Board of Commissioners · Regular Meeting · September 11, 2023

so good evening everybody um first we need to come out of closed session uh the Board of Commissioners have been in closed session given dire to staff if I get a motion to come out of close session commission so moved second it's been Motion in probably second all in favor I motion passes 5 to zero so today is September 11th 2023 for our meeting and I will first 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 the should the quum fail to be restored the chair will recess the meeting until such time that a genuine commitment to the public charge is observed commissioner um I can't remember who did it the last time but we'll start with commissioner Jacobs if you will stand with us and start the pledge United States of America indivisible andice

for so if you with stand [Music]

God Bless America God Bless America yes I don't know if you remember where you were on that day but I certainly do and you know the heart of the mission of 911 Memorial Museum Remains the annual commemoration ceremony and uh members family members and all over this country and other places remembered what happened on that day uh the World Trade bombing and you know we remember that because we never want to forget history I know where I was I was on a I was at the airport trying to get on a plane to fly into DC so where were you as you sit and

think where were you on that day and the people that were lost because of that families and friends still remember and we did not have normally we have have a we've always had a an event the city and the county and we didn't have that today so I thought would be appropriate that we have something to begin this meeting remembering that to welome okay let's see where do we go here so the first item on our agenda are any agenda adjustments Commissioners hearing none we will go to our announcements and um I have a few that

m. m. m. at 4:14 East Main Street walk-ins only no appointments are required or accepted and there is a website the coid 19 vaccination clinic

m. m. m. all recommended doses are available um and please note that the clinics are closed Tuesdays Thursdays and the weekend for additional information you can contact 560 9217 or visit the website voter photo ID sessions with uh Deco Board of Elections will be holding four voter photo ID Outreach events at Durham County Library locations in September these sessions will allow residents to hear about the latest photo ID requirements for the North Carolina from the North Carolina General Assembly as well as have a photo ID issued dates include Thursday September 14th at North

m. m. m. m. there is a website for additional information queries and questions we are a group of lgbtqia teams that come together to discuss the experience at North Regional Library on the last Wednesday of the month this is a peer-led discussion group that respects the lived experiences of others once a safe space to discuss our experience eat snacks do crafts and help each other registration is required and the next meeting is on Wednesday September 20th from 6:00 to 7:30 there's a link for registration Durham County is continuing its commitment to inclusion and the advancement of minority owned small businesses and Professionals in the county through the launch of a new

gov site Duram Med week minority Enterprise development week is a long a week-long celebration of the achievements and contributions of the minority business

Enterprise uh it takes place each October Durham County and partner agencies will join together to uplift minori entrepreneurs as well as individuals and organizations dedicated to advancing minority Andor women-owned business enterprises it will be held on October 5th and the 6 you can get additional information and register for the free event um via the website all sessions will be held at the Durham County Human Services building located at 4:14 East Main Street and that concludes the announcements in the agenda thank you Miss Wallace appreciate that um you know National Night Out is something that is that the Board of Commissioners always enjoy going out we usually get good food and have a chance to really be out in the community and the med week it's going to be a lot of good stuff happening that week um before I get to Commissioners to

see if there are any other announcements I'd like to um go ahead and get started with um there is an announcement a press release and indura is here to accept the acknowledgment of this um announcement Duke Energy donates uh $20,000 to local nonprofits in support of neighbors affected by recent storms uh and I thought this was something we need to acknowledge um endur has been in our community for a number of years and they do a lot of things that contribute to our community um so I wanted her to be here tonight to accept our gratitude for the things that she has offered for around this with this $20,000 and other things that that has been contributed so

uh Endura if you'd like to come to the podium and talk about what this means yeah I can read the whole uh the press release or just have you talk why don't want do that good evening um chairwoman howon County manager and all of the Commissioners as well as our County attorney thank you for this opportunity I I was pleasantly surprised when I was asked to come uh it is not often uh that people say thank you and I wanted to in turn say thank you to the county I was most pleased to have uh County manager so well introduced me to Mary oxendine who is very helpful a couple weeks ago when we were trying to determine how we wanted to help citizens

through that really unused usual storm that we had a couple weeks ago we realized people perhaps lost their food uh things that were in their freezers and we thought if we donated to some organizations that could help assist those still in need that would be the best way to do it and so we are delighted that we were able to give funding to the food bank of Durham feed my sheep as well as the Interfaith Food shuttle and so we're delighted to continue to be a partner with the county and we look forward to continuing to do things together often in a crisis we see the worst in this one we saw the best and so I just want to thank you for allowing us to partner with you thank you so much any comments from Commissioners I think she's rushing back to her [Laughter] seat again thank you

Endura all right um the other thing I just want to bring to our attention Commissioners is this month is September is National Suicide Prevention month and all month mental health Advocates prevention organizations survivors allies and community members unite to promote Suicide Prevention awareness and we all know that that happening across our country too often too many times that uh suicide and the number be the one two that's a a commercial the 988 suicide crisis lifetime number 988 is a number that individuals can call for help so as I saw that I thought that was

m. m. at the Family Life Center at Greystone Church which which is at 20

m. m. and the location is at um the Justice Services Department on uh East Main Street again

um another great resource uh there'll be local agencies with loads of information about their services and programs and this is specifically for residents who are re-entering um our community Justice involved residents um and the last thing is I wanted to lift up uh the county manager and the all staff meeting today uh I was trying to keep track of the number MERS there was an all staff meeting maybe somebody saw it get higher but I got to 1,33 at one point uh on a on a Microsoft teams meeting that was that was the a first for me to see be with that many people um in a meeting but I wanted to actually give the manager a chance to highlight some of the amazing policies that were rolled out today so I'm going to turn

that over to you manager soel because I'm really proud that our board is something that we supported and the staff has now executed this so and I'm actually going to ask I saw our director of um Human Resources come in Kathy Everett Perry and her team member come in too because I would like for them to speak specifically to some of the um policies but was really um extremely delighted to be able to spend time with staff today and this was um a sure certainly a teamwork approach to enhancing the policies we have for what we call our family first leave policy and um it incorporates three different leave policies our Paid Family Leave we also have Incorporated um personal days um so that we can all attend to our mental

well-being and so if folks feel like they need to take a mental health day they can certainly do that and also provided days for people to be able to attend to um for those that may have either suffered domestic violence or brute abuse or have family members who have suffered that it is certainly worth them being able to take off time to go and attend um to such matters so I will turn it over to miss Kathy Everett Perry for that but thank you so much for giving us this opportunity Vice chair Jacob good evening Commissioners um Dr soel has actually uh covered everything quite well but I will just reiterate a bit of what she's saying you know we've had our paid uh parental leave policy for quite some time but we have an amendment now previously you could only use it to bond with kids that you take in um at five years well under five years old but now you get six weeks to bond with a child

that you make um bring into your home through adoption or fostering from five up so that that gives the employee an opportunity to still Bond recognizing that the child is not home full-time because they're in school but it still gives the um employee more of an opportunity than none at all so that's an improvement from before um in addition we have the uh Family Leave where we give six weeks for employees to paid of course to um care for a loved one if they should have a parent a sibling or a close in-law like a mother-in-law and things of that nature they can take that time to care for them we had some statistics shared today showing how um a lot of employees are absent are not coming to work because they have this um require requirement to assist and take care of family members but they didn't have the leave to do so so they either leave early retire quit

um try to find something else to do so they can balance these two things and now here at Durham County government they have the opportunity to um maintain their employment and have six weeks of paid leave to do this every fiscal year so it's not like you do it and then it's done the next fiscal year you get to do it again um and then of of course the five days that Dr soel mentioned we have these are days that uh supervisors don't get to ask what you're doing what's going on so it gives an individual who may need to attend to a domestic issue that opportunity just by calling and saying hey I'm taking my personal leave today um or if they need self-care that day this these are free days for employees to be able to take care of themselves or whatever else may be going on in their lives so that's it and I would like to also acknowledge the work of moms Rising we worked in partnership with them to make sure that we enhanced our policies and so we thank them for their support helping them thank you and

I just wondered if it's um moms rising in the room I don't think they're here tonight but at some point it would be great to have them be here because they sent uh request back some of the things that uh has been mentioned they've sent something it's been a few months ago and but it just shows you how this manager and her staff really listens to what the community is asking and what the employees is asking because they were asking for some of these things so thank you so much and I was on the phone today on the zoom today or today as well and there's a lot of people on that I can't believe we got through it without it going down so it was great thank you commissioner Al thank you I just had um a brief remarks if I may just wanted to

share um I just thank you for the time I just wanted to you know share a little bit about uh being a working parent and you know as every parent knows life with a baby can be very unpredictable and On Any Given day you don't know if you're going to be met with giggles and sunshine and happiness or Oscar winning shrieks and last week I had one of those days where I felt like shrieking um my CH Child Care fell through and I ended up having to bring Alia with me uh to our County Commission Chambers for our work session and to be honest I was very nervous as proud as I am to be her mom and to be a working parent in general it's always hard to juggle parenting and service and the last thing I wanted to do was to disrupt armed proceedings and this was my first time bringing Alia into the commission meeting and I didn't know what to expect

that's why I just wanted to take a brief moment to express my gratitude tonight for the patience kindness and understanding that was shown to us last week on a really rough day um in particular I so so appreciate the support and love aliia and I received from acting County Manager Claudia Hagar our clerk Monica her team Mao and Shany Deputy County Manager Maurice who's actually Alia's best friend um attorney Andrews uh as well as director Jenkins down in the back uh commissioner Jacobs commissioner Carter and commissioner Burns and I could not be more proud to work with a body of Commissioners staff and constituents who show support for working parents and give Grace when to their colleagues when life just happens and as a board of all women we have the opportunity to model the reality of being an elected parent and break down

the barriers that keep more parents of small kids from serving and that's important not just for me but for every parent in Durham County even Beyond these halls I truly believe that if we lead by example that we can set a new standard for workplaces across our country and County because working parents shouldn't have to leave our lives at the door when we clock into work and we shouldn't have to worry that every child care emergency will throw our jobs into Jeopardy either and we should be celebrated as parents as Leaders as members of our community so I just wanted to thank you all for upholding that standard and I can't tell you how much it means to me and my family for your support last Monday day when we really were put into a tough situation thank you hey anything else commissioner Burns I just had an announcement I don't I don't even feel like I can do my announcement now but uh yeah Netta we got you back commissioner

long we have you back in here my announcement in no way is going to be as profound so please lower your expectations because this is announcement time I want to do two very quick ones um this one is kind of far off but it's because we need people engaged in it now so there's going to be a program called accelerate it's accelerate but it has a eight at the end of it so accelerate is a pro a program that will be taking place on October 24th it is being sponsored by the dur Public Schools dur Public Schools foundation and what they're trying to do is explore different careers for eighth graders I think we missed the mark when we start to engage kids in high school about what they want to do we seriously do I sit on the Community College Foundation board and we it's enough studies out there we a laser focus on getting kids engaged in middle school so hopefully I can get this poster to the clerk and if you in your respective profession whether you know farmer plumber electrician I see my inter dentist in the room I never thought I'd had to have one thank you for fixing my root canal sir I appreciate it we are looking for all types of folks it is a

m to 4:30 so if you think you have a career that could really get a kid excited and engaged I I would love for you all to take part in this so we'll put to post out but you can also get more information from dur Public Schools I bring this up and this is just really sobering I don't know if you all watched the television day it's it's crazy that uh commissioner law was talking about a parent because I'm a grown woman and there was a stabing at North Northern High School today and my mama called me to make sure I was all right I'm grown so I know that you all care about kids as much as my mom cares about her kids but we have got to get them engaged so that they know that before they take the step to do something that they going to regret that's going to change your entire lives there might be a job out there or something out there that might get them engaged otherwise so that's number one number two I'm gonna give somebody their flowers so Joanne Pierce congratulations I read in the newspaper that the triangle Business Journal just gave you their leader and diversity award so can we all give it up for our

assistant County Manager Joanne [Applause] Pi so yes see those are my two announcements you can now raise expectations back up for everybody but shout out to her and all the work that she does and I know she doesn't do it alone but uh we have some award-winning staff is here so just know that you know when you come in here Class A all the way okay Mr Carter well because I am the commissioner liaison to the Durham Arts Council I think it's appropriate that I remind everybody that this weekend is centerfest which is the largest um Community Festival that we have and that bull city has and also I think it's the longest running outdoor Street Arts Festival in North Carolina so please show up there will be jewelry and artists of all sorts and pottery and painting and Woodworking and food um and government officials will be there and people who are campaigning will be there

and lots of fun for children um not the government official part of course but anyway show up this weekend Friday no no Saturday and Sunday okay all right so we have Commissioners we have before us the August 7th work session and August 28th regular session minutes are there any edits those minutes if not ask for a motion to approve move approval of the minutes it's been moved in properly second all in favor I motion passes 5 to zero we are down to our ceremonial items 23691 a proclamation on Durham recovery month the board is requested to Proclaim September as Durham recovery month in

