2026-08-06 - Board of Commissioners Info Meeting

0:02:05[music]

0:02:12Heat. Heat.

0:03:33How you

0:03:42feel?

0:05:36Good morning. I'd like to call the

0:05:38August the 6th UN County Board of

0:05:41Commissioners to order. Um, welcome. Um,

0:05:45the invocation and the pledge of

0:05:46allegiance is going to be given by

0:05:48Commissioner Shell.

0:05:50>> Thank you.

0:05:50>> Thank you, Madam Chair. those that would

0:05:52like to join me. Our most gracious

0:05:55heavenly father, we give thanks, Father,

0:05:58for the opportunity to come together as

0:06:01a free people.

0:06:03Father, we ask you to be with all those

0:06:06first responders

0:06:08and citizens in the areas that's been

0:06:11devastated by our fires across this

0:06:15nation.

0:06:17Father, this country would be nothing

0:06:19without you.

0:06:21and to continue in the in the way that

0:06:24we should continue. We ask for your

0:06:26blessings. Father, we ask for your

0:06:29wisdom, your strength, and your guidance

0:06:31as we move forward in conducting the

0:06:33business of the people.

0:06:36We love you and we thank you, Father,

0:06:38for it is in his precious name I pray.

0:06:41Amen.

0:06:42>> Amen.

0:06:46I pledge allegiance to the flag of the

0:06:49United States of America and to the

0:06:52republic for which it stands, one nation

0:06:56under God, indivisible, with liberty and

0:06:59justice for all

0:07:07>> for recognition today. I'll call on Mr.

0:07:10Rickard if he will lead us on. Madam

0:07:13Chair, we have one uh retiree on to

0:07:16recognize today. Donna Grooms is

0:07:17retiring from the animal shelter with 10

0:07:19over 10 years of service

0:07:22>> and we're going to miss her. She's been

0:07:25really good for the shelter and it takes

0:07:26a special person to do that job.

0:07:28>> Yes, it does. Yes, it does.

0:07:31>> I don't think she's here today.

0:07:32>> Not here today. But on behalf of the

0:07:35board, we do appreciate what she's done.

0:07:40Um how about our veterans? Would you

0:07:42like to take care, Mr. [clears throat]

0:07:43>> Do we have any veterans in the office?

0:07:45If you would please stand.

0:07:49>> Seeing none, Madam Chair.

0:07:50>> Thank you. We'll move on. Um, please

0:07:53register if you're interested in in

0:07:55speaking at public address. I'd like to

0:07:58um ask Commissioner Mccclure is unable

0:08:03to be with us today. I have a motion and

0:08:05a second to excuse him.

0:08:06>> Motion to excuse.

0:08:08>> Second.

0:08:09>> Second.

0:08:09>> All in favor say I. Hi.

0:08:11>> And we need to excuse Commissioner

0:08:13Elliot.

0:08:13>> I think we should. Uh he generally is

0:08:16not here on on Thursday. So let's also

0:08:19excuse Commissioner Elliot.

0:08:21>> I'll make a motion.

0:08:23>> Second.

0:08:24>> Second.

0:08:24>> All in favor say I.

0:08:26>> I.

0:08:26>> Thank you.

0:08:28Okay. Are there any changes to the

0:08:30agenda?

0:08:35>> Okay. Hearing none. Uh may I have a

0:08:37motion and a second to adopt the agenda?

0:08:39Motion to adopt.

0:08:40>> Thank you. Second.

0:08:42>> Second.

0:08:42>> All in favor say I.

0:08:44>> I.

0:08:44>> All right. Is there anyone registered

0:08:46for public address?

0:08:49>> Mr. Mayus.

0:08:51>> Okay. Thank you. [clears throat]

0:08:53Appreciate that.

0:08:56>> Ron Anthony.

0:09:02>> Good morning, Madam Chair, members of

0:09:04the board. My name is Dr. Ron N. I'm the

0:09:06superintendent of Lexon City Schools. uh

0:09:08started on May 1st. So, I apologize for

0:09:10taking so long to come over and

0:09:11introduce myself to you. Um a recent

0:09:14resident of Davidson County. So, I'm

0:09:15excited to be here. Have a wonderful uh

0:09:18county that we live in, beautiful town,

0:09:20resident of Lexon City right now. I just

0:09:22want to u come up and thank you for all

0:09:24your support thus far and just let you

0:09:25know uh that I am here. Um Lexon City

0:09:28Schools, we're ready to start. You know,

0:09:29our students will come back on Monday

0:09:31and we have open house uh today for

0:09:33middle school, elementary, and for our

0:09:35high school. So, it's a pleasure to be

0:09:37here and I will be joining you more

0:09:38often uh throughout this year and I'm

0:09:39looking forward to working with you.

0:09:40Thank you for all the support you

0:09:41provide to our school system. Have a

0:09:43great day.

0:09:44>> Thank you. Nice to meet you. Would

0:09:45anyone like to to speak to Dr. Anthony

0:09:49or

0:09:51>> we do?

0:09:52>> Thank you. Got a lot of work ahead of

0:09:54us, but uh we're up to the task.

0:09:56>> Yes, we we hope it is a good year for

0:09:59you.

0:09:59>> Thank you.

0:10:00>> Thank you.

0:10:07Um items for decision and deliberation.

0:10:12Um

0:10:16okay.

0:10:20All right. Mr. Mayus, will you lead us

0:10:22all?

0:10:24>> Sure.

0:10:24>> Yes.

0:10:25>> Um [clears throat]

0:10:26we have some representatives here from

0:10:28the city schools. If you want to step on

0:10:30up, please please do. And um

0:10:33>> [clears throat]

0:10:35>> you all are are familiar with uh these

0:10:39needs based grants. Um we've we've

0:10:43applied on several u

0:10:46several cycles or opportunities with

0:10:48unfortunately no luck but you know

0:10:51things things change and you're going to

0:10:53hear a little bit about that today. Um

0:10:56um a lot of our capital improvement plan

0:10:58was built on at least pledging that

0:11:01match and if if the the grants did not

0:11:04um see their way through uh that money

0:11:07would was earmarked for you know some

0:11:09major renovations. We've put up 15.5

0:11:12million um in our plan for each

0:11:15Thomasville and Lexington which would

0:11:17serve as match andor major renovations

0:11:19to their high schools. So, a few things

0:11:22have changed and I'm going to turn it

0:11:23over to to these folks to uh update you

0:11:27and uh go from there. I have some more

0:11:29information if you want to look at some

0:11:30of the numbers from the CIP, but I think

0:11:32you are familiar with it. Um, you know,

0:11:35if we the one challenge could be if you

0:11:39you you do get the grant, then you run

0:11:41into there's [snorts] the match plus a

0:11:44little bit of gap and how do we cover

0:11:45that gap while respecting everybody

0:11:47else's uh infrastructure needs. so we

0:11:50can talk that through uh either today a

0:11:53little bit or uh when the rubber meets

0:11:55the road, so to speak.

