Board of Commissioners · Regular Meeting · June 26, 2023

good evening everybody it's seven o'clock and we are going to get started go ahead and get started in making sure that we stay on time and also knowing that people lose skittish about what's happening with the weather so first of all we thank you for being here this evening on our June 26 2023 regular session so first of all I will read the public charge the Board of Commissioners ask 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 that individual regains

personal control should decorum fail to be restored the chair will recess to meeting until such time that a genuine commitment to the public charge is observed commissioner Burns would you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance please I pledge allegiance so are there any agenda adjustments commissioners hearing none we will now move on to our announcements

and our clerk Monica Wallace we'll Now read our announcements good evening Commissioners and staff in the public I read the announcements that are published in this evening's meeting meeting agenda Durham summer meals program the Durham summer meals program offering free meals to Children 18 years and younger has started you can text food or c-o-m-i-d-a to 304-304 for meal sites near you you can also use the food resources locator map to find meal sites near you text or check the map frequently over the upcoming weeks because more meal sites will be added throughout the summer the program ends and runs I'm sorry until August the 18th during Refugee day 2023 all Durham County residents are invited to celebrate Durham Refugee day on Saturday

com or you can contact Nao at 919-560-9337 summer summer reading with The Deco Library join us at Durham County Library for this year's summer reading program following the theme all together now you are invited to read with us track your progress win prizes and participate in our wide array of events summer reading will run now through July 29th and

gov backslash voters backslash registration there you will find information on registration deadlines how to register in person online or by mail as well as how to do same-day voter registration during early voting if there are questions you can contact the board of education I'm sorry Board of Elections at 919-560-0700 save the date for Final comprehension comprehensive plan public hearing join us at the final Durham comprehensive plan public hearing a special Joint City County and Board of Education I'm sorry Board of Commissioners public hearing on Thursday August 31st at 7 pm in the city council chambers of City Hall you can

com and you can also sign up for those updates decode agricultural Economic Development grant program the agricultural Economic Development grant program offers costs share grants to assist farmers and non-profits in their agricultural Endeavors and to promote agricultural development and outdoor environmental Learning Centers in schools it will provide two types of Grants small grants for agricultural development in schools up to fifteen hundred dollars and grants for Farmers up to ten thousand dollars training sessions are on July 11th 13th and 18th either in person or virtual and registration is required please contact Sherry Scully at 919-560-0558 there is one additional announcement not on the agenda Durham County government will close most offices in recognition

of the Independence Day holiday on Tuesday July 4th All County offices will reopen with their normal hours on Wednesday July 5th and I will also ask Jim Groves from the Department of Environmental Services to come up to speak really briefly about the whether that we are expecting this evening good evening Commissioners Madam manager Mr attorney folks I'm Jim gross I'm your office of emergency services director we do have an increased risk of severe weather tonight so I want to make sure everyone is under understands uh one what the notifications are going to sound like and then to where to go so if you've ever had heard one of those amber alerts on your phone it's a very annoying tone that'll let you know wake you up in the middle of the night it'll let you know if there's a tornado warning or a severe thunderstorm warning or things like that so your electronic devices if you signed

com you'll receive an immediate notification of that so it'll come through your electronic device we're going to be in the room as well so the public that is in the chair is here if we do get a warning that's saying that we should shelter in place most likely that's going to be because of tornado I'm going to ask you all to move to the back of the room in the last two or three rows either duck cut cover your head or lay on the ground around behind the chairs in this room so the public will stay in this room we just ask you to move back and away from the glass right here Commissioners Mr attorney Mr Sheriff Madam manager you'll go through this room back through your conference room go into the hallway out just outside of your conference room you'll close that conference room door you'll make sure that the door to the stairwell is closed and you'll stay there until the all clear is given that's what we have we don't know that

anything is going to happen I see a bunch of somber faces we would rather be prepared to make sure that if it does happen you all know what to do but right now it looks like it's around Greensboro we've probably got another 20. 40 minutes just depends on how things work and the last thing I'll say is if you see me running try to keep up and you'll be just so so you didn't you didn't know that you might get to spend the evening the entire evening with us huh so well I think we're going to be fine so let's just go on get on through this meeting so that everyone can be home and safe um our next item um and thank you Jim for doing what you do to take care to make sure that we're

5 billion of that uh money which is going to be really really impactful in helping over 4 million North Carolina residents who don't have access to Reliable broadband and so we hope that hopefully some of that money also comes to Durham oh I'm sure we'll be having conversations through Deborah with our legislators and then the second announcement I had was that this Wednesday is actually a holiday for within our Muslim Community it's called Eid and so just wanted to let everyone know a happy Eid Eid

Mubarak and if you have any of your colleagues team members that are Muslim be sure to wish them and also I brought some cookies to celebrate with everyone please feel free to help yourself I'll also put them at the back of the room if it's easier they do have pistachios so please be cautious if you have nut allergies thank you okay commissioner Burns mine is relatively quick you know I always like to do the job announcements I don't know if you all have taken the time to look at uh I was about to say commissioner so well but it's counting that you know I threw you in there with us tonight since we're missing Wendy but Dr Sowell does do a really great newsletter if you all don't have if you have not subscribed please do so but I would also encourage you all to go to our website I meant go to our Facebook page there was one ad in there this week that I particularly liked and we didn't announce it but it's the bio AG Pro so I don't think a lot of people think about Durham or RTP as an AG Tech sector but it is we have over 174 companies in a triangle a lot of them mainly here in Durham and so there

is a certification that Durham Tech is offering right now uh they are covering tuition and they are doing 160 hours of uh internships and it is a paid internship so that's complete tuition complete fees paid during the time that you're in school and what they try to do is get your opportunity in those spaces is and what we are seeing at the end of this certification that costs anywhere from 96 to 900 is a sixty thousand dollar job so if you know somebody who was looking think about this while they're in school we paying them they're getting trained and there's a job at the end we do that with bio works we do that with the bulls initiative now we're doing this with something with agriculture so there's some out there for everybody please take the time to go and look at the manager's newsletter who puts opportunities like this all the time thank you okay hearing none um the only thing that I other thing that I want to lift up is you know just you

know what Duke did this past week around uh scholarship about tuition for students incoming students that are making families making under 150 000 a year is extraordinary and we just need to lift that up and be thankful the work that they're doing around making sure that our young people that are not making 150 000 a year can get a great education and be able to go to Duke so you know there are a lot of other universities around here with nccu and um we've got the and NC State but for Duke to make this kind of move is is really extraordinary and we we do appreciate the work that they're doing um given that we are in a town that you know the article talk that I read the last couple of days talked about where we are as a County

S news and World Report ranking and as I read that article I'm really curious I didn't get through the whole article but what was there for me was Wonder wondering what was the demographics and what were the things that they took into account that we rated that did they look at people that are homeless did they look at people that don't make hundred thousand dollars a year so I'm I'm really curious and if you have an opportunity to research that interview I know there are researchers in the room look at that that we are rated that way so that says to people that are coming to Durham

that we are really really in a great place and we are but not everybody so Durham does good but we just got to keep on working so that a lot more people do good all right if there are no other announcements I'm going to move on to a minute Commissioners we have minutes before us for June 5th uh 2023 our work session minutes are there any edits to those minutes or additions Madam chair I make a motion that we approve the minutes that's written he's been moved and probably second all in favor motions approved four two zero next item is a ceremonial item it's um

