[0:31] Good evening and welcome to the August
10th 2026 regular meeting of the
[0:35] Hillsborough Town Board of
Commissioners.
[0:38] The public charge is printed in the
agenda this evening. I will not read it
[0:42] out loud, but the discussion is our
adventure to call in public meetings.
[0:47] Sarah Durney audience members signed up.
>> No.
[0:51] » Okay, good.
Um is there a motion to approve the
[0:56] agenda?
>> So moved.
[0:57] » Second. Okay, thank you. Kathleen, thank
you Matt. All in favor?
[1:00] » Aye.
>> Any opposed?
[1:03] And on to item number four,
appointments. This evening we have um
[1:09] uh the reappointment of David
Blankfard as the town regular member
[1:14] to the Board of Adjustment for a term
ending September 30th, 2029.
[1:20] And the second item is a resolution
requesting the Orange County Board of
[1:24] Commissioners reappoint Richard Chapel
to the Board of Adjustment as an extra
[1:28] territorial jurisdiction regular member.
>> Move to approve as presented.
[1:33] » Second. Thank you Kathleen, thank you
Matt. All in favor?
[1:36] » Aye.
>> Any opposed?
[1:37] You are not so
And on to item number five, the consent
[1:42] agenda for this evening. Was there a
motion?
[1:43] » Move to approve as presented.
>> Second.
[1:46] » Thank you Kathleen, thank you Matt.
All in favor?
[1:48] » Aye.
>> Any opposed?
[1:51] And that very quickly takes us to the
regular agenda for this evening.
[1:57] Um the first item is fiscal year 2026
strategic plan annual report
[2:03] and proposed fiscal year 2028-30
strategic plan process with
[2:09] administrative services director Ben
Brubaker.
[2:19] Ben.
>> Good evening.
[2:25] All right. Um, so I'll go ahead and get
started with the 26 annual report and
[2:30] then we'll move on to the update for the
um, FY 28 through 30 strategic planning
[2:37] process and um,
uh, open it up for feedback. But um, if
[2:42] you have any questions as we go along on
the annual report, feel free to jump in.
[2:46] Um,
the way I broke out the PowerPoint was
[2:50] to go focus area by focus area as we
normally do and um,
[2:56] uh, the slides have the various
initiatives, um, a summary of where we
[3:01] ended in the fiscal year with the
particular initiative as well as um, a
[3:05] quick visual red, yellow, green to um,
quickly denote kind of where where we
[3:10] felt um, we are with the particular
initiative. So, if you all are okay with
[3:14] that, we'll just proceed um, in that
form.
[3:19] All right, so we'll start off with the
sustainability focus area.
[3:23] Were there any questions for um,
initiatives 1.1 through 2.4?
[3:28] » I actually do have a question but
>> Okay.
[3:31] » Yeah.
I did not find that by the way.
[3:35] » [laughter]
>> No worries.
[3:40] » As part of the UDO cuz um,
are we taking a look at at housing code
[3:45] because I saw that Durham was able to
make changes to strengthen minimum
[3:51] housing. Can we do the same because we
have an issue in places with
[3:57] what passes for code is
I'm sorry, not habitable.
[4:02] Yeah, have we taken a look at that
within the DDO and can we strengthen and
[4:07] I know there are limitations with with
state law, but we don't
[4:12] our ability can be
can we enhance it?
[4:15] » Yeah, I'll turn it over to Matt to give
us
[4:19] further thoughts.
>> Yes, ma'am. So, the our actual our
[4:21] minimum housing code is not actually
part of the UDO, it's a separate part of
[4:25] our code ordinances. We did a group of
updates last year.
[4:29] Um we're actually going to talk at next
week next Excuse me, the work session in
[4:33] 2 weeks about some minimum housing code
cases and that'll be a good time to talk
[4:38] with Shannon about additional updates
you all would like to see, but it's not
[4:42] part of the UDO process.
>> Okay, thank you. But thank you for
[4:45] already thinking ahead on that one.
[4:50] » Other questions on this slide?
[4:54] I'm not seeing any.
[5:01] Move to the next slide.
[5:06] Any other initiatives
on this slide?
[5:09] I'll give you a second to look through
it if you need to.
[5:20] All right.
>> I want to know if you could just give me
[5:23] a few more minutes.
>> Yes.
[5:24] Yes, we're still moving.
[5:40] » Help me remember for the tree
preservation policy, would that be town
[5:44] wide?
>> That was for the town-owned
[5:48] » Just the town-owned
>> town-maintained trees.
[5:55] » Okay.
>> I actually do have a question. I'm not
[5:57] sure where where the best
[6:01] what the best venue is to ask.
[6:06] Because in um
Hillsborough Heights
[6:10] » [laughter]
>> have the trees.
[6:13] I know I was named a tree steward for
one of the trees that has no hope for
[6:17] survival because it was planted too
close to
[6:22] It's a magnolia that was planted way too
close to
[6:25] uh I think it was a maple and it's a uh
a a a a
[6:29] mulberry mulberry or other one of those
very Anyway, it has no hope.
[6:34] » Mhm.
>> It is older than my magnolia. My
[6:38] magnolia is probably two times plus the
size cuz it doesn't get sunlight.
[6:43] Um
I know I don't even know how to
[6:48] I I know periodically I'll raise this
and you're probably the best person but
[6:52] it either needs to be moved, cut down
because the poor thing has no hope for
[6:56] survival
and I'm still rather astounded of
[7:01] if you planted why the heck you plant it
so close to big spread tree cuz it's a
[7:08] it's a top canopy tree not an understory
tree.
[7:11] » Is it in the sidewalk?
>> No, it's in the It's in the It's the
[7:15] park.
>> Oh,
[7:17] this is like a Stephanie question.
>> Mhm. Yeah.
[7:20] It's it's um in the park but this
predates Stephanie when we employed
[7:26] Margaret
and I don't remember the other
[7:28] Margaret's last name.
>> Schaffer.
[7:30] » Schaffer, thank you.
It's like I knew it started with an S.
[7:35] Did she name me tree steward or steward?
I'm like, I would love to uh
[7:39] It ain't getting no sun and I can't fix
that.
[7:42] » Well, appreciate you raising that. I see
Matt taking a note so we'll make sure to
[7:46] pass that along.
>> And Caesar, go back. Just give it a nice
[7:48] death treat I mean to transplant it you
have to be
[7:53] but it ain't got no hope for survival.
>> Jackie, you got one?
[7:56] » Jackie, go back one slide to four real
quick.
[8:00] So slide two where we talked about
electrifying
[8:04] our fleet. You know, there's
a comment in there about one hybrid
[8:09] vehicle.
So we
[8:12] I guess the question is are we looking
to
[8:15] at some point be fully electrified or we
going to are we transitioning to a
[8:21] hybrid?
>> Yeah, so I think we haven't really
[8:25] wanted to be on the front lines of
testing electric vehicles.
[8:29] So we've been um
uh with the
[8:33] transition to the hybrid police vehicles
and
[8:37] I know our our fleet staff has also been
attending conferences and kind of seeing
[8:41] what vehicles are out there as far as
electric options, talking to people. At
[8:45] this time felt like we weren't at the
position to start that process yet but
[8:49] has been trying to stay in the loop and
kind of understand the field of
[8:53] and learn on electric vehicles.
>> And if I remember correctly, part of it
[8:57] also is because a significant amount of
our fleet involves
[9:02] um police vehicles that are take home.
How do you manage that piece? I remember
[9:07] that being like a really sticky wicket.
>> Yeah, there's definitely the
[9:10] infrastructure and the charging
infrastructure component and kind of
[9:14] what do we have available in town, what
do the officers have that would be
[9:18] needed and how at their house. So
there's definitely a lot of different
[9:22] components to that electric um
conversion process.
[9:26] » Something that seems really simple but
suddenly has a lot of you know
[9:32] » [clears throat]
>> infrastructure potentially that an
[9:35] officer would have to
would have to have at [clears throat]
[9:39] home and how you compensate for for that
literally and figuratively.
[9:45] » Thank you.
[9:50] » Maybe on this slide.
All right, so we'll move on to connected
[9:55] community and we only have two
initiatives here.
[10:01] » I have a I have a question with 1.2 and
I
[10:04] I'm trying to
I think I understand it, but
[10:09] how is it connected to the multi-modal
network?
[10:16] And
where where I think it is
[10:19] if we're trying to
[10:23] I feel I'm just I'm I'm trying to
understand how they are
[10:26] um
>> How
[10:28] how it fits into connected community as
a focus area? Is that what you were
[10:31] » Specifically advance in multi-modal
network to reduce the single occupant
[10:35] vehicles and links to other residents to
key places and other
[10:38] um
And so I get the it links to good
[10:42] places, but then
my disconnect is how does it advance
[10:47] multi-modal
network?