Durham County and I will ask commissioner Carter if she will um read that one for us yes I'd be happy to read it Proclamation Duram recovery month 2023 whereas Behavioral Health is now recognized as an essential part of one's overall health and well-being and whereas the costs of not encouraging mental health and substance use recovery is significant for individuals families neighborhoods and the community at large and whereas recovery from mental and substance use disord disorders occurs every day through a variety of prevention recovery support resources and treatment programs and whereas people in recovery strive to achieve Healthy Lifestyles stable homes meaningful daily activities stronger neighborhoods and to contribute in positive ways to the larger community and whereas the burden of mental illness

8 million adults experienced mental illness while only about 47% of those received mental health treatment and whereas the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported that in 2021

3 million Americans aged 20 and aged 12 and older met diagnostic criteria for having a substance use disorder while only an estimated 6% received any treatment for their substance use and whereas in an effort to help more people achieve and sustain long-term recovery the US Department of Health and Human Services the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration the White House Office of National Drug control policy recovery community of Durham and the Justice Services Department invite all residents of of Durham County North Carolina to participate in National Recovery month now therefore I Brenda Auten on behalf of the Durham Board of County Commissioners do hereby proclaim the month of September 2023 as recovery month in Durham County and hereby call upon the people of Durham County to observe this month with appropriate programs activities and ceremonies to celebrate people in recovery and those who support them

everyone's journey is different but we are all in this together this the 11th day of September 2023 thank you commissioner Carter okay we have want to give us your name yes I'm Rashana Parker I'm the interim director of the Durham County Justice Services Department thank you chair Harton um Commissioners Dr soel and attorney um excuse me and the County Attorney I apologize attorney Andrews it it slipped my mind for one quick second we appreciate your you're having us come tonight to recognize um recovery month every September we take time out to acknowledge and celebrate the work that's being done in the recovery Community we recognize individuals that are in long-term recovery individuals currently in treatment and the treatment professionals that work to provide support and services not only do we recognize those individuals but we also recognize the families and the Community Partners that provide support by

offering events and treatment for these individuals to participate in so in September there are many events that go on across the country but also there are activities that we host here in Durham we provide pro-social activities for those in treatment and in recovery and it's very important that we have pro-social activities because it's so easy for individuals who are in treatment or have been in long-term recovery to go out and participate in those things that they're very very familiar with so we do our best to try to post events that are pro-social and provide them a level of support and Community within that recovery community so what we plan to do this year in Durham um through the Justice Services Department is to host and participate in several activities and I will um hand you guys the calendar once I'm finish talking about these events but we've already done a couple where we did wear purple for Recovery month on September 1st on September 6th we did a Sala dancing event at the Justice Services Department we hosted a panel on triggers

m. for our clients so again I will um distribute the calendar of events and just want to thank you all the board for your continued support um of us at the Justice Services Department all of the treatment Professionals in the Durham Community it's a much needed service that we provide and we couldn't do it without you guys support thank you Miss Parker and be sure you make sure we know when the SAU dancing is and the clients actually enjoy the

salsa dancing if there are others from your department would like to stand are there others here as well I am actually the only representative from the Department tonight however I also have the ceremonial item that is next on the agenda and we will have a group of individuals that will stand and a few that will come to the podium great all right uh Commissioners anything on this item Commission commer c um let's start with commissioner burns down on this end m is just really quick one to our intern director thank you so much for what you do I'm low-key jealous that I didn't know about the saua dancing not that I can dance I just would have came and let them know you know I'm here I'm about this life too can't dance at all y'all but I did want to throw out um I hope that you all engage her uh one of the things that you know we recently did you bought forth a suggestion that we change the name of cjrc uh words really do matter I think words I think I didn't we've always known it

but for those of you who do not know this board made a historic investment into the hati reborn Justice movement a couple of months ago and we just graduated our first cohort class and one of the things that one of the coordinator said was everybody who is in that quote unquote program is a student you walk different when you have a title when people are usually walking around they're in recovery they're Justice involved and they're not working we think Idle Hands Are The Devil's working we don't necessarily know what to think about them but when you can walk out and say I am a student Derm Tech is providing some wonderful opportunities we saw a young woman in that room who actually got a perfect score on her act assessment that is the level of potential that our Justice involved individuals have so I do hope um that you all will engage her and find out how many talented individuals that we do have that are no longer just as involved they're your neighbors they have potential they want to work and they

want to invest in this community I can't wait till we do our next cohort but that doesn't negate the work that she's doing over there so I'm hopeful that when you get this calendar of events you all can take some time to get to know some of your neighbors that are really out here just trying to get a second chance thank you okay and and I too just thank you Miss Parker you know we I serve with with you for how many years did I serve on that one 12 years on that committee uh and I've seen how you work and are committed to transforming lives you and your team is about transforming lives and I just want to acknowledge you and your team for the work that you do thank you all right thank thank you I just also wanted to say thank you to you and your staff and I love all the activities planned because they're really about uh showing

appreciation and celebrating and building Community um I was today I'm part of the stepping up initiative which is uh Durham County is an innovator County we're one of the few uh counties in the country that has reached that level of status and I when I'm sitting in those meetings and and there is incredible partnership so many people in our community organizations along partnering with our Justice Services Department um even the staff all the programs that are being run with Injustice services that are related to mental health and substance use our mental health court our drug court our programs that are in the jail our star program um and um and all of the pro all of the um therapy that is operating out of Justice Services cognitive behavioral therapy um it's

it's um it it is it is truly amazing how many people in our community that are dedicated to helping people and the point is that people can recover uh we have the treatments um they're evidence-based and people can recover and today in the meeting Helen trip it was so moving to hear our um EMS bridge program that got a grant uh to deliver basically begin medic medication assisted treatment right in the field when somebody has actually overdose our staff is now offering people um having the opportunity to begin treatment right away and she told the story today in our meeting of now six people you know that that's you know just starting small and we have to understand that it takes that level of commitment um who are you know

are paramedics and the peer support specialist who who do not give up on people we are not giving up on people and going back out following people six days afterwards getting them connected to resources and even people who may not succeed right away what I heard Helen saying is we're not giving up on people we are going to keep at it because we know that people can recover um so again I I just wanted to highlight it because it really is what it takes it's really about everyone taking caring about each other and us then having the resources too so uh thank you Rosana um for for all that you do and and that everybody does it really does take take all of us and all the partners thank you okay

um commission long I just wanted to also thank you r on your entire team I feel like we should also have an opportunity for you to come and present to us all the different ways that your team led by you I know especially have gone to highlight and support the families that are going through through uh treatment court and making sure that it's really elevated that it's a family effort and especially putting the emphasis on finding ways to show appreciation to the family because there's other counties that treat it as if like you know it's just something that's legally required just get it done with and move on but the fact that you take the time to elevate like you know families are going through this how are the children impacted finding ways to celebrate that the family has gotten through it I think is really important because that's how we reduce individuals returning um the seeking the need uh to use drugs or um

other actions that we don't want them to return to is by celebrating those moments and highlighting what an impact it is that the kids had in helping their parents recover what an impact it had on their parents or grandparents or aunts and uncles had so I just really want to highlight and Elevate that and I would love for us to have the opportunity for Rashana and her team to come show us all the different ways they have done to celebrate um families I think it's really important thank you anything else okay not we will move on to the next resolution honoring the Chuck Mika Manning um and I always called him Chuck the board is requested to pass a resolution honoring and I'm going called him Chuck that's what I always called him Manning senior for his lifelong work as a passionate and highly respected advocate for justice involved

individuals in Durham we lost a valued member of the community and voice with Justice involved individuals on June 17th 2023 with the passing of Tuck Manning he served on many boards and committees in addition to being the founder of Locked Up To Living up and I've asked commissioner Burns if she will read this resolution dur Board of County Commissioners resolution CA meca Airi Manning senior whereas the Durham community lost a valued member and leader on Saturday June 17 2023 with the passing of Chuck Manning senior a Chuck as he was passionately known to all and whereas Chuck was heavily involved in the Durham community which led him to work with Bull City United his duties included community outreach violence prevention and serving as a liaison and

advocate for justice involved individuals and whereas Chuck worked with the city of Duram Innovation team it team where he helped develop numerous Pro projects programs designed to assist inmates returning to Durham after incarceration and whereas Chuck tuck the lead in the development of welcome home program a program designed to help Justice involved individuals coming home from prison by providing peer support and care packages and whereas Chuck provided unwavering peer support to returning citizens helping them navigate through the re-entry process and systems within Durham Chuck work with re Chu work worked with and received referrals from various Community agencies including religious Coalition for nonviolent Durham restorative transitions fit and Justice Services Department and was always willing to meet with people to determine ways to provide peer support he never seemed to be more than 10 or 15 minutes away and whereas Chuck was involved with Brian Hamilton's inmates

to entrepreneurs slban Hamilton Foundation North Carolina Second Chance Alliance transitional jobs program deer NC hope NC step up the city of Durham OED oewd NC na bcj and the list goes on and on and whereas Chuck was appointed to the Durham criminal justice advisory committee in 2023 and whereas Chuck was a part of the Durham local re-entry Council since his Inception in 2018 where he advocated and worked tirelessly to develop strategies to address the challenges faced by Justice involved individuals in Durham North Carolina and whereas Chuck's care and compassion for people was always seen through his role as a proud father to Chuck WCA Manning Jr louve Manning precious Manning and schylar Manning now therefore be it resolved that we the members of the Durham Board of County Commissioners do hereby resolve to honor chucka Airi Manning Senor for his lifelong work as a

passionate generous and highly respected Advocate Community leader and Visionary this the 11th day of September 20123 thank you before we offer for any words I would like to just give Chuck's family that I saw come in an opportunity to stand and anybody else that work with Chuck from his various um programs and um boards to please St in and I will take this opportunity to introduce Ben hos who is with the religious Coalition for a nonviolent Duram and then the honorable public defender Don baxton who are the chair and co-chair of Durham's criminal justice advisory committee and um Ben worked very closely with Chuck so I am going to let him give words instead of us we are very much so appreciate all

the work that Chuck did with us at the Justice Services Department but he was so ingrained in the community and I want to give the community an opportunity to honor him thank you r sh I thank you board commissioner thank family folks that Chuck cared for folks that Chuck worked with it was always a lot of both and in there you got next to Chuck you're gon to be cared for and you might get to do some and I get to be a witness to so much of that a couple of touch points this one the resolution speaks for itself right and on and on and on and on if you knew anything about this man it was on and on and on but a couple of touch points for me just as a community witness is during Co M um while I was at home a lot of us were at home Chuck and his team and some other folks those Frontline re-entry providers as folks were coming home from incarceration and accelerated rates as we were trying to get people out of incarceration where they were fundamentally less safe it was Chuck and it was his team and it was

people that had that kind of spirit that were in the street getting people in the housing make you know going turning our systems into new systems in real time to to serve people in the midst of just this chm that it opened up the other one is I just all the different spaces that Chuck should I never saw anybody anything but delighted to see this man he was just so profoundly generously received in every space I was ever with him in and that makes I how do you how do you talk about that and it just comes down to gift I this I couldn't say anything anything more than that Chuck as best as I can tell was a living gift to this community and when you get into that go past giftedness into gift we're getting into I'm I'm I've been a pastor at time but you're getting into that realm and we witnessed something we witnessed a profound gift in Chuck's

life and the way he gave into this community and I think giving is not easy and and when you give you put something of yourself in into the gift that's given and to be good recipients of that gift is its own kind of challenge so I I sit there talking with folks that work most closely with him through these past couple of months I think that the space we're sitting in go what have we received and how have we been blessed in that receipt and how do we move forward as good stewards of that kind of so thank you for helping us celebrate that tonight um it's don't know anything else that that that's more worth cele and again I just want to say thank you all for giving us the opportunity to honor Chuck because he really loved the Durham community and was very much loved by his community you can see that by the turnout this evening of family and friends so thank you so

much thank you thank you for lifting this up you know the difference that one makes is in the dash the day you were born and the day we die and the difference is whose life did you touch he touched a lot of lives thank you thank anything else for commission Mr Jacobs thank you uh thank you all for being here uh all of the Community Partners and people who worked with Chuck and my condolences to family it is really a terrible loss when I heard about Chuck I couldn't believe it because he he literally as Ben as you were saying it was so full of life I I was in shock and he really left

us all too soon the last time I saw him was at at the retirement gathering for gwin um and it is I first met Chuck when he worked for Bull City United and I will never forget it was over at uh we were having our one of the first vigils and it was at McDougall Terrace and there's one thing that's missing from that list and that's that Chuck Chuck was a great cook and he had a catering business and he was there and he was cooking food at the peace vigil and he would every time I would go to a vigil there he was cooking up food delicious food for people and I think that really says a lot that he really every way that you could possibly create bonds and care give you know care for people love people uh that's what he was doing um so