0:11:58>> Thank you.

0:11:59>> All right, Madam Chair, uh and board, my

0:12:02name is Rodney Shotwell, and uh I used

0:12:05to be a Davidson County resident a long

0:12:06time ago when I was principal at Lexon

0:12:09Senior High School and uh I was at the

0:12:12city schools before Dr. Anthony came and

0:12:14now I'm over in Thomasville, uh helping

0:12:15out as the interim superintendent over

0:12:17there. Actually, this is going to be

0:12:19that's stuff on the consent agenda. This

0:12:21is just a facility study here.

0:12:23>> Okay. So, you you didn't need that.

0:12:25>> I don't I don't need that. No, ma'am.

0:12:26Thank you.

0:12:27>> You're welcome.

0:12:28>> Um, we are here to ask for the match for

0:12:30the needsbased grant. There's some

0:12:32unique opportunities that's a little bit

0:12:34different this year than what we've had

0:12:36before. Uh, you know, one of the things

0:12:39there's lots of different criteria

0:12:41that's used to decide uh whether or not

0:12:44you're going to be able to get this

0:12:45grant. and uh you know the obviously the

0:12:49debt service for each individual county,

0:12:52but this year there's something

0:12:54[clears throat] that's been added in

0:12:55there that's only a one-time uh ask and

0:12:59it's uh it was in the um the budget

0:13:02bill. It was something put in there and

0:13:04it said for the needs-based capital

0:13:06grant cycle in addition to the

0:13:07priorities identified already, it shall

0:13:10prioritize awarding to proposed career

0:13:13and technical education centers that

0:13:15will serve an entire public school unit.

0:13:18And for us uh one of the designs that we

0:13:22have uh with our school, which is

0:13:24already uh 50% of the design has already

0:13:27been approved by the Department of

0:13:28Public Instruction. So, this is one of

0:13:30those things when they're asking if

0:13:32you're going to be shovel ready or not.

0:13:33We we can be we can actually have it,

0:13:36you know, up for bid and shovel ready

0:13:38and moving dirt within less than 12

0:13:40months after we're awarded the uh grant.

0:13:44But we're putting all of our CTE focus

0:13:47into the new school. And what we have,

0:13:50we're going to be having advanced

0:13:51manufacturing, culinary arts, health

0:13:54science, 3D modeling, computer science,

0:13:58and gaming. And it's all going to be a

0:14:00concentration. And we are an individual

0:14:03public school system. And so we're

0:14:05putting all of our CTE efforts into this

0:14:07building. And that does qualify for one

0:14:09of those criteria. One of the things

0:14:11that I've seen over the last uh several

0:14:14cycles is that, you know, there's a list

0:14:18and we can really hit a lot of high

0:14:19marks on those. This is one of those

0:14:22that will give us another edge

0:14:25uh in order to get the the grant.

0:14:27Another thing uh that will help us out

0:14:30too is consolidation.

0:14:32Even in my my home county where I still

0:14:34live, uh they were able to receive a

0:14:36grant for an elementary school because

0:14:37they were consolidating two schools. And

0:14:40for us, we have two schools. We have the

0:14:42Bulldog Academy and we have Thomasville

0:14:44High School. They both have separate

0:14:46school numbers. And so, we're going to

0:14:48be consolidating those onto the same uh

0:14:51campus. Uh the other thing is is really

0:14:54kind of a safety uh issue. We want to

0:14:57have our kids under one roof, one entry

0:15:00into the building. Um, and and just for

0:15:05me,

0:15:06we're going to we're asking for 30

0:15:09million, but what I'm want to bring back

0:15:11to Davidson County is $62 million in

0:15:14state tax dollars that we've paid for

0:15:17that need to come back to the county.

0:15:19And this is one of the ways that we can

0:15:20get our money back here. And I was in

0:15:23Hope County as an interim when we were

0:15:25building a school of very similar

0:15:27design. And the the cost of that was

0:15:31right around $62 million and that was in

0:15:352023. And the estimate for building this

0:15:38school right now is right at about $92

0:15:41million.

0:15:42And we're going to put in a million

0:15:44dollars from our child nutrition fund to

0:15:46go towards this. We're putting in uh

0:15:49we're going to request $450,000

0:15:52from our lottery funds to go towards

0:15:54this project. It it could be

0:15:56lifechanging for our community. It also

0:15:59can be very much an economic driver for

0:16:02Davidson County as a whole, not just the

0:16:04city of Thomasville, but for the whole

0:16:06county. And um you know, I I just feel

0:16:11like that um

0:16:15the benefits

0:16:17are are immeasurable for our children.

0:16:20I've walked the campus. Um, you know, we

0:16:24do good things for kids regardless. It's

0:16:26it's kind of like a church. People say,

0:16:27you know, the church is the people

0:16:30inside of it. It's not the building. And

0:16:32that's what we are, too. City schools is

0:16:34about what we do for our kids.

0:16:37Just to let you know, we are trending in

0:16:38the right direction with our uh school

0:16:41performance. And there's going to be

0:16:42some uh a lot of good efforts put

0:16:44towards continuing that. But I'm here

0:16:47today specifically to ask if you would

0:16:50to please consider

0:16:52uh allowing us to apply for the grant

0:16:55and uh and we're asking for $30 million.

0:17:02>> When do you have to have your

0:17:03application in?

0:17:05>> Uh actually we're we're getting ahead of

0:17:07the game here just a little bit. Uh the

0:17:09applications haven't been released.

0:17:10They're going to be released probably in

0:17:11the next two weeks, but we've already

0:17:14got a lot of the the work done. That's

0:17:15why I included in your packet. You can

0:17:18kind of see last year's uh packet where

0:17:20we were [clears throat] asking and so

0:17:22it's going to be very similar to that.

0:17:24We'll have some partners that we'll have

0:17:25that'll sign on with us to uh endorse

0:17:28the project as well. But as soon as it

0:17:30opens up, we're going to be transferring

0:17:32everything over to it and having it

0:17:34ready to go.

0:17:36>> So when will you know um I guess when

0:17:40will you know whether the grants uh been

0:17:42accepted and approved? I don't remember

0:17:44the timeline. I know we

0:17:45>> It's okay. Uh Mr. Yates, it will be uh

0:17:48you usually in the first part of

0:17:50November. The deadline is usually that

0:17:52first week in October and then uh I

0:17:55think that's when the uh the building

0:17:57section for DPI shuts down and keeps

0:17:59everybody away because everybody's

0:18:00asking. You know, last year there were

0:18:0292 applications

0:18:04that were submitted and uh and we feel

0:18:07like that this will really put us well

0:18:10within that chance. There's $258 million

0:18:13that have been allocated, but typically

0:18:15over the last two cycles, the general

0:18:18assembly has been able to take some of

0:18:19the unused lottery funds from winnings

0:18:22and put it in there. And the last two

0:18:24years has been closer to $400 million

0:18:26that's been allocated. But when you

0:18:28start talking about one school being 62

0:18:31million or an elementary school being 42

0:18:33million, that number starts eating it up

0:18:35really fast. But I really do believe

0:18:37that with these criteria that we have on

0:18:39here, it will push Thomasville City

0:18:42Schools into uh strong contention.