[10:50] » So I think it was and I'll have to go
back to see how it's connected, but the
[10:54] thought of how it fits in was the um
creating opportunities to bring people
[10:59] together
um in the connected
[11:04] aspect of things, um but not necessarily
the the multi-modal perspective, but it
[11:10] might be a component of like you know,
um
[11:14] » [clears throat]
>> those multi-modal features that would
[11:17] have public art, but
more so just gathering community in in
[11:23] terms of those like spontaneous
interactions bringing people together.
[11:26] » So I would I would imagine that 1.
2 would connect with 1.3
[11:33] in the sense that
when we do have bridge walk, there might
[11:37] be
ways of incorporating the public art.
[11:41] Um and then also the same with the train
station. Like you
[11:45] » Yep.
>> Not letting those opportunities when
[11:47] we're already going to invest a lot of
infrastructure
[11:52] to to be wasted by not utilizing those
spaces for art. Is that kind of the
[11:59] thought process?
>> That's what I recall.
[12:02] Kim, I mean, not I'm not saying this
as I'm not saying to use the community
[12:08] center as the first time to do this.
But this is one of the perfect
[12:16] uh
projects that every place else is funded
[12:20] by private money. Not Not, you know,
government contributes, but it's
[12:24] leveraged at best.
Not solely. We continue to be funding a
[12:29] lot of the bills and not getting private
funds, philanthropy.
[12:35] Um
I you said I I I support this for the
[12:39] community center, but I want to start
seeing This is a community value.
[12:44] It We need to see private money
donations for these kinds of of things
[12:49] because of
We're We're To me, we're at the point
[12:54] We've got so much
that it continues where just getting
[13:00] things done
requires our budget.
[13:06] » Right. Definitely Definitely strained.
>> It's very strained, but this is it's a
[13:11] community value. This is when we need
the community
[13:15] to step up.
[13:23] » Thanks for
>> The bridge walk is another opportunity
[13:26] where again, any place else,
you're going to get philanthropic
[13:30] dollars. And I haven't seen anybody
We We have an entire community that's
[13:37] excited about it,
but I haven't seen anyone that's so
[13:41] excited they're willing to actually
contribute beyond their tax dollars.
[13:45] » And I believe for Ridge Walk, that was
going to be a component of something
[13:49] of us that would be assessed down the
line when we get to that point.
[13:52] » We're not We're not there yet.
>> I know we're not
[13:54] » going to have the design and we're not
going to have the line plan.
[13:56] » No, I know I I know that. But I'm still
I'm putting the word out because
[14:02] this is a long term and even with
philanthropic dollars, when families are
[14:06] considering who they want to
um where they want their legacy to be
[14:12] and they're planning for that legacy and
this is Ridge Walk and some of these
[14:15] things are perfect legacy projects for
philanthropic dollars. So, I want to
[14:21] start planting those seeds because when
we start to make when we when we have
[14:26] these decisions to make,
and especially as budgeting goes,
[14:33] once that budget hits, it's too late to
ask.
[14:36] So, I am putting out the plea early for
the community. This is These are values,
[14:42] but the values need to be supported with
dollars.
[14:48] » Thanks for that reminder.
[14:53] Economic vitality.
[14:56] And there will be another slide for that
one, but any on these initiatives?
[15:07] All right, seeing any?
[15:11] » Actually, I do.
>> All right.
[15:12] » One question 1.4
in it.
[15:22] » Is that Hillsborough magazine?
What magazine?
[15:26] » I think it's uh I might have had it in
the solar report, but I I I think it's a
[15:29] Chapel Hill uh
Best of Chapel Hill magazine.
[15:33] » That's right.
>> Um
[15:38] I'm sorry, that's not I wasn't I wasn't
>> [clears throat]
[15:42] » I get curious, so who's our target by
placing it in Chapel Hill? Who's our
[15:46] target?
>> I think the thought is to try to attract
[15:49] people to come to our um Hillsborough
um
[15:53] you know, restaurant scene, business
scene, and so when they see the ad,
[15:57] it'll encourage them to come and take a
visit.
[16:04] » Day tripper type of
>> Yes, mhm.
[16:06] Exactly.
>> What's what Did we look at Durham?
[16:10] Is it's a bigger market and it's still
close by?
[16:13] » I'm not sure. Hey, do you know? We'll
make a note of that as well.
[16:18] » Shannon could answer us.
>> Sorry.
[16:25] » We have a tourism meeting on Wednesday,
also.
[16:27] » Mhm.
>> Howard
[16:29] » That would be out of that budget, I
think. Yeah.
[16:31] » Yeah.
>> Never meeting, but um
[16:34] Something here to discuss.
>> Thank you.
[16:37] That'd be great.
[16:41] » All right.
[16:56] » Oh, here. Here's a nice two-bedroom
unit.
[17:00] So, has there been any more
talk or discussion about
[17:05] coordinating with the chamber to develop
the entrepreneurial center
[17:09] on the second floor?
>> Yes. Um
[17:12] and I got invited to a ribbon cutting in
September, I think.
[17:16] » Okay. Yeah.
>> Yeah, the plan Yeah, I was impressed
[17:19] with the the plan
and I think PHE is funding most of it.
[17:24] » And it it looks Yeah, looks like it.
>> Looks like it.
[17:27] » Look out for a invitation from Sky nine.
>> What did you say about the last one?
[17:33] » Awesome. Thanks for that insight.
>> And thank you, PHE. That's what we're
[17:37] talking about.
They deserve a huge I actually big
[17:41] picture, they deserve a huge shout-out
because they are true community
[17:46] investors, not only this, but the
Habitat House, they they fund a bunch of
[17:51] community things.
They contribute to
[17:56] in a variety of areas year after year
after year.
[18:00] » Yeah, I think it'd be good to
identify those
[18:04] two Hillsborough businesses that have
been
[18:08] supporters of the town through through
years. They've been a big
[18:12] come up with their
place to be in the corporate council.
[18:21] » This is the last booth for economic
vitality.
[18:36] The NLC
webinar on road is tomorrow.
[18:45] » Or 21st century since they combined the
names.
[18:49] » Road 21st century now, something like
that.
[18:52] » Yeah, because they were they It was
>> It just thing got like clunky the way
[18:55] they
>> Well, they were just they had the road
[18:57] and then they had the 21st century and
said, "Here, we'll just throw it
[19:00] together and it'll become one.
And no one will notice."
[19:04] » As we've made it a quarter of the way
through the 21st century.
[19:08] » [laughter]
[19:11] » All right. Not seeing anything here.
We'll move on to community safety.
[19:17] I um
Eva Marshals in the back and Chief Juan
[19:21] is here, too, if there's any questions.
>> So, how did the
[19:26] uh
police program
[19:29] how did it fare out? Like, what was the
response?
[19:31] » I've heard good things, but I
>> I saw the pictures of other folks doing
[19:35] the ride-alongs at the police academy.
>> We had a great reception to that. Uh I
[19:39] think we had roughly 14
uh [clears throat]
[19:42] attendings or participants that went
through was it four or five weeks?
[19:47] Uh I got a lot of great feedback,
especially for the first time doing it
[19:50] in a long time.
Uh
[19:53] and uh
some of the stuff that they liked from
[19:55] it, like some of the feedback we got was
the hands-on exercise that they got to
[19:59] do with uh CIB investigations. So, we're
going to try to re-implement that again
[20:03] in government 101, so people have
something to look forward to that.
[20:06] » Did they do cuz I know the first time
around, in addition to fingerprinting
[20:10] the backseat of the car,
um
[20:13] but but um
>> We didn't do the ride-alongs. We didn't
[20:16] have to have the right type of terrain
to do it on to fill in the you know,
[20:21] especially if it's too hard, but they
did have where they got to do uh
[20:26] They did fingerprint lifting but on
certain types of items and stuff that
[20:29] they could take home with them. They
really appreciated that.
[20:32] Um
but yeah, that's People are already
[20:34] asking about next year. And some people
Someone else asked if we were going to
[20:37] do it again this year,
but I think one a year right now is a
[20:41] good start. But it was it was really
good really good turnout good reception.
[20:45] » Cool. Cuz I know I did it twice and it
was just way way good fun.
[20:49] » It's a lot It's a lot of fun. It really
is.
[20:53] » Did they do the ride-alongs?
I don't think he said. I could be wrong
[20:57] on that. Oh, man.
>> Oh, wait wait wait. That's scheduled for
[21:00] afterwards.
>> Okay.
[21:02] » Once the academy completed, then they
were able to
[21:05] come link up with the police department
and schedule something.