I I just uh really am grateful during the pandemic Chuck was the one the hotel that we had on Hillsboro Road where we were working with the state and we were having people um who were being released from federal uh the state jail prisons and they were coming to Durham and he was he was his nonprofit was going in and doing the social work and making sure that people were able to leave get back to their counties and had housing Transportation whatever care that they needed that's that's what he was doing so it is truly amazing uh all the things that he has done and all that he's given to us so I will really really miss him he was always smiling and just full of love thank

you okay thank you so much thank you the next Proclamation is 23716 um world Alzheimer's awareness day um the board is requested to Proclaim September as World Alzheimer's awareness what and commissioner Jacobs do you have a proclamation on this one Durham Board of County Commissioners Proclamation World Alzheimer's Awareness Day 2023 where September 21st is war world Alzheimer's awareness day and whereas

dementia is a syn syndrome in which there is deterioration in memory thinking Behavior and the ability to reform everyday activities Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia and where is dementia is the seventh leading cause of death worldwide and sixth leading cause for North Carolina and whereas there is no known treatment currently available to cure Dementia or to alter its Progressive course but early diagnosis care and support can enhance the quality of life and well-being of persons with dementia and whereas Durham County supports the vision of a dementia inclusive community where all persons with dementia are valued and fully supported in their pursuit of qu of

quality of life and well-being and whereas Durham County invites you to join in Partnerships collaborations and advocacy efforts to promote well-being inclusion and Health Equity for persons with dementia now therefore be it resolved I Brenda Howton chair and on behalf of the Durham Board of County Commissioners to hereby Proclaim September 21st 2023 as World Alzheimer's Awareness Day in Durham County North Carolina we commend this observance and urge everyone to join with dementia inclusive Incorporated to support persons with dementia and their caregivers on September 21st and throughout the year this 11th day of September 2023 thank you commission Jacobs

comments from board members go ahead I'll just add Susan suol who was going to share this today who is on the board of uh demen inclusive incorporate it is her birthday today so she she is celebrating and she was with us last year um but I just want to say that um I'm I'm actually chair of the board of this organization and it's a wonderful organization that is is is trying to do exactly what what the name is um ensure that our community as we are in a very welcoming and supportive and inclusive community that we are also supporting and embracing people who are living in our community with dementia and also their caregivers we know we don't know the exact number we know that uh at least more than 6,000 people in our community are living with dementia and then you have to think about caregivers

and family members uh so I don't know if we could just raise our hand right now uh if you have somebody a loved one a friend a a colleague a family member who was living with dementia so it's something that impacts all of us and the good news is that um again we are a community that is really trying to Embrace this and so on September 21st uh next Thursday there is a free event um over at the convention center unfortunately it is now uh already over capacity 150 people um but it's a free dayong event where again people are going to gather to become educated and informed um about demension but also how we can support each other um caregivers and also people living dementia and so

this will um something that we will keep doing and that we will keep working on together um so um I hope some people uh will be there uh we able to to join in but I know it's going to be a wonderful event so thank you everyone thank you commissioner Burns mine is really quick and I'm I'm I'm happy that she brought that event that's from 9:30 to 4 o'clock right so that's all day one of the really beautiful things about our Public Health Department our social services department our Center for Senior Life uh it's not always a dayong event to talk about diena services so please continue to monitor the county manager um newsletter because every now and then uh the Durham Center for Senior Life and public health they do a on- hour virtual Zoom to talk about dementia and Alzheimer's and so if you're somebody who has to live in a household and is a caregiver I don't want you think that this one day is like the only time that you could cuz if you really are a

caregiver you probably don't have eight or nine hours to give so just be on the lookout because there are multiple levels of support there and like I said between our office office of D Durham Center for Senior Life they're like these one hour classes that they have about dementia Alzheimer's and um there they're all really really helpful especially if you're somebody who's a caregiver so if you miss next week this it's not a loss okay anything else okay Commissioners we are down to our consent agenda uh we have 28 items on the consent agenda are there any items that Commissioners wish to pull um Madam chair I don't necessarily want to pull it but I did want to ask uh the item for urban ministries if we could have them come and and report so if they're going to we don't you have to

if they're if they're going to come and speak Wy we have to pull it no no at a future meeting at a future meeting uh there's a lot of important data that was shared and their reports and hopefully some things that we can do to help so thank you yeah it's it's a lot of good stuff in this agenda and this consent agenda that we could pull at least 10 of them and and talk on them but we will keep folks here till probably midnight and we don't want to do that unless there is something burning for any of you that you'd like to pull you know we can pull it and um and um and then pass the others and put it at the bottom of the agenda you have one commissioner Al that You' like to pull not to pull just to highlight I'm sorry just to highlight not to pull okay is it going to take more than a few minutes because I'd like to get through

the consent and then talk have you talk about it at that point it was just going to take less than a minute okay okay I just wanted to we recognized it at the work session but take a moment to recognize uh public health for the nearly $1 million um that we are going to be recognizing and that's money that they have received through grants and other uh initiatives and that's just really important because I always want to highlight I know our whole board does when we get money coming into the county to go to services and we're not spending money so thank you to director Jenkins and his entire team for being so diligent and looking for those grant opportunities yeah that's that's that's a lot of work as he said when he uh at our work session that's a lot of work when you can pull in that much money okay anything else okay if I can get a motion to approve the consent agenda second it's been moved and

properly second to approve the consent agenda um all in favor I the motion is approved 5 to zero okay and nice next item is public hearing is a public hearing see if I can get to it here okay a public hearings 23687 a public hearing for uni um unified development ordinance text Amendment regarding based development and tree uh preservation TC 22004 um let's and the staff person you're there okay Robin is is here our senior planner all right all right good evening uh my name is Robin Schultz I am a senior planner and an Arbus within the city County Planning Department uh

before I begin staff would like to State for the record that all planning department hearing items have been advertised and noticed in accordance with the state and local law and affidavits uh of all notices are on file within the planning department uh this evening I'm presenting information about a proposed unified development text ordinance text Amendment excuse me case TC 22004 uh phase development and tree preservation which was initiated by staff in order to address ongoing concerns from residents regarding land clearing erosion control and tree preservation in the context of large residential development within Durham uh this text amendment was heard by The JCC PC at their November 30th 2022 meeting and by the Planning Commission at their May 9th 2023 meeting which recommended approval it was also unanimously approved by the city council at their meeting on September 5th 2023 and an effective date of October 1st 2023 uh this text Amendment Pro proposes

1 B uh these revisions would require large residential sites to grade in phases with no individual phase accounting for more than 50 acres in total in addition The Proposal would require varying percentages of tree coverage based on the amount of grading proposed in each phase tree coverage percentage would be tiered and increase as the amount of mass grading proposed within each phase increases with the hopes of incentivizing tree retention over tree replacement uh this evening two votes are needed one vote to adopt an ordinance amending the Durham unified development ordinance incorporating revisions to article 7 design standards article 8 Environmental Protection article 9 landscaping and buffering and Article 13 additional subdivision

requirements effective October 1 2023 and a vote to adopt a consistency statement as required by General statute uh thank you and staff is available if there are any questions thank you any questions from Commission commissioner Burns okay I hey Sarah you already know what my question is all right so she might if if you don't thank you so much sir um but we did receive um I received some questions from the public about some of the variances now uh when we were presented with this doing work session I was a proponent of it I'm still at the point where I'm a proponent of it because it just opens up our opportunity to be able to cut down on some of the grading um in more areas so now we're able to do it in our urban area Suburban areas and in our rers so I am in support of that because I think we need additional ordinance that being said it was brought to my attention that

some of these variances might deserve some trees might cause additional problems um between some of our buffers and why oh oh is my mic not on sorry thank you and it might um I like the answer that you gave Sarah because again the way the question was posed and I think the way the public might see it is yeah we're making this revision and it looks good on paper but there are these loopholes that some might perceive one could drive a Mac Truck through that being said even though there are options for variances in there you at least did the research and told me that on average there about two of these so could you speak to these options for variances and how the State Board of adjustment is in a position to look at those as opposed to to us just I'm don't it sounds random to some of y'all I promise you he's going to do a much better job but I don't want to approve something that people can just Overlook I don't think the public wants that and so if you could explain it where folks could understand that that is not what the situation is right now

I'd really right and so I think your question was also about those um the grading setbacks and disturbance in that for utilities and like for buffing as well right yeah and so we included that because most utilities are located within the right of way and so the Udo currently doesn't allow for utilities to run within a buffer um it's they have to run perpendicular so they will cross one time right to keep the buffer intact so we included that within the the no- grading setbacks to match that ordinance just so folks could still connect Utilities in the required infrastructure um just to speak a bit on variances uh there have been 12 regarding buffers since 2017 which is an average of two per year um majority of which I think only one so far has been related to Green Field development which is the development of large residential sites because essentially the board of adjustment you must provide testimony that shows that you have a hardship and

so if you are designing a neighborhood it's very difficult to show that you can't design in some other way shape or form through expert testimony that you know it has to run through the buffer we rarely see that if at all so that that's what that looks like um I know there have been requests to not allow those variances but by state law we don't we don't have that authority to not allow variances so got it so by state law you're not allowed to um you're not allowed to take back some of these variances number two that I have thank you for telling me about how many it was the second question I have and you pretty much answered some of it in order for somebody to get allowance have to Pro a hard shift and that hard shift is done by a quad our judicial process so it's not just an application like that actual applicant has to go up in front of a board and that board itself probably has a public hearing so like there's a it's not like I can turn in application and say I had a hardship

and then they'll allow me to do this they actually have to sit in front of a panel and figure this out so it isn't just one two I see some affirmative now so that's helpful yes I was wondering when you was going to get up to save him also the city's already approved this correct correct so I did those were my okay but yes there's a the hardship is not just Happ they have to go through step to prove that which makes it harder and maybe that's why there's only been one or two yeah and I want to give a tiny bit more context to what Robin was saying the if you look at the 12 variances in this you know roughly six-year time span 11 of them were basically Urban sites where most of them there were there were no trees already so they were non-conforming in terms of a buffer variances were often for uh having to were for providing less than what the normal buffer would be because the sites were extra narrow or too small or weirdly shaped and otherwise would be undevelopable so um the types of

concerns that we've heard are really a very very very small minority one out of 12 variances in six years the remainder of the variances have been about really kind of Urban constraint conditions man thank you sir Mr Jacobs I apprec I appreciate clarification on that concern because um that that is something that we did hear from residents um and also from The Noose River Keeper as well so it's important to to get uh get the information about that um I I wanted to bring up a few others uh just for for the opportunity Unity to get additional information um one is around the um what how did what was the decision making involved with coming up with the acreage involved for the phasing um because um there obviously there are other governments that have

done smaller um amounts of acreage for the phasing so could you share with us how you came up with um the of the mass grading phases yeah so essentially we did sort of Base it on what we had already uh and then we did do additional research on what other municipalities were doing uh we have a very strict tree coverage ordinance um which is uncommon in a lot of mun municipalities within the state uh so a lot of them will require things like Champion trees or buffers uh we require both of those things and open space and tree cover verage so we really wanted to look at uh acreages that sort of encompassed large swats and like large phases or like um not large phases of deel excuse me but that would accommodate all of those requirements so if we want each phase to stand alone we were sort of moving beyond grading

