[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.

Board of Commissioners Regular Meeting: Aug. 10, 2026

Transcript