0:18:47Well, and we have to say just like Mr. I

0:18:50said um if if we increase yours uh

0:18:55generally we have to try to um keep with

0:18:59Lexington at the same time and that's a

0:19:02you know it's an a big increase if if we

0:19:05say yes to 30.

0:19:06>> Yes ma'am.

0:19:08>> If we say yes to 30 if we say I mean

0:19:12in the last couple of years we've talked

0:19:1515 possibly and 15. So,

0:19:19it's about us

0:19:21having the extra money to be able to do

0:19:23that.

0:19:25>> I think what was discussed last year is

0:19:27if nobody got the grant last year, then

0:19:30everybody was going to uh or everybody

0:19:32was in agreement that they would just

0:19:34spend the 15 million remodeling each

0:19:36school and at least be getting

0:19:38something. I mean,

0:19:40>> and that's okay. I understand what

0:19:41you're trying to do, but how long are we

0:19:42going to chase this

0:19:44>> and it may or may not never happen, you

0:19:47know? So at the same time, the schools

0:19:49continue to

0:19:50>> deteriorate.

0:19:51>> Yes, sir.

0:19:52>> Even worse. So that was that was the

0:19:54[clears throat] topic last year and

0:19:56everybody I thought was in agreement.

0:19:57They said if we don't get it this year,

0:19:59let's just take 15 million a piece and

0:20:02start upgrading the schools. So I guess

0:20:05I'll ask that again this year. If we do

0:20:08this and you don't get it again this

0:20:11year, then then what's the plan?

0:20:15Well, I will say this. I have a a

0:20:18drainage issue with plumbing at the high

0:20:21school right now, and it has gone up in

0:20:23price. It's closer to a million dollars

0:20:25to fix just and that's not doing

0:20:28anything to the building. That's simply

0:20:30making sure that the water is flowing.

0:20:32Uh we right now our career technical

0:20:34education building is closed because we

0:20:37cannot use the bathrooms in there.

0:20:38>> But I get all that. I hear that. But

0:20:39again, if we don't get the grant,

0:20:41>> but but what I'm saying is is that the

0:20:43$15 million for renovation,

0:20:46it will [clears throat] do some

0:20:47improvements, but it will not bring the

0:20:49schools where we should have schools in

0:20:53in 2026. And and and I say that with all

0:20:56due respect. The thing that's different

0:20:58this year is that you've got this

0:20:59one-time piece with the CTE uh with the

0:21:02career technical education piece in

0:21:04here. That's only one year. It will not

0:21:06be there next year. and we have a strong

0:21:08case for that which is different than

0:21:10than the last year's application and

0:21:13consolidating the two schools. That's

0:21:15something different too. We were able to

0:21:16get a school identification number uh in

0:21:20previous year and so now we technically

0:21:22have two schools that will be

0:21:24consolidating. That's two points. That's

0:21:26two criteria that we hit the top quality

0:21:29points on those.

0:21:30>> I'm not saying I'm opposed. I'm just

0:21:32asking the question.

0:21:34I knew walking in here today asking

0:21:36y'all for $30 million is a lot of money,

0:21:39but I know and and my colleagues here

0:21:42too, but if you could do if if the

0:21:45district is if the county is only going

0:21:47to get one grant, you know, if if

0:21:49whether it was for Lexington or whether

0:21:51it's for us, it's addressing an issue

0:21:54now that we're not kicking the can down

0:21:56the road. And the cost of building that

0:21:59school is not going to get any cheaper

0:22:01as you say, Mr. Yates. And if we can do

0:22:03this and we can bring $62 million back

0:22:06with a $30 million investment,

0:22:09you know, that that's that's a check

0:22:12that you that you know that we're not

0:22:13going to be coming back to you guys for

0:22:152530 years to do something back at that

0:22:18school because yeah, we take care of our

0:22:20equipment like our HVAC. You know, I'm

0:22:22about like Dr. Slate. You know, it may

0:22:24have a 15-year lifespan, but we're going

0:22:26to make it last 25 to 30.

0:22:29But you weren't here last year and the

0:22:31agreement was that

0:22:32>> no I understand

0:22:33>> we would spend 15 million per school and

0:22:35everybody was pretty much on

0:22:37>> on the thought process is this was the

0:22:39way we needed to go and you know cuz we

0:22:41don't have a hundred million uh per

0:22:44school to spend.

0:22:45>> Yes sir. That's correct.

0:22:46>> You know we don't have a 100 million per

0:22:48school to spend. Uh now I guess if we

0:22:51had data centers and had 54 million a

0:22:53year coming in or 48 like Rowan County

0:22:57does, you could probably start building

0:22:58some schools would u but we don't have

0:23:01that. So

0:23:02>> yes sir and and people don't want that.

0:23:04So

0:23:05>> yeah,

0:23:05>> but that would go a long ways in in new

0:23:07new high schools for sure. But um any

0:23:12I'm not really opposed to How many

0:23:13students do you have?

0:23:15>> I've got uh 500 kids right now at the

0:23:17high school. the the school will be

0:23:19built for 700.

0:23:22Also, one of the things I could

0:23:23>> will be built for 700. Is your

0:23:25population increasing or decreasing?

0:23:28>> It's decreasing a little bit, but it's

0:23:29not dramatic right now. And I think one

0:23:32of the things that we're also trying to

0:23:33do with our Bulldog Academy is recapture

0:23:35some of the kids that uh need

0:23:38alternative pathways in order to get

0:23:40their high school uh diploma. One of the

0:23:43things we're doing when school starts up

0:23:44the first 5 to 10 days, every child

0:23:46that's a no-show, we're going out to

0:23:48their to their homes and we're going to

0:23:50knock on the door and say, you know, why

0:23:52are you not coming to school? And some

0:23:53of them are going to say, well, you

0:23:55know, I failed a couple courses. I don't

0:23:57know if I could be successful. And

0:23:58that's the reason that we're bringing

0:23:59them back to Bulldog Academy for that

0:24:01very reason. Um,

0:24:03>> so you're doing that now?

0:24:05>> Yes, sir.

0:24:06>> What kind of percentage rate do you have

0:24:08um with that bringing them back? Um

0:24:12>> what we're what we're hoping for is that

0:24:14we're going to bring back about 50 to 60

0:24:16children that we typically wouldn't see

0:24:18and possibly even bring some uh from

0:24:21homeschool who are looking for a

0:24:23non-traditional way to maybe just have

0:24:25some of our courses that we offer and

0:24:27then they take their core courses at

0:24:29home. That's also another uh that's also

0:24:32been something that's been allowed for

0:24:34public schools to be able to do to offer

0:24:35some of those classes that the

0:24:36homeschool parents can't maybe offer

0:24:39like electives like our CTE uh courses

0:24:42in band and art.