limits into individual phase development U and so since we require this open space these buffers this tree cover Etc that's that's sort of how we came across the mindset instead of just limiting grading we were uh requiring it to be phased um for the whole development okay um was has there been any consideration of really um or discussion about let's see how this works and then when we are doing the Udo rewrite revisiting for instance this issue of the size of the fa the the amount of grading at one time oh absolutely um I think all good policy is iterative so we will definitely be watching this as it goes through uh in the hopes of making it even better as it goes through the Udo R rate okay um yeah because I personally

would support that I think that you know 35 acres to 50 acres is still a lot of land um and um we still aren't addressing the issue that they're different soils in different places and so you know the the erosiveness of the Triassic soils um being you know it's not a one-sized fits all so I I would um just say that I understand that the city is already adopted this so uh and that really covers the majority of the land where this is going to be an operation but I think it is really important that we do um really carefully assess you know how how this is really working and I mean all all aspects of it and I see Ryan getting up we're so lucky to have staff that is just so eager to share their expertise with us thank you yeah before you before

you before you go away from that conversation uh I want to follow up about the grading I think I asked this question during the work session as well did you already have a policy or is this something that you're creating um did you already have something in place or what or not we didn't have We have tree coverage requirements but we didn't have restrictions on grading uh we did have uh buffers for uh Mass grading so if it's four acres or more but we don't have any current limitations on grading for entire sites was there another question I have two other questions but R Ryan jumped up so I would just be remiss um and Ryan evees division manager for storm water and erosion control uh if I didn't take the opportunity to um to jump on what you said about the traic soils and uh

and point out that um you know fortunately we did adopt uh the within the Udo new requirements for the Triassic portions of the county which is about 60% of the county and where most of the development is and so we do have um new stronger requirements uh for erosion control um in those areas of the county they went into effect in May with the approval of the sedimentation Control Commission um and so we have larger sediment Basin requirements uh we have uh requirement for those sediment basins to hold that water for longer to allow those part small particles in in those soils to settle out and we have the uh the big one uh that we're we're still wrapping our hand uh our head around and and and getting to work with developers on is uh flocculent requirements which um again those are the the the chemicals that help bind those paral particles together

and so uh we're just now seeing the first of the first round of plans start to come in with with those requirements um you know unfortunately we only can require that for new developments but we are seeing you know some of these developments um in some of our you know concerning areas uh are going to have these new requirements so we we look forward to seeing how they're going to take back thank you um and I know we're the first uh government in the state is that correct that is following it yes that that is correct we're the first uh first local program local erosion control program to require the use of flocking yeah thank you and uh and again I want to give this is this is how government works right we have our community comes forward with a concern and we respond and now so it's a partnership thank you okay on this side you were you finish two other questions um one was just a response um the

concern was raised uh about the um the incentive around affordable housing and whether that is you know are we creating an environmental justice issue by reducing the tree cover if there is affordable housing um and then also if you could explain how um the requirements related to state law that we um have to count things like the flood planes and things like like that we can't um we can't say that's already you already can't build on that that doesn't count so could you talk about those two things yeah so for the first one we definitely wrestled with that um one of the things is that instead of it just being trees versus affordable housing that's why we included multiple incentives so it wouldn't just be one or the other uh folks can also do uh increased Environmental Protection uh we

also have a really stringent uh Baseline so we like to think that that is uh a large amount of tree cover it's one of the site currently um which is more than a lot of neighborhoods in Durham currently have um it's more than the neighborhood I currently live in has so we like to think that it's very uh strongly written to preserve trees for all neighborhoods um so that's that's sort of how we're looking at that one uh as far as the the state the state regulations I know that you are not allowed to um you cannot keep folks from Counting riparian buffers towards tree coverage so in that way we initially thought about keeping that separate uh so as to get more tree coverage uh but General statute says that is not allowed and Sarah looks like she's about to jump up yeah Robin is completely correct

about that I want to backtrack for one second about the affordable housing um I think it's important to note that it's not less trees the same tree requirement we have today it's the same tree requirement um that anyone staying in that you know 35 acre or other kind of um options level anytime you try and incentivize things in an ordinance you're incentivizing one thing you're also kind of penalizing for doing something else so really what's happening is if you're not staying at that lower threshold for phase size if you're not you know um doing extra things like doubling your stream buffers if you're not providing affordable housing all things that uh our community and our elected officials have said that they want that are good things um that are benefits to our community then another way to look at it is that you're penalized you know at this other upper tier of having to provide way more 30% at a minimum just for tree replacement I mean for tree preservation much more

than that nearing almost 40% really if you have to go full-on replacement so it it's a little bit of just kind of viewpoint of how you look at it but I wanted to put that out there because that's certainly um a different Viewpoint that we've been hearing that may not be represented in the room thank you okay on this side I I appreciate the answers that have already been given because those were a couple of those were among my list of questions and I really really liked the answer Sarah that you just gave about the concern related to the incentive for affordable housing um and how you know the way this amend these amendments are written currently does feel like it is trying to drive good development and if it's not the good development meaning the smaller phase then you're going to have to include a higher percentage of tree um preservation and tree replacement if you

know you end up going that route and so I I can see that that difference and I think it's a really important distinction because we do want our our amendments and our ordinances our we want our ordinances to drive good development and make development that's not good way way harder to do um so I did have a question about if you're unable to to comply with the preservation requirement um then you I I wanted to be sure I'm understanding you would have to have a higher number of trees than the percentage that you would have had with the preservation now you have to have a greater percentage of trees that will be replaced trees is that correct that's correct okay and how who determines if you're able you know to meet the P the required percentage yeah I mean that's a good question that is going to be staff within the major development review group that reviews

those site plans um so the folks that sort of look at this every day uh we review those Aerials um and we sort of see you know what that looks like on site uh they have to make a pretty strong argument to be considered um I will say that so that's that's sort of how it's being done right now um but there there isn't anything written so far as what that needs to look like okay I assume that'll be really tight though I think the other thing to remember is that in general uh the development Community is trying to maximize the yield off the land so typically what we see is developers are much more wanting to use and preserve trees and designed around the trees because that's a lower threshold right if you get rid of all the trees you're going to have to plant back more that's less land area you have for lots to sell Etc so in general the idea that you know developers are just going to come in and just clearcut everything and then just replant what they need to um doesn't really pencil for them as well as if

they look carefully at their property and save the existing trees they have that works much more uh effectively in their development performance okay great that's helpful I think and um can you just this just I'm sorry I don't even know the difference between a setback and a buffer to me they seem similar um can you help help me understand the difference and and where do the opacity come into play is it the buffer at the setback is it both and the exceptions to having to have that setback occur for buffers too I'm just a little confused about those too and there there there was some concern from the community raised about that right so setbacks and buffers um the main difference is that a buffer has required plantings within it um so that's where the opacity comes in okay and the the no grading setback is just uh land set aside in which you cannot grade within so that's um essentially just like a

4 uh sorry I don't have the ud front me but uh you

think I would I look at it every day but so that is to say uh currently they are not allowed to run in that fashion about the other ones Trails those other exceptions yeah so I think with Trails uh a lot of Greenways within Durham are located within the flood plane things of that nature we did not want to create a situation in which uh the city could not build Greenways U so we wanted to make an exception for that okay all right I can understand that and I think that makes sense honestly um okay thank you I I feel like this is an improvement um you know on our control over Mass Land Clearing Mass grading on tree preservation and erosion control I feel like you set out to make improvements there and and you succeeded in in general perhaps you know with reiteration it could be better we don't know yet it'll be interesting to see um um had something else I want to say but

I can't remember what it was oh I wanted to say I really I wanted to complement you on the focus on the phasing and incentivizing the total amount of land that can be graded by having the higher penalty for tree preservation requirement I I think that approach is is uh interest an interesting one and it will be interesting to see how it plays out but it seems like a good approach to me thank you thank you L thank you um a couple of my questions have been asked so thank you for answering those especially uh commissioner Jacobs around the uh flood zones and the restrictions we have around the state and just what can we allow to be included as buffer areas and not um I did have a question about like actually monitoring and compliance like who is it going to be your staff uh from the city planning department sorry that's uh going to these developments

and like doing periodic checks and if there are issues how will the developers be held accountable like are there fees are there punishments so that uh during development is primarily going to fall to our office um but I will say the the first step in this is actually going to be at the planning stage between site plans and the erosion control plans that my office would approve so site plans would be approved by ultimately by planning but they'll have gone through all different trades and departments um before approval and that's where they'll actually lay out the phasing uh and then they'll come to our my office um uh for their land disturbance permit and and when we're talking about projects of size they're going to have to submit erosion control plans the way we've set this up um I think is really going to um in some ways Monitor and enforce itself because they are not allowed to start any land dorming activity on that NE on

phase two so they've got a two or you say they got a four-phase project they start phase one it's graded at you know they go the maximum they get 35 Acres or whatever um they're going to they're not going to be able to start on phase two until they've at least put in ass as fault down on phase one and they've stabilized the lots and so that that site is stable uh and they're probably at the H point where they're just building houses and so each lot can be uh they can start kind of working on those lots and individual lots are a lot easier to maintain a lot easier to keep uh ground cover on things like that than uh a 35 Acres open at one time and so what's going to happen or what I expect to happen is that uh because our permits are only two years twoyear permits um they're only going to come in the first time and they're going to get that 35 acres and so they're going to say okay we want we're just going to do phase one and it's going to be our 35 acres and they're going to know they can't come in for that second permit uh and they can't

get that second permit until they've got that first lay of asphalt down they've got their lot stabilized that part might take two years on and of itself and so um they're not going to want to come in and even you know they're not going to pay their plan review fees they're not going to pay for a new permit uh to get to move on to phase two that they can't start on until they're ready so I think in some ways that enforcement or that part is going to be done is going to do itself that the other side of it is we have staff uh on our team that we're out inspecting almost every day we hit all of our sites uh almost all of our sites once a month our goal is once a month we're going to bring we're trying to hire another uh Team Member another inspector uh hopefully soon to get more boots on the ground inspecting sites and so you know we're going to be looking at the plans the erosion control plans that we issue their land disturbance permits for our guys the folks in the on in the field know what what's in those plans

they're going to have walked to those sites every time they're out there um and made sure that they're in compliance with their plans and we're going to be the sign off that says you can start phase two and and I think we've put some really strong you know uh measures that you have to do in order to get that second permit and start your next round of land thank you I appreciate that and I had another question around the grading side of things of just wondering will this now limit um the way the grading Works instances where we've seen um happening now currently is where that giant drops of like developments going to grade land but that leads to like a 10 15 foot drop um from the properties behind it I can't say for sure this will affect that um I think part of our hope in this conversation and this discussion was that uh that this would drive developers to develop to the Topography

of the land to design to the Topography of the existing land as opposed to take a land that does this and try to make it do this um that was one of the things we we had a not lot of discussion about how how can we try to incentivize that we've had that discussion with the development Community as well um because that's what you know ultimately it's it's uh it's better for the environment it's better for the land it's going to it's better soil for them to you know to work because it's actually starts as top soil that they're working with um but I don't know that this will necessarily we'll have to kind of that's one we're going to have to wait and see if it does has some of the effects that we that we hope it will yeah I was going to be perhaps maybe a little more direct and say no it's not going to stop that um what's going to happen is that that will be pushed away from property lines further to the interior of the site being developed and we're hoping that that will discourage now you would think that a 10- foot strip on the perimeter oh

that's not that much but in some cases it might really you know along the entire um you know perimeter of you know 100 acre tract that's really a lot of land and so we're hoping that it will make developers think twice about how they kind of terraform and sculpt the land as Ryan was saying um because they really in general they're trying to maximize their yield right so we're hoping that that will um at a very minimum not have it occur at a property line or really close to a property line where it really impacts um adjacent neighbors properties but even better we're hoping that it'll really make um developers think and design a little more thoughtfully thank you so I have one question before I open up the public hearing um when you talked about how um more inspectors you know we have really been concerned about the unincorporated areas and whether or

not they're getting the attention that's that's needed so when you talk about more inspectors are you in thinking are you talking about hiring more inspectors to ensure that the unincorporated areas are getting the attention that they need say more about that if you will please sure so when I'm when I say inspectors uh technically they erosion control technicians are their positions um we currently have three on staff and an erosion control supervisor that are our primary um folks that are doing erosion control inspections uh with the sites with land disturbance permits uh we the board approved a four us adding a fourth and we're doing interviews right now for that uh and so we hope to have more boots on the ground um what we inspect are are permitted sites um regardless of whether they're inside inside or outside City Limits um and so our inspections

are on development projects um not necessarily um just uh general you know around the county in general um you know we get complaints or calls when someone is doing development that we don't know about and we go out and and enforce on those and and require them to get permits as necessary uh and then we when they have their permit we do put them into the rotation for regular inspection uh but when I say inspectors and uh I'm talking about our erosion control technicians who are inspecting our um permitted sites okay all right let's let's hear from the citizens I've got um I want to open the public hearing um and we've got a few I've got a few people signed up to speak we've got one to um Pam