230416 of proclamation Durham Refugee day the board is requested to Proclaim July 8th 2023 as a Durham Refugee day in Durham um and I will read this Proclamation we only have one tonight Commissioners normally we have quite a few I will go ahead and read this one um and then I believe see who's in the is it now that's here to accept it we have someone to accept the proclamation and no one's here Donna Donna's here okay so don if you will come to the podiums after I read this would be great Durham Board of Commissioners Proclamation Durham Refugee day 2023. where is the overwhelmed majority of people seeking Refuge through the office of the United States High commission for refugees and

the United States Department of State are vulnerable women and children who will otherwise remain In Harm's Way and whereas a significant portion of refugees fleeing to the United States are coming to join family members from whom they have been separated for years and whereas the United States has a proud humanitarian tradition since the late 1970s of welcoming refugees of all nationalities and religions a tradition which is deeply grounded in our most fundamental and deeply held nation's values and whereas Durham County has a long-standing commitment not only to bring open and welcoming to immigrants and refugees but also to understanding that our immigrant and Refugee communities are

integral to the life of our community now therefore I Brenda a Howerton chair of the board of chair and on behalf of the board of County Commissioners do hereby Proclaim July 8 2023 as Durham Refugee day in Durham County and hereby urge all residents to take note of this observance and commend to the residents of Durham the celebration of this day and uh our Refugee and immigrant Community this the 26th day of June 23. the board of County Commissioners thank you chair Howerton um on behalf of an Iowa or city county Refugee Affairs coordinator and all of our Refugee serving Partners I'd like to accept this Proclamation on their behalf we're really excited about the celebration which you all highlighted in

your announcements that is happening on July 8th from 3 to 6 pm at Durham Central Park it will be a wonderful time to learn about all the many many many refugees in Durham County and also have a little bit of fun there's going to be things for the kids there's going to be different kinds of food and just an all-around good time and a great opportunity for families to get to know our refugees and their families as well in our community and so I thank you for this Proclamation and I hope to see many of you there on July 8th thank you Donna uh any comments from commissioners comments and questions commissioner alone thank you so much uh character for this Proclamation and Donna and nio for all of the work that you guys have been doing around our Refugee Community um I think it's really important to highlight this work and also highlight our this vibrant part of our community that's that's the fastest growing part of our community refugees and immigrants

are growing at a higher rate uh than any other population within the triangle and so it's really important for us to make sure that everyone feels welcomed and safe and especially when it comes to our refugees to remember that these aren't people who are just choosing to come uh to America these are people that are fleeing catastrophe these are people who are fleeing political turmoil and to be able to come here leaving everything behind leaving oftentimes their family behind their home all of their wealth their jobs everything so to just be able to open up our hearts and our community to them to make them find peace for everything that they've gone through to be able to find just an area of sanctuary within Durham so I look forward to this event being just that thank you Carter nothing more to add that was lovely um thanks for speaking on our behalf and I would just say thanks to nio for giving

us this opportunity organizing and giving us this opportunity to stand in solidarity with our Refugee and immigrant community and our neighbors thank you commissioner Burns I'm just going to say ditto because I'm a big you for 60 seconds at the end of consent agenda so I'll wait until then thank you thank you so much Donna and I owe for all the work that you do okay Commissioners we are down to our consent agenda and for the public these are items that we as a board has discussed staff has provided information and detailed reports to us are and we right now we have 26 consent items on the agenda to approve are there any items that Commissioners switch to pull

hearing none I will entertain a motion for approval Madam chair I'd like to make a motion that we can approve the consent agenda as is it has been moved and properly second to approve the consent agenda uh all in favor aye the motion is approved five four to zero you want to say five it's four to zero passes Madam chair can I bid for my 60 seconds now you want 60 seconds yes kind of big for my 60 seconds now it'll be 60. I promise you you're gonna be happy it's about the consent agenda yeah and also to say happy birthday to you say happy birthday Brenda y'all see yay happy Birthday everyone to the chair foreign this is I see a lot of y'all using these

fans and we are moving expeditiously so that we can get everybody out of here because nobody wants to be in twister too um but I want you all to know that this is a hundred million dollar fan that you holding in your hands we do not always have this many people in our meetings especially our last one and I'm going to say it and shame the devil we don't have as many brothers in here so this hundred million dollar fan that y'all got in front of y'all I want y'all to go home and look in it because it's 60 million dollars of Capital Improvements it's six million dollars for pre-k it's six million dollars for affordable housing it's another million dollars for agriculture and there's a plethora of other things so when you walk out of here I want you to take this fan that you got in your hand and look at all the stuff that we're doing because it's going into your community and I don't want you to be left out of it and I don't want you to think that the hard work that this woman did on her birthday birthday is going out in vain I see my professor out there uh Dr bangs he said whenever you do a presentation tell them what you're gonna tell them tell them and tell them why I told you I told you because this is going to say your life that was my 60 Seconds and if you take if she takes one more

second and we'll make a pull I'm Gonna Make Her pull these agendas and then y'all gonna be upset so so yeah so so we don't pull the agendas and discuss all of the items unless there are some questions otherwise we keep staff here until midnight and we don't want to keep you here during midnight either so that's why we moved through this um with some uh Pace here so thanks uh commissioner Burns and now given that we voted on this and it has been approved we will go ahead and move to number seven uh public hearing 230450 public hearing the to consider the name and request for loyal El Seiler lobbying Lobby the board is requested to hold a public hearing to consider naming the lobby

of the administrative to building after Laurel L Seiler former County Manager doing this public hearing the board will hear public comments provide additional feedback and approve the request and we have Shannon Trapp Chiefs of Staff here to discuss this item Shannon good evening chair Howerton Commissioners meta manager County attorney Mr Andrews I am here to present to you all again the information that was laid out for you on June 5th with a few edits based on the conversations that we've since had with General services and at the conclusion of that we will have our public hearing for the naming of the Lowell elseiler Lobby again this just reiterates what the naming and renaming policy is for Durham County but I have left this here for your information and for the benefit of those who are have joined us this evening

the naming committee is also listed here and now we'll go to the request the original application was received February 3rd with a result revised application coming forward on March 2nd the request was submitted by the Durham committee on the Affairs of black people and the Beta Phi chapter of Omega Sci-Fi fraternity Incorporated which you'll see we have members of both organizations here joining us this evening the request was made in honor of the first African-American Durham County attorney serving for over 36 years we would like to name the Lowell L Seiler Lobby located on the first floor of admin 2 which is located at 201 East Main Street Durham North Carolina so the committee recommendation is that we place a photo of loisyler to hang in the lobby with a silver mat and frame measuring approximately 30 by 32 this is a tad larger than the original recommendation the framing would be silver as opposed to being wood and

you'll see in the next slide why we came to this revision based on commissioner Burns's recommendation we are looking at having the live the lobby letters engraved but that is not a quick turnaround and so we have a we have a temporary idea before we can do the engravement that will actually go into the wall we are recommending that we have this event the week of July 10th through the 14th noting that Mr siler's birthday is on July 14th so here are the two options that you all came up with when you decided you will note commissioner alone that we have added those photos so that you can get an idea of what it would look like on each wall and one is the when you walk into admin 2 for the benefit of the audience the option one is when you walk in admin 2 it is the wall that is directly facing you option two is when you walk in admin 2 it is the wall that is on your left

and this is what it would look like we would we we already have signage in admin to Lobby that looks that's on the right and so we like to copy that signage to make it look more symmetrical more uniform and so you'd have a large silver plaque which measures about 30 by 32 it's a rather large piece it is attached in a fixed commission burn so it cannot be removed and we would have low El cider Lobby engraved in silver on the silver above the photo with the inscription below which reads Lowell L Seiler Durham County attorney 2009-2022 years of service 1987 to 2022. so our next steps following to this evening's public hearing we would have the final approval um hopefully from you all and then we would get to planning the unveiling event that we would recommend being held on July 14th of course we would do that in consultation with our guests here from the committee and from the Omega

