one we're calling the Home Security efforts um that I agree with Wendy about you know the need for improved infrastructure and services here in Durham around day services for people who are unhoused and also additional ways to serve people who are experiencing unsheltered homelessness and who may not be going to our shelter and there are a lot of those you every month we get a report at the hsac and the numbers are increasing every single month and they're in the you know 40s 50s the number of unsheltered homeless individuals and families and it's just alarming um recently someone sent me an article about a new effort in Greensboro where they have these units that are called pallets and I'm not sure whether or not they you

I'm not sure how much you know infrastructure other than a bed and shelter is are in these pallets but it just seemed like a really creative approach uh to getting 50 people off the street and I feel like we should look just explore that a little um and I was going to bring it up at the hsac meeting as well but thought I'd throw it out now um and then I wanted to ask one specific question uh about the funding for the Arts the Ila with the city for investment in the Arts because they just put out an um a a press release about how you know they're they're moving forward with their 1 million already um and they've got this press release out and how they're really focusing on equity and what you know what art um who will receive these grants and they focus on racial equity in particular and they're working with the hati um and St Joseph's historic foundation around that and in order to build minority owned

businesses that are arts and culture oriented and so I'm just you're for us to you know jump on board it just seems like that one already has an administrative process under way and so you know I'm hopefully we'll be joining soon yes ma'am I'm hopeful as well you know we've been talking about this one for some time and I I I received those remarks and I'm excited as well okay thank you thank you commissioner Carter and I'm glad um you put an emphasis on our uh neighbors that are facing housing insecurity and to your point I think uh in Austin when we were at ni there was actually a couple of groups there that were presenting their models that they had been building of communities like that and I think uh commissioner Jacobs actually was able to go on a tour where they went and they were building this model of not just providing housing but

trying to provide permanent housing of a path to homeownership uh a path to to you know sustainable livelihood uh for residents and I definitely want to see how we can definitely be having more conversations about that and you know as we know our urban ministries here in Durham is over capacity and can't take in doesn't have the space and for the growing population that we have of people individuals who are facing housing and security um so being able to you know not just have a conversation about how do we provide temporary uh services and resources but how do we have that path forward because also at our last joint believe it was our last joint City County or maybe the one before that council member Freeman also addressed uh about the eviction aversion Pro program how we're providing individuals checks to help basically push down the line the

inevitable um that it's a helpful program and something we are glad we're able to support but there is going to be a cliff once we run out of federal funding for that eviction uh diversion money and so how are we looking at it long term of you know these are individuals these are our neighbors these are individuals that are working multiple jobs and still struggling with the increasing housing costs so what type of long-term permanent Solutions are we looking at thanks for raising that commissioner Carter uh thank you so much Deputy County Manager Hager I'm really excited and congratulations for the way you've handled and brought forward and managed this entire process because I know in the beginning we didn't even have all of the full guidelines of how the money could be spent so you've navigated this really wonderfully and I'm excited thank you so much with that we move to uh commissioner comments I'll start over if we see anyone with hands

first commissioner Carter your favorite agenda item I just say I'm filled with a lot of Hope for you know our future working together we as a this current board we have a whole year right to work together on oh how to improve funding at the state level for our schools and what more we can do here um you know how we can be sure we're providing the supports that our youngest children and our families need how we can get people into great jobs a lot of things we've been discussing today um being sure our social safety nets is strong as it can be um and I'm filled with hope not because I'm necessarily optimistic you know I feel like I've been working on these problems for 19 years and we're still working on the exact same problems and some steps forward some steps backwards but I'm filled with hope because hope is I don't know it's some sort of sentiment that we have inside of

ourselves that's not really related to external circumstances in our community or in our world it's just based on working towards what's good and what's right and I'm glad that I share that with all of you and that we're working on it together thank you for Carter uh commissioner Jacobs thank you for those words commissioner Carter absolutely and we are going to do our best to make sure that you last year uh in office after 20 years of service to our community is a great one um yeah I just wanted to follow up two things one is related to what you just spoke about chair Alam is um The Familiar Faces initiative the Durham familiar faces initiative one of the three subcommittees is Supportive Housing and so folks from housing for