0:24:46>> So what do you think the projected

0:24:48growth is to get to 700 students from

0:24:51500? When do you see that happening

0:24:53since you've been declining with

0:24:55>> Well, I I was I would say this. uh I

0:24:57would say for the 700 ensures that we're

0:25:00not putting any mobile units at that

0:25:02school in the next 10 to 15 years. I

0:25:05mean uh when we look at the birth rate,

0:25:08you know, all three school districts

0:25:09have seen a little bit of a decline.

0:25:12>> Uh however, I also see that you all are

0:25:15are approving uh lots of different uh

0:25:18home home plans and so people are moving

0:25:20into the county because quite frankly,

0:25:22it's a nice location. You're not in

0:25:24Charlotte, you're not in Greensboro,

0:25:25you're not in Winston Salem, and you

0:25:27still get this small town feel. And so I

0:25:29think that's obvious by the homes that

0:25:32you're building here. And when those

0:25:33folks come in here, we want them to be

0:25:35able to say, "Look, at Thomasville High

0:25:38School, we've got this brand new

0:25:40facility and we would love to have your

0:25:42child choose our public school to come

0:25:45to school here and locate your, you

0:25:47know, by your house in Thomasville."

0:25:49Same thing that Dr. Anthony would want

0:25:51here in Lexington to do the same thing

0:25:53because we I I can tell you this having

0:25:56been a superintendent whether full-time

0:25:58or interim for 25 years. It's a

0:26:01different game and we have to step up to

0:26:03the plate and we have to offer something

0:26:05different because our parents do have

0:26:07choice and we want them to make the

0:26:09choice to be us and we want to do

0:26:12everything we can to try to make that

0:26:13happen.

0:26:14>> But they got to live in the city of

0:26:15Thomasville district, right, to go to

0:26:17school there. So,

0:26:18>> Mhm.

0:26:18>> Do you have any idea? I know

0:26:21Thomasville's building some new schools.

0:26:22Have Have y'all been into communication

0:26:24[clears throat] with the u uh management

0:26:27over in Thomasville to see how many uh

0:26:30new homes that is coming online in

0:26:31y'all's district?

0:26:33>> Uh there there is some uh development,

0:26:36but we've not had a formal uh evaluation

0:26:39like the ORED study that Davidson County

0:26:41did. uh that would be something that we

0:26:43could bring in, but right now we're not

0:26:45at a point where we're having to maybe

0:26:46redistrict or change grade uh

0:26:49allocations because our schools are able

0:26:51to accommodate each of those right now.

0:26:53So, we've we've not had a need to bring

0:26:55in a a land use or a student population

0:26:59study.

0:26:59>> You know, I've advocated for the school

0:27:01boards and the local governments to to

0:27:04work together to uh try to keep a pulse

0:27:08on the increase of Yes, sir.

0:27:11>> possible students. Now, not every house

0:27:12is built got a kid, but I think they got

0:27:14an average of

0:27:16>> it's about 1.5,

0:27:17>> right, per per house, maybe. Um, so if

0:27:21y'all don't communicate together, then

0:27:23nobody really knows what the future

0:27:25growth's going to be and what

0:27:28[clears throat]

0:27:28>> and and I've also communicated with some

0:27:30of the uh council members uh for the uh

0:27:33city council letting them know this is

0:27:35what we're doing and that uh matter of

0:27:37fact I was at at a a coffee last

0:27:39Thursday and the mayor said that he

0:27:42would like to sit down and and speak

0:27:43with me about what we can do together to

0:27:45to help Thomasville.

0:27:48>> All right, I'm done. I know I got

0:27:49another [laughter] question.

0:27:50>> Well, that

0:27:50>> I I appreciate it, Mr. Yates. Thank you.

0:27:52>> Okay. Yeah, I I can because I live in

0:27:55outside of Thomasville, I can say that

0:27:57there's a a new development right behind

0:27:59Walmart, but I believe that's in the

0:28:01East Davidson um district. There's a new

0:28:04development over near Pilot School, but

0:28:07that's going to be they're going to be

0:28:09going to Pilot School. I you know I I'm

0:28:13not too familiar with there may be some

0:28:16work going on up toward the north side

0:28:18of Thomasville but I I haven't seen a

0:28:21lot of uh growth in terms of homes. I I

0:28:25don't know. I, you know, I'm pro-

0:28:27education in every way and I know that

0:28:29school is old and the way it's built,

0:28:32>> the safety issue is very, very

0:28:36important because of the bu, you know,

0:28:39the buildings everywhere, you know, and

0:28:41>> the campus style

0:28:42>> the campus style is is not ideal for

0:28:46safety reasons. But, you know, we want

0:28:50to be supportive like we have in the

0:28:52past. um uh the 15 million, but I don't

0:28:56know if we can absolutely positively at

0:28:59this point say 30. Yes. Will 15 do and

0:29:03if you get it a possible possibly

0:29:06additional discussion about whether we

0:29:08could find the additional 15 I I don't

0:29:11know. I'm just asking. Tim, you want to

0:29:14address any of that?

0:29:16>> Well, the Sure. Um,

0:29:19and I need to do a little little more

0:29:22digging, but um,

0:29:25and I can hand out some of this

0:29:26paperwork, but I don't know that

0:29:27everybody wants to look at these numbers

0:29:29this morning necessarily, but if you

0:29:31remember from our capital improvement

0:29:32plan, there's not a lot of wiggle room.

0:29:35>> No. But there is one one place that um

0:29:39if if

0:29:42we need to find some some money and it

0:29:44would be you're always deferring

0:29:46something or you know conceding a point

0:29:48but we did have $10 million set aside

0:29:50for either future capital andor the lake

0:29:53dredging kind of project. So there's 10

0:29:55million

0:29:56>> if that doesn't happen or if the federal

0:29:58government comes through and provides

0:30:00the full amount. We don't know where

0:30:01that's going and when it's going. Um, so

0:30:04there's one that still leaves you a

0:30:06little bit of a hole about $4.5 million.

0:30:09So, the only way to plug that is either

0:30:12um I I hate to say Rob Peter to pay

0:30:14Paul, so to speak, or or look at look at

0:30:18borrow borrowing some money because to

0:30:20everyone's point, if

0:30:24generally speaking, if we're if we're

0:30:26able to uh provide 30 million for one

0:30:29school system, we've got roughly 15 for

0:30:31the other two. Um not with Davidson's

0:30:35coming a little bit later, a little on

0:30:36the front end now. about three and a

0:30:37half on the front end now and a little

0:30:39bit later, but they're going to I mean

0:30:42rightfully so say we would we would like

0:30:44to have that opportunity to have that

0:30:46money too. So the other option would be

0:30:48looking at borrowing some money and

0:30:49maybe possibly tagging on to the jail um

0:30:53which can be done. You I checked roughly

0:30:56this is not you know etched in stone but

0:30:59to borrow 30 more million it would add

0:31:02just that debt service would add

0:31:04probably two and a half to 2.8 eight on

0:31:06top of the jail borrowing. So, it would

0:31:09it would load us up pretty pretty good.