Williams uh Donna stanach Rebecca free man looks like wander is that rally r l Ally okay Wanda okay Pam Andrews and Thomas Freeman if you'll line up in that order and uh three minutes each now first okay uh good evening chairwoman Howton and county commissioner uh I am Pam Williams I am a derite I appreciate all the work that the planning department has done to get this text amendment to this point it is much better than what we had because we did not have any limits on mass grading I would like to touch base on the boundary setb and the uh boundary buffers as addressed in the proposed text Amendment uh the grading setback as proposed a minimum of 10 foot unded grading setb

which is greatly needed as you have seen on the tour in southeast Durham however the allowed disturbances within the grading setback is a major concern primarily the grading of utilities and infrastructure I understand that normally it's just crossing it that's allowed but it doesn't state that uh utilities such as electricity gas water sewer telephone cable television Service uh can be in the setback uh infrastructure such as Street sidewalks bike accommodations dorm Water Management facilities Retention Ponds and Sewer water can be in the setback basically anything can be built within the setback but uh the actual dwelling a variance would not need to be requested for any of these examples because it clearly states that these allowances are for utilities and infrastructure it doesn't say cross and perpendicular uh a setback should be protected and be part of the Design constricts Incorporated to the site

plans all these allowable encroachments defeat the purpose of a 10ft disturbed area I'd like you to take a look at the uh uh picture up on the right um this slide shows where a variance was required for uh tree specimens to allow two additional Town Homes to be built in development which has 865 dwellings okay um the roadway was shifted to the property line at the top in Co on the 20ft buffer and a 04 opacity due to a retaining wall which is the solid red lines no trees can be planted between the sidewalk and existing property so where is our opacity and where is our setback from the property next slide thank you boundary buffers a proposed minimum of Pao 06 required for approximately 30 foot buffer is something we have been requesting at almost every planning and council meeting for over a year at this location a 20ft buffer with a 04 pass along the perimeter was required see the

picture on the right with three retaining wall within 10 ft of the property line and no landscape proposed between the property line and the retaining wall in addition a ditch is proposed with Rift R Stone between the property line and the retaining wall where's the 20 foot buffer and the proposed 04 capacity it doesn't exist it will never exist how do you uh guarantee that 06 capacity will be provided or will there always be a hardship another retaining well another house a sidewalk in lie of the propos opacity which the residents understood they would get next slide thank you oh am I'm over okay there's two examples thank you you do good good evening chairwoman Howton and County Commissioners I am Donna stainback a lifelong Durham County resident speaking saying that I appreciate the

work also that the planning department did we we asked for changes and they came up with changes but um the concept I favor has some implementation issues the view of the Olive Grove project that most of you saw with the site visits with the 15 to 20 foot cliff and the significant tomato soup runoff into l Creek is one of the examples so the chart compares the proposed 50 acres phase Max with the example of 56 Acres with a phase of 50 acres 35 Acres would be greater than 15 acres in tree coverage with the example 28 Acres were graded and 28 Acres were in tree preservation the new Amendment would not have given greater protection to the creek than what is currently in place and we've seen the pictures of how bad that Creek was impacted Mass grading in the tassc soil Basin is highly corrosive and causes

9 where phase development p Min AR plat showing no additional phase

exceeding 50 acres the concept is good and is needed but the acreage is too large in the proposed ordinance to manage to run off effectively we can see from the previous example that 28 Acres graded led to an ecological disaster as early as November 5th 2022 we requested using email and public hearing that these ordinance be expedited with a maximum of 20 gr acres in a phase like Charlotte weight forest and 25 acres for carry all of these areas do not have as much Triassic basic soil and impaired Creeks as dorham County there are significantly more proportional runoff with the graded maximum of 35 Acres versus the 20 acres we also request no exceptions to the maximum grade size we need tree canopies vegetation and perious soil versus large contiguous areas of mass Grady thank you thank you

good evening Commissioners uh Madam chair and um Howard Commissioners I'm Rebecca Freeman iide at 1818 South Durham C and I'm a lifelong resident of Durham County thanks to the planning department for moving this forward and we appreciate the efforts but I want to point your attention to the slide that was that was taken September 9th and this is uh this the runoff not the creek the runoff from the site that just saw earlier this the runoff this is double silted double silted fence could you go back two slides please and and to Reiner rate that now that you seeing the runoff on September 9th that's not even reached the creek creek yet but we did have a lot in the creek too with the site 28 Acres was unbuildable because of the flood plane as as depicted in the in the blue the um so therefore there's 28 Acres that is credited toward the tree provation preservation and things that's

around that so then there are only 20 acres that can be graded this is lower lower than what the amendment is that is being proposed and we're still getting the runoff uh Triassic Souls rule Triassic Souls Rule and we've got a lot of them out in southeas um this amendment should have a lower grade grading threshold 20 grade 20 20 acres as some of our neighbors have who don't have the same um tric soils that we do another issue I need to point to is a tree preservation is not required within the dwelling unit areas um and this is another one here another picture of this with you see the the where the houses are depicted and the dwellings the tree preservation is outside there so there's no mature trees left among the houses um development plans in our observations of construction shows that all vegetation is removed within the dwelling units layout and no mature tree preservation is left this amendment does not reflect

org when where we plant and preserve trees matters the proximity to buildings is important um according to board member Katie Len with trees uh durham. org tree covers helped to reduce the urban heat island effects and local pollution lowering air and ground temperatures through shading and absorption of carbon dioxide if you live in a place that doesn't have trees your house and your yard is 10 degrees hotter than people who live around trees she said noting that those communities without adequate tree cover are also known to to have higher rates of asthma diabetes or or immune compromising conditions and that's exactly what they have in these developments without mature trees within

them according to Durham's Urban Tree oh I'm sorry the way that we're developing is killing us said Lan in fact Duram has such a bad tree cover our developed spaces are up to 20 degrees hotter than surrounding areas number one this is a difference between life and death for our vulnerable residents trees are the difference between life and death thank you you very much hi I'm Wanda Ellen and I truly do want to thank the planning department and also you guys for always try listening to our concerns and you always uh know that we have researched our concerns so I want you to take a look at this photo here you have visited this area this photo is uh considered a coner conservation development which is only 28 Acres so the new policy would not preserve any additional trees not one

not one as you have seen the trees in this photo here lying along the creek the flood Bank area which the developer could not use anyway so the trees that are in this proposal the tree preserved in the FL plan should not be double counted so remember when you vote tonight this example the additional trees would not have been saved in this proposal next slide please so let us learn from Wake County and carry they have a knowledge to have uh they've cut out too many trees due to the development how is in destroying their environment they have created the Wake County tree uh canopy assessment we all know we've we've known it that it trees provide quality of life it clings the air that we breathe filters the

3 million

they're estimated so let's take the data and information that we know and let us learn how trees provide substantial value to our lives and also to our uh Community do not vote for this let's let's do better thank you thank you Sam thank you so my name is Pamela Andrews 6108 wait Forest Highway good evening chairman Howton Vice chair Jacobs and Commissioners I again want to thank you sincerely for coming out to see Southeast Durham and visiting with our community to see the impacts Mas grading sincerely I thank you the various examples I will show today are just two examples of how tree preservation buffers and repairing buffers which are meant to protect the environment are failing to protect the trees in slide one of them above the tree variance is a

current project which was given to remove 57 specimen trees to accommodate five additional homes and about a half a mile of sewer as shown in the photo why wasn't this plan designed so the trees with not be sacrificed in the protective buffer will the new plan address this I'm afraid not the green you see there the light green would count as open space the blue is the creek Bank the Orange is the proposed graded ditch yellow is the sewer lines all this is inside the perimeter buffer trees will not be allowed to be replanted in the sewer easement some trees here that going to be destroyed are 15 18 19 20in poppers some trees are 23 24 inch Pines some trees are 18inch red oak some are 20inch Maples these are just the specimen trees other trees will also be sacrificed next slide please another development with another variance I know we heard there had been many variances but this is two variances

7 Acres of repair and buffer 21,500 sare ft half an acre of wetlands was approved in this variance on an active site in southeast Durham each variant approved reduces the amount of trees preserved who approves these why isn't the buffer protected sacrificing sacrificing trees for five more houses defeats the purpose of the buffer this new Udo Amendment set the standard for more encroachments when boundary setbacks were established in the amendment acceptable exceptions to the buffers are Trails utilities access infrastructure roads and such are allowed in this amendment all these encroachments defeat the purpose save the trees trees provide critical Community infrastructure by helping clean the air we breathe filter the water we drink and mitigate the impacts

of changing climate we're asking for better protection of our trees we'd also request unbeli to have the amendment about the double County we've heard that before but we would like to read it as well ourselves I ask you as a grandmother a former teacher please protect the environment because that picture was taken by me of how bad the creek was Saturday it was overflowing from that same place that you all visited with the steep steep clip thank you thank you how much time do I have three minutes three minutes is there a countdown clock that I could view right here okay thank you before I get started she's got one over there okay I have I have thank you thank you before I get started I'd like to the record to show that one of my colleagues with preser real Durham is prevented from speaking because the cards were collected before she got here so just let the record show

that please good a good good evening good evening my name is Thomas Freeman I'm a lifelong resident of Durham uh in the three minutes that I have I'm going to very quickly take you down the road and show you some of the next slide please uh talk to you about some of the history and some of the things that preserver ear DM has done uh I would show you exhibit number one here which is a letter from Southern environmental law Center to the city in county of Durham regarding the failure to enforce water quality standards against Real Estate developers who are degrading Lit Creek the lit Creek wers shed that was dated February 1 uh time passes preserver Durham continues to go to the Durham city council meeting pleading our case telling the council and the citizens just what's going on uh Durham city council uh uh they

make fun of us they call us names they degrade us but yet we come back they have the and they tell us you have the audacity to come back and say the same thing yes sir we do because it's the truth and we will continue to return uh again uh uh uh the next event was 60-day notice of a pending lawsuit uh the third item I would draw your attention to is the lawsuit this is the lawsuit I'm sure most of you have seen it uh the plaintiff uh sound Rivers Incorporated who is one of our uh we're very proud to be associated with him uh and again this is for violations and continued violations uh against a Clean Water Act discharged from stream uh stream system

elimination uh which it is dated uh the 7th of September so this brings us up to date and if you don't know the southern environmental law Center uh is a is a a well respected organization with over 100 attorneys in nine offices in the South there's an elephant in the room you know it I know it and we know you know it that elephant in the room is mass grading but for the mass grading we would not be having this conversation and the mass grading includes the complete removal of all all vegetation the blasting that routinely occurs because of our our topography in the area again I would remind you but for the mass grading we would not be having this conversation you've allowed it you've done nothing about it and the

degradation continues but we'll have our day in court thank you very much thank you Mr Freeman hey are there any other um speakers um I we got another speaker okay uh three minutes um and I need you to sign the form fill over the form commissioner Burns uh you you'll need to wait until I close wait until I close the public hearing okay thank uh good evening my name's Robin Barefoot thank you madam chair for um recognizing me to be clear um I am a friend of all these preserver Al Durham folks and I certainly do stand with them and a number of things I'm not officially a member of their organization so let the record show that as Tom was willing to let the record

