Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag and delivery thank you hi there Commissioners are there any gender agenda adjustments hearing none I'll move on to announcements and we will have a clerk Monica Wallace will read our announcements for us good evening Commissioners in public I will read the announcements that are located in our agenda for this evening
m on Saturday March 25th for the volunteer work day at the New Hope bottomland Street I'm sorry New Hope bottomlands Trail to celebrate Greek week and help beautify our community we'll meet at Old Chapel Hill Park Old Chapel Hill Road Park which is at 3791 Southwest Durham Drive and pick up trash along the trail and New Hope Creek the trash bags and gloves will be provided there's a link
org public comment will be opened through March 28th the 2023-24 application for Durham Pre-K is open and accepting applications for all children who will be four as of August 31st 2023. org or
6 million dollars in NOS funds which Durham County will receive over the next 18 years feedback on community priorities on how the board of County Commissioners will use this funding to address the opioid epidemic support treatment recovery harm
M the event will feature a college fair with more than 40 colleges and universities represented workshops led by college X access experts and more the event is free and open to all registration is highly encouraged because there is seating uh limited seating available there is a link to apply or to register online free tax preparation from tax Aid at Main Library need help with your tax preparation AARP Foundation tax Aid is offering free tax preparation for taxpayers of all ages with a special emphasis on seniors tax
M and run until
m at our health and human services building and it is it is called creating an inclusive community of understanding advocacy and support and it is free to everyone lunch
will be provided um it is it's going to be there's going to be a panel discussion breakout sessions but it's also going to be um it's going to be a lot of fun in certain ways as well um and it is for anyone who is living with dementia hearing for someone with Dementia or who just wishes to learn more and the keynote address is from Jay reinstein who used to be one of our city Deputy managers many of you probably know Jay and he is going to speaking be speaking on living well with early onset dementia so I'm excited to share this event and I will get it to you Monica as well thank you mine will be relatively quick um there are only two one of them is actually on our Facebook page but I do
hope that we send it out pretty wildly so Durham Tech is doing an information session this week one of the events was the day the other ones will be on the 16th and the 17th uh if you know people in the community who are looking how looking forward to pivoting in the pandemic looking for the next career Durham Tech is a awesome option uh they will be doing listening sessions on software development entrepreneurship and every Community College in North Carolina right now is essentially free it just is with the influx of dollars that we got for Arthur so this is the great time to go take a class speaking of associate's degree for low to no cost I know we talk a lot about the Bulls initiative but I also think we have an awesome opportunity in this community for folks who are not going into those Industries to go to Durham Tech and pick something else up the other one I wanted to bring up um some folks in the community have reached out to me about this one I want to thank commissioner Carter last week for I and others in the room who highlighted um house bill help me tell the truth commissioner Carter last week last week
about how um we really are seeing our children being attacked and during Public Schools right now and Statewide so tomorrow the education committee at the North Carolina General Assembly will be voting on House Bill 187 it is actually called education Equity Act it is not an education Equity act it has everything to do all with making sure that we don't teach slavery in schools uh they're making this argument about critical race Theory which we don't teach in schools um they're making arguments about how we make certain children feel bad when we talk about the Civil Rights Movement so this was filed in February but they actually are voting on it tomorrow this is the same group of Representatives and Senators that made up a Facebook page of each of our school board members put their faces their addresses and their home phone numbers on it so this is a group of people who are had been on attacking Progressive school board members so I do want us to watch this legislation much like we've been watching the lgbtq legislation and make sure that our elected officials on all bodies including that school board and that our students are taught in Fair
equal learning environment so again I hope we're all watching House Bill 187 and also let's make sure that we can fill up the seats at Durham Tech thank you commissioner Alam thank you chair Howerton glad to be back welcome back thank you um I had a very quick one I just wanted to give everyone an update that Ramadan is starting next Wednesday uh March 23rd so for everyone to know that this is the uh holy month of Ramadan of fasting for Muslims so for all of our County staff they're going to be fasting um please be courteous to them as we will be hungry and thirsty throughout the day and especially to our students who are going to be fasting uh during the school days uh to all of our staff to just be and our DPS staff to be just a little courteous to them as they will be going through that and focusing in school at the same time and I look forward to celebrating and sharing these celebrations with each of you during this month
okay anything else all right so I just want to say in the announcements when we talked about our uh opioid dollars I wrote down besided money money money um it's a shame that we have to get money money money this way and because that means that people lost their lives but it will be money that Durham County and help others that did not lose their lives but we've got a lot of work to do to get to maybe to give that money out yeah so we'll let's move on to our minutes we have minutes um for September February I'm going to September February 27th our regular session uh do are there any edits those minutes if not gonna get emotion
second all in favor aye aye pennies have been moved and approved now we are down to our ceremonial items uh the first one is 23. 0183 Proclamation 2023 as year of the trail in North Carolina the board is requested to Proclaim 2023 as the year of the Trail in Durham North Carolina and I will ask Mr Jacobs if she will read the proclamation and ask Jane corres [Music] um if she will come to the podium to accept that is she here yes he's not here it's like we have Brandon Moore okay Durham Board of County Commissioners
Proclamation year of the trail 2023. where is Durham County's natural beauty and access to Recreation are critical to its residents Quality of Life Health and economic well-being whereas Durham County's natural assets and resources are integral to disaster recovery and resiliency to climate change for future Generations and whereas Durham County's nature preserves and partnership parks are welcoming to all and provide a common ground for people of all ages abilities and backgrounds to access our rich and diverse natural cultural and historic resources and whereas Trails offer quality of life benefits to all as expressions of local community character and pride as outdoor workshops for Science Education as tools for economic revitalization
as free resources for healthy Recreation as accessible alternative transportation and as sites for social and cultural events whereas Durham County provides foot and mountain biking trails within our nature preserves that are an integral part of our County's outdoor recreational opportunities and promote an appreciation of Durham's Natural Resources by residents and visitors including 20 miles of natural surface trails and biking trails at Hollow Rock Park Little River Regional Park and New Hope Preserve and whereas Durham County supports several significant Regional Trails including the East Coast Greenway that stretches 3 000 miles from Maine to Florida connecting Durham to 450 cities and towns and 15 states
and the mountains to Sea Trail that stretches across North Carolina for more than a thousand miles from mountains to Coast and whereas North Carolina known as the Great rails state and whereas the North Carolina General Assembly designated 2023 as the year of the trail in North Carolina to promote and celebrate the state's extensive network of trails that showcase our state's Beauty vibrancy and culture and whereas Durham County will host or participate with our partners in several events during 2023 that will highlight and celebrate trails in Durham County now therefore be it resolved I Brenda Howerton chair of the Durham Board of County Commissioners and on behalf of the Durham Board of County Commissioners
do hereby Proclaim 2023 as the year of the Trail in Durham County North Carolina this 13th day of March 2023. thank you very much Commissioners all of us at the Durham County Open Space Program are very excited about this year it really gives us the opportunity to showcase the diverse natural beauty and at our parks and our nature preserves we're very grateful for your continued support of the program in preserving Durham's unique we will be offering numerous events throughout the year to celebrate the year of the trail we hope everyone can come out and take part in at least one of them starting as the announcement said earlier on March 25th we'll have a clean up day uh as part of Creek week the New Hope Creek bottomland scenario we'll also be hosting a invasive species removal for World biodiversity Day and