0:31:12Um, but remember, we'd peek out and if

0:31:15y'all remember the debt starts to fall

0:31:17off as Oak Grove falls off. So, we would

0:31:19peek out just a little bit higher and

0:31:20then it would roll back down again. So,

0:31:22those are the kind of solutions I

0:31:24thought about. And one other thing just

0:31:26um talking about 700 building the school

0:31:29for 700

0:31:30um over the years I guess just

0:31:33anecdotally here what I've seen and

0:31:35looking at these budgets these these

0:31:37chartermies have siphoned off a lot of

0:31:39kids well if you build a new school

0:31:42some of those kids are probably going to

0:31:44come back. Now, I don't know. You're not

0:31:45gonna be full probably, but you need a

0:31:47little wiggle room, but there's several,

0:31:50you know, a lot of lot of children from

0:31:52all three school systems that are going

0:31:53to these chartermies, and that may bring

0:31:55some on back just by by default perhaps.

0:31:58So, I just

0:31:59>> But you say probably,

0:32:01>> no, it's not a guarantee. You're right.

0:32:04>> Could go the other way. The trend has

0:32:05been it's it's, you know, every year we

0:32:07got a few more and a few more. Davidson,

0:32:09you know, Charter Academy is growing by

0:32:11leaps and bounds. They sure are. But um

0:32:13but back to the money part. I mean those

0:32:15are some of the options I thought about

0:32:18that could be real the 10 million that

0:32:21that

0:32:23that's here you know built into our

0:32:25plan. It would just be you know

0:32:26reallocating and repurposing of that

0:32:28money. Um so that's an that's an option.

0:32:32Other things are deferring things. We

0:32:34don't generally we budget pretty tightly

0:32:37as y'all know and I don't see too many

0:32:40windfalls where we have X programmed

0:32:42into the capital improvement plan and we

0:32:44end up saving you know millions. But we

0:32:47did look up and something will fill it.

0:32:50It always does. But when we when you all

0:32:52approved the radio purchase at 1.7

0:32:56the plan had 2.8. So that freed up 1.8

0:32:59or I mean 1.1. So all those things kind

0:33:03of factor in all those little hundreds

0:33:05of thousands to a few million can help

0:33:07accum you know build it. But I think if

0:33:10um long story short

0:33:13or shorter um

0:33:17you know borrowing may be a thing you'd

0:33:18have to look at or um

0:33:22re reshifting the timeline of everything

0:33:24is about all I know to say at this

0:33:27point. Um and and these folks would

0:33:30bring back the application. I I was

0:33:32looking myself of when because I always

0:33:34check DPI's website when these because I

0:33:36like to review their um their guidance

0:33:39and guidelines and the the matches and I

0:33:42don't think the matches will change um

0:33:46and see what they're saying, but it's

0:33:48not there yet. I anticipate by the

0:33:51middle to latter part of this month all

0:33:52that stuff will be online. And last

0:33:54year, I think the deadline was October

0:33:563rd to apply. So, they'll probably come

0:33:58back want to come back in September with

0:34:00the official application

0:34:03and you all can see those numbers. I had

0:34:06the document, but it was um

0:34:10huge. Um, so I couldn't email it out. I

0:34:12could send a link to you all since I

0:34:14figured out how to do that. So, I'll be

0:34:16glad to do [laughter] that because it's

0:34:19um I it's so large of a document you

0:34:21can't you can't send it through email

0:34:24just as a trip. I had to send him a link

0:34:26to to a Google uh folder

0:34:28>> to do that because I ran into the same

0:34:30same thing there. But but it breaks

0:34:32everything

0:34:33>> uh down on there and and the same thing

0:34:34for our facility studies. Uh I've got a

0:34:37link for it as well, too. So,

0:34:39>> and we'll get that on the agenda for

0:34:40Monday.

0:34:41>> Yes, ma'am.

0:34:42>> But but here's the deal. Anytime you can

0:34:44get $6 when you spend three

0:34:47>> that's a no-brainer. You know, I mean

0:34:48that that takes the burden off of the

0:34:51>> the local taxpayers. So, you know, it's

0:34:53a gamble worth taking for sure.

0:34:55>> But again, for these newer fellas here,

0:34:58I just and we've been working on this

0:35:00for years and years, okay, with the

0:35:02school systems and that becomes a time

0:35:04to where you got to say this probably

0:35:06ain't going to happen. Uh, unless they

0:35:09want to increase the taxes tremendously

0:35:11unless we were to get a data center or

0:35:13something that brought in a lot of

0:35:14taxes.

0:35:16there becomes a time where the work's

0:35:17got to be done on the schools to

0:35:20to [clears throat] keep this the the uh

0:35:23plumbing draining and [clears throat]

0:35:25>> yes sir

0:35:26>> you know I mean there becomes a time

0:35:27that's got to happen I mean where you

0:35:29can't spend a 100 million like I say be

0:35:32different if if every school was new

0:35:34except Thomasville and we just had one

0:35:36but we got Thomasville we got Lexon we

0:35:39got Wahberg Elementary School that's

0:35:40going to need some growth to it you know

0:35:42Davidson County's got what how many

0:35:44schools we got in the DC system.

0:35:47>> 35.

0:35:48>> Thank you. [laughter]

0:35:49>> 35

0:35:50>> in the county system.

0:35:51>> Yes, sir.

0:35:52>> Not all of them. You're just saying in

0:35:54the county system.

0:35:54>> No, just the county,

0:35:55>> right? Okay. I could I thought it was

0:35:5725, but 35. Okay. Um, you're right. It's

0:36:01just hard to keep up with, but there's a

0:36:03lot of stuff, you know. I mean, a lot of

0:36:04money to be spent there. So,

0:36:07>> Well, yeah. And to put things in

0:36:08perspective, when I started out as a

0:36:10superintendent in 2001 and we were bu I

0:36:13was building a school in Mon County, we

0:36:15were building a 75,000 square foot

0:36:17elementary school for um 650 kids and I

0:36:21built it for $8.6 million

0:36:24>> and last one we built cost 55 million.