Sci-Fi fraternity so the board is requested to vote to approve the location of the portrait plaque and lettering honoring Lowell L Seiler and separately to approve the action to name the admin to Lobby the Lowell L cellular Lobby this time I think you're ready for your public hearing I am oh well thank you thank you Shannon so much for this work that you've done it's it's uh you know we started with this back in February and it's so great to get to this point um so could you go back to the the photo um the placing the placement oh yes um I guess I'm wondering is that the P the TV picture is that going to be distractive

that was some of your comments at the last meeting some of you thought that may be distracting that the TV was there and you wanted to give um the naming its own highlight and so the second recommendation is away from that distraction and it sits on the wall paneling on the left when you enter the lobby and so I think we we took out the third option because none of you like that one and so right these are the two that you came down to but there it was noted by a couple of you on June 5th that the TV might be distracting you really wanted to highlight the lobby yeah I'm I'm leaning toward the option two but I wanna hear from that that seemed to be that nod from the rest of the commissioners I want to see a nod from okay I'm seeing some fingers of some UPS do I what do you what I'm here seeing I from out there okay the two okay I'm getting some knowledge yeah all right

so and that was a question I had a question regarding the um the second if you go to the next slide yeah so these plaques where will they be in relation to that other photo these plaques are already there so when you walk into the admin 2 Lobby and you walk in on the right doors the entrance those plaques are already on the right so this will be exactly across the um the Siler photo and hanging will be on the left so they're directly across from each other I just wanted to confirm they're not really like moved or anything um can you go back to the other one all right sorry thank you Shannon so much I yeah I really like the second one I'm thinking this may be a little too extra like we have the name and the picture on the left side but just to keep something on the front one if we have his name still up at the top but have his picture on the left so his name would be twice in the lobby then because that way you could at least see it so based on your recommendation so on

the left we would have the photo which would still say lower el Siler Lobby on it but then also directly in front we would do the engraving is that what you're thinking yeah I was thinking just a suggest and see if like what everyone else also thinks just that way so when you walk in you see Lowell Siler Lobby and then also on your left you'll have the picture in the plaque but that way you see it no matter where you look I think that's a great recommendation we can definitely talk to um ACM Delgado and his team about that and that would be and that would be engraved and let me see the engraving again on the other side um so this is where we show the engraving and how it looks the next picture shows where it would be engraved in the frame and okay and that would be on the right side yeah that will be on your left side when you walk in so when you walk into Edmonton Lobby when you walk in there's a desk in the middle right and then there's that wooden wall is on the left right side from from going walking in

oh the wooded side is on the left right okay guys on the left and these plaques that are already here are on the right gotcha I'm cool with that any other questions we're good I'm not saying nothing last time we talked about Lao lo I cried and I want all these people to see me cry ing to be tough tonight um okay so if there's no other questions from the board I will um um open a public hearing and we have some individuals and individuals signed up to speak first person is Antonio Jones and Madam chairwood you also had them to say what organization they represent because you want it both organizations to be okay there's he didn't put an organization on this one

and then Madam chair will also want a motion to open the public hearing okay I I don't have to have a motion to open the public hearing I just opened the public hearing okay unless my attorney tells me that I do I will do that but normally I don't okay for this action if you could it'd be great okay yeah okay okay it's been moved in properly second and all in favor hi I've been approved for four to zero okay thank you um Antonio manager good brother County attorney and you have you have two minutes thank you uh my name is uh Antonio Jones and I

stand before you as the media past chair of the Durham committee on Affairs of black people and also the second vice versa of beta 5 chapter Omega sci-fi attorney Incorporated and as the applicant um applicant and co-applicant this came to us you know um many of us know brother Seiler in in many capacities they came from Goldsboro to come to North Carolina Central University to study public administration which was my major with its former um Professor here Dr Tyrone Baines and for 36 years he has served this community well so oftentimes with the Durham committee we focus on issues specifically dealing with the impact of uh black residents in Durham but brother Salah impacted every resident in Durham I think if we look at how Durham has changed in 36 years he negotiated countless hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts he kept us out of some serious hot water he actually was a a friend to many people Beyond just a county attorney and I think if we look and pull the employees of Durham County he had many friends that he had met over

the years and one thing about them is you know I personally called him a bunch of random issues I'm a student of public administration as well and he was always cool calm and collected had a couple good jokes um and you remember that slick white hair you know so of all the many things that you've done I think naming a Lobby would be a great way to show our support for his years of dedication to Durham County you know initially if he wanted to name the whole building just for context but back in 2016 the Board of Commissioners voted not to name whole buildings anymore so if that was not the case it would have been the loyal sailor County Administration Building Number Two but we will take the naming of the lobby you know as a great way and show respect to our good brother so there are going to be several speakers to come up so I won't give it all to you right now we'll let the other speakers fill in the gaps of the impact that the brother Silas had on many people Beyond Durham and Beyond the fraternity as well so again anyone

here who's standing in support of name mean admin building 2 lobby after uh Lowell silent would you please stand and that include County Employees as well I don't think this is a political moment so Madam chair if you left the record showed I think we have unanimous support in the room to name the lobby and County admin building after the longest serving and first black County attorney in Durham County all right thank you I'll give you I'll give you three minutes you can take one more minute okay okay I'll uh I argue with my time for another time all right thank you thank you Antonio uh my next speaker is Henry Pruitt no Henry it doesn't matter we check over here

oh Madam Madam chairman um uh County Commissioners uh City attorneys I've come on this was a great idea name in the lobby for my dear friend Lowell Soler he worked for the county Faithfully for 36 years I worked with him a lot of that time I have never seen anyone in my life a better counselor at law you always hear attorney in council at law Lowell was a counselor at law is a master of listening to all sides of an argument finding common ground defusing conflict I've been in the law business for more years in our care to count and I can tell you it's easy to file a

lawsuit start a war push push push until all sides have drawn their swords that wasn't law while some around him raged he quietly counseled quietly counseled and got the best results for his clients Lowell's office reminded me of a Lobby his door was always open there were no restrictions on who could enter he tried to help all comers if he didn't have an answer he'd find it or he'd find the person who had it of Lobby's doors always open welcoming everyone and there was an information booth directing each visitor to the department that will hopefully help them with their problem one Department doesn't

work maybe the next will I could think of no better honor and to name a lobby after such a great counselor at law as my dear friend LOL thank you uh the next speakers Clayton Jones and after Clayton's Phillip Terry good evening Madam chair commissioner Madam County attorney brother County Manager County attorney I'm standing here wearing two hats as the media passed bosses of beta 5 chapter of Omega Sci-Fi fraternity Incorporated and also as your Chief District Court Judge here in Durham County and I started my career across the street at 201 East Main Street and I walked in the lobby every day and I had great mentors had great