show that I had arrived late tonight um so I I really I really do um give credit to the planning department as we all have tonight for for tackling what I think is a complicated matter I think unfortunately that we are making an assumption that the developers are going to work with good faith um as they do their work in the county and I think that um the lawsuit is evidence of the fact that they're not operating in good faith um I don't think that they're following the rules I do think that the There are rules I know that I've read article 15 of the Udo and I know there are enforcement mechanisms there are violations there are fines there are penalties but I'm I'm imagining that the planning department and the inspections department you know has a lack of capacity to do that kind of detailed work um and once a month would would not even come close to to keeping up with the kind of violations that we're dealing with Excuse me I think there are

other developers who would do their job in different ways I think there are certain developers that come in and want to go fast they want to go far they want to build a lot and then they want to leave and it is a maximum of yield I think was the phrase used by the planning department a couple of times um but there are other developers that I think have other priorities and I think that we are writing ordinances that those kinds of developers would heed and pay attention to I don't think we have those kind of developers that are currently operating in Durham County and so while I think the city was persuaded to pass this ordinance Amendment because it is a good step in the right direction and I don't disagree with that characterization but I don't think it's nearly enough and so I I would much prefer that there be a very finite halt to the Mas grading just say no I I think we write the rules I think you guys are the government so you get to write the rules I think we say no to the developers we don't have to say yes to

everything they ask for until we can catch up with ourselves and write the kinds of ordinances that will protect um residents and the environment um Durham is a beautiful place people are coming to Durham because it is beautiful it's historic it's edgy it's gritty it's got great food it's got universities um they are no longer going to want to come when it is built out in a fashion that really denigrates and desecrates all of those um aspects so thank you again for recognizing me letting me speak I praise you all for the job that you attempt to do and I will fill out the form um appreciate it thank you thank you okay so I will close the public hearing bring this back this issue back to the board um are there any other questions or concerns you have for staff commissioner I think commissioner Burns was first and then commissioner

y'all are making this so hard for us and it's it's not the residence it really isn't if I would go back and look at myself on video when I first got elected I ain't going to hear nothing about tree canopies I really seriously didn't I didn't trust the people that talked to me about tree canopies I did not like how much they talked about how much we needed them in Black communities and that was all they want to talk to me about because I was black like that ain't y'all I'm just saying that that that was the case my first year and it really used to tick me off they say if we have more tree canopies in urban communities then black children won't have asthma no if they ain't live in buildings with lead paint and roaches they wouldn't have asthma so miss me with the trees but I am at a new place now as a learned elected official and on a 104 degree day the asphalt shouldn't be 139 degrees when my dog walk on it now that's where I am now here's my struggle I do think this is a step in the right direction and I don't necessarily have a problem with it the

problem is we have the benefit of drinking out of your water Hol and theirs so I'm sitting up here I usually pay attention when people are talking not tonight I'm Googling the Wake County tree uh County um tree cany assessment and trying to figure out why can't we do one of those and figure out like how bad it is I'm sitting up here trying to figure out while Wake Forest and Raleigh did 20 acres of mass grading as opposed to 25 that is is not an indictment of the staff but what I do know and what I do agree with is that we have developers not working in good faith and right now they not tearing up the houses of the people in this room yet they going to be tearing up our neighborhoods in a minute and I know that we gave y'all another person to investigate but I'm really sitting up here struggling trying to understand how these investigations are not coming to fruition and last week my daddy got mad at me because I say the seismographs and not seismograph and he's really upset about that because my daddy built the seismograph and I made it to the state science fair so he knows that I know

that it was not checking it wasn't checking the ground I shouldn't have said seismograph and so he's upset Daddy I'm sorry but I I really need to understand from the planning department like and I'mma say it like this like I'm to the point I'm G start voting no on this stuff and every time a black woman in this community votes no on this stuff they get attacked Bring it on Bring it on I am built different I am built different I'm sick and tired of going in these neighborhoods seeing cracked houses seeing ditches and seeing water that y'all wouldn't stick your toe in none less your tongue so I I'm I need to know why we couldn't do 20 acres why we couldn't do it something you gave an answer but I feel like sometimes I'm a pretty smart lady like Folks up here operating off of our ignorance because we don't know everything and I'm kind of tired of it I really seriously am and so for the comprehensive plan coming up that's not an indictment of y'all everybody can't do this research I know the people in my community can't do the

research you do and know Tino Shay the people in my community can't do the research that y'all do so I know for dog on sure they being left out of this conversation so at a certain point tonight again step in a good direction I don't have a problem with it I think these are some things that we can work on in the udio but I am sick and tired of sitting in this room getting answers and then having a group of people come in with videotape that says the exact opposite now if I got to give y'all more staff to go out and enforce this thing I more than happy to do it I don't know what my colleagues are going to do but I can't sit here and have another black family sitting between three developments and all the developments got seore and the black family don't so somebody need to figure out how to answer this for me now I ain't even plan on doing all this tonight but I'm pissed and this is the first for me so I want to know why we can't do what other people do at this point and why people that look like me got to keep suffering in this town so commissioner Burns to your question

about why we didn't mirror what other jurisdictions do I think it's important to note that we're regulating in a different way carrye regulates the amount that you can grade we are regulating phases once you subtract out for instance in the lower threshold the uh amount of tree preservation you're really left with like 27 Acres that someone can grade versus carries 25 so I think some of this is is a difference in uh branding of the two different approaches I don't personally feel professionally that we are that far off from Carrie I think it's also important to note because Carrie is being brought up as this great example Carrie has three tiers the talk has been as if Carrie only has one tier at the lowest tier and they actually regulate based on the density of the proposed development if you are less than four units to the acre they require that you grade site by site okay if you are between four and eight units to the acre they limit your

grading to 25 acres if you are more than eight dwelling units to the acre they have no limits on grading and that is the piece that no one has said but we have met with the staff and carry and researched their approach and we uh ours does not have that big a loophole you could um that you could just not grade on a large project like theirs does so I just want to put that out there that there's more more than what it seems some of the photographs that were shown for instance of um buffers project boundary buffers that didn't have any um vegetation in them that is allowed most project boundary buffers are constructed and they're planted afterwards um so that's not a violation that's the way the Ordinance Works so I think there's just a lot of misinformation uh there was also a comparison of a conservation subdivision saying that that would not benefit that that's already providing yeah it's providing higher than this ordinance it's conservation subdivision it works differently however um even that one at 56 Acres would have been

required to break into two phases and pro would have probably resulted in some additional tree save so I just want to put that out there I know it's confusing um when the staff seems to be saying one thing and then residents in our community are bringing up kind of opposing Viewpoint so I wanted to add that bit of context in case it helps my question was honestly going to be about what is the difference between ours and our new Amendment and what Carrie is currently doing so that was answered thank you for that clarification Sarah commissioner I think she was next weren't you next or either one okay um so I yeah I think it's important um and and I understand your feelings because it is you know you look at the images and it is upsetting um but I do um I do agree that

this is a step in the right direction and the reality is that what we decide is not going to have a whole lot of impact because all of the large developments will be annexed into the city but um it is important that we do raise the questions that we bring up the points and that we um do ask that this be monitored and studied so that when um we do the Udo we have the opportunity for change if we don't approve this now um well I mean the city has approved it so that's the important thing it is an improvement over what we have now and that's really important because I think Sarah and the staff have been working on this for how long Sarah yeah so we don't want to delay any possible improvements any longer um that is for sure um so I I just wanted to say that um and you know we have the realities of you

know how doing large developments are are is going to always include some type of large scale grading that is just how construction takes place nowadays um that that is just the reality that we have to deal with and um hopefully we'll get to a point where we we are going to be able to figure out um even better than what we have right now so I do I I kind of diverted but that wasn't my question my question is um in the case when there is going to be an intrusion and a buffer um and you know a tree save area or whatever will the developer then have to mitigate somewhere else on the property do we have a provision for that yeah so we did require them to follow the revation plan which is currently included already in the ordinance uh but

now this is a specific reference to it for going through those areas which requires them to plant at a higher uh rate than just replanting whatever they accidentally took out okay I don't remember the exact rate off the top of my head okay so there will be a direct response to any intrusion with having to Med remediate or make up for that somewhere okay that's word um there was one point that was noted on one of the slides requesting that um clear cutting um be added to land disturbance is that already accounted for or not is that that's already included within the definition of land disturbance okay so clear cutting is part considered plan disturbance correct okay y um I know there's been a lot of concerns related to the and confusion around conservation subdivisions and some of the way our ordinance is currently WR

written when will we be taking a look at the conservation subdivision ordinance and possibilities to improve on that I believe that would be within the Udo reite as well okay um and then um the last issue related to the Wake County's uh tree uh canopy inventory ironically there was just a study that came out this week that shows that they have lost a amount of tree canopy um and so I guess my question is um to follow up on something that commissioner Burns raised is I know that the city of Durham has created certain goals around tree canopy so what is going on right now how are we currently monitoring the tree loss versus how many trees that we're planting how how is that being monitored

on an annual basis by the city I mean that's a good question I don't know if anyone is collecting that data I know that the urban forestry department is uh working through a few grants and making a few management plans uh but we are not directly involved in what that data looks like um I think that maybe that data could be used in the future if we did have that uh to regulate private development but without that currently we are sort of doing the best that we can okay so um Madam manager I have a request that we get information from the city related to how what are the policies around tree canopy um and you know what what is currently being done to measure how many trees are being um planted and preserved versus destroyed um and and so how how is that

happening and how are we going to meet our goals um so I think that that is really important yeah I will just note additionally there is a provision within the comprehensive plan should it be adopted that onethird of uh Durham County be covered within uh a permanent conservation uh and we do have one Planner on staff who is currently looking into the implementation side of that so that will that will be included I know it's not a full answer to your question but I did want to provide that context okay now that's really important I mean we can't just have a goal and then have no way to monitor measure and enforce absolutely um and then my last question is around um one of the concerns that was raised around trees that are actually on uh around dwelling units that get what are our ordinances around uh planting trees or the requirement for Street trees um once the

subdivision is built right so we do require Street trees uh for any new ride of way they are required to be within the ride of way that way if they die or what have you in the future residents can request a new one from the urban forestry Department which they were not previously able to do uh we do have some requirements for vehicle use area plantings as well so parking lots things of that nature uh screening requirements we have a lot of things within the Landscaping section additionally we currently don't uh tree preservation areas are supposed to be located outside of private Lots uh that way once someone owns the lot they can't just cut it down later uh so it's supposed to be included within common open space so they don't have that ability or that right uh and we hope that by doing the phase development in which they have to have tree coverage within each phase as opposed to development now which will often cluster it or do all of their tree preservation to the side or to the back or what have

3 um either retained or to be planted one correct yes so I I would suggest again as we look at our re our um Udo about looking at increasing that certainly uh having having you know a tree in your front yard and your backyard would be nice and especially related to the issues around um you know um just the heat you know making uh homes cooler and um you know all all the

all the reasons we know what well we know that trees do provide for us i' like to add one other quick thing I was going through the implementation list from the new comprehensive plan and in addition to uh the item that Robin mentioned there is another one under the environmental um section that says review and revise the Udo to increase open space and tree canopy coverage requirements for developments to align with conservation Mobility goals including the goal of 55% overall tree canopy coverage in the City by 2040 so we have a a larger um you know countywide conservation goal but then we also have that I think comes from the work that the the city um is working on regarding so I just wanted to add that since I thought that might okay well thank you but I think again how is that driving with the what we're you know the development that is happening it's important so

um thank you madam chair I just it I know in my di tribe it might have been lost but there was an inquiry and my question has still not been answered so I do want one for the public I can apologize it is not not often that I raise my voice I rais it in happiness but not up here so for those of you that had to witness that especially to the family members that are here for whole another Cooperative agreement I want to publicly apologize I will yell at people behind closed doors I'm much better at that I do not make it a practice here that being said director young I sit as the chair of the Joint City County Planning I remember when this was bought for so I don't want people to say I talk out of both sides I was for it then I was for it doing our work session where the confusion comes in we've given you all an extra investigator we did that in the budget I think somebody in soil and water wanted an additional Outreach person we did that manager put somebody else I think for outreach in there so we're I need to figure out like at what

point do we hit equilibrium because let's just pretend that the photo that she showed was of pretend that it was a misrepresentation of something that was perpendicular or it was a misrepresentation of a utility line let's just pretend that I don't want her to leave out of here not knowing that she was wrong I also don't want your staff to leave out of here thinking we can't work with them because they're always attacking us so at a certain point this issue to that gentleman's point is more so about Mass gr and they came in here today to talk about everything because this is the only opportunity they really have because we don't do a whole bunch of public let's just call a thing a thing that's why y'all here tonight this issue y'all not really that mad about it you somewhat mad about it but you more mad about the fact that you go to the city and you are not treating humanely so you come over here and now you upset and now