May 20th on June 3rd we'll be hosting a guided hike at Little River Regional Park as part of National Trails day in September 23rd is national public lands day we'll be doing some trail Renovations again at New Hope Creek bottomlands Trail and on November 17th on take a hike day we'll be doing a guided hike at Hollow Rock Park so lots of events to look forward to and the the North Carolina Trails a year of the trails website also has a full list of activities throughout the state to garden and celebrate so thank you very much thank you would you repeat your name and address for the record please an address did you see your your name and address for the clerk please Brendan Moore nine Governor's Place thank you thank you you still need to say you still need to say his name sorry so that she has it on record yeah thank you yeah any
Commissioners yeah Brandon don't go away yeah he's just he's just running uh well Brandon first of all I want to acknowledge you as somebody who has spent countless hours helping to maintain our Trails um I I know that's you have done that over many years actually going out and and and doing that really hard work um that has to be done so thank you for your role in in our trail system and I really love that you are that we are going to be highlighting each of the um parks that the county is a part of and the trails and just wondering are you gonna is there gonna be a flyer or something or yes you'll be putting out signs in all the parks as well as advertising it on our website and on our social media okay great um I also wanted to note that another way that Durham County supports our
Trails is through the Durham open space and Trails um Commission because I in the past week I've run into Delphine Sellers and her sister at different events and they reminded me that our most recent Grant to you can um that the Catawba Trails is that they are going to be building new trails out in in that part of the county um so that's another way that we're we are helping to support trails in our community uh um thank you thank you Miss nolam thank you yes um thank you so much for being here and I'm really excited to be the liaison for the open space and trails Commission this group of folks on our commission is probably one of the most dedicated group of peoples of any of the boards that I have the honor of serving on so I'm really excited for us to go back at our next meeting uh Jane is our staff
liaison from the county side who's been absolutely amazing and making sure we have the resources on open space and trails and Dave Conley if any of you have met our chair of our board he is the most passionate person about open space and trails I have ever met and we I'm really excited about you know one thing as Wendy mentioned for this board that's really great that's different from the other boards I serve on is that we provide grants uh to the community so if there's individuals within the community who have open space areas that they want to see improvements to come to your open space and trails commission meetings and learn about how to apply for these grants because we're constantly looking for uh folks to support improving their own communities and neighborhoods so I'm really excited to be celebrating this this year thank you commissioners Carter I wanted to thank Brandon too I'm very excited to hear about the list of ways in which we're active participants
in the year of the trail that's going to be really fun to join in on many of the events and thank you for planning those um and I also just wanted to mention what a amenity the trails are in Durham they really do improve our quality of life in so many ways they connect us to Nature they connect us to each other they you know improve our health both physical health mental health or economic engines they you know they can drive economic development in many ways um and I just I wanted to say I feel really fortunate that I live very close to Trails and I use them every single day and I my it's my hope that all of our neighborhoods in Durham will it you know eventually have easy access to trails in the same way that I do really make the difference in my life and I'd like for that to be available and accessible easily to everyone in Durham and I know we're working towards that end in partnership with the city
S congressman David E price the board is requested to approve the resolution honoring the extraordinary service of a long time fourth district Congressman David Price and I will read the resolution and then we'll have
S House of Representatives in 1986 to serve the
North Carolina's fourth congressional district and whereas price worked for the North Carolina Democratic party serving as his executive director and eventually the state chair prior to his election to Congress and whereas he represented North Carolina for a total of 34 years doing two separate terms of service from 1986 to 1994 and again from 1996 until his retirement in 222. and whereas during his Congressional service he was highly regarded for his leadership including his work as chairman of the transportation and housing Appropriations subcommittee along with service on the house budget committee and the Appropriations subcommittee for
9 million dollars in community Project funding
and that Durham County residents received 700 000 for Katie reborn to bring a coordinated effort to reduce Community violence through method such as educational programming re-entry services and mentorship opportunities along with 750 000 or Ross Road Apartments to redevelop distressed housing into quality multi-bedroom Apartments to serve low and very low income households including Supportive Housing for formerly unhoused individuals and Families and whereas representative price will long be celebrated for demonstrating Diversified skills and abilities critical thinking through negotiations and strategic planning efforts that
S representative David Eugene price for his passion advocacy and productivity representing the residents of the fourth district for 34 years with distinction B it also resolved that we call upon all citizens of Durham County to salute command and applaud him on his retirement from a productive dedicated career of public service and be it further resolved that we wish him much
joy and happiness as he commences a productive a new career journey in his life this the 13th day of March 22. Board of County Commissioners [Applause] thank you madam chair may I say a few words absolutely well I appreciate the uh recognition not more than I can say and looking around the table at these uh your fellow Commissioners you and your fellow Commissioners all of whom serve selflessly in the in the public interest I do appreciate this recognition coming from this board which it's been a pleasure to work with and which I have high respect I assume for uh the work
K Butterfield and other other colleagues um but I do remember I do remember the year when Durham County was first drawn into the fourth district it had not historically been that way but in the mid 90s sure enough the map was redrawn in response to court orders and uh Iran was placed in the fourth district and that was a that was a blessing but it was also a challenge this community that I that I knew well I lived nearby I taught at Duke University I'd been involved in Community Affairs here but that's that's one thing it's another thing to actually represent the community in in so uh we we had a time
when we were getting better acquainted and uh woman is here tonight who was very very instrumental in my making that transition Gracie love it who uh [Applause] would serve Congressman Mel watt would he would he represented Durham and then the uh graciously agreed to work with me as we adopted this new territory and and I just have to say I have never in politics been more warmly welcomed felt more of a of a willingness to uh to cooperate and and work together then I received in Durham County and I'll always be grateful for that because I was apprehensive about it didn't know how it would go turned out it went beautifully as far as I'm concerned and I hope the county feels the same way it's just tonight that maybe uh maybe you do and that we have had a very fruitful partnership which we all recognize and and we hope
will be a model for uh your new representative and and her relationship with you congresswoman Valerie fushi who I was with yesterday and who is doing a great job in taking on the uh the role that I had for these many years uh you did you were you were nice to mention some of these Community projects but you know the speaking of trails let's let's not forget there is a trail in that in that list as well um and we we got it done just this year the city of Durham the R Kelly Bryant Bridge Trail so that joins the the pattern of trails and I couldn't agree more that those are real amenities for this community there's affordable housing here there is there is Outreach to uh disadvantaged communities as you say and uh this board of course formulated much of this this board and the county staff as well as the city board and the city staff help formulate these projects and
that's another example of of the kind of Cooperative effort that we've engaged so it's a great community I don't think there's any Community anywhere that I that I know of that has more of a capacity to help itself you know this this community is just full of individuals and groups that want to make the community better want this to be an inclusive community and and work to make it that way that means going after federal funds yes that's what it means but it means so much more than that it means a kind of quality of citizenship that takes on a responsibility for the good of all for the common good that's how it works in a democracy and you make democracy work wonderfully well it's a pleasure to work with thank you thank you thank you [Applause] okay so you can't go you can't go nowhere yet