Butch Williams Wendell Davis Larry Hall and if you know being an attorney you would think it's an adversarial profession but no one was better than the great loyal salars being that counselor mentor and advisor who taught you the practice of law I graduated from the North Carolina Central University School along you learn the law but it's a different world than sitting in the courtroom that's practice the law and have someone who willing to step out and teach you how to do it no greater man than brother Sauer so you're gonna hear a lot of other comments talking about how great this man is but I can tell you I would not be where I am now but for the things he taught me and we like to talk about the first and he was the first kept black County Manager I stand as your first African-American Chief District Court Judge because of brother sowler so to have the building and well not the building we hope for the building but have the lobby named after him with a building I walked into for 14 years

before we have the new courthouse we know the greater honor so I ask you to please join in in name in the lobby after him thank you and since brother Antonio Jones used all that time are you my rest of my time today yeah yeah I just want to say thank you madam chair County Commissioners County attorney for letting us come out my name is Philip Terry I am the President slash bossless of a mega sci-fi Beta Phi chapter of Omega sci-fi and um we're grateful for allowing just allowing us to present today and asking and requesting um for our brother-in-law Silo to be honored by you all by the county because of our simple principle which is friendship is essential to the soul and brother Seiler was a friend to the Durham Community when I asked anybody about him they would just say he was a great person he was a friend but more than anything else my favorite thing about him is that he got things done and

so we're honored and we're requesting I think everyone that's done a great job explaining why we're requesting today but we're honored to say please let our friend be honored by you all um so that we can continue to show the world here in Durham how much of a friend loisala was to our community thank you thank you um Michael Palmer good evening Commissioners good evening reference all kinds of relationships I have a low uh we're in two fraternities together and and that sort of thing and we were colleagues here in Durham County government we both came in the late 80s I stayed here through um I think it was 80 99 but

Lowell was the consummate or the ultimate public servant uh he had The Head and the Heart for this work he was smart in a sense that he understood process and how to get things done but he had it he loved people and every type of issue or problem I would bring to Lowell he would he would just pour himself into it and try to find an answer again counselor as folks mentioned and that was more than just because we were friends so people would come to me with issues and challenges mine Sons their friends Etc and if there was if particularly if it was a legal issue I would pick up the phone call Lowell he would give me you've explained things to me he would also maybe make a referral as to who someone might need to talk to to learn more about whatever issue they

were seeking to address so I want to thank you for what you're doing in terms of recognizing my friend because every time I come in this building and walk through that Hall and believe me when I was in you know deputy and assistant County Manager I crossed that Hall a thousand times to go to his office and to consult and so I thank you for you know with with what you're about to do because every time I come in here I feel this spirit thank you thank you thank you I see um Butch Williams back there um Butch if you'd like to have a few minutes you are more than welcome to do that and if there is anyone here from the Durham committee I don't see Walter there you are uh

thank you I just want to make sure that I acknowledge you thank you Vice chair is also yeah and the vice chair is here as well yes yeah good morning uh good afternoon good afternoon it's all right it's all right I'm I'm I'm kept that's them right there that's totally different situation but they are right what they did no that was good friends uh as a matter of fact I was with uh 19. we were together in 1970. 2 with him for 50 two years with low uh I was a Kappa and he was a cue and we stayed there for at least three years together that way think about that we had great times we had great times when he came uh uh he came in 1980 or he came to my office as an as an

attorney and he stayed there for 1987. uh why because he came to Durham and he had a uh the guy that was running the show what's my man what's my man the big man when I say he ran the show here in Durham and he said well Butch and Ken I want him I want him and he came this time and what he has done over the years it was for Durham everything in Durham uh as the attorney for here that's what he wanted right before he he got hurt was on a Monday I remember it was on a Monday he was coming at five o'clock to come deal with y'all and he had a problem and he had to go to he had to go to Duke at that period of time and that was the end of it but while he was there the whole time he was there he kept calling back

to Durham calling the lady who run the show oh I need to do this for Durham I need this for us this and I said man you need to stop stop you don't you know Duke is over there you got to be where you gotta I mean uh where you are and he said no I gotta take care of Durham for us I've got to do that and that's what he did uh until he got really messed up uh so I say for my man I'm glad that y'all are doing something for him uh because he did so much for y'all uh until he got really messed up he was right there and that's my man thank you thank you approach anyone else um we will um do we need emotion to close the public hearing the public hearing and then we can go into voting

so we don't need emotion to close public here I'm sorry yes please do a motion okay no so so we're doing it a little differently tonight uh audience so I just want to make sure that we're doing it properly and in order um so I will ask for a motion to close the public hearing Adam chair I'd like to make a motion that we close the problem here I'm renewed a second in so it's been moved and properly second to close the public hearing all in favor aye motion is approved four to zero it comes back to Commissioners are there any questions comments from commissioners I just want to State for the public record that we did get an email that said it would be in silver but I just want the omegas to know on record I asked for it to be in Gold it was the lady in the pink that didn't want it to

be gold so I just want you to know you know it's her car y'all want to get but no other than that um I'm good to go Madam chair sir um I I just want to say thank you so much for all of you to be here tonight and I know that we're all doing this out of love for a man that loved us and loved Durham and we will all duly miss him but we'll all also honor him in doing this um so um one question I have is on the 14th what time we will work with you in the rest of the Commissioners as well as the committee and the fraternity and work out of time and we will notify the community what

time that will be on the 14th absolutely okay all right yes could I quickly just say something sure I just really wanted to say thank you to the Durham committee for bringing this forward and Omega sci-fi for bringing this to us for you know giving us this opportunity to honor him in this way and I thought your comments tonight really rang true um yours as well sir and am just thrilled that we're getting to do this and I really wanted to thank you Shannon for bringing the pictures with the two options because I believe that we were leaning towards option one at our work session without having you know actually seen it but when you see it it's really clear that on that wooden wall it just stands out and really it really is it just stands out in such an important way I think for the honor foreign thank you everyone [Laughter]

making sure that I have plenty of tissues all right are you finished Heidi I'm sorry all right so we're a little emotional here um when you work as closely as we did with someone for 15 years uh he kept me out of trouble a lot a lot so so and as Al over here knows as our attorney our attorneys vital to this board that they keep us out of trouble so Lowell was a friend and a lawyer to us so we appreciate your friendship and you being here and honoring him so thank you all right we are going to move on to Madam chair asked uh one more

we need to formally prove the item so because we had two actions so we approved placement but I think just for the record if we could have a vote to approve per the policy to approve the naming hey Bernie now we I know so what is it that so we would like to have someone make a motion um to approve the naming request for the lobby of the admin tube building Durham County to be named the Lowell L Seiler Lobby and we'll just take that vote for the record Madam chair so the motion that we made already and approved does not apply so we need a separate motion we bifurcated the action so you could select the location and so

you selected the location and then there's the approval of the item post the public hearing you made a You made a vote to select location then we had a public hearing and everyone requested that the board approved the formal item so we're just simply tying that bow and we'd like for you all to make a motion to approve the naming per the policy and just have that for the record Madam chair Per County policy I would like to make a motion that we name the admin to Lobby the low L Siler Lobby moved and properly second to uh per policy name the lobby of the administration Administration one build admin to Lobby the Lord sailor Lobby

all in favor aye approved four to zero all right is that does that do it okay great thank you all right all right so hey Wendell Davis we see you as we see you all right so as our next item Commissioners is um another public hearing 230456 a public hearing or not to exceed 60 million dollar general obligation refunding bonds series 2023