I'm upset so I do want this is a joint staff at some point I need to know what you need in order for these investigations to be more successful and I need to know what levels of Outreach video human that you need that they can go out and educate individuals and and let me be clear for the individuals that don't have the privileged to come in here and sit for two and a half hours Let's be because there some folks who are not here because they got to go to work in the morning got kids in the morning they're not retired so I do want to answer to my question what do you need so that we don't keep having photos like this the Press take over and they're multiple lawsuits I'm just wondering so I appreciate that question very much commissioner Burns I I'll answer it two two ways um you know our primary enforcement arm is really done um collaboration through the erosion control folks so if it's an issue of boots on the ground really those boots on the ground need to be in in Ryan's shop because they're the ones that are going out there inspecting I

think we are at a really unfortunate point in time where the things that we're seeing on the ground um all those ill effects that we're witnessing we can't fix those now right and it's going to still be a while before we see the fruits of this new labor the erosion control amendments this amendment um and hopefully future developments won't repeat the whole the whole point of doing these couple of sets of amendments is so we don't continue to see the things we're seeing so I think right now we're in the mode particularly I want to speak for Ryan but his team is in the mode of making sure to address violations um so I'm going to let him speak about additional resources that he might need um in order to do that quicker more effectively whatever so I want to I guess start with um noting that these sites in this area have received more inspections than than any project in the the rest of the any

projects in the rest of the county um we have about 300 active projects currently so that put put that into context that we I do our best to inspect monthly U many of these sites have received four inspections a month partly because what happens is um let's say a site we do a site inspection the site is found not in compliance well we then give them a compliance deadline typically that's two weeks uh depending on the issue but most often it's about two weeks um we then have to follow up on that because we want to make sure they're brought into compliance if they are then not still not in compliance that's when we issue an enforcement action or a notice of violation in our case um that notice the violation comes with a $1,000 and I know that's small money $1,000 reinspection fee um but uh that's that's our first step for violations um and so that has happened

on several of these sites they've we've issued notices of violation we've issued not in compliance we've followed up they've brought sites have been brought into compliance uh and things like that uh the challenge the biggest challenge in this part of the county particularly is just a vol a challenge of volume um I don't know the current number but at one time there were over 700 acres in development under development being gr actively graded in this Watershed along lit Creek with approximately 50 sediment basins the sediment basins are you know where that water comes to it's where it's captured um basins are designed for our our current well our old standards we've updated them uh to do water within 3 days and so um that water leaves this you know is it drains down and Le it's meant to hold it for three days roughly three days and then allow those particles to settle out and then it discharges and the water leaves the site

or leaves and then usually leaves the site and a lot of that goes to to Lake Creek so a day like Saturday we got you know I don't remember I know exactly how many inches of rain but we had a lot of rain on Saturday we've got 700 Acres of of uh ground that let's say all of it's in compliance they're still going to generate sediment and runoff it's still going to go to um it's still going to go into those sediment basins and then because they're all designed to dewater after 3 days all 50 of them start dewatering and because we have this traic soils that don't settle in 3 days they settle in more like weeks of time that water looks like the tomato soup that they're referring to that assumes all the sites are in perfect compliance and we still have that now some of the sites are out of compliance when they're out of compliance we call them out of compliance we do everything we can to bring them back into compliance um and

and I think we've done a pretty good job of that we've got you know our erosion control supervisor uh Jonathan Neil he's he's well dedicated to that area of the county we've added we have extra inspectors on some of those sites because of the size of their sites uh and so they're getting regular regular inspections we're handling handing out regular not in compliance we're handing out NOS when necessary um but we also have to do that for our other you know 2 80 some odd sites that are not in lit Creek we have to inspect those as well we're over you know we'll have over um I think is almost 3,000 Acres total across the county that that is you know under active permit and so we are dealing with a volum issue um we have requested another position and I think that's going to help I think our new requirements are going to help like Sarah said unfortunately we're we're kind of chasing bad now we're cha you know we're chasing after bad we are we're we're having to deal with what's already on the ground and we're hoping

that what we're what we're questing and talking about tonight what we've adopted under the the the new erosion control requirements we're hoping they're going to have effect an effect on the future um and so we are we do have a lot of compliance uh I I I don't you know um compliance just looks different because of the soils in a lot of ways um and I don't I don't mean to make excuses I'm not making excuses for you know developers I'm not going to disagree that that that some developers aren't don't go fast and they don't do too much and get too much open um but I do think that you know by and large we are doing our job to maintain compliance on those sites thank you sir harder yeah um this is really complex I agree whoever said that and I just want to say to you guys you are as ever thoroughly researched and present really you

know sides of the story that make us think and and we do try to Grapple with what you say and and and the answers we get from our staff which are also very researched and you know filled with expertise and um compelling uh and I'm imminently persuadable and yet I'm siding with our staff and trying to move forward and hoping that this will be better it's a step in the right direction it's their best work I think it's good work um and I'm putting my faith hopes that as it play out as it unrolls we we will see better developments and if we don't um we'll need to rectify that right we'll need to come back to the drawing board I did have one little teeny question though you know I'm trying to grasp onto something tangible in the midst of these really higher level conversations but looking at that 58 acre slide that was the conservation subdivision and 28

Acres was graded and 28 Acres was the uh open space that was conserved preserved most of it had to be or some of it had to be because it was Wetlands or whatever with with this with these with the amendment though the phasing wouldn't have how does one decide what the phase includes like could one phase be you know the 28 Acres so it was all graded at once or would the phase would the phasing have had to been divided in a way that would had some of the open space conserved area with it and so that actually would have led to a better outcome than I think they were presenting to us right so the phase so that's ultimately what we're trying to get at with like the phase development rather than like a grading restriction because by doing it by phase they have to include the amount of grading that they're doing but they also have to include the required tree coverage within that phase so essentially they're limited within that phase so they could not have done just like one phase of

tree coverage and then one phase of all grading because that grading would have needed to have some percentage of tree coverage within it oh I see right so it would have been different it could yeah either way either way I'm thinking about it two different ways but either way it would have been better I think okay thank you it's all I have the energy for now so we have heard a lot a lot and thank you guys for be all of you for being here tonight um and I'm I've got a problem with this I have I've heard and I've seen and what I've seen and going to the area and viewing it and when I think about massg grading I think about it causing more

damage so what we do tonight is not going to stop the city has already voted on this is not going to pre present prevent it from moving forward I just can't put my stamp on it I I I just I just can't with any kind of Integrity is it just I can't I just can't so I'm going to ask for we're going to move on to um if the Commissioners have no other questions we're going to move to um Commissioners we have two motions before us for approval one motion one is to adopt an ordinance amending the Durham unified development ordinance incorporating revisions to article 7 design standards

article 8 Environmental Protection article 9 landscaping and buffering and Article 13 additional requirements for subdivision effective October 1 20 20 23 so is there motion approve that I need a motion in a second um Madam chair I'm going to make a motion to approve but I I also I want to just address uh the residents who are here and really thank you for all of your work um you have made a difference you have and I know you will continue to um I do I will be voting in favor of this because I do think that is a step forward and we do need to see how it plays out so that we can see how we need to make adjustments when we um start working on the Udo which is going to be not too far off um um um so and I do want to thank uh all the staff for your

work on trying to to uh come up with what is a better uh ordinance uh so I make a motion to approve okay we move need a second second it's been moved and properly second um okay all in favor I nay um so is motion passes three to two all right we'll move on to the next item is 23 cons well okay number two there's a motion to adopt the appro appropriate consistency statement as required per ncgs 160 D- 605 I need a motion in a second second it's been moved by

commissioner Carter second by commissioner Alum uh all in favor I I nay so it's is it um three to two passes three to two Okay now we will move to the next item which is 23699 and this is a public hearing to consider the naming request for call dejes the board is requested to hold a public hearing to consider naming conference room 129 A and B of the County Agriculture building after C de hardes the first African-American extension director in Durham County the state of North Carolina and the United States during this public hearing the board will hear public comments private provide additional feedback and approve the request and I miss trap our chief of

staff is here to provide information good evening Madam chair Madame Vice chair Commissioners Madame manager and our attorney Andrews thank you for allowing us this opportunity to come back to you um in response to our presentation at the work session um on last week to share the committee recommendation for the Carl de Hodes conference room which will be located in the County Agriculture building in rooms 129a and B um we have updated that photo per our discussion um at the last presentation and this is what it will look like as it hangs in that conference room again this is where that conference room is located in the um County ag building and this is what um it will look like hanging there on that wall at the conclusion of the public hearing we'll just ask that you all will

approve the recommendation um by the naming committee okay any questions for staff that to scale commissioner uh I just had a question so I see that it's going to be inside the room will there be anything outside the room yes ma'am so um as we as you enter the hallway here that's the far picture on the left you enter the Hall the conference room is located on the right and there are two doors that enter into the conference room and above each conference each door there will be um the silver metallic letters above the entry that will read Carl deh's conference room on both of those on both sides of the conference room so there will be some signage on the outside side and then on the inside we'll hang um the photo with the inscription okay all right if no other questions you have all right when you

said there'll be some information outside would it be some um like going back to the slide that says the naming request it has some kind of you know just the background information about no that was good the one um you know I mean just all of the um the Legacy it would um will some of that information be actually this will be part of what's there absolutely in the hallway there is a display that is set up um that Donna rewalt team has set up and it uh displays some of those uh newspaper articles it displays photographs it has a number of different items that represent the life in the Legacy of Mr Hodes okay fantastic thank you like Donna might want we do also have a metallic plaque that we created um which will go with the names that are above the door that will also hang in the hallway it has kind of an engraved

image of him and it does state that he was the first black extension director in Durham North Carolina and the United States right thank you Commission mine is really quick that looks huge is that to scale no it's I was about to say have to forgive us we do have a graphics designer on sites and so this is my rendition um when I made it to scale you couldn't read it and so I made it a little larger it will not be this big on the wall I assure you it will not scare anyone as they enter the conference room no the family's here I just wanted if there need to be an asteris for legal counsel in the event that they thought why is Daddy picture you're not as big as we thought so no that's first that that's one but I you know I'm I'm All About bigger as better but I did want to throw out I'mma mention my dad again I know yall like oh my parents yes my parents are still in my life and I I let them be here for as long as I got them somebody I think it

was Donna I don't know who said it during the work session it's one my you know I grew up on the Chicken Foot Road in tar North Carolina it's like really Ru right and the first black extension director to get higher you would have thought it was the president because when your cows and your chickens are dying or when something gets on your crop and it dies and nobody can explain and then here comes a brother I mean so one I just want to thank the family for their sacrifice because daddy says n make sure you thank that family tonight because y'all they once a black person enters into a space for the first time they are called upon to do Herculean things early in the morning and after hours and another thing there were white extension officers that wouldn't talk to black farmers and I think somebody said that your dad was the first one to be in a position to do the reverse and talk to White Farmers but anybody who does not get that that is huge because and and I'mma throw this out I'mma throw this out when I worked at USDA we didn't have

any any black f farm loan office except for one and Bob ethd to his credit found a loophole and it said that you could hire a class of students and it was at the director's discretion he got an a car he went to entt he said I want you to give me seven of your brightest students we had a all black Farm loan class I never he and and he said I'm G be done he said you got to take care of them Nima I said why do I have to take care of them now this is in 2017 these students Juniors and seniors some grad students at A&T will get out of their USDA cards in 2017 and get shot at shot at I had to buy magnets for all that cars they had hats that they didn't need they had vests that they didn't need they had I was buying all whatever I could short of a reflective sign so I don't know what your daddy had to go through if this is what young people are going through in 2017 so I'm just saying thank

you for sacrificing and sending your daddy out there every day often times into a space where he might not have always been welcome so thank you family for your sacrifice and I look forward to voting in this affirma if it is okay so I'm going to open um public hearing and I have a few people that want to speak um Donna rewald Cheryl Carol Anita Neville um Dr brunard that watts deling sers and call a if you will line up in that order thank you Commissioners three minutes I'm Donna ralt I'm a resident of Durham and I'm also the proud um County Extension director of our Cooperative Extension Service in Durham County and on the behalf of our staff and

volunteers I am proud to support uh our submission to name this conference room after Carl D Hodges I'm also very proud to work in a County that would name a conference room after Carl dejes and to work in a building where I will be near that conference room when he started work in 1954 he was probably walking in the back door and not the front door of a building very much like ours and probably could not have imagined that one day that people would be standing here talking about him and naming a conference room after him and I think that's a great achievement that we are recognizing his history his legacy his life both as an agent as a director as a citizen as a father um and as a friend as attested by many of the people here um that he has really supported and served over time I would also like to thank the family of of Mr hajes for sharing him with us and sharing their stories um you know this is a named room

but it's also a living Legacy we would like to very much educate and share on the story uh which is sometimes difficult and also sometimes amazing of what has happened over these years in Durham County and in the history of Agriculture um as well so we we we are excited that this tribute to our living history is supported um by our commissioners and also by our staff and by many wonderful people in the community who will speak uh much more eloquently about the man because they knew him very well I had the pleasure of meeting Carl hajes on several occasions um but I did not know him like some of the folks you will hear from tonight so I want to thank all of you and I want to thank all of them for being here thank you Donna good evening Commissioners Madam chairwoman good evening my name is Cheryl Carroll I'm the chairperson of the Durham County Cooperative Extension advisory Council and we're in support of naming the conference room at the Durham