[21:08] » And I still have to follow through
because it's about time we moved.
[21:12] » Let me know.
>> I will.
[21:13] » [laughter]
>> Don't worry, it'll be the quietest night
[21:17] that will ever happen.
>> All right, so that's all I do. I do want
[21:20] to have a relaxing evening.
>> Well, it'll happen county-wide. That's
[21:24] what Santa did every time he moved.
[21:29] » Great.
>> All right, so um
[21:32] » Can I pop back to I'm sorry.
>> Which one?
[21:35] » The economic vitality freedom.
[21:41] » The translation one?
>> Yeah, so
[21:44] um we're talking about translating
business documents and forms in
[21:48] other relevant languages. So if a system
first step to be able to communicate in
[21:51] other languages. So
um my
[21:56] I'm interested is it and it's where
utilizing or we have any interest in
[22:00] utilizing plain language for
really our all the Jason documents to
[22:06] make them easier for people to
understand and
[22:10] um
and I don't So that's my that's the only
[22:14] thing with that. I know this is more
language translation.
[22:19] Uh
but um
[22:22] is Do you know if coms has talked about
>> Yeah, I'm not I I haven't seen Cheryl's
[22:27] face. I'm I'm sure she's smiling back
there because they communications has
[22:31] been all about
making things more about plain language
[22:35] um whether that's um in news releases or
documents that we put out, really trying
[22:41] to um
make it easier to understand. Um I think
[22:45] our standard now is fourth grade reading
level, trying to get it down at that
[22:49] level get it to that level. And um
there's been different trainings that
[22:54] have been offered that our
communications team has gone through
[22:58] um
and some of our other staff as well. So
[23:01] it's definitely something that's been a
a focus for us and
[23:04] » So, you. that's why I just needed to
hear. Thank you.
[23:06] » Yeah. Yeah, of course.
>> You got it, too.
[23:08] » [laughter]
[23:12] [cough and clears throat]
[23:24] » Not seeing anything here, either.
[23:29] Um so, what we'll do is um you all had
approved extending our strategic plan to
[23:34] FY 27. As you can see, some of the
things we weren't able to accomplish,
[23:38] some of the things we'll want to carry
over to um the current fiscal year,
[23:43] either things that we're already doing
because we're already into the new
[23:47] fiscal year. Um but also, we'll um work
to um
[23:51] keep trying to make progress on the
initiatives that we weren't able to
[23:55] accomplish, and we'll come back to you
all and provide a
[24:00] end of strategic plan update cuz that'll
be our fourth and final year of this
[24:05] current iteration's plan. Um but uh
yeah, we're in our fourth fourth year of
[24:10] our plan. Um so, that's exciting news,
and appreciate all the support that has
[24:15] been provided in supporting this this
work.
[24:19] So, with that, I will turn it over to
our next planning process and uh sharing
[24:25] an update on our FY 28 through 30
uh planning process.
[24:31] Uh Cheryl will be joining me um in a few
slides to to talk about the engagement
[24:36] side of the house. Um but it's it's
something that we've been um working on
[24:42] for the past few months already.
Um and so, we're excited to share what
[24:47] we've been up to and get your feedback
um cuz it's it's it's been really
[24:52] exciting getting to work on it. You
talking to the team about it, I'm so
[24:57] excited to share that with you tonight.
[25:02] All right. So, I know you all have been
involved in our current strategic plan
[25:08] out for a few years,
but just wanted to revisit kind of why
[25:13] um
we do a strategic plan and also for
[25:15] those who may be watching online to just
share a little bit about the purpose of
[25:20] having the strategic plan.
Um this having a strategic plan really
[25:25] helps establish
um a clear direction for the next 3
[25:29] years. So, it provides that roadmap for
where we want to go and how we intend to
[25:34] get there. And so, it lays all those
things out in to a clear plan. It helps
[25:40] us to align the services that we
provide, the resources that we have and
[25:46] how we each choose to expend those
resources and align those operations to
[25:49] help us
achieve those overarching goals that you
[25:53] all set.
And really
[25:57] the strategic plan is helps us be
responsive to what the community and the
[26:02] organ- the organizational needs are. And
so, it's really rooted in listening to
[26:09] our our internal partner uh
stakeholders, our external ones as well.
[26:14] And so, we'll go through a bit about who
will be involved or who we see as being
[26:18] involved as part of the process, but
really rooted in listening to help us
[26:22] identify those needs.
And then it helps us be improve our
[26:26] transparency, establish kind of what the
performance is that we're trying to
[26:30] achieve, and helps us be accountable by
coming back and sharing the progress
[26:35] that we've made in in terms of the plan
that has been established.
[26:42] So, this is what we see as the strategic
plan structure. At the top, you see the
[26:46] vision, mission, and values.
Um
[26:50] uh and then the focus area below that.
Um, so that is really the overarching
[26:57] kind of
direction that we see
[27:01] isn't um
through the focus area. The objectives
[27:05] share that desired outcome.
The smart goals that um darker blue is a
[27:11] new component that we see for this
strategic plan. Our current one kind of
[27:16] goes from objective to initiative.
But we want to add a
[27:21] uh the goal section which really helps
set that specific um
[27:25] target or measure that we're trying to
that allows us to connect the objective
[27:30] to the initiative.
>> I thought we've been doing that all
[27:33] along because we can't do anything
without a smart goal. It just you can't
[27:38] do it. You can't manage to it.
>> So, we we've had the objective um which
[27:42] is kind of the higher level order and
then it jumps to initiative. So, we
[27:45] haven't had that intermediary one um up
until this point.
[27:51] » Okay, cuz I didn't know that when we
look at things we always were looking at
[27:55] what by when, how
we
[27:58] you know, always done those smart goals
front framework. Just without a smart
[28:02] goal to there's nothing to manage
against.
[28:05] » So, that is that'll hopefully be an
improvement for this time around. Um I
[28:09] know the first round, you know, it was
our first time going through the
[28:11] process. We were still kind of getting
our feet wet into the strategic
[28:15] planning. So, we're seeing this as kind
of an evolution, a way of making kind of
[28:20] getting at that at that point. Um and so
then it'll go down to the initiative
[28:25] which are those specific action items
that we always provide those updates on
[28:29] every quarter.
[28:37] Um so, as far as who we see as being
part of the process, we see it as a
[28:41] really robust um you know, engagement
approach. So, we'll have our internal
[28:48] groups, which are consists of our
internal core team.
[28:53] And then, I'll get into in the next
slide kind of what the different groups
[28:56] for the internal ones will do.
But, and then the steering committee,
[29:00] which is a larger group
that
[29:04] provides more higher-level direction to
the core team. Our focus area of work
[29:08] groups, and you all as our elected
officials kind of rounding out that
[29:13] internal group to help us develop the
plan.
[29:17] Then, we'll want to definitely engage
our external groups, the community.
[29:22] Cheryl will talk a bit more about those
pieces to engage our external partners,
[29:28] the nonprofit business community, as
well as other partners that we work
[29:32] with.
[29:35] So, just specifically looking at at our
internal group,
[29:38] our core team consists of myself, the
budget team, and communications.
[29:43] We've had about seven meetings so far
to really start the planning process.
[29:49] What this group does is really providing
that project leadership, ensuring that
[29:53] we're staying on our timelines, meeting
our
[29:57] goals, producing the drafts of things,
which then goes to the steering
[30:03] committee,
which is our ops team, our operations
[30:07] team, which is kind of a
cross-departmental
[30:11] group of key leaders within our
organization. And so, what they're doing
[30:16] is providing us that high-level
guidance, making sure that we're staying
[30:19] on the path that we need to,
reviewing some of those major
[30:24] deliverables,
ensuring that there is alignment across
[30:28] all of our departments because it
consists of representatives from all of
[30:32] our departments, and then really
being champions for engagement and
[30:36] helping us guide us through the process.
And then finally, we have our focus area
[30:42] work group. So these are the subject
matter experts that will be engaging
[30:46] that will be um later
uh
[30:49] early next calendar year to really do
the job of developing the um
[30:56] the draft plan. And so collecting the
taking the feedback that has been shared
[31:00] by those stakeholders and going through
and um refining
[31:06] the objectives and the initiatives, the
smart goals um that will then come
[31:11] together to form the draft plan.
[31:18] So this is our planning timeline. It
consists of eight different phases. Um
[31:24] we've already we're already into phase
two and almost done with it. So yeah,
[31:28] we've done
we've accomplished a lot in the last
[31:31] couple months um which is really
exciting.
[31:34] We've formed our our teams, um created
our draft plan scope, and outreach plan.
[31:40] And so um next we'll be moving into the
data collection piece where we're where
[31:46] we're engaging with the community and
the businesses and nonprofits.