you can't go yet that's uh Tracy would you like to have a comment well let me just say Durham is home and it has been a pleasure working with Congressman David Price we um we share a birthday so we also have what we call our national holiday but it really has been an honor to work in the district that I live in uh work for a person that has had that really has uh citizenry at heart he really cares about the community the people that he represents he's a very thoughtful person um and I couldn't be more blessed in the work for a wonderful person like congressman oh in the town that I love so thank you all
thank you commissioners I'm gonna start over here commissioner alum thank you chair Horton I think it's uh no secret Congress in price that you are someone I look up to and admire a lot I'm just so appreciative of all of the work you've done for our community and this this resolution though it highlights amazing things you've done it nearly is not close to everything you have done for uh the fourth congressional district and if I may just highlight and share like a few items that are very personal to me that really made you stand out as an exceptional leader for this District um one starting with I have never had seen a representative anywhere in the country who has done the type of service and Community engagement that you have of I remember being able to just go to coffee shops and you would have coffee conversations and just being able to go
to a coffee shop and sit and ask my congressman questions about what's happening in DC and you would stay there till the very last person was able to come up to you and ask that question so thank you for that level of Engagement and something that a lot of people don't know and realize that's very personal is that after the death of diazern resen Congressman price was one of the only if if not the only elected official who actually recognized their murders as a hate crime and reached out to the families and the friends of the ayos and Roseanne and that meant so much to us especially in a time where we felt so alone and that you were there for us and not just in the public sphere but even when we had fundraisers for their endowment and the scholarships created in their names you and Lisa would come and you guys also contributed every single time which just means so much to us and our community I've had you in that place that has supported our community when we
were alone so just thank you so much for everything you have done commissioner Carter those were beautiful remarks Neda thank you for those and and I just want to express my admiration for you Congressman price and also uh to acknowledge what a public servant true public servant and role model you are for all of us um you clearly have worked on all of the issues that I think are very important to this board transportation education housing and more you're a real social scientist and have um championed the cause in so many different ways and you've been successful at getting the work done working across um political lines and ideologies and been able to to actually get legislation approved and we appreciate that and it's not hard it's very hard to do
um and I did have one question for you I do not know how anyone could have endured 18 campaigns 17 of which were successful how did you ever endure you must be a man of real fortitude in many ways to be able to to just have the stamina for that well I asked myself the same question sometimes we uh one at a time some are more fun than others I I remember basically fondly though positively uh the the campaigns not not the fundraising not every aspect of it certainly not the attack ads but my wife used to say that she loved politics because of the camaraderie and the cause and that uh that's the way I feel there's um I don't know any anything in our community that brings us together like
uh politics does it also drives us apart sometimes but my uh friends and Associates and colleagues in uh in the Democratic party and also across the aisle have have been a a diverse set of citizens all kinds of backgrounds all kinds of fun for you and politics at its best brings us together in equality and mutual response I do think many times we've been able to maintain that in this community and across this so uh I uh you're right there was one campaign I just as soon forget but basically they've been experiences that that bring us uh that have brought me in close touch with people in this district and I hope I've communicated but I hope by the way I just had one thing you know campaign we shouldn't resent having to
campaign I hope we all feel that way aspects we do you know it it sometimes seems like it comes very often and we certainly don't like some aspects of it but we do need to give an account of ourselves and Citizens need to have a way to organize and and say what they want and make some uh make demands and uh demand accountability so I I think in a democratic system campaigns have a really important function and so I've tried to run good honorable campaigns that's a great answer thank you for humoring me on that and and um I admire your wisdom and uh your impact and influence and Leadership will be missed manager well I will just say Congressman price we only had a brief time together but I will tell you I quickly learned how highly dedicated and committed you are to serving the people that you
represent and I was just really impressed with how willing you were to sit down with us to hear about our community's needs and then to also help us you know think through the strategies of how to resolve some of the issues we had and I'm just impressed and Blown Away by that I've never seen that before so thank you so much forward to commissioner alum's comments the level of Engagement that you have demonstrated through your time we will miss you tremendously but I wish you so much success in your next chapter thank you well Congressman price it's hard to believe that you are actually retiring I mean and of course it's fitting that you aren't really retiring because you're going back to Duke University um which is I think totally fitting because it's hard to imagine you not not continue to be engaged um I I can really only just add examples to
um what everybody has said about you um um I think that you really embody um what our democracy is all about um your passion for the work just comes through how much you just really have loved every aspect of the work and um I will say I was a Duke student when you were at Duke I did not I missed out on taking your class but one of my earliest memories with you was when in the in the 90s was probably in the mid 90s and my children were very young I had two two children at that point under age five and I remember going to your headquarters I think it was on University Drive um and you were having a campaign event and I worked on your campaign with two my two little children in tow um and then um around that time also and this just really to me also embodies
the person that you are that really shines through we were driving to the Ina River Festival and had a problem with a bike coming off our car and we pulled over to the side of the road and you stopped and helped us get the bike on our car and you didn't even say who you were we knew who you were but you did not even identify yourself and then we saw you speaking at the universal afterwards but that's just typical of you not even just an act of kindness and helping other people and not wanting to take any any credit for it whatsoever and for me one of the highlights for me and my career was getting to work with you on the light rail and you worked as hard as you could you fought as hard as you could uh with Congress and Butterfield and I remember one night having a conversation with you you were in Switzerland anytime I called you or text you you answered the phone
no matter what um and you just have worked tirelessly tirelessly for our community I'm just so grateful for everything that you've done for us and thinking of you coming to our speaking every year at our Martin Luther King Services even when you weren't representing Durham County you still made a point of coming to Durham um and speaking at those Services um so I just wish you good health and enjoying this last this this new phase of your life um going back to your roots uh as a professor and um hope that we continue uh to see you and and be able to work with you in our community thank you and Tracy I don't want to leave you out because you you have been a team I don't think I've ever seen anybody be a team the way the two of you have been and all
that you have done for Durham as well we have been so lucky to have you as well as a part of our community thank you so much for everything thank you hello Congress notified how you doing uh I'll be quick I just wanna I wanna take some time to say thank you I much like commissioner long I think that there's a lot that you've done for the community that folks in here just would not know about you know any other way you know I look out in the audience I look out in the community and I think about these people um who like to profit off the pain of course I think about full allyship and then I think about you and that's never been the case there are so many times when you entered into spaces to support people who look like me who look like commissioner long and you were not there for the Limelight you were not there to take pictures you really were there you know to be very solution oriented when I was first selected you know I didn't know if I was going to be able to you know call you on the phone like I called