adoption of bond order and Adoption of bond resolution so now the bond the board is requested to hold public hearing or the insurance of General obligation refunding bonds refunding bonds series 2023 not exceed 20 million 60 million dollars following the public hearing the board is requested to adopt the attached bond order and adopt the adopt attached Bond resolution which authorizes a general obligation refunding bonds refunding bonds I don't know why that sounds weird series 2023 60 million dollars in an amount not to exceed 60 million dollars and we have Crystal Wright interim Chief Financial Officer here to discuss good evening good evening chair Howerton

good evening Commissioners good evening County Manager Dr Sewell good evening attorney Andrews uh bringing greetings on tonight we came before you on June 12th and we requested that we would have to see if we can hold a public hearing on tonight for the insurance of the Geo Insurance of the Joe bonds that does not exceed 60 million dollars and so I ask that you grant us that the opening of the public hearing on tonight and after the public hearing I asked that a request that you adopt the the bond order and the bond resolution with me on tonight again I have Carlos Manzano and also I have our staff here which is Joe Fatima who is the assistant CFO for debt as well as Jamelia Wilson Davis who is the senior accountant for debt and Treasury

if I could just say a few words my name is Carlos Manzano I am the Bond Council I'm an attorney at Parker Poe Adams and Bernstein and bond counsel for the county um like Madam chair mentioned and Chris mentioned this is a uh the set of actions the next set of actions to adopt the to hold the public hearing to a adopt the bond order and to adopt the bond resolution to the issuance of the counties series 2023 refunding bonds I critically mentioned the purpose of the bonds is to refinance a 2021 bond that the county issued in 2021 obviously uh which financed um uh projects authorized by the County's referendum Authority in 2016 and in refunding these bonds the county would take a short-term variable rate bond and refinance it with a long-term fixed rate and I'm happy to answer any questions on the process or any of the documents okay so let's make sure that we follow about procedure to the to the T here

so um Commissioners do you have any questions for staff or do you Monaco do we do you read yours first or well if they have questions I think they can go ahead and ask those but okay no questions okay commissioners okay um at this time I'll ask the clerk to read the information pertaining to the bond order and the public hearing good evening I would like to report to the board that the bond order entitled bond order authorizing the issuance of 60 million dollars General obligation refunding bonds of the county of Durham North Carolina which was introduced at a meeting of the board held on June 12 2023 was published on June 20th 2023 with notice that the board would hold a

33 okay um I'd like to make a motion that the county now holds the public hearing notice of which has been properly made as referenced by the clerk on the general obligation refunding upon order

okay we need a second all in favor aye motion passes four to zero the the board will now hear anyone who wishes to be heard on the question of the validity of the general obligation refunding bond order and the advisability of issuing the general obligation refunding bonds the clerk has a copy of the bond order and the notice of public hearing relating thereto if anyone would like to see a copy and chair Howerton we do not have anyone signed up to speak a move that the public hearing be closed it's been moved and properly second all in favor aye motion passes four to zero

I now move that the board adopt the general obligation refunding bond order in title bond order authorizing the insurance of 60 million dollars of General obligation refunding Bond of the county of Durham North Carolina which was introduced at the meeting of the board held on June 12 2023 and direct the clerk to publish a notice of adoption of the bond order as prescribed by The Local Government Bond Act is there any discussion of this motion okay it's been moved improperly second all in favor aye motion passes four to zero finally we have a resolution entitled a

resolution of the bond of Commissioners of the county of Durham North Carolina providing for the insurance of County of Durham North Carolina before the board for consideration is there a motion to adopt the resolution yeah I move for that option of the resolution it's been moved in properly second all in favor hi is there any of further discussion hearing on this is complete is that any anything else that needs to be done from the clerk attorney illness complete very good you're good thank you okay

some things you have to walk it through okay all right now we are down to item number 230326 Durham Sports commission update on Sports Complex future development use opportunities so the board is requested to review an update on the board on the Durham Sports commission work towards preparing a recommendation on a major sports complex for Durham and provide feedback on the scope we have um Susan Amy president of cease and CEO discovered Durham here and Marcus Manning executive director of Durham Sports commission welcome thank you thank you chair Howerton County Commissioners and staff thank you

very much for having us and making time for this evening to make sure we've got a clicker here and Marcus will be able to advance slides will that work and we're set up yeah all right very good thank you well thanks for making time to give us an opportunity to give you an update on our progress toward defining our recommendations on a multi-sport complex for Durham we last spoke to you about this in October of last year and at that time we gave you a brief introduction you asked us to keep you updated on our progress and we've made progress on a number of fronts that we wanted to tell you about we're also preparing to come to you with a final recommendation this fall and we want to take an opportunity now to hear from you so as a quick bit of background and a reminder about some things that are pertinent to the presentation tonight um the city the county discovered Durham and the Durham chamber formed the sports commission seven years ago with a mission to create economic and social

impact for Durham through Sports and sports tourism since then even with the pandemic eating up almost half of that time the DSC has helped create over 90 million in economic impact it's brought new events closer it's brought new events including four National and seven state championships a number of conference championships that have included the this year's CIAA track and field one and provided grants of more than five hundred thousand dollars to help local events expand and prosper and Marcus and chair Howerton I've represented Durham in helping win the bid for the world University games to be held in North Carolina in 2029. despite the that early success our capacity for hosting sports teams and tournaments is still very limited compared to what a lot of communities across the state and across the country can do our residents don't have as much access to sports play

and competition as people in other areas and a community growing as fast as ours is we all know it's critical that we are urgently planning for the future so working with some of the industry's top Consultants we've conducted a study to Define what it will take to support our youth and adults with competitive sports facilities and we've developed today's presentation to articulate the benefits to the community and especially for our kids tonight Marcus is going to walk us through the foundation and rationale for where we believe Durham needs to go later this calendar year we're going to come back to you with a full proposal and we'll be asking if for commitment at that time not a budget commitment but a commitment to work together with discover Durham the Durham Sports commission and the city to create a path for how we can fund create and manage the new facilities presumably as a collaboration of public and private Enterprise so today our goal is to present you with

not only the background and rationale for this project but what our next steps are and what we plan to present to you in this fall so that you can give us any feedback you have on anything we might not be thinking about because we want to make sure in the fall that we have given you everything to you need to feel that you can make a fully informed decision about this so I will turn it over to Marcus thank you can you hear me closer that better only if you speak a little louder you got that outside boys come on let's have it is that is that better that's better okay I just want to Echo Susan and thank you thank you all for the opportunity to to be here and really talk about this potential Community Asset and that's what we're talking about here in terms of a sports complex is a Community Asset for Durham and and with that one of the

great things about going through this this process is you get to learn and one of the things we learned about was Aspen Institute and project play project play was developed really for two missions one is to create access and opportunities for every child in the United States regardless of zip code the other celebrate positive benefits of participation in sports and so what we want to do project play has been around for a decade and so just wanted to play a short clip of celebrating the 10 years that project play has been uh been in existence see if we can get the video may need help to okay we no video that's okay we'll

we'll adjust course here so part of that video it talked about just the opportunity to participate in the benefits of participation so as we move forward here project play during the pandemic wanted to understand the desired outcomes for their children and they want to understand the parents desired outcomes and what came about was uh number one Mental Health so they really wanted participation in sports the positive benefit to be a positive impact on Mental Health you fast forward to 2022 and I want you to focus in the right hand corner you can see there that the mental health parents felt like uh in 2022 being surveyed that their sons and daughters mental health improved through the