[31:50] And um
we'll then in November to December come
[31:55] back to the to you all um at a at a work
session.
[31:59] So that's one of the things that we'll
send out letters to just ensure that
[32:03] we'll have um
you'll be able to have quorum at the
[32:06] November work session. Um so that's when
we are hoping to have our vision,
[32:10] mission, and values discussion to really
reaffirm either what we have or um kind
[32:17] of discuss whether uh you all want to
kind of
[32:20] » [clears throat]
>> update or refine what we have as our
[32:23] vision, mission, and values for
our kind of plan.
[32:29] And um by then we should have the
feedback that we've received from
[32:33] everyone so we'll we'll be be to share
that information with you all at that
[32:36] time to help you kind of digest that and
and determine if if we need to
[32:42] refine it further.
And then in January, February, we'll
[32:46] then get into the goal setting. So,
that's when the
[32:50] um internal focus area work groups will
be meeting to establish the fill out the
[32:56] focus area um
kind of work plans.
[33:00] And then coming up with a draft
strategic plan in the March to April
[33:03] time frame.
And then we'll want to make sure that
[33:06] once we have that draft plan to go back
and do some more engagement to ensure
[33:09] that we got it correct, feel like people
see if people [clears throat] have any
[33:14] additional insight or comments, feedback
to share. And then um looking to
[33:19] hopefully have an adoption of the next
plan at the June um regular meeting to
[33:26] coincide with budget adoption.
And so,
[33:29] » Just a couple years ago, and this was
before I was on the board, when
[33:34] um
Margaret can be it was like 100 people
[33:40] that there
to collect community ideas. I was
[33:42] actually part of that, but I thought it
was a really cool exercise
[33:47] cuz it was easily 100 people in one room
from across the community
[33:52] um to that regenerating ideas and
priorities
[33:57] before the plan was put together. And
so, the plan ref-
[34:02] when it went to the community in that
point where here's a plan, here's your
[34:07] feedback.
[34:11] It was enriched by the work that was
done
[34:14] by getting that feedback up front. Have
we considered doing something similar?
[34:19] Are we getting it in other ways? And
yeah, are we getting that broad-based
[34:24] community feedback before the plan is
put together? Yeah. So, it's not a case
[34:29] of
commenting
[34:32] on what's not being relaxed reactive but
more proactive.
[34:36] » Right, definitely. I That's a great
question. So, what um
[34:41] And I know Cheryl will talk a little bit
about it in the next slides, but um with
[34:45] the community survey that'll
um it was kind of great timing that we
[34:49] ended up delaying that after Chantal um
to this year because then that made us
[34:54] think, well, like that is a great way to
capture
[34:57] um a representative sample or a
representative group of the Hillsborough
[35:01] community.
We're still at the threshold where we
[35:05] can send it to every household in
Hillsborough, which is great cuz a lot
[35:08] of times
So, as you get larger, you have to move
[35:11] to a sample size as opposed to every
single person getting it. So, we are
[35:15] still in that threshold um where we
could still send it out to everyone. And
[35:19] so, everyone will have an opportunity to
share their um thoughts and
[35:24] perspectives. And so, the way the quest
the um the strategic plan uh section of
[35:29] the survey
was framed was really getting a sense
[35:33] for
um
[35:36] uh
how getting asking how we're doing in
[35:40] terms of meeting the objectives from our
current plan um to see like are those
[35:46] things that are still important to
people? Are there other things that
[35:49] maybe we didn't capture the first time
that we really should be thinking about
[35:53] that are within our scope and um
>> But, that's already pre You're already
[35:56] primed people to react to what you
you've set the boundaries for.
[36:01] So, there unless someone's got a
um a super burning beef or a super
[36:08] burning passion,
they're not [clears throat] likely to to
[36:12] stray outside the bounds of what we've
already set.
[36:15] » Mhm.
>> And that's kind of the beauty of some of
[36:17] these more
pre-fi I don't know if you call it a
[36:20] charrette, I don't know if what,
but
[36:24] generating
input that's not
[36:28] already rebound by what we think and
mining what the community thinks.
[36:35] » Yes, but go ahead.
>> Well, I was just going to say, I mean
[36:38] » [clears throat]
>> I kind of think that
[36:42] we
have several years of benchmark
[36:47] community surveys of where
how people feel about especially the
[36:54] services and initiatives that we have
and we're about to do another one
[36:59] that I think kind of
[37:03] I don't want to say gives us to what
you're talking about.
[37:07] » It's still
>> But it's still a huge amount of data
[37:11] that would probably be a lot more
um
[37:16] indicative than
you know, an in-person
[37:21] » It is good data, but it's still bound
and to a certain extent self-referential
[37:25] cuz we ask the same questions over and
over again.
[37:28] So, all it is is repeating the same
boundaries.
[37:32] So, you don't unless you've got a
burning beef or a burning passion
[37:38] cuz it's how our brains work. You react
against within those boundaries.
[37:43] Um it's a lot different when you get
people of different thing you've never
[37:48] you know, I won't say they never met
although in my experience that there
[37:53] were a lot of people that I never met.
And they start riffing off of one
[37:58] another. It's just an enriched
ideation
[38:02] and you get more of a community feel
than
[38:07] an echo chamber or a little bit broader.
And we've got the op you know, while
[38:14] we're still early enough in the process
think about how do we really get more
[38:20] instead of being self-referential or the
same questions, which elicits the same
[38:26] seminar.
But we we don't know what we're missing
[38:31] by asking the same questions over and
over again. You get really good
[38:34] benchmarks,
but we
[38:39] It is something for
>> I will take it. I think Cheryl's
[38:42] interested in it. You say something to
me because
[38:44] » No, I just want to I want to clarify
that in addition to the benchmark
[38:50] and the community survey questions that
pretty much stay the same from time to
[38:54] time so that we compare them whether
they're benchmarks or not. We've added
[38:59] additional
strategic plan focused questions to this
[39:05] community survey and some of them are
open-ended questions to get at new ideas
[39:10] to invite people to share new ideas and
what what's on their mind, what are they
[39:15] thinking about, what do they think
Hillsborough needs in that mid I think
[39:19] we asked it for the mid-range term. So
it's it's not just the same questions
[39:25] over and over again.
Um I love in-person events too. I'm not
[39:30] speaking at this event. I love in-person
events too.
[39:34] Um
actually it's not that much of That's I
[39:37] don't think it is that much of a pain.
We can pretty much
[39:41] use the space or um borrow the county's
larger space pretty easily. Um but but
[39:49] what do you do when then
um what do you do with the information
[39:54] when like a whole group of people from
one area come because they're like,
[39:58] "Wow, if we go today, they're going to
build a sidewalk in our [clears throat]
[40:03] It's not necessarily in my ex-
I'm not saying we shouldn't do them. I
[40:08] think we we should do more in-person,
but what you gather from there from an
[40:14] in-person
open ideas meeting might not be
[40:18] representative of the of the town as a
whole. You kind of get a group that will
[40:23] come out with their
>> That's where pretty
[40:26] » their excitement about something.
>> I I hear what you're saying, but that's
[40:29] where it's very skilled room
partial invited and partial open-ended.
[40:35] So, you you
you're
[40:38] you're the other part of it is it's
structured you know to a certain extent
[40:43] it's structured at least have a voice in
different areas.
[40:47] You know, on top of just
you know, open and walk in because
[40:51] you're right people it's the same thing
a big beef or hot passion.
[40:57] Um
in terms of of
[41:00] people that get engaged.
But you do get
[41:05] you when it's framed as ideation and
framed cuz and I'm I'm pulling back the
[41:12] memories of
whatever brought in uh
[41:17] there were certain topics and certain
questions still fairly open-ended and
[41:21] there was no you know, the the
floor if you will is
[41:26] this does not mean your idea is going to
be a you know, we have budget, we have
[41:31] time.
What this does mean is that we do want
[41:35] to take the pulse out of this
and elicit
[41:42] what we don't know, we don't know.
And
[41:46] I think we got I mean what I remember
coming out was every idea of course not.
[41:53] But my goodness, I I remember talking to
Margaret and just what came out was so
[41:57] much more enriched.
>> It seems like those are really good
[42:01] experiences.
>> It really was.
[42:04] And the mixture of groups cuz it wasn't
the same old
[42:07] Yeah, I mean yes, there were certain
it's like the same people you see, but
[42:10] there was a lot of people that
you know, that was the first probably
[42:15] one of the first events I've ever
ever participated in.
[42:19] I I think I was personally volunteer
told as much as I was volunteering.
[42:26] » Thanks for sharing that experience. I'll
let you finish up your slides.
[42:31] And I and I know Sheryl will also get
into a little bit more about like what
[42:34] we see at what we're seeing as an
engagement strategy.