other people you took my calls you took tests early on a Saturday morning I think you called me before I woke up uh so I appreciate that um much like commissioner Jacob said I can't believe after 34 years you know I think a lot of young people I would risk nope you said I'm going back to do I'm going back to tea I should not be surprised because I remember uh two fourth of July's where we had to march in the parade and I didn't I won't assume that you were gonna walk slower I just said I'm going to walk with Congressman price because I have on heels y'all he left me in the dust he was carrying a whole flag and something else and I said Tracy I see him at the Finish Line about this conversation Asian I I can't keep up and so I clearly everything that you've been doing but one of the things we didn't mention you know you stated two things yesterday for those of you all who were not there he had a wonderful file side chat with his his current successor um uh now congresswoman fushi and he was peppered with questions and one of the Beautiful Things is he did what he always does he not only answered the
questions but he offered Solutions so I'm sitting on the second row you know taking copious notes and I did what I could always do I could connect people with those opportunities like immediately after myself along with Deidra Freeman we reached out to like five pastors about two of the solutions uh that you gave us and so just that type of um you still have that very given Spirit you're still very learning and you want to share it out young people do not be surprised if I come in audit your class I don't know if Dr Price will kick me out you also mentioned your fight for the EPA we are really proud of ourselves here in Durham you know about the fact that we get 60 to 70 percent of all biopharma and life science our opportunities and jobs I personally feel like and I would argue down with anybody that the EPA has been a force multiplier for that so your eight-year fight to get the EPA here in the triangle has really done I don't think we'll ever be able to we'll ever be able to categorize how much it has done for economic development in this region so I I just
want to say thank you I want to say thank you for showing up Tracy uh thank you for showing up I also want to thank you both for the the selfless handoff that you did and the selfless handoff that you did with salima that does not happen um in every space and also last thing we can sit here and talk about your your leadership role on Transportation Appropriations North Carolina's Congress men and women in the Democratic party don't always end up in leadership and yes it was Transportation but we cannot sit here and pretend like you did not go into those other committee rooms and make sure that you advocated for doing rooms at Central for roads here in Durham so thank you for the Investments that you made things that people cannot find on a Wikipedia page they can't find on the Google spreadsheet they can only find them in the halls in small rooms with conversations like Dr Lavonia Allison and representative Michelle and Larry Hall and I just want you to know that there are people who will still continue to make sure that folks know how much of a sacrifice you made how much you advocated for Durham both in
the halls of leadership and here are at home so thank you sir and I know you were tired out standing there listening but I just want you know it's nothing I can more I can add to this except for this fungus and price when I first moved to Durham The Wind Beneath Your Wings the wing The Wind Beneath Your Wings Lisa for me I get to meet you beautiful wave I met her in her fight around the right to carry guns and carry them safely and we met in Raleigh um we were lining up shoes for the deaths of people that lost their lives
through gun violence and I will never forget that day um in meeting her and over the years just knowing her and knowing you the passion and the compassion that you have for people and that she had is the only thing I'd like to lift up tonight other than what everybody's already said and now if you will come and we'll give you this back unless you unless you've got something else you'd like to say
foreign Okay so we will continue so there's one Proclamation um Commissioners that not listed and we have to we need to acknowledge today the month
is women's month so you know if we if we pulled up documents if we go Google about the contributions that women have made to this country the list would be so long we would not be able to get through the names so this is uh an honor all women history that have made significant differences to this country and continue to make differences every day in leadership in every way for the life of of us to read away as on this um Proclamation and I think the first one will if Mr
Burns if you will start Durham Board of County Commissioners Proclamation women's History Month 2023 whereas women's history month we celebrate the countless women who have fought tirelessly and courageously for equality Justice and opportunity in our nation we also affirm our commitment to advancing rights and opportunities for women and girls in the United States and around the world we are mindful that we are building on the legacy of both recognized Trailblazers and unsung heroines who have guided the course of American history and continue to shape its future and where is the full participation of women is a foundational tenet of democracy women often women of color have been on the front lines fighting for and securing equal rights and opportunity throughout our country's history
as abolitionists civil rights leaders suffragists and labor activists women continue to lead as advocates for Reproductive Rights champions of racial Justice and lgbtqi plus equality and whereas despite significant progress women and girls continue to face systemic barriers to fall and equal participation in our economy and Society last year the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade stripping away a constitutional right from the American people and the ability of millions of women to make decisions about their own bodies their health and lives at risk disparities persist in economic security health care and caregiving responsibilities especially for women and girls of color those who perform critical work including those who care for our children and our families are
too often overlooked underpaid and undervalued and whereas this month as we continue our work to advance gender equal equity and equality let us celebrate the contributions of women throughout our history and honor the stories that have too often gone Untold let us recognize the fundamental freedoms that fundamental freedoms are interconnected when opportunities for women are withheld we all suffer and when women's lives are improved we all gain now therefore be it resolved at our Brenda Howerton chair of the Board of Commissioners and on behalf of the board of County Commissioners you hereby Proclaim March 2023 as women's History Month in Durham County North Carolina throughout history women have opened the doors of opportunity also suppress Generations and dreamers and doers
as Community leaders Educators doctors scientists child care providers and more women power our economy and Lead our nation and Country I call upon residents of Durham to observe this month and to celebrate women this day and all days the 13th day of March 2020. commissioners comments all right now we'll move on to our consent agenda kind of about our manager reads through those or are they any that needs to be pulled
hearing none I'll ask for a motion Madam chair I'd like to make a motion it we prove approve tonight's consent agenda in its entirety oh it's been moved and properly second to approve the consent agenda all in favor aye aye Nintendo has been approved five to zero and I'm here I just had one comment of actually I asked the manager to comment on one com item that was not on our work session that was something new uh the item related to the software for the agile software for our Fleet which was really thrilling to see that um where are you it was 23-0188 yeah zero one eight eight um just wanted I don't know if you wanted to comment on that
it just it's exciting to see that thank you I would just say one of the things that um we're really looking to do moving forward is to right size what we're doing operationally and so this piece of Hardware will help us to do that with our Fleet to make sure that we're utilizing Fleet as efficiently we hello we we will be acquiring the software as well as the kiosk to be able to allow departments to actually have access to the vehicles vehicle keys at the roxburgh deck so that'll be convenient to those who are downtown um that's the temporary location after the Roxborough deck is um there they are doing some construction on the roxburgh deck to deal with some of the structural issues that's where we'll function from
thank you Mel I just want to commend you and your staff for implementing our policy of Fleet Management and environmental sustainability thank you okay so our next item Commissioners is a public hearing uh number seven 23s 0181 as a public hearing his own imagination um so the board is requested to conduct and receive comments um if I have okay this is Alexandria yes Alexander Cahill a senior planning director is here to go over this item with us
good evening uh thank you chair Howerton Vice chair Jacobs and honorable Commissioners I'm Alexander Cahill with the city County Planning Department I'm happy to be here with you tonight uh before we begin staff does want to let you know that all planning department hearing items have been advertised and noticed in accordance with local and state law and affidavits for all these notices are available on file with the planning department Caitlin kempske proposes to change the zoning designation of one parcel of land that she owns totaling around 22 and a half acres and located at 220 and 214 Riley Road the current zoning is residential rural with a development plan that limits the existing development to a disc golf course Caitlyn is proposing to change this designation to residential role without that limitation the properties are currently designated low density residential which is four dwelling units an acre or less on the future land use map this proposed rezoning is consistent with that future land use designation