pandemic parents felt 58 of the parents felt like this happened this occurred where Sports improves Mental Health the other part that project play has done a great job in is just really explaining the benefits of participating from Early Childhood to adulthood I won't go through the entire chart here but you can see that participating in sport has a positive impact on your academic experience a positive impact on the opportunity to go to college supporting higher self-esteem and as you go through adulthood and like me you try to live out your dream and you continue to play sports even at the recreational level makes you more productive at work so just that benefit from Early Childhood to adulthood you can see participation in sports is is one of those key factors participating

even at the community sport level you have that sense of safety within the environment which we know we want our youth to have right here in in Durham that self-awareness of your own behavior and maybe the most important that sense of belonging to a community I want to say that again that sense of belonging in a community you participation as We Know is something that is becoming increasingly more popular right here in our backyard and across the country but what we also know there's a divide that's happening the cost to participate one in three families that made fifty thousand dollars or less are saying it costs too much to participate on average over twenty two hundred dollars was spent for travel teams across the country endurance no different

engage comprehensive plan engage Durham comprehensive plan what we found is that Recreation is one of the first things that's cut because of call so that's significant that's something that we've talked internally about and how can we make a difference as discovered Durham and a Durham Sportsman lower socioeconomic families kid spends two hours two hours less participating in sport compared to the higher social economic families one of the things that we understand is that poor quality abilities arcs the lack of facilities there is an opportunity for decreased participation which means there is an increase of potentially for negative behavior and we've seen this throughout the country and we're seeing it right here in our own community

the high school Federation mentioned that increased participation in high school sports you have lower levels of major crime and lower levels of suspension rates that's something that as we move forward we want to keep in mind thinking about expanding opportunities we've talked about the benefit of sport participation we've talked about access and opportunities and lack thereof and what that could do and Madam chair you mentioned earlier that Durham is in top 25 and so what we know is that we're going through this transformational period here and growth is a part of that in 1960 we know that just over 78 000 resided here in Durham in 2021 over 326. it's out of here in Durham and we know that we're going to continue to grow

like many other communities here neighboring Durham and around the country they're experiencing growth too yeah so what we're seeing going through this process going through this study is that we have communities across the country and right here in our backyard that are investing in this type of Community Asset and caring they announced last spring that they are building a brand new 300 000 square foot facility highlighting volleyball and basketball Virginia Beach opened up in October of 2020. 285 000 square feet highlighted by 200 meter hydraulically Bank track 16 basketball courts and volleyball courts Rocky Mountain opened up in October of 2018. the Rocky Mount Events Center just over 165 000 square feet a transformational

facility for Rocky Mountain North Carolina and then today as we sit here we see Durham and we realize that we don't have the type of community after current that's why we sit here before you to talk about this opportunity on the outdoor side London County Virginia opened up last September 257 Acres 17 fields all of the fields have lights Wilmington North Carolina broke ground in February 64 Acres 11 Fields five of the fields will be lit Durham County Memorial Stadium see that 25 25 acres Jerome County Memorial Stadium represents that and I want to lift up Zach Pritchard here today real quick we've hosted six championships this past year at the stadium and he's done a phenomenal job

and we value that that partnership and we'll continue to utilize Durham County Memorial Stadium we also want to highlight uh during Parks and Rec and Wade Wildcat and the work they've done they opened up Merrick Moore Park last year just over 50 acres and four multi-purpose field but what we know and when we look across the country and we look at what our neighbors are doing right here in our backyard and in the state and in the region we know there's an opportunity for us to invest in the Community Asset so the question for us collectively if I break ground now why now we know we're going through this transformational period in this path forward we also have an understanding that Susan stated that through this in a local agreement we were created Drive economic and social impact through sport

and as our vice chair former Vice chair Susan Scott mentioned we were established to meet certain moments and collectively during we have this opportunity to meet this moment we have this opportunity to really invest in this type of Community Asset that can drive Revenue Drive economic impact and through Sports tourism fund a Community Asset that can provide opportunities for Durham through you so what are the definitions of success and you may have gotten tired I mean by saying Community Asset right that's number one for us expanding the opportunities for participation this type of asset could be a significant driver of economic impact it could also be something that is a sustainable business through Sports tourism

the proposed concept we wanted to be flexible large enough but also a difference make here in Durham the indoor complex just over 250 000 square feet a 200 meter hydraulically Bank track what you see pictured there is the latest indoor track that opened up in Boston a new balance Center currently there are eight total 200 meter hydraulically Bank tracks in the country 12 basketball courts and volleyball courts and a 5 000 seat Arena we also were intentional about creating additional space just over 38 000 square feet of flex space and being intentional about creating Community programming and learning space or basketball courts and volleyball courts and additional to the 12 and then a 10 000 square foot Family Family Arena and we've talked about having esport

being a part of that programmatic opportunity the outdoor portion just over 37 Acres eight Diamond Fields four multi-purpose Fields all Synthetic Turf all having lights creating that flexibility and that expansion for outdoor participation here's a snapshot of it again just over 250 000 square feet the indoor portion an auxiliary gym and flex space and then the outdoor portion just over 37 Acres as mentioned we we were fortunate to have board members that really talked about going Beyond Sports and providing opportunities that are multi-purpose Community Based and having really the community involved in this type of effort again going Beyond Sports and providing non-sport opportunity

so as we look at this there is a significant opportunity to really have a balance between the programmatic opportunities locally but also be a significant driver of sports tourism that Monday through Thursday supporting Durham in our backyard Friday through Sunday having that opportunity to recruit and retain Regional and National events the different programmatic opportunities over 20 Sports ranging from your emerging sport opportunities like Esports like stunts like flag football and then your traditional Sports like basketball volleyball and football gymnastics and wrestling with these type of opportunities can do and as we've talked about in terms of being a significant driver it can help fund local opportunities here in Durham

9 billion in total tax revenue 635 000 jobs generated through Sports tourism and when you sit back and you press pause and you think about Durham in our sweet spot right youth sports adult and amateur sports and Collegiate Sports 97 of the destinations hosted youth sport events 97 94 adult and amateur and 83 percent at the collegiate

that's Durham when you think about that opportunity that is Durham the initial feasibility study that we did in 2021 and projected by year three to be profitable in this project by year five over 100 events hosted in over 35 million dollars generated before I turn it over to my teammate Susan I just want to say thank you again for the opportunity to to have this conversation and really discuss what this type of Community Asset to be thank you thank you all right so I'm going to bring it home here and talk about what we are working on right now and we I hope that we're in this final stretch before being able to come back to you with a full proposal uh these are the things that we're working on right now Marcus referenced the fact that there was an initiative there were initial Financial projections and what we're working on now a few

things have changed financially since the pandemic started so we are updating all of those Capital cost projections updating the market analysis on participation levels we are working on a community engagement program to get input from our community we've gotten input from stakeholders and the user groups who would be using the facility we're updating the financial forecast out of that the economic impact analysis and then moving into creating the recommendations package which would include the definition of the project scope the physical location recommendation renderings so that you have a chance to see the kind of thing that we have in mind and what the some approaches that we can use on financial planning for for making this come together we also have leadership site visits planned and I believe at this point you have all heard about and been invited to the inner city visit to Indianapolis

this fall that the chamber is coordinating and we've been working with them an important part of what we believe as we consider an investment of this magnitude for our community we think it's very helpful and important to see other facilities and understand how they were put together and what the results have been and so Indianapolis includes a really important facility that we think will be very instructive so we're hoping that all of you and others will be able to go and and see that for yourselves and hear from the people who got it built who had the vision for it and then made it happen so then we'll be synthesizing all of our information and preparing to come back in front of you in the fall so that is the covers our presentation as Marcus said earlier these are the four ways that we would measure success and so this is a time where we of course are happy to take any questions that you have and would also love to hear if