0:36:27>> Yeah, that's Yes, sir. and uh you know

0:36:30and and I built several schools when I

0:36:31was in Rocketingham County and you know

0:36:33being the superintendent in Rocketham

0:36:34County the the the

0:36:37conservative beliefs and everything

0:36:39about how we spend money very much match

0:36:41mine and it's the same thing here in

0:36:43Davidson County. You want to make sure

0:36:44that you're going to be able to get the

0:36:46biggest bang for your tax dollar that

0:36:48you're spending. And you know like you

0:36:51said to to spend one to get two it's

0:36:55it's a it's a once in a-lifetime piece

0:36:57here. And like I said, I you know,

0:36:59because I I got this question asked two

0:37:01days ago from my board. Well, they've

0:37:03told us, you know, not to come back and

0:37:04ask, but I'm I'm kind of like this. It's

0:37:07like, but if you don't ask, it's always

0:37:09going to be no. And my analogy was, you

0:37:12know, the pretty girl who's going out

0:37:14with a guy that looks like he's average,

0:37:15and they ask her, "Well, you know, how'd

0:37:17you end up with a date with him?" Said,

0:37:18"He's the only one that asks."

0:37:20>> And so, I'm unclear here. Your board

0:37:23told you not to come and ask.

0:37:24>> No, they did not. No, they just said

0:37:26they were under the impression that we

0:37:27were not supposed to come back and ask.

0:37:29>> Well, that's kind of the impression that

0:37:31I thought too after last year's meeting,

0:37:33but

0:37:33>> Yes, sir. But I I just feel really

0:37:36strong on more more so on behalf of just

0:37:39the children that go to school there,

0:37:41getting to know and meet them at the end

0:37:43of the school year like I did and

0:37:45meeting them this summer and what we're

0:37:47preparing to do for the upcoming year.

0:37:49You know, I I've worked in a lot of

0:37:51different places and I was in Weldon and

0:37:53we were able to get a new middle high

0:37:54school out there and I saw the

0:37:56facilities that they had. Davidson

0:37:58County is nowhere near what they had,

0:38:02but

0:38:03you know, the zip code should not ever

0:38:05should not ever decide what kind of

0:38:07facilities that you have for a school.

0:38:10And you all have been gracious and you

0:38:11have been very supportive. And I

0:38:13appreciate you uh signing over the deed

0:38:15delivery drive back to us uh for a debt

0:38:18service way back in the day uh and

0:38:20everything. This county also said uh

0:38:23many years ago that when they approved

0:38:25the quarter cent sales tax that we're

0:38:27committed to making sure that education

0:38:30whether it's K12 or the community

0:38:31college that we're going to make sure

0:38:34that there is a dedicated funding source

0:38:36going there. And as you're getting more

0:38:38people in here, your two half cent sales

0:38:39tax that's dedicated to the public

0:38:41schools will also increase. And I know

0:38:43that goes towards your debt service as

0:38:45well. And you do get to that apex where

0:38:48the next year you start seeing bigger

0:38:51and bigger I because honestly I was

0:38:54getting uh around a million dollars for

0:38:57three million square feet in Rockingham

0:38:59County and it was right at the time

0:39:00whenever the debt service was coming

0:39:02down and the and the two half cent sales

0:39:04tax were going up. we were able to do

0:39:06some one-time projects because of that.

0:39:08So, it it is a real thing. It also can

0:39:11help with the house payment of sorts uh

0:39:14down the road, but I just I just had to

0:39:17come here and I had to ask I I do

0:39:19realize what the expectations are. And

0:39:21if we can get it, I think it's a big win

0:39:23for Davidson County all the way around,

0:39:25not just for Thomasville City Schools,

0:39:27but for everybody. and and I really

0:39:30thank you for your time today and I

0:39:32appreciate you entertaining the the

0:39:34request.

0:39:36>> Thank you.

0:39:37>> I got one curiosity question.

0:39:40>> Yes, sir.

0:39:41>> Explain to me what gaming is.

0:39:44>> Well, you know,

0:39:47it's not the game pong that you and I

0:39:49grew up with, you know, with the little

0:39:51square ball going from one side to the

0:39:53other. There is a huge market out there

0:39:55where folks are uh designing not only uh

0:40:00games for uh iPhones, your Androids, uh

0:40:05the Xbox, those kinds of things, but

0:40:07they're also developing uh that same

0:40:10software to go into training and doing

0:40:13AI conversions. I mean, that area is

0:40:17starting to explode. You know, there's

0:40:19actually a esports uh now in a lot of

0:40:23colleges and North Carolina has several

0:40:25esports teams that compete. And I didn't

0:40:29believe it, but there are people that

0:40:31make millions of dollars gaming. I I

0:40:33know I can't do it. I mean, I can't even

0:40:35drive the car even with a steering

0:40:38wheel. So, but but but that is but what

0:40:40it does it teaches them coding and works

0:40:43with artificial intelligence and it kind

0:40:45of ties in with the 3D modeling and

0:40:47advanced manufacturing because as kids

0:40:49get skills with that it helps them also

0:40:51when they come into a um into a an

0:40:55advanced manufacturing situation that

0:40:57they have a little bit more different

0:40:58depths of knowledge. I had an

0:41:00apprenticeship program in Rockingham and

0:41:03uh two of the kids that were hired by uh

0:41:05Pinehal Brick, one of the assignments

0:41:07was because they had a robotics

0:41:08background, they asked them to come up

0:41:10with a way to help save some money in

0:41:13terms of how they package their bricks.

0:41:15And these two high school students came

0:41:18up with something for them and made it

0:41:20happen. And it was all because of the

0:41:22robotics program that we were able to

0:41:23offer them in the school.

0:41:27So an extension of the robotics program

0:41:30actually right

0:41:32it

0:41:33>> in in in one aspect. Yes sir. But it's

0:41:35it's a whole lot more than that. But

0:41:36just because with the artificial

0:41:38intelligence growth the gaming part is

0:41:40really going hand inand with that. And

0:41:43we also work with the community college

0:41:45to uh to make sure that whatever

0:41:47businesses that you all are bringing in

0:41:49that our kids are [clears throat] going

0:41:50to be prepared for that.

0:41:52>> Okay. Well thank you for that. I just

0:41:54Yes sir. I couldn't register it.

0:41:58>> Listen, me either cuz I mean I have a

0:42:0017-year-old at home and I hear him

0:42:02screaming because he and his friends are

0:42:04on there doing things and I I go up

0:42:06there to watch sometimes and I'm like I

0:42:09I'm really good. I can just do solitire

0:42:10on my iPhone.

0:42:13>> Tim, question for you. Um, so they use

0:42:17the 15 million they have now in their

0:42:20capital improvement and really so we're

0:42:22looking at finding an additional 15 on

0:42:24top of that to get to the 30.

0:42:26>> That's correct.

0:42:27>> Okay.

0:42:28>> In round you good round numbers. Yes,

0:42:30sir.

0:42:30>> Okay. I wanted to make sure I was

0:42:32following since you know total 30

0:42:34commissioner.

0:42:34>> Was any of that money used for

0:42:36renovation on the middle school?

0:42:38>> No sir, not that.

0:42:39>> So that money is still out there has not

0:42:41been used.

0:42:42>> That's correct. it's out there or as we

0:42:44collect the overages year to year it

0:42:46will be built into the plan but right

0:42:48now it is there.