the Planning Commission recommended approval by a vote of 12-0 at their January 10 20 2023 meeting two motions are required to approve the zoning map change this evening the first is to approve the ordinance and the second is to approve a consistency statement staff is available to answer any questions and I believe Miss hemski is available virtually to answer any questions as well you're not I will open the public hearing oh do we have anyone signed up to speak we do not have anyone signed up to speak the one sign up to speak uh we'll close a public hearing and bring it back forward I'm sorry chair Howerton we did have a resident raise their hand if you would give me a moment to bring them up we had a resident to raise their hand
online okay hi can you hear me I want to speak up a little bit louder yeah uh this is Mr Milstead I am Miss kempsey's husband um I just wanted to state that uh you know we just we just want to build a house on this land um the only provision as mentioned by the planning committee is we just want to remove this provision of the disc golf course um that's my only statement for tonight thank you city council thank you um anyone else during that up I will close a public hearing bring it
back forward and um are there any comments support Jacobs I want to say I remember when we actually rezone this property for a disc golf it was I think in my first term of office obviously it never turned into a disc golf course um which I'm sorry that didn't actually happen um but um I I just wanted to note that the um that the land use is consistent with the future land use map and there could be 22 homes there which would still be consistent with the adjacent um land use so I'm I don't see any issues with this rezoning request
Commissioners we have before two motions um that I would entertain motion one is to adopt an ordinance amending the unified development organisms out of the residential rule with a development plan Falls Jordan District B f j b and establishing the same as residential rule Falls Jordan District b f J B so moved second foreign statement of Pursuits 160d-605 I've moved to adapt the second motion as stated second
S Highway 70 East
the current zoning is residential Rural and Commercial General it's a split zoning site the applicant proposes to change this designation just to be entirely commercial General the applicant is proposing to rezone the properties to facilitate future commercial development this development is unknown or unspecified at this time the properties are currently designated commercial on the future land use map the proposed commercial General zoning is consistent with this junior land use map designation the Planning Commission again recommended for approval by a vote of 12-0 at their January 10 2023 meeting there are two motions again for this item to approve tonight the first is to approve the zoning map change and the second is to adopt a consistency statement staff and the applicant are available tonight to answer any questions any questions for staff um I have some questions for staff
yeah um so if this is going to be rezoned for commercial and it's not within does not have access to City Utilities how would that work uh thank you Meister Mr Jacobs that's a great question um so they that they would have to more than likely Annex into the city to support any sort of intense commercial use um to have severe water and sewer they wouldn't be able to be on City Water and Sewer I can't imagine well in septic could support any sort of intense commercial uses but they may be able to support something very light okay well I I will wait to ask out of the applicant but that is a concern to me because um I I'm just wondering if this is kind of a way to avoid doing or rezoning with the city um because I I guess I don't really understand and so if we if we do the rezoning and then
they don't have to go to to have a rezoning through the city um so anyway I I just just raised us some questions for me about this process um and I also there was a question there was a comment on the staff report that said something about that courage to address uh bike pad improvements could you talk about that a little bit more absolutely so bike and pedestrian commission comments are advisory in nature staff highly encourage applicants to address those comments however there is no Associated development plan either textual or graphic as you may remember that development plan revisions was approved by y'all recently so the applicant could propose a text textual development plan and commit to some of those recommendations but because there is no Associated development plan they can't commit to anything at this time
there's no mechanism for them but you can do a text only development plan right so that that is a option for the applicant okay and if this went directly to the city for rezoning um what how would the process differ and what would the standards perhaps be like that they don't have to because they're doing it this way yeah thank you for that question uh Vice chair Jacobs so same process in terms of go to Planning Commission uh but then it would go to city council instead and the corollary process would be the annexation and an annexation is an assessment there's a fiscal assessment to ensure that it has a cost-benefit analysis done to ensure that it's Revenue positive for the city there's also an operational assessment so different departments look at annexations to see if there's any operational impact on their departments and it would go through that process and then it would be voted on in a
Consolidated manner so the council would vote on the annexation and resume okay um and I I guess I have it this is I think maybe the first time that we've well whatever I'm reading the staff report and I would just like comment on deception related to educational impact um that was in section e um and I I noticed this when I looked at some of the rezonings that have been sent to us for Courtesy of that are going directly to the city and I would like to you know just note that by just mentioning the number of new students and looking at capacity in the schools that's it really doesn't reflect the
true impact of the additional students because it's not just building capacity the county pays a local supplement for each student each additional student and I think it's close to about forty forty five hundred four thousand five hundred four thousand eight hundred dollars where's Keith maybe Claudia knows but we we pay a local supplement for every student so have you all ever discussed actually reflecting what the cost is to the county for rezonings and the educational impact that that is definitely something we can explore I will tell you that the Durham Public Schools conversation has really picked up speed we're in collaboration with them to update these numbers on the way we look at student generation ratios and I think a cost benefit it's definitely something we could look at and explore as part of that
well I would I would request I'm requesting um that you do uh take into account what the impact is on the actual cost of that impact of additional students at you know may or may not be um acknowledged by the applicant in any way um or um and similarly I don't see it here but often um there is impact to Services I guess when if it was going directly to the city there would be an assessment of things like fire service um but you all I don't see anything here related to like EMS service or I mean even a building if there is a commercial usage they're going to be for instance there would be the need for fire service so I don't think I saw that in this
report yeah so we we don't generally look at fire service as during rezonings there's already mechanism to provide service uh if it's not being serviced by the city already there's usually a mutual Aid agreement in place but it's not something that we explore in the rezoning process in certain terms of those service Provisions in terms of the EMS they used to be a reviewer on the annexation petitions at one point I think due to just some staffing shortages in terms of the administrative part they were not able to keep doing those but that's definitely something that we could look back into for annexations but for rezonings we don't currently have we don't currently review that um and I'm not sure I would have to talk to Sarah Young to see how we'd approach that okay well I again I would encourage there to be a reflection of all the costs to vote the city and the
county and the schools when we look at the impact of these developments and I'll wait to ask more about about the um to the applicant when he I have the opportunity thank you Mr shalom thank you um I had two questions the first is more just for my understanding on Section D where it says while the residential element of the parcel could be rezoned to commercial General CG allows for some residential development is that saying that commercial General allows for some types of residential development or that like on that land some of it can be used for residential but the arrest has to be for commercial or both yeah that's a great clarifying question thank you commissioner long uh commercial General as a zoning District allows for some residential uses specifically multi-family uses and more Heights so the full partial or parcel of the land