[42:38] So hopefully as we get into the more of
the weeds and details that that'll
[42:42] [clears throat] help paint the picture
a little bit clearer.
[42:47] Um
Anything else on the timeline?
[42:51] So also just wanted to say that a lot of
times towns will hire consultants to
[42:57] guide them through this process. We
reached out to
[43:02] um
uh you know
[43:04] or
um
[43:06] an organization to help us and the
it ended up coming back with a really
[43:11] high budget amount. So that's when we
decided like I think we can do this
[43:15] again internally. We can kind of go
through this process. It'll take about a
[43:19] year a little over a year to do it. And
so that's where this
[43:23] came from and just want to acknowledge
the the hard work our staff has been
[43:27] putting into that cuz it has been more
work um
[43:31] on staff to do. I do think the product
the end product will be better cuz a lot
[43:34] of times when we have found that when we
work with consultants it ends up being
[43:38] still a lot of work for us kind of
redoing things to make it kind of
[43:42] specific to Hillsboro.
But
[43:45] just wanted to
shout out our staff who has
[43:49] already been plugged into this our our
ops team and our core team. So it's
[43:54] really been a group effort and it's been
exciting going through it.
[44:01] So as far as what we see success looking
like, we want it to be community driven.
[44:06] We want it to be rooted in that
listening
[44:09] and uh engaging with our partners. We
want it to be data informed
[44:14] through the data that we collect as part
of our
[44:18] feedback gathering process as far as
like assessing our existing services
[44:23] that we provide
and so just doing that kind of work to
[44:26] get to collect the data to help develop
the plan.
[44:30] Again, like the last iteration, we want
it to be realistic and actionable. So
[44:34] it's things that we feel like we can do
rather than things that we just hope we
[44:39] can do.
So really making sure that it's it's
[44:43] things that are within our scope to be
able to do as local governments and that
[44:47] we feel like given our level of
resources and scale that we can
[44:51] accomplish.
And then also making sure that it's
[44:54] clear and part of that is going back to
that plain language that people
[44:57] understand what it's saying, that they
resonates for people, it's measurable
[45:02] and really focus so that we can make
sure that we're staying on track and
[45:07] that it's aligned across our departments
and looking at that organization-wide
[45:13] perspective and so involving those
your cross-departmental groups will be
[45:17] really helpful to achieving that.
>> [clears throat]
[45:21] » So with that, I will turn it over to
Cheryl to talk through some more of the
[45:25] engagement piece.
[45:35] » So good evening everyone. As as you
know, we already started that engagement
[45:39] conversation. I'm
going through our engagement efforts
[45:44] both what we've already started and what
we have planned.
[45:49] » [clears throat]
>> We will soon start to gather feedback
[45:51] through surveys as Jen said. In addition
to the community survey which has
[45:58] additional strategic plan questions this
year.
[46:02] We also have a survey with questions
tailored for our local business owners
[46:06] and for our local nonprofits.
And [clears throat] we will be sending
[46:10] those out um but at the end of the month
and collecting collecting them them
[46:15] through September.
Um, as Jen said, our community survey is
[46:20] still a great vehicle for reaching all
households because it isn't just sent to
[46:25] a sampling of our households. It's It's
wonderful that we still meet that
[46:28] threshold for going to everyone.
Um, I think we find often people need to
[46:34] hear about something in more than one
way. So,
[46:39] even though you can take it online,
getting that physical copy and um
[46:44] hearing about it through our newsletter,
through bill inserts, uh through
[46:48] in-person conversations,
maybe will um
[46:53] validate what they get in their mailbox.
They They could feel like
[46:56] uh like this really is from the town and
and that they should take the time to
[47:00] fill it out as we hope that many people
will.
[47:04] In In addition to the surveys, we also
um town staff plan to
[47:09] conduct uh partner interviews with our
partners
[47:14] in Orange County departments and
divisions with whom we share similar
[47:18] interests.
And um we are leading focus groups as
[47:23] needed um in the fall.
>> Jared, quick question. Do Do we have any
[47:29] idea like the percentage of completed
community surveys that we get back on
[47:34] average?
>> So, we it stays open. Uh that would be
[47:39] that would be like
um did you say like 50%? That would be
[47:43] would be amazing.
>> Yeah.
[47:45] » Uh we get
Um it's it's a has to be a statistically
[47:49] valid number which I think for us is
about 450.
[47:53] » Yeah,
yeah, it's about 400 to meet the 95%
[47:57] confidence level um and we send it to
almost 5,000 households.
[48:01] » Which usually if you get more than a 2%
or something like that, that's it's
[48:06] astounding.
>> When we go to
[48:08] when the communications team goes to
conferences and we talk about community
[48:12] surveys, we we blow at the others away
with our
[48:16] » [laughter]
>> with our results. We have a very
[48:18] responsive community.
>> And I will say [clears throat] I think
[48:21] it was when we were on when you and I
were on SWAG for example and there was a
[48:26] certain solid waste survey and just from
I mean it it's not just the surveys we
[48:33] sent out, but they
we punched way above our weight relative
[48:37] to even Chapel Hill. We had not just
statistically more respondents as a
[48:43] percentage, but like
like 50% of their responses were from
[48:48] Hillsborough which
which was not
[48:51] you know, was kind of putting Chapel
Hill part of the shame. Um because the
[48:55] engagement wasn't there. So we just have
a lot of people die in.
[49:01] » Yes.
>> Yeah.
[49:02] » Yeah, I do have one question and that is
on the nonprofit surveys and we don't
[49:07] have to go [clears throat] through like
a list, but it might be helpful to share
[49:13] the word any nonprofits just in case
that you're going to send it out to just
[49:18] in case there's someone missing or maybe
the contact information's out of date
[49:22] cuz they turn over pretty quickly.
>> That's a great idea.
[49:25] » Yeah, we would be happy to do that. We
We started by creating our own list and
[49:29] then JCC pulled up the state's registry
of nonprofits in Hillsborough and then
[49:35] we we also checked in with Scott to see
what the chamber's list is.
[49:40] But the more eyes on the list the
better. We don't want to leave anyone
[49:43] out and we do plan to send not just put
it out there on the web or on social on
[49:49] social media, but to individually invite
each non-profit because we would like
[49:53] one collective response per non-profit.
We'd like for them to collaborate and
[49:58] give us back one answer.
Uh so that we have
[50:03] so that each one has equal weight. The
same same with businesses. So we don't
[50:07] have like eight responses from one
business and one response from another,
[50:12] but but have them think about it
internally and get back to us.
[50:17] And we're [clears throat] happy to share
those with you.
[50:19] » What is the basis for the surveys in
terms of town residents, utility
[50:24] customers,
businesses, just in the town limits?
[50:29] » So for the
for the resident survey, it is
[50:34] um for for town residents. Our community
survey only goes to town residents.
[50:40] And we because we do we do advertise it
with the water bill and we clarify in
[50:45] there that
this one is for the town residents.
[50:52] » Um I'm not sure if I missed it or not,
but I saw Catherine sent us the
[50:56] community survey. Did we get a copy of
the non-profit survey?
[51:00] » [clears throat]
>> Perhaps not yet. I know we we're we are
[51:05] we have it nearly finished. We need a
like a new kind of first question to
[51:10] kick it off and then we can share it in
our next update.
[51:15] Thank you guys. And And
we can share it with you and
[51:18] and along with the list so that you can
give us feedback if we're missing
[51:22] anyone.
>> Yeah. Are the businesses brick and
[51:25] mortar businesses? Are they whoever's
got a registered shingle?
[51:31] What's what constitutes a Hillsborough
business?
[51:34] » Um the ones we can find because there
isn't like an in-town business license
[51:39] any longer. We don't have a master list
of businesses, but we definitely
[51:45] want to invite all of the ones that we
know of and have contact information for
[51:50] and
>> [clears throat]
[51:52] » and this includes our
commercial real estate owners as well.
[51:58] Like anyone
um
[52:02] with any type of business in the
hospital. [clears throat]
[52:06] » Yeah. And it's it is challenging because
there is not a a master list.
[52:09] » But that's that's why I I know that
there's other communities in North
[52:13] Carolina talked about they don't do a
privilege license, but they do do a
[52:17] business fee and that's how they know
what businesses are in town. And it's
[52:22] nominal, like 5 10 bucks.
But it's a fee and that's how come they
[52:27] can do the demographics, they know who's
who, they know what's what. Um
[52:35] I wish we did something like that
because unless you're going to the
[52:38] Secretary of State and doing guesswork
of what has brick and mortar and what
[52:42] doesn't,
it's going to be the same old same old.