0:42:50>> So if we added 15 million this year that

0:42:53would equate to 30 million wouldn't it

0:42:55in that fund

0:42:57>> for earmarked for Thomasville? Yes,

0:43:00that's correct.

0:43:01>> But we did it with all the schools,

0:43:03didn't we? We we also have 15 and a half

0:43:06set aside for Lexington City schools and

0:43:09just a hair less uh for the county

0:43:11schools and theirs was you know deferred

0:43:13out just a couple a little bit this year

0:43:16three and a half for some HVACs and then

0:43:1812 and a half to 13 in the out years not

0:43:21too far out but just a little further

0:43:23out so that's where you get roughly 15 a

0:43:26piece it was 43.8 eight, I believe, to

0:43:28get get back there.

0:43:30>> But answering Matt's question, what I

0:43:31think where he's going with this, we got

0:43:33to pull 15 from somewhere.

0:43:35>> That's right.

0:43:35>> That's where the 10 million

0:43:37>> comes into play for the dredging

0:43:39>> or either 15 million from Lexon

0:43:42>> or borrowing

0:43:43>> or

0:43:44>> or borrowing.

0:43:46>> That's right. Todd, you're closest with

0:43:47that. Are those airport projects? Are

0:43:49any of those can be pushed back or

0:43:51depprioritized?

0:43:52>> Airport projects. What

0:43:53>> the our money there come from the state.

0:43:57We got a state grant for 15

0:43:58>> for both of them right here.

0:44:01>> Is that just the matching thing?

0:44:04>> We can't play around with any of these.

0:44:05>> None of those that state funded money.

0:44:09>> I'm not sure. I think this does require

0:44:11some consideration. You build it because

0:44:14you have the opportunity to build two

0:44:16schools for $60 million on cost of the

0:44:19county. Two schools, Thomas Hill and

0:44:22Lexon. And I don't think there's anybody

0:44:24up here that that denies the fact that

0:44:26both of those schools need to be re

0:44:28replaced.

0:44:30And but I what I point I was getting at

0:44:32is we've already got 15 million. So he's

0:44:37actually asking for us to contribute an

0:44:40additional 15 million added to that.

0:44:43>> But Lexon will be up here next.

0:44:44>> Yeah.

0:44:46>> Now you I I would guess Lexon would be

0:44:48here.

0:44:49>> Oh yeah. I mean, if these guys are going

0:44:51to apply for it again, they're going to

0:44:52apply for it, too.

0:44:53>> I'll see the nod.

0:44:54>> Yes, sir. I can already feel Dr. Anthony

0:44:57back there saying, "Yes, sir. It's going

0:44:58to happen." One of the things, too,

0:45:00that's an advantage for for us is that

0:45:02we do not have to dis have to relocate

0:45:04children because the school's going to

0:45:06be built on our campus, but it's going

0:45:08to be behind the school. Uh, and so we

0:45:12won't have to relocate children and

0:45:13those kinds of things. So, what I'm

0:45:16looking at is is being able to turn it

0:45:17around. we should be able to a after we

0:45:20get bids, we should be able to build it

0:45:22in 24 months.

0:45:26And so that helps keep the cost down.

0:45:28The the quicker that we can get it up

0:45:30and going, the the more likely we're

0:45:32going to be able to get uh favorable uh

0:45:35bids within our budget.

0:45:41>> I think I'm hearing that we're we're not

0:45:43ready to make a decision yet. Is that

0:45:45what I'm hearing from

0:45:46>> correct

0:45:47>> uh from some

0:45:48>> and there's there's time to to think

0:45:49through it based on the the schedule you

0:45:52laid out for the application process.

0:45:54>> Yes sir. I just wanted to put this in in

0:45:56front of you all so that you could have

0:45:58time to to process it rather than us

0:46:01coming here and saying I need a I need a

0:46:03decision today.

0:46:04>> I wanted you to have that time.

0:46:07>> I want to give difference to you to have

0:46:09that time to think and look at different

0:46:12ways that you could possibly do that for

0:46:14us. Uh it and listen, it it's like my

0:46:17dad used to tell my brother and I like,

0:46:19"Look, there's two of y'all. If I do it

0:46:21for one, I got to do for another." And I

0:46:23totally get that. You've got three

0:46:24school districts here. Uh the three of

0:46:27us as superintendents, we all get along.

0:46:28Uh you know, Dr. Slate worked with me

0:46:30twice. Uh he was my uh great teacher

0:46:33over here at the high school and he

0:46:35worked for me in Rockingham County and

0:46:36you've got a great person uh leading

0:46:38your school system there. you know, when

0:46:41we talk about, you know, sharing, I

0:46:43think what I have found with

0:46:46superintendent is that we are definitely

0:46:48going to do what we have to to make

0:46:50things work. And if we've got an

0:46:51advanced manufacturing thing going on at

0:46:53a new high school, if it's something

0:46:55that we can do to help with uh meeting

0:46:57the needs of the children at East

0:46:58Davidson and vice versa,

0:47:01you know, if they've got something over

0:47:03there, you know, why not have anou and

0:47:05make that agreement so that both school

0:47:07districts are beneficial from it.

0:47:10But don't something happen with the

0:47:12money if you do that. I mean, I remember

0:47:14something happens.

0:47:15>> No, because they would still be our

0:47:16kids. He would still have his kids, but

0:47:18they would use our our facilities and

0:47:20we'd use theirs. It doesn't change the

0:47:22money piece and it doesn't mess up what

0:47:25we're asking you to do here

0:47:26>> because we had something like that. And

0:47:28I remember there was a money issue

0:47:31between the school system. So, there's

0:47:33>> there I think that was the regional

0:47:35school. That's a little bit different.

0:47:37>> I don't remember. it'll come to me. But

0:47:39I remember they being some sort of money

0:47:41issue and somebody was going to lose

0:47:43money, so they started switching back

0:47:45around getting their students back. But

0:47:47I'll have to check into that. It was it

0:47:49was something we run across a couple

0:47:51years ago.

0:47:51>> You you know, we already share the uh

0:47:53the developmental center with, you know,

0:47:55Davidson County and Thomasville City

0:47:57both uh pay a little bit of money for

0:48:00our children to be able to attend school

0:48:01there. So we're, you know,

0:48:04>> it can be done. I I promise you that.

0:48:06And

0:48:07>> so, excuse me. Has Lexington, do you

0:48:09know if they've made any See, this

0:48:11plan's already been started because Dr.

0:48:13Slates already got his money and started

0:48:15repairing some some AC units and all. Do

0:48:18we know if Lexon has started any designs

0:48:22or anything to spend their 15 million on

0:48:24their high school?

0:48:26>> To my knowledge, no.

0:48:28>> Do you know of anything?