could be used for just that much okay and then my second question was more so along the lines of commissioner Jacob's comments and questions like the different types of analysis and summary that's done one thing that just stood out that was interesting to me was under age the adjacent and surrounding development the proximity to amenities the proximity to health care it was just interesting to me that you it was noted for a oral surgery and Orthodontics versus like I would imagine you would want to look more into the proximity of regular Healthcare versus such as specialized area absolutely so that's a great observation what you're seeing is that there isn't access to um primary care physicians within you know the vicinity um and Specialty Care is all that's really around there um you'd have to have a referral to go there okay okay yes mine is relatively quick um I I know
um I have a lot of you Alexander Mr K here I have a lot of respect for our Planning Commission so you know I'm taking into advisement that they are saying 12 to zero so I'm um I'm I'm planning on voting in affirmative but she did make one note and I know that this happens all the time in Durham so we're moving something from residential to Commercial and we know that I think I read a report when you look at Mecklenburg County when you look at Orange County I mean uh Guilford County and Wake County and Durham County like 84 of all land is registered R1 so like residential one house and you know we're there's only so much that we have and I would never deny somebody the opportunity to bring in business I stood up here in the harp on how much business you want to bring in but I am interested in knowing this might have to be a question for the applicant you stated that we don't know what's going there we really not know what's going there Mr Cahill Mr Cahill really doesn't know what's going there but the applicant
might well it's good I I get applicant later you're you're off the hot seat with me but I I just always like to ask those questions because I want to know what's coming the entire Community thank you sir yeah I'm really glad um commissioner Alam asked I had written that as one of my questions too about the uses um could you tell us what are some of the uses that could because there's no development plan there's nothing no development plan there's no text only development plan basically what are all the things that could happen on this site including I guess 104 residential units but what what else yeah I'd be happy to pull up that list if you'd like it is a long one but a range or example of them so anything commercial this could be self-storage this could be you know any sorts of
retail pawn shops I mean it could be the range of literally anything commercial okay and I I in section K just one other piece of feedback because we don't normally get to have this opportunity you there are a lot of the scores where you give like um you know walkability and things like that and you have the average but I'd be curious to know like what is the goal um I didn't say anything there that gives context or like what are we aiming for or what do we consider as good so that um and I I just will say before we hear that I'm I just I have concerns about this from a process standpoint I I do so Mr Carter uh yes and and so when everyone else started having some concerns and I felt like I'm getting a deeper understanding of the report and it raised a concern on
my part as well related to the sustainability summary really very empty right you know like it's mostly we don't have any information on any of this unavailable uh you know that kind of thing this will be determined at the site plan stage so I guess my question is um where in the process would some of the you know the potential impact on storm water control measures come into play um and and in particular if a general CG commercial General um would allow for a very large multi-family complex 104 units that you're right that would be a type of development that I would be concerned about what the impact on the water quality might be and so when in the process does that happen yeah thank you and it's so hard to like see around commissioner Carter uh so you
you are seeing like a newer version of the staff report um if you saw them in the past they looked very different and one of the reasons it says no information provided is because we don't have that information and we have that in there to kind of call out that when there is not a development plan present we can't commit to things or the applicant can't commit to things in excess of the ordinance um so that's kind of the first part to your question the second part is uh if if there was a textual development plan they could commit to more stringent storm water requirements sustainability measures uh the whole the whole slew of things that you're kind of speaking to if this General rezoning were approved tonight and there was no you know additional work on some sort of text only development plan it would be at the site plan stage for any what development that came in um that they would have to meet the ordinance requirements so I believe that's a 10-year detention 24-hour Peak storm event or um or storm water for that specific example so it'd be at the site plan stage that stage comes after the
rezoning and that is where there is no public hearing component and it's administratively approved foreign and and following up on what Wendy was saying you know if this had gone to the city for a rezoning they might not have approved it but they'd be concerned about the impact on the water quality as they have been with a number of other um requested zoning changes or annexations right I mean I mean am I making any sense I'm looking at others to see if I'm making any sense um I'm making sense myself how about to you if I'm making it you were making great sense yeah I'm not used to getting this many questions it's great I love it uh yeah no that that makes great sense and that's something that I'll have to let the applicant speak to you know why they chose this route to go to the county instead of you know with a Consolidated annexation to the city um and why there's no development plan I
will say that we can't require one but staff does advise in pre-submittal meetings you know you should consider some sort of development plan because you can commit to additional commitments may be able to be answered by the applicant if we will hold up a minute unless yeah absolutely I have one question first let's bring the staff back let's get the applicant to uh then we can bring the staff back but let me open the public hearing uh first I'll open public hearing and now we can hear from the applicant and as you can say we all have questions about what's going to go there so can you shed some light on what's your plan thank you chair Howerton and Commissioners my name is Randy Herman I'm an attorney with the law firm of ba folk and I represent the applicant Anna Neil Blanchard um the first thing I would say is if you
look at the map the current zoning map I believe should be in the staff report um this property is about three acres um almost more than two acres of it is already zoned commercial General um the point that sticks up away from 70 is the part that is currently zoned or a residential I've been able unable to figure out why that is it's just an old Legacy zoning and as you can see all the surrounding Parcels already zoned commercial General um my client is not a developer she's an individual she inherited this property from her parents um and she is not planning on developing it herself uh it's also probably not developable on its own um because it's weirdly shaped and also because most of it is along 70 and we know that at some point 70 is going to be widened there and probably a lot of that property that is already zoned commercial General is going to be taken
for that widening um so the goal here is to rezone that part that is sticking up to commercial General um and combine this parcel with some of the surrounding Parcels that eventually that whole intersects um that is the reason why it is where it is um because again my client is not planning to develop it herself and when we try we initially submitted for rezoning with the city rezoning and annexation together um but because we don't have any current plans to develop we don't know what's going to go there we couldn't provide them enough information that the city could analyze it for annexation um and so therefore we made the decision under the County's jurisdiction um so at some point in the future when it is ready to be developed it will need to be annexed into the city um that will be a whole separate process the city will have to review and vote on and that is where we expect a lot of this analysis in terms of storm water
and also in terms of water and sewer and all of that will occur because it it basically will not be developed under the County's first uh so I hope that answers some of the some of the questions um uh we had um several uh neighborhood meetings on this property because we had to do one under the initial submission under the city we had to do another one County uh we had no neighbors attend any of those meetings if you look at the comments on the the city County Planning website where you can make comments about properties all the comments about this intersection or that it's not appropriate for residential and it should be developed commercial and also on the long range plan it's a commercial use so do you feel like we are trying to follow what the city and the county have provided in terms of guidance and also what the neighbors have provided in