[52:46] » Well, we also get information from the
home-based um
[52:49] occupations because or home-based
businesses because they do not need
[52:53] a license, so we get that information,
too.
[52:58] » But that's it's a different kind of
population of home-based versus
[53:02] brick and mortar versus internet
business. I mean, there's some
[53:05] differences there and
I I get concerned of
[53:11] who we're missing.
>> [clears throat]
[53:16] » And I'd like to make sure because their
voices count, too.
[53:20] » We We agree. It It is a challenge that
we're trying to
[53:24] work our way through.
Going to the next slide.
[53:30] Survey outreach. We've already talked a
bit about how we're getting word out. We
[53:34] had a robust conversation at the July
Ops Team meeting, keeping in mind that
[53:40] the Operations Team is the strategic
plan steering committee. Uh
[53:44] » [clears throat]
>> we asked for their we came to them with
[53:47] a
um with our list of nonprofits and our
[53:50] starter list of nonprofits and our ideas
for how we we would contact businesses
[53:57] and our ways of reaching people and um
the team certainly added to it with lots
[54:03] of ideas. We have um already begun
outreach. We have printed uh
[54:09] business-sized cards with a QR code that
goes to our I don't have any with me
[54:15] tonight because um we brought them to uh
Walk Fairview on Saturday and JC took
[54:21] them home and I
I think we both forgot he was taking a
[54:23] couple of days off. So they're probably
in his car until Wednesday morning when
[54:27] he comes back. But we uh he handed them
out in the three communities that had
[54:32] National Night Out events last Tuesday
and at Walk Fairview Day
[54:36] » [clears throat]
>> um
[54:37] just to go ahead because as again I
think it helps for residents at least to
[54:41] get that reassurance uh that we are
really surveying them and we really want
[54:45] their response. In addition you are
going to see yard signs around town with
[54:51] QR codes
um and we will be at community events
[54:56] this um in the early fall. Um we will be
creating a community a very short
[55:02] community-focused video and we will have
lots of social media posts and reach out
[55:08] to our community contacts. Um as we do
have quite a few community contacts for
[55:13] our for our town to reach We've been
trying to collect one for every street
[55:18] and town. We're not quite there yet but
we do have um
[55:22] quite a list.
>> Cheryl, I did see your request.
[55:25] » For the video?
Thank you.
[55:30] Thank you very much.
>> And
[55:32] can you um
[55:35] go back to the You said the ops team is
the steering committee for
[55:40] » the strategic plan development.
>> Could I make a suggestion?
[55:45] I was sorry part of that. I know it's
the Ops team, but I think it would be
[55:48] good if the mayor or mayor pro tem were
part of that steering committee.
[55:52] Um just to
represent us and give an elected
[55:57] perspective on anything that needs
[clears throat]
[55:59] feedback on or or whatnot.
>> I'll talk to Eric about that later.
[56:05] » Just that as a work group or as needed.
Just
[56:09] » Thank you for that suggestion. Thank
you.
[56:11] » Don't want to create more work for
y'all, but
[56:15] » And I have one more slide and the next
part is engaging with you all.
[56:21] Appropriate suggestion at that moment.
Um
[56:24] so Oh, I skipped a slide. How do I go
back on this slide?
[56:30] Back line. Communicating with with our
board.
[56:34] Um
We plan to set those the strategic plan
[56:38] core team, of which I'm a part and of
course Jen is a part, plans to send you
[56:43] a monthly update. Most often it will
probably come from Jen. And um
[56:48] we also plan to come back to you several
times throughout the process. Um and we
[56:53] can certainly talk about more ways to
engage with you in the process as well.
[56:59] And now I believe I turn it over to you,
Jen. I forgot.
[57:02] » So those monthly emails will really be
highlighting what we did the previous
[57:05] month and then kind of what's to come so
that you can stay plugged into where
[57:10] we've been and where we're going and you
can share any feedback that that you
[57:13] have.
Um so just wanted to um
[57:17] kind of open it up for feedback, but
first really thinking through um getting
[57:22] some if you have thoughts on what would
make this process successful for you
[57:26] um in terms of the strategic plan
development.
[57:30] » Thank you, Jen. Um
appreciate the presentation, the very
[57:34] thoughtful approach, um, as always. And
I think that, you know, the results, the
[57:38] high scores from our previous surveys,
bear that out that we we perform very
[57:43] well and I think we improve year over
year
[57:45] » [clears throat]
>> in how we survey and the results we get.
[57:48] So, so thank you in advance for all the
work that you're you're doing.
[57:52] » [clears throat]
>> Thank you.
[57:53] » I don't have any more questions.
Megan, do you have any questions?
[57:56] » Um, no, I'm good. Not at this time.
>> Mr. Brock?
[58:01] » I don't have any questions, um, but
again, thank you for all all the work
[58:04] you've done so far in this and I'm
excited to, uh,
[58:08] to see the
the progress and Mr. Brock.
[58:12] » Mhm.
>> Okay.
[58:13] » Yeah.
>> Um,
[58:15] I have no questions, um,
like since folks hit the first question,
[58:20] which is just like, I know what would
[clears throat] make this successful, I
[58:22] think that, I know the two markers I'm
going to be looking at is
[58:27] um, just having that good community, uh,
um, engagement and feedback and
[58:32] participation, I think would
be [clears throat] a marker of success
[58:36] because we can say with some certainty
that the communities have been asked,
[58:41] [clears throat] they've been involved,
they're,
[58:44] uh, we we know how they feel and and
um, what's important to them. Um, but I
[58:50] think it's some the other marker of
success, I think it's something that you
[58:53] kind of, um, [clears throat]
referred to earlier, which is,
[58:58] um, you know, having these robust
goals, which are really important and,
[59:03] you know, core concepts and whatnot, but
that the initiatives that bolster those
[59:09] are,
you know, that we're setting ourselves
[59:12] up for success, that the strategic plan
isn't so easy that we tick all those
[59:18] boxes and we say, oh, we we we did
everything we set out to do, but it
[59:22] isn't so hard that
things aren't attainable in some of
[59:27] those
uh,
[59:29] goals and and initiatives might be
[59:34] reach initiatives like it they'll push
us beyond maybe what we're comfortable
[59:38] with or
or
[59:42] you know, they they definitely might
require new skills or or something but
[59:47] that
they're still attainable. They're still
[59:50] realistic
because I think that's also important
[59:53] for us to be able to go back to the
community and say hey, we had these
[59:56] these really
substantial reach goals that we we met.
[1:00:01] Maybe they couldn't have occurred in the
right order or the timeline we
[1:00:06] envisioned but they were still, you
know, within the realm of possibility.
[1:00:10] » Yeah, I think that's that's really
helpful and totally agree. Um
[1:00:15] ensuring that it's challenging but also
attainable and that we have those
[1:00:18] resources in place to make sure that we
can accomplish them.
[1:00:24] » Thank you Kathleen.
>> I have no questions.
[1:00:29] » Well, thank you Jim. Thank you Sharon.
>> Thank you. We'll look for our next
[1:00:34] update and we'll also send you the list
of
[1:00:38] nonprofits as well as those surveys but
thank you and if you have any other
[1:00:42] feedback or thoughts definitely feel
free to email us at any time.
[1:00:47] » Awesome.
>> Thank you. Thanks.
[1:00:51] » On to item B, hot topics for the work
session on August 24th. Yeah, code
[1:00:56] enforcement,
demolition ordinances and housing
[1:01:00] choice. Eric, is there
anything else you guys want to talk
[1:01:04] about? I think that's it.
[1:01:07] » Yeah.
>> And we're on to number seven, updates
[1:01:11] starting with board members. Matt, would
you like to go first?
[1:01:15] » Um yeah, I'll go first. So,
of course it's
[1:01:20] we haven't been here since June so I
feel like a lot has happened. Um,
[1:01:25] I will say first kudos to Matt and our
town staff for the America 250
[1:01:32] um event. I think that it was a a
big success, but I also know it was very
[1:01:38] logistically challenging and other
things.
[1:01:42] Um, but you know, the fact that I had
people ask me if this is going to be an
[1:01:46] annual event.
I think speaks volumes to what people
[1:01:51] got out of it. Um, but it was great to
see the community um come together.
[1:01:57] And then um the other
update that I think is perhaps most
[1:02:02] relevant cuz most of my boards also take
off the the summer um as I'm sure some
[1:02:06] of y'alls um
do as well. Um, is that
[1:02:13] a few months ago we had some really good
conversations with Royal Hillsborough,
[1:02:18] Northern Northern Ireland um about ways
to do some cultural exchanges and some
[1:02:22] things. Um, and uh their national
government gives them a lot more money
[1:02:29] to do that kind of thing. Um,
but um they did reach out last month and
[1:02:35] Shannon was able to help get a letter of
support and I work reached out to the
[1:02:40] alliance as well as the visitors bureau
um for a letter of support for a US
[1:02:45] State Department grant that they're
applying for um that would help um
[1:02:50] solidify some of these
uh tourist and cultural ties.