there are certain things that you haven't heard us mention that you would really expect to see when we come back thank you Susan and Marcus thank you for the the presentation it's great to see what you're doing and the planning that you have in blaze and um and of course you know I'm I'm real curious as to what's next as far as facility and you know because I'm thinking 2029 and where is all of the events that is coming this way going to be taking place so I'm I'm really curious about that with the with the USA games and that's going to be here right here in Durham and all across the region so I'm curious about the planning um as we go forth for for that um and

and getting our young people in this community ready for those events so you might not be ready to talk about that tonight but that is something that I'm really curious about what's happening so if you don't want to you don't have to comment on that that's just what's circulating here um and I will open it up to my board members for questions uh commissioner long thank you so much for this presentation this is really exciting to see um all of the different uh Sports and activities that are going to be available I I'm just really excited I'm just like the idea of growing up if I had a space like this how fun uh it would have been I'm really glad like the focus that you're putting especially on our youth that are that are coming from low-income

families my one thing that I would like to see when we come back to have this conversation uh further and I know it's going to be later down the road but for us to start having the conversations is around transportation and how are we going to make this space actually accessible um to the youth that we really want to be able to have access to it is are we going to be in talking to the city and county Transportation departments to make sure there's expanded bus routes um and I think that needs to be a really big focal point as we further this discussion thank you all right thank you Carter yes thank you Susan and Marcus of you know a very exciting presentation and I believe you know with my entire being that being physically active and participating in sports for fun or for the competition of it really makes a difference in a person's life and in

their future in so many ways and you did such a great job of you know highlighting the different ways that blank Sports benefits people and children in particular and and I feel the most excited about the possibilities of opening up the benefits of play for more of Durham's youth um and my my question is you know I think it would be really helpful if there is a a way to explain really clearly how this will do that you know how will having the 250 000 foot indoor facility and more Fields Etc make it uh more readily available for all of Durham's children in particular the ones that don't have access now um and so you know I'm sure there are indirect ways and direct ways and just you know we'll just lay it out for us you know you know what I mean and great question and we've had uh several conversations about

um really access and opportunity in this type of uh this type of project this type of Community Asset we'll do that as we continue to go through this study we will have conversations about um making it accessible in the transportation and and what that means across Durham we want to make sure because we've talked about it for two and a half years now that when we think about this type of asset that the type of program programmatic opportunities we have are inclusive the way we lay out the facility itself both indoor and outdoor it's inclusive the type of sports as well um really thinking about that Monday through Thursday as we mentioned and really focused on the multi-purpose aspect of it so as Susan mentioned when we come back in the fall we will have more detailed responses and answers but

from a from a macro level that's what we've discussed and really talked about and really really thankful to our board on being intentional in that space I agree with that and I really think it's um I really appreciate the way you led with your presentation with that you know that was first and I think that that should be uh just liquid questions are the city parks all the city parks currently included in that 25 acres that we have here in Durham of outdoor the 25 acres represented Durham County that uh it doesn't include the city it includes like you know Southern boundaries and I'm trying to think of the places my children used to play soccer you know out there off of near um the footnote that says something about Merrick Moore right you mentioned Merrick Moore and so I'm just wondering is it all of the parks and their baseball fields and so the the what we highlighted was really Championship level Tournament level

type access to to facilities and so right now Merrick Moore Park represents really Tournament level I see and and we highlighted Durham County Memorial Stadium 25 acres and that's a championship facility for us as well right and now this is feels like an ignorant question but I'm going to ask it does a County um you know does it make economic sense social sense whatever kind of sense for a county to to Union City to own a the kind of facilities that you're describing which sound wonderful and also at County Stadium um there's ways that that would work together the interplay or you know might one asset be traded for the other I'm just you know not suggesting that but I'm just wondering about the economic feasibility of it all and we've seen a lot of different um operations throughout throughout the

country and what what is helping us now is just again going through that process and as we go through that process and we come back in the fall we'll definitely have more uh detailed answers and we'll have a recommendation from our consultant on what we should do in terms of that space we've had some internal conversations okay the other thing I would say is that the new facility does not uh take the place of and provide the same sort of layout as what the Durham County Stadium does and our anticipation would be that the two of them together can support more tournaments but they're not duplicative yeah yeah that's a good question Heidi um that with the stadium that we already have where would the the way are you

considering and I know you're not ready to talk about that right now but it's like would you make sure that um the snakes facility be someplace close by or nx2 or you know that kind of thing is so would it be in a whole different area from that so I'm just kind of wondering you know what would make sense and um and yeah I get that you don't want to talk about it now that's fine well that's okay you want to take that would you like me to the uh where to place it is one of the biggest questions and we have identified some space that we're not ready to to divulge yet until we've done the proper assessment work but um it the ideal space would be something that allows for great access and as we all know Durham does not have tremendous

amounts of acreage that are available for a project like this so we are still and we'll be look forward to working with um I'd like to work more with the county staff so that we can talk about other options we do have one that we are still exploring and some others that we would like to take a closer look at and I do have uh and I'll go to commissioner Burns just let me ask is around equity for our young people as you talked about the cost um and I'm hoping that that's a part of your plan that looking at our young people that cannot afford these facilities and we have a lot of kids that can't afford so to be able to make sure to ensure that the planning includes our kids that don't have a lot of parents don't make a lot of money so that they can be involved as well because we need to have all of our children involved

it's a great Point Madam chair and and again our board has been very intentional about making sure that it's top of Mind as we continue to go through this this process and in our Consultants have brought up two different examples one being Hoover medplex where uh the funds generated through hosting tournaments on the weekends really help offset Community opportunities Monday through Thursday yeah one also another example is the Virginia Beach Sports Center they've developed a fund specifically to offset costs to participate and utilize the facility so we are definitely tracking on that and again it is top of mind for discovered Durham and the Durham Sports Commission and one of the things Marcus did a year about a year ago is start the one team one Durham Fund in Durham and the purpose of that which has already been uh building up funds but a big

intention around that is to be able to offer something along the lines of scholarships or grants for kids to participate who lack the means to do so themselves okay thank you commissioner Burns thank you madam chair um we talking about a building y'all I mean we're sitting here talking about all these Pie in the Sky ideas that this board has and I share the sentiments of each of my colleagues but y'all in here talking about a building and you write you said asset way too many times tonight we're gonna I'm gonna get up the source we're gonna find something else because we know that this complex is going to be an asset I'm on the memorial stadium board it's an asset um but everything that my colleagues asked for I want no lip service for it I need it in writing I wish Mo was here with me tonight I sit in and you you brought up Zach Pritchard Zach and Moe and I have said in plenty of meetings where individuals want to use Memorial Stadium and I had the votes on the board for Memorial Stadium to give it to him to say yes you can use the track field

you can use a football field but the uh rules say you can't use it without having access to the bathrooms in order to use the bathrooms they have to be electrostatically clean that's 500 if you don't clean the bathrooms you got to have a porta potty that's 500 so my free help is not really free help because at the end of the day it's gonna cost five hundred dollars so I need folks when you say you being intentional you need to be intentional and I'm not hearing a lot of intentionality and that's not a criticism of y'all I will never forget that during covet that other body not this Administration the past administration it's all fit to shut down every last one of the parks they said nobody can play basketball but you can play the tennis and you can play golf they kept the Tennis Courts open and the golf course and the golf course is open and then when it came time for basketball that other body went and took the the Hoops down when they saw black children out there playing on them they took the Hoops down during covert I have never seen such an act of racism but