terms of guidance in terms of what they want to see on this property um my client is in talks with a couple of the neighboring Property Owners probably sell the property to them um but we just don't know at this point what it actually will develop as other than that it'll be a commercial I hope that covered anything if I forgot any of your questions please let me know were there any anyone on the on Zoom ask any questions no ma'am no one has signed up and no one has their handwrite I I would just say that does help clarify some of my concern I am looking at the flu map and aerial map now so this rezoning from what I can tell is really just to make it consistent with the entirety of the property as the majority of it is currently commercial
that's pretty much it's just a rationalize the zoning stuff so that makes sense okay and that I'm that answers my question I appreciate you thank you okay uh anything else for the applicant what was the public hearing bring it back to the board and if you have any other questions for staff at this point I am um yes I have one uh question for staff just following up to that sorry bringing you up again um I'm just interested in you can even provide this later on why is it that the city requires uh knowing what the rezoning is going to be used for versus the county doesn't require uh knowing that and then if that were to change what would that be going through the udom Planning Commission or changes yeah again that's a great question and uh opportunity to clarify the City and
County Planning functions are essentially the same it's the same to you know one Department there's not a requirement that we know it's built we can't actually require that per state statute um that's what a general rezoning is which is this um so it'd be the same in the city or the county um I think what um Mr Herman was speaking to was the annexation portion and then the annexations the city code not the unified development Awards or the city code specifically speaks to a cost-benefit analysis and a service operation analysis has to be done before an annexation is accepted thank you um so just to clarify you're saying that if to go through the city you'd have to do a rezoning and the annexation at the same time that's correct okay and here you just
have to do the rezoning okay I I'm I mean I will vote for it but I just I for me I just the process doesn't really feel great because even though we're saying commercial really any it's just it's a very Broad it's a very very broad um category so I don't feel 100 great on it but thank you so no other questions pictures of two motions on this one well the language um uh Madam chair I like to make a motion to adopt an ordinance amending the unified development orders by taking property out of residential Rule and Commercial General on Falls Jordan my
own yeah um and establishing the same as commercial General on Falls Jordan uh FJ B second been moved them properly second all in favor aye and then we have a motion too Madam chair I'd like to make a second motion on this public hearing to adopt the appropriate state of consistency pursuing to North Carolina General statute 1600-605 second moved him second all in favor aye aye question passes five zero we are down to 230198 this is a public hearing to adopt the resolution related to not exceed
235 million dollar Limited on series 203a and go two three B the board is requested a public hearing on the negotiation of amendment who all men financing history of not dollars limited optic bonds and the related project to be financed and refinance thereby so we have Susan [Music] to speak on this topic
yes um just to give you a brief overview if you remember we came on the 27th for the financing calendar for this financing and the board approved the initial resolution and set the public hearing for tonight and so the next step in the phase to complete this debt issuance for long-term fixed rate is to hold the public hearing this evening and then adopt the final resolution okay questions [Music] Carter yes what's the actual be it resolved like you know what are what are we resolving to do well the resolution is doing several things it's discussing what the next supplemental agreement Amendment to the um initial 2009 original financing um so he describes the projects that are included in that supplemental agreement which makes up 235 million there's also authorizations your um you're announcing
who authorized officers are to conduct this financing on the County's behalf on your authorizing the execution of certain legal documents um you're authorized in the county manager the CFO the assistant CFO um as far as any proceedings that need to take place to ensure the successful financing you're authorizing the County Attorney to provide legal advice um when needed warranted so it's it's the team it's the process that's great thank you copies of all the documents are referenced in the resolution are with our Chief Financial Officer and can be made available to any board member but uh Susan just the uh Council he's uh our CFO put some respect on your name for women um I I just you know for anybody who might be watching you know that Madam
chair did one after some of the documentation was there but this really is going a long way to pay for and provide Debt Service or um a lot of infrastructure Investments we're making uh we purchased make make sure to keep me honest here the property that we purchased for Durham Tech right for that expansion the shops at Hope Valley that we purchased that's 108 million dollars you know just for Durham Public Schools um the um the new pump station the investment that we're making with the Research Triangle Park foundation so these are really you know our infrastructural investments our dollars where the vote for um our with a vote for our what's the word I want to use for our bonds and our lives went so maybe that is also what it resolves correct that we are moving forward with these projects so we're throwing numbers out there I want to throw ideas and examples exactly so what this is financing is over 86 million in governmental projects right that
includes like the northern Convenience Site the new youth home uh Snow Hill Road Pump Station RTF that agreement we have with RTF to provide a portion funding out there um of course the dtcc property purchase and then um the shops at Hope Valley because I believe I stated in the previous meeting the LGC likes if you've got a fixed cost you know what that number is that they prefer that you fix it out over long term versus short term so we knew what that acquisition price was going to be um so we included that this time and then you've got over 108 million for Durham Public Schools and then you're going to have of course reimbursement of expenses which is your debt issuance costs and then of course with the taxable and Susan Oliver is outlined in the in our document yes ma'am online and it's also outlined they're included in the supplemental document that's attached to the agenda item and then of course the 300 block what we
have financed so far we're going to take that one completely out as well so yes there's a lot of different projects a lot of good coming from it and this is also if you recall um Durham County has been doing this particular type of financing since it's about 2 000 where we issue short-term variable rate up front we paid the cost up front we reimbursed ourselves upon after a cost and then over a short period of time 24 to 36 months we take that out and fix it with fixed rate long-term debt so this is how we've been doing it for quite some time now because it is more cost efficient for the county thank you for helping us be smart with our money Susan thank you so much for that analysis and Report especially for the public understand what it is that um that this money is for is in a very small portions where we're um if we if when the time we go to market
is going to prevent sufficient savings then we will also refinance the 2012 and 2013 lobs but we won't know if that's going to be beneficial for the county until that day so that's included in the not to exceed amount just in case which is about 16 million no I might be 12 million now someone doing 12 15 16 million thank you any other questions all right um I'd like to report to the board that notice of a public hearing relating to financing the projects described and pursuant to an amendment to an installment finance and contract and a principal amount not to exceed 235 million dollars on March 23 2023 stating that the board will hold a public hearing thereon on March 13th 2023. the board will now hear anyone who
wishes to be heard on this question of the proposed amendment to the contract and the project to be financed and refinanced thereby this time I will open the public hearing dear Howerton we have not had anyone signed up to speak nor do we have anyone online thereby I will hearing no sign no one signed up to be I will close the public hearing and entertain a motion um have a motion to close the public hearings so according to script for the bond we have to open we have to have a motion to open and close the public I said to clarify that we haven't we didn't do a motion to open okay Commissioners I
need a motion so I make a motion to open the page okay the motion to open second I need a second uh all in favor aye and no one signed up to speak so now I need a motion to close the public hearing I moved to close the public hearing Madam chair second okay all in favor aye okay thank you now a resolution entitled resolution of the Board of Commissioners of the county of Durham North Carolina approving an amendment to the installment purchase contract and related matters is before the board for consideration authorizing staff to move forward as County Representatives with the proposed