New Hope and uh the city it's a real collaborative effort um all the they're are looking at what are the all the different types of housing we need so you know it could be popup like use transitional real um because people are doing this they're doing these platform types of tents um you know um tiny homes that you can just do on a parking lot with shared facilities I mean nationally there are all kinds of inov ative models out there um and frankly people are wanting to come to Durham and do them so um looking at all the different types of Supportive Housing that we need for our system of care um is I so so I just want to let you know that that's folks are working on that and the only other thing I wanted to share was I went to the first meeting uh last Wednesday in Berke

County for the NCA presidential initiative just it's called one more thing and it's focused on how we reduce overdose and I feel really excited and very honored to be one of nine elected officials nine County Commissioners and frankly I believe there are only two of us from Urban counties um and so sitting around the table and hearing County Commissioners speak from rural counties all over our state and especially every single person has a personal story you know County Commissioners who you know we all have Addiction in our families but heartbreaking uh loss personal loss of children and family members from elected officials across our state and um and it's bringing

frankly it's bringing us all together because this you know addiction is a disease that it doesn't know any boundaries of class race you know party affiliation and um so it's we really are at a great moment where we have Medicaid expansion happening at the same time that we have this opioid funding so the Nexus of the two of those really really give us an opportunity and um this committee is really looking at how we are what are we all experiencing right now when we're trying to uh Implement mat and using Naran and what is really happening and what are some of the barriers that we can collectively look at be with the power of ncac at the state level to try collectively to address and I'll just

share with you out of the conversations that we each brought and there were also a lot of Staff expertise at this meeting um number one is how do we address the stigma how do we address the stigma around um you know mental illness substance use addiction and getting into treatment it is I when I talked to our staff here before I went to the meeting we have all these resources right now we can offer people in the field to start treatment we our staff you know paramedics people in public health they are following up with people and saying hey we want to help you peer support Specialists and it's still really challenging and and so what I heard what my when I listened to our staff who were in the field they said they felt like the biggest issue is still the stigma and also the rising disparity racially

our overdose rate in Durham County is now 60% in the black community and it's about it's over 60% now in the black community and it's around 30% in the white community that when I started doing this work six years ago as you know the co-chair of Durham joins together it was the reverse and that that that has now flipped and again what I'm hearing is is again around this you know we hear it over and over again so how do we actually address this and the root causes because we have to figure out how to be able to do that and the second thing I want to share was just I'm thinking of systemic issues that we can help with at the state level related to access to services at Mat is around Insurance some companies some insurance may only say oh you know

they'll cover a few months well that's not enough some people may need to be in treatment for years it's some people may be their whole life so and then it's also with providers because in many rural counties the first point of contact could be a primary care provider and there's even stigma within providers related to m that they don't they don't see it as something as basic as providing insulin to somebody who's a diabetic or heart medicine so I look forward to sharing more with you because it's going to impact our work here in Durham County and I'm also taking forward all the things that we've learned here um and sharing that as well so just wanted to share that update thank you commissioner Jacobs Fe your Burns mine is really quick I do hate um we didn't get to finish it

there's a I usually have a lot but I'm I'm kind of sadden and I hope you all can join me in this tonight is um mayor elae O'Neal's last night is Mayor and I was hoping that we could do a proclamation as all women board but we do not have everyone here for a signature and so at a future date because as we all know she uh is betrothed and will be going to get so I don't know when she will be able to come back but I hope you all will join with me in uh signing a proclamation on her historic election and um her departure I just I thought we would be able to suspend the rules today and be able to do it but we're not um but that's that's the only request that I have right now thank you thank you so much Vice chair Burns um thank you again everyone and I just want to Echo the sentiments commissioner Carter shared I'm really excited and looking forward to this next year of all the things things that we're going to be able to grow that we've already started to build up on and all

the new initiatives that we're going to bring forward and I look forward to sharing uh as we move forward so thank you all so much and with that I adjourn my first meeting let good chair and we'll pass it yeah so I'll entertain a motion to adjourn don't Nida uh wait Nida came yeah do I forget do we have to do that you you don't have to okay you don't have to okay we do have a meeting right now though we have a meeting I know we have a meeting okay Nida are you what would you prefer okay let mej thank you we have agenda prep directly after this meeting so all attendees you can grab your lunch and come right back

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