[1:02:55] And uh they asked if uh we would be
going on there's apparently some sort of
[1:03:01] North Carolina Department of Commerce
trip in September
[1:03:05] uh
to to that region of Northern Ireland.
[1:03:08] Um,
and we were like, we don't know anything
[1:03:11] about that. We don't have budget to uh
to to book tickets. Um, especially um
[1:03:16] with how our budget looked um
for this fiscal year, but it was it's
[1:03:21] it's kind of great to be able to make
that linkage and
[1:03:26] you know, they have
different components
[1:03:30] of the community over there have been
looking at our Hillsboro in connection
[1:03:34] into America 250, but then also taking
it that step further than that, which I
[1:03:40] think if it all
comes together will be really good, but
[1:03:45] they've been wanting
a specific connection with us
[1:03:51] compared to the other Hillsboros in the
US because there's not many that have a
[1:03:56] direct linkage.
And so it was really cool to to be able
[1:04:01] to help
>> [clears throat]
[1:04:03] » push that forward and
we'll see how their grant is evaluated
[1:04:09] by the State Department and
hopefully there'll be
[1:04:13] some really cool things that come out of
that relationship.
[1:04:16] » You know, they used to have funding for
sister cities and I would think that
[1:04:19] would be a perfect opportunity for
sister city.
[1:04:23] » Yeah,
Scott has some experience with sister
[1:04:28] cities from his time in Wilmington that
he provided some really good feedback
[1:04:33] to the mayor and myself about how to
approach that to make it successful cuz
[1:04:38] I think there were some
ways in which communities are very
[1:04:43] excited for that, but then they don't
have like the appropriate charter and
[1:04:48] agreements community agreements to make
it really work. And so
[1:04:53] I thought he was going to be the wet
blanket brigade on that cuz I also
[1:04:56] suggested sister cities,
but you know, one of the things he he
[1:05:01] really harped
harkened back to was that experience and
[1:05:05] just really having a solid plan and and
sufficient buy-in to make it work. I
[1:05:10] used to be involved with sister city
when I lived in Iowa and I mean it was
[1:05:14] it was an amazing opportunity for
community community connections.
[1:05:20] » And we have a really good resource on
that point.
[1:05:23] The former board chair of Sister Cities
International lives in Trump. And
[1:05:29] [clears throat]
[1:05:31] so we have a really good resource to
to make that work if it
[1:05:36] » I hope so cuz I've always felt we should
have the sister cities it's
[1:05:41] I missed that part that I haven't been
involved in and
[1:05:44] I think this is Roseburg's got such rich
history
[1:05:48] and diversity of our community. I mean
we're we're
[1:05:51] we can put on a good
>> And one of the proposals in the grant is
[1:05:55] for us to host a delegation from
Roseburg of an island
[1:06:00] sometime in the next 12 to 18 months if
it gets approved.
[1:06:09] » There's there's a lot going on. So I
sent around
[1:06:13] NLC so today was data center. They
didn't actually govern the whole floor
[1:06:18] and that's what we already talked about
and actually what Mike Turner shared was
[1:06:23] head shoulders
more
[1:06:26] but it was useful. Tomorrow is housing.
I sent out for a third one that now I'm
[1:06:33] like I didn't write take my notes but I
sent you guys about that.
[1:06:38] or the partnership
Nofo released court stepped in Nofo is
[1:06:45] stopped.
So
[1:06:49] the saga continues there.
Um
[1:06:54] and then
um
[1:06:57] Yeah, we had no meetings for
uh
[1:07:02] Central Pines
[1:07:06] October is the next national
board meeting and that will be in
[1:07:11] California. So, I'll be
out looks like the
[1:07:16] I
I think it's going to end up being
[1:07:19] our workshop. I can't I have to might
end up being between I have to remember
[1:07:23] I'm I'm blanking out on these dates. The
chamber's gala if you haven't seen
[1:07:28] September 12th.
Those tickets are out. Unfortunately,
[1:07:32] that was the weekend they only weekend I
could get my Land of Oz tickets. So, I'd
[1:07:37] already gotten my Land of Oz. So,
three weekends a year you can go to Land
[1:07:42] of Oz.
Uh
[1:07:45] but that's that's about all I got right
now. I did I
[1:07:49] did get to do National Night Out. I was
not able to do Fairview but Fairview
[1:07:53] knew was out there at the time.
[1:07:58] That's it.
>> Thank you.
[1:08:01] Um
[1:08:04] So, my two assignments did not meet
since we last spoke in June.
[1:08:10] But I've had quite the
the list of activities since then.
[1:08:15] And I guess the
the main ones to mention are the kind of
[1:08:20] the prep work
lead up to the July 4th event and then
[1:08:24] what was happening
and others toward that event. So, for
[1:08:27] those who are hitting who are hitting
who are flying Machu Picchu and you were
[1:08:31] unable to to be here. It was a great
event and
[1:08:35] yeah, and I'm reminded how hot it is.
It's like what Oh my gosh.
[1:08:39] That was I read somewhere it was like
for in your Matt's email that it was
[1:08:43] like 102.5 degrees.
>> I don't know what it was but it was
[1:08:47] bloody hot.
>> [laughter]
[1:08:48] » I don't know why we why we don't do July
4th.
[1:08:51] That was a great one time I could have
even found it in like
[1:08:55] October.
>> Yeah.
[1:08:56] » Then you get snow storms.
>> [laughter]
[1:09:00] » Um
I had a quite a few ribbon cuttings and
[1:09:03] other ceremonial duties um
uh to and I won't go there.
[1:09:09] Wish to the towns of um but more
recently uh attended the Fairview
[1:09:13] meeting Kathleen
uh on
[1:09:16] um last week on the 3rd um and the Eno
River reopening. For those of you who
[1:09:21] were able to make that, that was
amazing. My face hurt from just smiling
[1:09:24] so much for
2 hours. It was That was amazing.
[1:09:28] Um and then of course the wall Fairview
day which was last Saturday was very
[1:09:31] good.
And I thought there was a much larger
[1:09:34] turnout than usual there and the weather
was perfect. So that was That was nice.
[1:09:39] Um
And I'll just add on to um Matt's
[1:09:43] comments about the Royal Hillsborough
um thing. Um yeah, we've had
[1:09:48] several conversations uh with them and
um if anybody has any questions, Shannon
[1:09:53] is [clears throat] running point on that
so that we're all communicating with one
[1:09:57] person and then hopefully they will
assign one person and then communication
[1:10:01] will
you know be efficient that way. Um and
[1:10:04] I'm planning to um speak in the near
future with Counselor Brian Bigginson
[1:10:09] who serves as the mayor of the larger
governmental body. Royal Hillsborough is
[1:10:13] a small part of that but um
so I look forward to discussing my side
[1:10:18] to him. Have a conversation.
That's all I have.
[1:10:23] » Okay.
Okay. Well, since uh our last meeting um
[1:10:27] I have not really been in Hillsborough
or North Carolina. This month.
[1:10:32] Not a lot of update on that.
But
[1:10:35] » I said I know the feeling.
>> Yeah.
[1:10:37] » I'm on the road a lot.
>> So not many updates in regards to my
[1:10:41] assignments. Um
The one event that um I have been
[1:10:48] I'm hoping to
bring together from the committee is the
[1:10:52] Hillsborough Chamber is putting together
the impact nonprofit impact study or
[1:10:58] summit and those of you connected with
nonprofits, it's a day that there will
[1:11:04] be
five different sessions for to help
[1:11:08] nonprofits with fundraising, grants,
board management, budgeting, working on
[1:11:14] their bylaws and also a keynote speaker
talking about storytelling
[1:11:19] and how to improve all the nonprofits.
>> Are you working with ESC nonprofits or
[1:11:25] ESC's board school I call it board
school but ESC does
[1:11:30] every year
>> Yeah.
[1:11:32] » Executive Service Corps.
>> Yes. Yes. I was going to say I like the
[1:11:35] acronym sounded familiar but yes.
>> Cuz I have
[1:11:38] for for their board school I have their
materials.
[1:11:42] » So we actually have one of the speakers
was on their
[1:11:45] board and one of them
since he's rolled off their board he's
[1:11:49] one of their
advisors also. So he's doing our
[1:11:56] He's doing our policies and
board management.
[1:12:02] » Who is it?
>> Uh Steve Spokan.
[1:12:05] » Okay, he actually when I was went
through that he was
[1:12:09] he was involved in that. Yeah,
that's like three years ago.