financing and refinancing of the project we just discussed and organize an authorizing the execution and delivery of certain documents in connection with this financing is there a motion to adopt this resolution Adam chair I moved to that we adopt the resolution as stated second it's been moved and probably second all in favor aye aye opposes passes five to zero thank you thank you thank you uh next item is 23 0143 department of social services update child welfare placement protocol and guidelines so the board is requested to hear uh from DSS on the updated protocols for placement of children with medically companies and we have our
Bradshaw from ESS director and javetta CSS assistant good evening Madam chair and vice chair and all board members assembled I thank you for allowing the department to come before you tonight to update you on some protocols that we have for placement of children with medically complex needs so justice state Durham County recognizes the importance of children maintaining familiar and Community connections we we place high priority in doing so and we also Place high priority in looking for non-institutional settings where they can live in a family-like community based setting congregare facilities are usually our last resort so Durham has um we have what we've done is updated
our protocols to speak specifically and more detailed about medical complex children just because that is a rise of our population um in the last year or two and so it outlines um the steps that we will take to first see non-institutional settings asking relative if they will um will are willing and able to care for Medicaid complex in these children and if not then we will look for again non-institutional settings such as our family resources parents and then go from there we will always seek the best interest for our children when they are placed in our care and make sure that their health and well-being needs can be met in any setting that they are placed um in doing so we also realize that we need to be more specific in our recruitment efforts and trying to locate
Resource families who will take medically complex in these children it is a challenge for us because it is a population that is hard and takes a lot of commitment um for one to to care for but we have updated our Recruitment and Retention policy with input from resource parents who are set on our commitment our committee staff and and also birth parents just to say what do we need to do how can we recruit resource parents to take a medically complex in these children so those are some of the changes that we have made in the last three to four months as we continue to review all our policies and as our needs of our children um in addition we updated our enhanced care rate that we have had in place since about the early 2000s but as the standard board rate increased so did our enhancement it also increased
um and so we had to reflect that in a policy that we had that was separate it wasn't all one document and we've combined all our placement and recruitment efforts of um medical complex needs children as well as just traditional children in one program I have one person signed up be um Elizabeth Simpson you have three minutes thank you my name is Elizabeth Simpson I reside at 1809 Glendale Avenue in Durham and I'm appearing today on behalf of my employer emancipate NC
I'm here to speak on the updated protocol for children with disabilities and DSs custody that we just heard from a representative of DSs I would be interested for the record for that person to State her name um this protocol is meant to ensure that children are not needlessly institutionalized but instead have every opportunity to be taken care of in a home setting I made a public records request on Friday for the settlement agreement for the lawsuit that change is connected to I find it surprising that the agenda did not mention this was related to litigation a lawsuit against the department of social services and Durham County but our presentation did not mention the lawsuit and said act as though this was a change that was spontaneous without instigation from the community um the lack of transparency at DSS has shown this community is really astounding lack of forthrightness in everything
that I've seen I don't know what all everyone else is seeing earlier this fall I presented a report to you all that emancipate NC wrote based on interviews with stakeholders in the community more than 20 stakeholders many who are afraid to speak out about DSS they wanted confidentiality and when I came to DSS when I came to commissioner Jacobs to ask and speak with you all about these recommendations for very reasonable reforms to DSS people refuse to speak they refuse to have conversations about policies not about specific cases but about policies that affect the entire community I found a public records lawsuit because I made a public records request for very simple data how many children are in care in Durham County what are the demographic race gender medical needs and I was told there were no records but somehow when I filed a lawsuit two weeks later there were many records DSS board was not publishing their minutes on their website throughout the
year of 2022 until that public records lawsuit was filed I tried to file petitions on behalf of a client a few weeks ago and DSs instructed the clerk of court not to file those petitions that is obstruction of justice government agencies that operate without transparency without oversight without sunlight are prone to corruption in this case a child a newborn with institutionalized needlessly when their parents wanted to take care of them at home and could have with proper support from Medicaid within home services and that's not mentioned anywhere in this update yeah it was an institution a private institution being paid with public tax dollars that was profiting off the pain of that family thank you if you have some notes that you'd like to leave with the clerk feel free to do that
are there were there any questions from the board hearing none I actually have one question thank you javada for um bringing this forward and explaining it to us um my question is related to a meeting that I attended for Alliance Board of Health recessing Network adequacy for advancement of children in foster care and just in general how there are you know fair fair number of challenges we hear about children having to spend the night in the offices and such because it's difficult to find placement and one of the um issues that was raised as an an additional challenge I guess to finding the resource parents that you mentioned was a requirement that the family had to work and the reason that was difficult was
because these children are medically fragile vulnerable and require many doctor appointments perhaps and um the woman explaining this just said that they had had family members that had you know withdraw because they couldn't miss work you know in order to take the children to their appointment so I'm just wondering is that a is that a law do we have any control over that is um is that even is that even relevant here it feels like it might be not sure exactly how to answer your question because it's loaded um oh and that means I didn't mean to load it I love a lot of things that occur and we do we're not the medical professionals so we don't make the medical recommend my question is in order to be a resource parent do you is it a requirement that you have to work in order to be a resource parent you have to be able to maintain your own expenses without relying on the stipend that the state provides
so if they're retired and can maintain their own finances and yes you are capable of unable when I was at this Alliance meeting it just made me wonder if there were a different law maybe it would be less challenging to find resource families but that is a law right it's not a local decision I won't say it's part of the policy for the Department of Health and Human Services on resources all right thank you I didn't mean to load you load you give you a loaded question [Music] thank you do that uh for your report I did have one quick one for Janetta and look it's I promise you it won't be loaded um I I it's more of a curiosity because I did take the time to read oh you know read seven pages and I'd appreciate the steps in which our staff has to go through um I can't think about some of our employees especially doing covet they had to sleep in the building when we had we had medically complex children that
parents had just left you know for lack of a better phrase so it's not always mental issues there are issues with covid HIV there's a lot and so one I know about the sacrifice that your staff made over the two years I I I've seen it myself uh low seller got arrested so you know talked about it a lot my question is in working with um our hospitals uh especially I don't know where that is in here how are we working to make sure we're that I'm going to use an example about somebody who a child now who might just be going through a mental break and this might be a parent who says you know what I don't know what else to do I does Duke Hospital go through this same framework because maybe it's not always a parent that is bringing us a medically complex child and it could be or another hot wake man or anybody else so it's the prop Pro is the protocol the same for our medical institutions or somewhat different I'm not sure what their their internal protocol is I know that they
will all us if they know that a child is maybe dependent or um and we'll take the port and screen it but Alliance is also a support to the hospital as a referral and information about possible placements some of that is more therapeutic needs right and that's what Alliance Health will be able to assist them with thank you so much I appreciate all that you do thanks javetta okay is there any other business matters did or hearing none I will entertain motion to adjourn unless you like so moved if you want unless you want to stay second yeah moved inside okay so all in favor
aye all right we are adjourned