County extension office to honor the legacy of Carl Hodes Mr Hodes educational preparation dedication to community and state service persistence even in unfavorable circumstances shaped his leadership skills in planning and executing programs benefiting the residents of Durham County and contributed to the prosperity of Durham County he could effectively communicate with those alike and unlike building Community Bridges and establishing a mutual understanding because he was a first in many areas on the county level state level and National level he served in his example of what was possible he not only walked through the door but he held the door open for others to Mark the way I came to Durham over 40 years ago and my family of origin was heavily

involved in agriculture so it was with great interest that I read Carl hod news column and I listened to his radio broadcast and I had an understanding and an appreciation for the significance of his influence this is just a sampling of the reasons that I can easily and enthusiastically endorse the naming of the conference room for call Hodes thank you so much thank you good evening as esteemed citizens and public servants of Durham County I am Anita Scott Neville a resident and lifelong citizen of Durham a current restorative practices coordinator at Durham public schools and the acting director of heti reborn Community Action Council it is my privilege to be among those who will endorse the

recommendation that Mr Carl D Hodes Jr be postur ly recognized for his service to this country our state and this community by naming the conference rooms of the County Agricultural building after Mr hajes a permanent footprint of his remarkable status as the first African-American extension director in Durham County in North Carolina and in the United States will be in place as another mild Stone in our community's history Durham has a rich history of notable africanamerican Educators entrepreneurs patrons activists and artists during the era of Mr haj's service the role of Agricultural Extension provided a significant link for development and activism of the hati

and negro community in Durham and Beyond Mr haj's service was portable and relevant to the Vitality of all households in Durham which then was a community that was once thriving in the production of commercial and domestic crops and animals providing information and guidance about farming canning freezing and the elements needed to support Crop Production was Mr hajes specialty additionally Mr hajes was a great historian and Storyteller I know this because the hajes and Scott families were lifelong neighbors and friends all visits with Mr hajes included a story and a lesson about life the wit and wisdom of fathers servants and men like Mr Carl de Hodes

Jr are rare finds in this season I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to hear the offerings and heed the advice of a remarkable Citizen and servant of this community thank you Mr hajes thank you Board of Commissioners thank you good evening I'm bernardet G Watts the very first agent that the renowned car de Hodes hired when he became the first black County Extension director in North Carolina and so they say also the United States I am a product of his many many traits

and attributes that have already been stated that is the man I got to know commissioner chair Howton other Commissioners staff the Hodes family the Durham County Extension representatives and others we miss this giant but we know the life that he lived is represented in many of us and generations that you may have interacted with and generations yes yet to come 53 years ago this past June I came to Durham County Agricultural Extension now Cooperative Extension just two weeks out of graduating from Bennett College in Greensboro to become the home

economics Extension agent having the responsibilities of foods and nutrition family relations Financial development and working with what was called at one time home demonstration Homemakers then it was yes it was and now it's called I think they are Community science leaders I don't know but anyway that was developing leadership among Community women's groups teaching them many of the homemaking type skills as well as developing their leadership development as I've said I was the first but I want you to know that Mr hajes and I always refer to him as Mr hod and he would say call me call I was not reared that way because he was my boss

supervisor leader he was Mr Hodes for the first 10 or more years of my professional years with extension my shaping and development was because of none other than Mr KL Hodes he was a coach he was a champion of fostering new ideas and methods of reaching new audiences and engaging them he too was a challenger and yes we've already heard about him being a good communicator we were on the radio we were on the in the newspapers we were even on television here in Durham all of those Outlets that helped us to share what the worth of our time up uh eth he was compassionate he was a

cheerleaders and folk all over the county could tell you about KL Hodes as already been said he could walk with all socioeconomic levels he was a giant a man ahead of his time he had principles that many people today could adopt as a part of their lives the official naming of this extension conference room is most fitting for the giant we know he lived a life worth our following and we encourage you to support and enjoy the call De hajes Conference Center May the work he did speak for him amen and the lives he touched continue to sore in our lives thank thank you Miss wi I can't follow that I can't follow

that good evening Commissioners good evening even everyone and to the hares family I'm deline sers former County Extension director here in Durham County have you ever sat someplace or heard somebody's voice and it brought you peace have you ever W looked up and seen someone walk through a door and know that in walks my joy in walks my encouragement in walks the spirit that I need at this moment to help get me through these trials and tribulations that I am currently F feeling that was Mr Hodes that was Mr Hodes to me I always consider him a mentor no I didn't know him back in the days but I thank God that he paved the way because it had not been for him Paving the way I would have never sat in that seat that he once sat upon now granted his seat might have been in the back of the building but you get what I'm saying Mr hoders was a

mentor I love for him to come into the office he would sit down with me and this is not something that you can ask people to give you this is something that they give you because they see you they hear you and they know you he gave me advice he gave me bits of wisdom if there was ever someone who could say to me the who what when where and how of Durham County it was Mr hoders and then he would give me a joke I can't tell you him I would never tell him that I always understood that joke but I was smiled anyway because it brought me joy the space that I was allowed to occupy was occupied by some great people that came before me among them in the first is Mr hoders I commend Durham County back in that day to have the foresight to hire this man who would lead this County through such great

things I commend you and now on this day I commend you for approving this request because I know you will okay I just know you will because when you walk walk in and most of you will understand me when I say this when you walk into a room and the first face that you see as a minority is a minority it gives you encouragement when you walk into the room and the first place that you person that you see greets you with a smile it makes you want to come back when you walk into a room and the person that you sit down with and gives you encouragement wisdom and promise and says I believe in you nobody can take that from you why because when it's the caliber of Mr hoders it means a lot and you know at that point in time I can do and I will do and in my case I have done all

because of Mr HJ thank you thank you I mean I can't follow any of else and oh by the way we do have a Farmland off Chickenfoot Road it's for sale it is it's for sale first I'd like to thank everyone this is a great honor for not only the hajes family but everybody in Durham we've lived here in Durham since 1959 and I said we my brother ter and when dad came to Durham we were little fellas and knew nothing about farming and only thing we knew about was you know playing in the backyard and and going to school but Dad was not only a father figur father for us he had a a

neat way of making you do things I can never ever remember my father striking me but he would sit you down and talk to you and we said come on dad hit us still get this over with he was a staunch church member he prided himself on saying that he was a member of the Presbyterian Church for 90 plus years I mean that that was an accomplishment in you know himself he valued life he didn't want to see anybody get hurt especially when somebody would hurt our feelings my brother and I he'd step in and take control he would always Pat you on the back and say don't worry about it we'll take care of it later but he made you feel at home made you feel

warm a lot of people call him a great man he never thought thought of himself as being great he thought of himself as a simple man doing simple things but if you notice they always had great outcomes when when my father would would buy a car it was always an old car and you know as as kids we always wanted a new you know shiny car and we never could figure out why he he would get these old cars I remember we had a 59 stud Baker a car I'd love to have now but he would drive us to school sometimes we sayhe dad let us out here we'll walk the rest of way but as I got to be older I found out why he did that it was to put himself on the same level as a lot of the farmers driving old pickup trucks he could have had a a nice shiny new car you know but that old Ford how many engines did he put in that thing T

three yeah three engines in the Ford and he drove it it every day that's the type of person he was he involved us a lot in forage stuff I was grown before I found out what the state fair looked like in daylight oops that's it but he take us over there he take us over to to Raleigh for ex exhibits turn the lights on and then then later we go back and turn and turn them off in closing I want to thank you everyone again and I want to tell you that in his honor my brother and two sons have started a scholarship it'll be for 5,000 a year and it will be to Durham excuse me Durham High School students from Durham County where he worked Cumberland County where he was raised and Northampton County where he

also worked again thanks people and come on down to the egg building and see the black we will thank you so much thank you is that family me was there a family member that want anyone else speak okay going come to the mic yeah I hadn't planned to say anything because I I've spent 40 years this returning and I got tired of talking so forgive me but through all this dedication uh praise for my Father which I totally agree with but there's one thing one thing I say my mother was the basis for

all none of his accomplishments could have been done without her she was The Rock he was the land so I want to thank you the extension service and I want to thanks the the committee uh on this this plaque this dedication but also I want to thank God and my mother thank you thank you thank you so I will close the public hearing and bring it back to this board and I just I will say thank you for bringing this to us thank you to the committee that has worked on making this happen for us thank you family for being here um this is this is special you know it's very special and I'm sorry

I didn't get to know such a very special Soul you know you just kind of feel his presence as you talk about him and I just want to say thank you for sharing that with us any other comments from Commissioners um commissioner Jacobs I just wanted to Echo um your comments uh and thank you all for being here it's very late you sat through a very long meeting um and your stories that you shared with us were just incredible and I would say my only regret is that I for tonight is that I didn't have the opportunity to know Mr Hodes and um but your stories really did bring him back to life M and I'm feeling like well maybe this plaque doesn't even do do do him Justice I mean

everything that you all share with us but uh thank you so much and um I actually really I know that we already there was some type of ceremony but I really do think it would be nice if we did have another event at some point to commemorate um the black and the portrait so I would just ask if we could plan for something um in the future thank you okay Carter and then commissioner Lum yeah I just I really want to say thank you to the speakers here tonight I and and to say how much I enjoyed hearing what you had to say I loved your comments even at this late hour I wish you guys had gone before the other public hearing I'm sorry you had to sit through that but um I don't know I I just I feel the awe of uh what Mr Hodes must have been and you guys brought him to life today tonight and at the ceremony that we had back when the

um Cooperative Extension was highlighting him in the room that very day um there's some sort of like what Collective effervescence about um Mr Hodges and the way you all have described him and uh I you know thank God this is an easy decision really look forward to voting yes um and just you know thanks for the feel-good moment I want to Echo say ditto to everything my colleagues have said thank you all so much for sharing how much he meant to Durham and for all of us to be able to learn from him and learn how to carry on his legacy and thank you to his family for carrying on his legacy through the scholarship opportunities I think that's absolutely amazing and I hope you know down the line we can look at with Donna like like how can we create opportunities and Investments even through Cooperative Extension to carry on his legacy under his name in addition to you know even naming this room um because I think it's

going to be really important to educate our kids um in Durham Public Schools about what a significant impact and historical achievement if it was it was for car Mr Carl Hodges to be in this role and how other young children can aspire to be the next first to break the next barrier Year and be the representation for that our community so deeply needs it so thank you okay I already spoke beforehand I would just say please let us know about the scholarship information so that we can share that with our Public Schools all right well I will call ask for I'll entertain a motion approval second has been moved and probably second all in favor I motion passes five to zero thank you thank you so much for being here all of you I will say good night uh and last item Commissioners is

15 I need a motion to be in closed session so move moved and proberly second all in favor we're in close

session

okay um the board met in Clos session given Direct direction to staff um and we are I will ask for a motion to adjourn move second it okay we are adjourned