[1:12:13] » And when is the event?
>> Uh so the event is September 30th. It is
[1:12:18] 9:00 till 3:00 and it's at the Witted
building. Um the early bird ticketing is
[1:12:23] now until the 15th of September.
>> And what is this for what?
[1:12:27] » Um this it's the nonprofit nonprofit
impact summit that the Hillsborough
[1:12:33] Chamber is putting together.
So
[1:12:37] you know, just a a day where a lot of
nonprofits might be starting up or they
[1:12:41] even have been around for a while
there's
[1:12:44] probably something they could get from
the
[1:12:47] the summit.
Just wanted to get that information out
[1:12:49] to everybody.
>> Yes and
[1:12:52] I know
>> [clears throat]
[1:12:54] » I sent that to both
the alliance and for well.
[1:13:02] » Yeah.
>> And I know for well for sure is going to
[1:13:05] participate. So, and they have almost
all this stuff.
[1:13:08] » Yeah, there was like we actually have
reached out to the for well to see if
[1:13:12] one of the people
the
[1:13:14] board members would be a speaker, but
was not able to. But but yeah, so and
[1:13:18] then Amanda Boyd is also on this
committee putting this together. So,
[1:13:23] yeah.
So, yeah. It should be a but it's coming
[1:13:26] together as a big event I believe.
>> Hopefully.
[1:13:28] » Yeah, it's good. The first time though
too, so.
[1:13:31] » If boards don't get to it used to be and
I don't know if Blue Cross Blue Shield
[1:13:35] still funds it, but ESCs it's it's um
six sessions for executive directors and
[1:13:44] board members. They
they encourage one of each. It ends at
[1:13:48] the you know, put like a hundred couple
hundred bucks up front, but you can get
[1:13:51] a I think you turn it off, but it's
well worth it. It's all on rules of
[1:13:57] meetings with their boards and
board 101.
[1:14:02] » Yeah, exactly. And
it was an organization that I had not
[1:14:06] known much about before starting to plan
this and it really does seem like a good
[1:14:10] resource that and then having Steve be
one of the speakers
[1:14:14] » He's really good.
>> he can hopefully you know, help people
[1:14:19] find other avenues of education after
this event.
[1:14:22] » Yeah,
I'm sure it's like nothing C center and
[1:14:25] nonprofit.
>> Yeah.
[1:14:26] » Duke's got a good one.
>> Yeah, Duke one closed.
[1:14:29] » Did Duke close?
>> Yes, yeah, it's done. Yeah, and then
[1:14:33] they're the visitor.
Yeah, yeah, if you hadn't started
[1:14:38] then you weren't able to get any more
classes and if you had started they
[1:14:43] wanted you done by January or of this
year.
[1:14:46] » And then there's one other besides Lucy
Sermon. I can't remember what it is.
[1:14:51] But I've been sharing the from the ESC I
permission to share, so I've been
[1:14:56] sharing their materials for the last
several years.
[1:14:59] » Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I'm excited about that
that presentation.
[1:15:03] Um and then also I'll be
I signed up also for the
[1:15:07] Road to Housing. That's uh Saturday at
12:00.
[1:15:11] » I hope it's good.
No, that's all I got.
[1:15:14] » Awesome.
>> Brooke.
[1:15:16] » Um I don't have a whole lot. Um I would
like to again thank Matt and all the
[1:15:21] staff from the town of Hillsborough that
provided planning and staffing for the
[1:15:27] 250 event was a It was a great event. Um
it was nice to see the
[1:15:32] the diversity of of um of events and and
activities um and to have a a whole day
[1:15:38] event here. Um
the feedback that I've gotten from
[1:15:41] people that attended was was all all
very positive and and I know it was it
[1:15:45] was coordinated well, planned well, and
um other than the heat it was a
[1:15:51] fantastic event. So and I'm telling them
now what that's those are one-time
[1:15:56] one-and-done event and maybe not 250
years, but
[1:16:01] um not being named over that.
And I'm happy to give you your work. Um
[1:16:08] And I don't know if we have Are we
And I don't know if we want to, but I
[1:16:13] was thinking possibly if we wanted to
recognize
[1:16:16] um
the Greg and and Mayor Tom for for their
[1:16:20] work on that, if that's something that
>> And Katie.
[1:16:24] » It has been contemplated.
>> Yeah.
[1:16:26] » Um
And we can talk more about it or
[1:16:29] whatever too, but um I I think it would
be good to just let them know how much
[1:16:33] we we appreciate them taking that on and
pulling it off and
[1:16:37] that was successful from
from our observation.
[1:16:41] Um
>> I did attend the the Walk for Fearless
[1:16:43] event last weekend. It was great event.
Um,
[1:16:47] and it was just good to good to hear
some of the, you know, the
[1:16:50] the projects and and the visions that uh
that the interns are working on.
[1:16:55] Um, I
definitely think that we can um
[1:17:00] help them kind of reach some of their um
some of their goals. Um, and some of it
[1:17:05] I think
and specifically I'm talking about um
[1:17:10] their like soccer goal thing with Orange
County. It sounds like it's it's just
[1:17:15] more of a communication thing that just
kind of could be worked out um with
[1:17:21] they're talking to the right people in
the county. Um, but I I encourage
[1:17:27] um them to to reach out to talk more
about that.
[1:17:31] Um, yeah, and that's all I got.
>> I'm wondering on that if that might be
[1:17:36] something
actually as a board that we might be
[1:17:40] able to with the
with the county board
[1:17:45] I know informal conversations
receptions then
[1:17:51] if they
>> Mhm.
[1:17:53] » Um
[1:17:56] it's just different priorities at the
county level than our level, but I'm
[1:18:01] wondering if there's some way that we as
a board maybe as a board
[1:18:06] can take an official stand to support
the community desires
[1:18:13] with the county board because this just
doesn't seem to be
[1:18:19] So, um
[1:18:22] » Chair Hamilton was there. Was actually
and two commissioners were there. So,
[1:18:26] and
I asked kind of the larger picture
[1:18:31] of Kevin Griffith about funding up to
at least I think five potential funding
[1:18:37] grant funds. So, I think those need to
play out
[1:18:41] maybe the rest of this year but early
next year but might make sense to figure
[1:18:46] out who is what's their viability going
forward because as we all know that
[1:18:51] Burke is one of the most awesome things
about Hillsborough. And they we picked
[1:18:56] up the all the funding this this current
year and then most of them were having
[1:19:00] last year and there quite a few people
involved in Fairview Watch program.
[1:19:06] Burke County residents they're not 10
friends and they're being nice to Burke
[1:19:10] County to pick up a share of that
because I they obviously see the same
[1:19:14] value that that we do and that's why
they participate.
[1:19:17] » Well, and that county picked up when
Fairview initiated the
[1:19:21] the summer interns.
And they turned that into a county
[1:19:26] program.
So, that was several years ago.
[1:19:30] » And there could be
speaking of there could be in-kind
[1:19:33] contributions they're already making.
>> Uh-huh.
[1:19:35] » They're
they're just not visible to us but
[1:19:38] » But I I do know that in the
conversations I had specifically about
[1:19:42] soccer over pickleball and tennis.
[1:19:47] And
there hadn't at that at that time and
[1:19:51] the last one was probably about
five months ago maybe six months five
[1:19:57] months it was not a
there was not a consensus support
[1:20:03] for soccer. So, that's why I'm thinking
that maybe
[1:20:06] we keep an eye on it as a board that we
stand behind with Fairview community and
[1:20:11] what they're asking.
>> I will be speaking to the Fairview
[1:20:15] community watch probably in October
maybe December
[1:20:17] and that'll be one of the main points
that I'm
[1:20:21] going to discuss with them as to be
transparent about where we are with the
[1:20:25] funding and to you know, leave no stone
unturned.
[1:20:28] » Well, even if funding but beyond funding
it's just for county money and county is
[1:20:32] it's part of the plan, too.
>> I include the county strategy with
[1:20:36] this body may want to do.
[1:20:42] Right, anything else? Any more updates,
Eric?
[1:20:44] » No.
>> No.
[1:20:45] » Okay.
Um I will entertain a motion to go into
[1:20:48] closed session um
as authorized by the North Carolina
[1:20:52] General Assembly to consult the town
attorney to preserve
[1:20:56] » I'll make that motion.
>> Thank you.
[1:20:59] Is there a second?
>> Yes.
[1:21:00] » Seconded by Matt, thank you. I'm all in
favor.
[1:21:02] » Aye.
>> Any opposed? We'll take maybe 5 minutes
[1:21:04] and then we'll do the closed session.
>> Figure of one half to
[1:21:08] ensure the quorum.
>> We have a quorum. Everybody's okay.