that wasn't this mayor it was the last Administration I don't have time for folks to sit in here and say we gonna be intentional it better be in the writing now y'all came to us last October and y'all and we had some questions and now we about to do this again the next October and doing another year so yeah I'm happy Susan you picked up your pen I trust that you gonna write these questions down too because like the chair said we can't go over everything tonight in order to come to the sports commission to get money from y'all you all are always telling everybody well we need to know what the economic impact was on the community how many hotels did they use I've seen you all sit up here and talk about how much y'all want to build but I haven't heard any conversation about the co-location of hotels so I don't know who is having that conversation because if you're gonna have a complex this big you're gonna need some hotels that house it now my chair asked a very value valid question she says where y'all gonna put this at well we're pretty smart y'all need 40 acres of continuous land it ain't but a few is in Durham County where that's going to be it all we got to do is close this meeting out go across the street I'll see what four or three places y'all are looking at so

it's not really a big secret that's going to be what's going to cost you all the most money and that's what y'all gonna have to come back and ask us for my other question I hope y'all go back and look at this video why are we not talking to the universities about it the North Carolina general assembly in the event you put an academic program inside of um a Act of a sports arena we'll pay 40 of the cost so why is nobody having this conversation also you did a comparative analysis of these cities how many of those cities actually have major universities like a North Carolina Central or Duke University where the NCC where the NCAA actually utilizes those spaces year to year if I could not find a triangle Business Journal article but each year they go ahead and put out the swim meets five years in advance the track meets five years in advance um uh you and chair housing you already know what's coming in 2029 so I want us to have these things but already some of y'all were over there at the city they approved Southpoint development we don't see what the mwbe participation is going to be like I can tell y'all right now if y'all try to build something and you all

don't think you're gonna have some women or some minority contractors on it and it is not in the writing we will have a problem whether I'm sitting in this chair or whether I'm sitting at the house and so I do want some of those questions asked I had one more that I want to throw out there um it's not the 48 because I got the hospitals um I want to know what collaborations outside of parks and rec because when you all were here last October I brought this up and I'ma beat it like a dead horse there were plenty of people talking about a complex 10 15 years ago and now all of a sudden that everybody's moving here we want to talk about it I think that they're very learned individuals in the community that can bring some valuable information a valuable Viewpoint to this I don't I think some of them coach at our local high schools because they know what the needs are of the children they coach it in North Carolina Central and Duke University and I think they should be at the table because they can tell you what the NCAA is looking for they can tell you what their students need right now at this very moment and I know he gonna hate that I'm saying Lavelle Moulton has two basketball goals every other school

has six he can't even practice in his gym because he has two basketball goals I don't want us to come staggering out the gate when we do this so we're talking about a building but this is a board that cares about Equity so all of that has to be in there so when you all come back to us those Devils have to be in those details well I don't see it moving forward we all are here for the building I want the building to be available to everybody thank you commissioner that is that helps provide some additional detail um and but I do want to assure you that those are things that we would like to address specifically so thanks that that will help us flesh that out yeah other questions uh comments commissioners um just have one other one but this one can

can hold for later um as far as space um conversation I had several years ago about a space but I can hold that we can have this conversation later um when you're more ready to have a conversation about space so any other questions from this board okay all right I will close a public hearing let me see where we are did we open the public hearing I can't remember if we opened um I think we need to this was just a discussion just a discussion okay so we don't have to do that okay then just a discussion thank you so much for your presentation and the information all right um Madam chair so if this was just excuse me since this was just a discussion item I don't know if we have the opportunity

for public comment I just saw that um the individual and the friend he was raising his hand I don't know I can't I do not sorry I was saying that in um in the front uh sorry I don't know your name sir he had raised his hand I don't know if citizens do they have opportunity for public comment on discussion item yeah oh he answered okay perfect thanks okay but in the future just to answer that because it is an item on the agenda any citizen can come in and sign up to speak so he would have still had the opportunity to speak all right so if there's no other questions from the sport we will move on to a last item on the agenda as boards and commissioner appointments and attorney good evening good evening Madam chair and board members um tonight we have several boards and commissions um with slots that you are collecting and I'll go through them alphabetically

so for this meeting we will start with the Durham bicycle and pedestrian advisory committee there are three vacant positions over um two categories and the board has selected for the bicycle Community rep Kai manast for the Duke University rep Nathan Lee for the disabilities Advocate Edward Rizzuto for the board of adjustment the recommendations for Michael Tarrant for the criminal justice advisory committee for one position it is B Angelo Burch senior for the Durham County women's Commission there are three Faking at large positions you've selected Kathleen

Lockwood Roberta Pierce I'm sorry Roberta price Ashley Marshall for the Durham open the Durham open space and trails Commission Eric Faust the Durham Planning Commission there's a vacant position for Magnum Township you selected William Chris Young for the Durham racial Equity Commission there's one position you've recommended treas good for the Durham Sports Commission an at-large position you've recommended Jonathan Leach for the Durham Workforce Development board there's one position you've recommended Anthony Nelson

or the environmental Affairs board there's a vacant position you've recommended Malcolm Gregory or the homeless Services advisory committee there are two positions in two categories you've recommended Angela Holmes and Renee Vaughn with a jury commission there's a vacant position you've recommend it to net Amos now there are two other uh boards that are included they are the juvenile crime prevention Council jcpc and the Raleigh Durham Airport Authority um it is uh staff's recommendation to the board that due to participation that these items be pushed to the July 10th meeting where we would have sufficient pool and sufficient vote to select candidates so the last two the

staff recommendation up to your vote is to hold those until the next meeting July 10th okay well thank you attorney um Andrews and congratulations to all the citizens that have been appointed we appreciate your participation and your desire to serve okay is it anything else from this board that we need to cover given that this is our last meeting for um this quarter this we just we just approved our budget yay uh last budget meeting last meeting for this year we will our next meeting will be a July 10th uh and um I think everybody is happy that they'll get a little bit of

downtime I know our clerk is and I don't blame her she gets to be away from us for a bit so is it anything else for the sport commissioner Alam yes Madam chair I apologize for not bringing this up during a consent agenda but just for the record and for the minutes commissioner Jacobs had sent me just a quick note that she would have liked to be read about the Carver Creek Apartments can I just read that on her behalf we you want to do what now you just had a quick comment that she sent me asking me if I could read it and I forgot to bring it up during consent agenda it's just like two lines just go ahead where because she is not able to be here because she's out of the country but she just wanted to thank uh and express her gratitude for the strong Partnership of so many and the support of our board and staff City elected leaders and staff leadership of housing for a new hope that is making this transformation transformative project

for our community possible to help support our most vulnerable residents in their greatest time of need and her excitement for the next steps as we create together the vision and reality of a caring and healing Carver Creek Campus Community okay thank you um anything else you know we we really have had some really really great things this year in our budget and we do appreciate all the Commissioners and all the staff the work that the staff invested in jumping through the Hoops that this board put them through and we know we do that we we know we call on you to do so many things but just know that we appreciate the work that you do and always thank you thank you Monica thank you attorneys

because we call these folks any time of day or night or weekend and they respond and our manager we thank you so if if there's nothing else I will ask for a motion to adjourn so move back it moved improperly second all in favor I I we are adjourned thank you