0:48:29>> Um, no. We are um

0:48:34Sorry. We are uh definitely in need of a

0:48:38new high school. Um and you know I'm

0:48:40just getting here May 1st. I will tell

0:48:42you I you know equated to this. I'm a

0:48:44history guy, history teacher. Uh to be

0:48:46generous, our school was built in about

0:48:481957 I think is what I got. So that's

0:48:50the Eisenhower administration. Uh you

0:48:52can drive a 57 Chevy every day and try

0:48:56to maintain it. But from 57 to 26 it's

0:48:58hard to find the parts. Our uh we have

0:49:00outdated and uh antiquated system. So

0:49:02we're going to need a new school. We

0:49:04will be asking uh but to your question

0:49:06I'm just getting in and we're planning

0:49:08to um move forward with it.

0:49:11>> Where did you go to college at? U Mr.

0:49:14Adams.

0:49:15>> Where did you go to college?

0:49:18>> Oh, I went to I went to Duke.

0:49:20>> And where else?

0:49:21>> And Harvard Law School.

0:49:23>> How old is Harvard Law School?

0:49:26>> Well,

0:49:26>> how old is the building there, you

0:49:28think?

0:49:29>> Uh I mean the old I guess the oldest

0:49:31building in the law school is probably

0:49:32from the 1800s. Okay. [clears throat]

0:49:35So, see, sometimes I don't buy that we

0:49:36got to have a brand new vehicle to ride

0:49:38around in.

0:49:39>> I agree with you, Mr. J, but Harvard has

0:49:41a billion, multiple billion dollar trust

0:49:44fund and and alumni to support them.

0:49:46>> So, I was just using that as an example,

0:49:48>> but we don't have that here. So, we got

0:49:50we got to suffice off of what we have

0:49:52and and try to fix what we got. So,

0:49:54>> absolutely.

0:49:55>> You know, I'm I've always been one of

0:49:57these. It ain't the building that gives

0:49:58the education,

0:49:59>> it's what's in the building.

0:50:01>> I agree 100%. Nobody wants kids to have

0:50:03more of an education than I do because I

0:50:05see how important it is out here. Um,

0:50:08so, but again, that's where we come to

0:50:10last year that that nobody was we wasn't

0:50:12going to be able to afford brand new

0:50:14schools for everybody. So, we had to go

0:50:16in and spend 15 million a piece. And

0:50:18like I say, Lexon's a whole total deal

0:50:20here. Got to find another piece of

0:50:21property. You know, we've been through

0:50:23that looking for another track of land

0:50:25to put it on. [snorts] Um, so again, and

0:50:28and I done some research back then, too.

0:50:30There's a place called Lexon,

0:50:31Massachusetts.

0:50:33Um, and it was built in 1953.

0:50:37So, yours is built in 57. Um,

0:50:41and you need to look them up and look at

0:50:43their average student um, uh, grade

0:50:46point averages and look at ours. So,

0:50:49there's an old school that was built

0:50:51before yours and u,

0:50:54so that again tells me it's not the

0:50:57building. Okay,

0:50:58>> I agree. Now, what I did see, and nobody

0:51:00probably remembers this, is the class

0:51:03sizes was about half the size of y'all's

0:51:06class size, maybe a little bit more. So,

0:51:07if we could put more teachers in the

0:51:10schools, we might be getting a better

0:51:11education than than a brand new school.

0:51:14So, uh,

0:51:15>> but we got some data coming out, so

0:51:16we'll we'll be uh presenting that as

0:51:18well about test scores and graduation

0:51:20rates and things of that nature. I think

0:51:21you see we're trending in the right

0:51:23direction. They are trending in the

0:51:24right direction. But the one in Lexon

0:51:26and Mass was built in 1953. Cuz I

0:51:28thought when I looked them up, I was

0:51:29going to say, "Uh oh, man. If I got a

0:51:31brand new school built in 2022, I don't

0:51:34have m much of an argument here, you

0:51:35know. Uh but that wasn't what I found

0:51:37out. It was built before y'all's

0:51:39school." And uh the grade um

0:51:44their grades was a good bit better

0:51:46coming out. So, but again, I want us to

0:51:49get there. Okay? That sets a goal.

0:51:51>> That sets a goal to me. I'm not saying

0:51:53anything other than that's where I want

0:51:55to get to, you know. So when those kids

0:51:57come out those doors and they smart as

0:52:00they can be, that's what I want, you

0:52:02know.

0:52:03>> That's our goal, too, Mr. Yates

0:52:05>> and I'll check into Massachusetts. But

0:52:07once again, you talking about different

0:52:08educational system, different pay bands

0:52:09for teachers. So it's a lot that goes

0:52:11into it's not apples to apples, but I'll

0:52:13do the research and check it out.

0:52:14>> We got better results and maybe that's

0:52:16what we need to be that's what we need

0:52:17to be looking toward. You know,

0:52:19>> that's as a state. I ain't blaming you.

0:52:21I'm I'm saying as a state as a whole. If

0:52:24somebody else is getting a better

0:52:25product out there, we need to look and

0:52:27see what they do, you know. Um,

0:52:30and that's that's just the private

0:52:32market business guy and me. If

0:52:33somebody's doing it better than me, I

0:52:34got to figure out how they doing it

0:52:36because I got to stay in business, you

0:52:38know, and uh but again, I'm not saying

0:52:42the schools don't need some work because

0:52:44they do. Okay? I've I've walked both of

0:52:46them multiple times. Uh but again, if we

0:52:49don't get these grants and we don't

0:52:51raise taxes or we don't get a data

0:52:54center, we got to figure out plan number

0:52:56two.

0:52:57And that's what we had had figured out

0:52:59last year. I I thought we was going

0:53:02everybody's going to start spending

0:53:03their 15 million a piece and hopefully

0:53:05when some of this debt come off, we

0:53:07could spend some more money on them. But

0:53:09anyhow, I I'll do what the board wants

0:53:11to do. I [clears throat] I I think what

0:53:13I think what we're we're hearing is that

0:53:16that we need some more time and and and

0:53:18[clears throat] Mr. Mine is willing, I

0:53:20think, to do some more financial look

0:53:24looking at our financial.

0:53:25>> I'd be glad to uh

0:53:27>> and share that with

0:53:28>> sharpen the pencil so to speak and show

0:53:30youall a few options that even debt

0:53:32service what it would look like, you

0:53:33know. Yes. just so that we have some um

0:53:36some avenues to explore and check into

0:53:38and I'll have it laid out on that big

0:53:40sheet of paper that y'all are used to

0:53:42looking at. Okay. And

0:53:43>> Okay.

0:53:44>> But if I understand it right, we're only

0:53:47looking at the with the 30 million.

0:53:49We're only looking at

0:53:53probating 15 additional million. Not 30

0:53:57million, but 15 cuz we already got 15

0:53:59>> to make that project go. That would be

0:54:01correct. Yes. And we need to freeze that

0:54:03amount of money until these grants are

0:54:05decided so they can't be utilized.

0:54:08>> Well,

0:54:08>> and then we had if we decide the board

0:54:11decided to, you can go with 15 and add

0:54:13it to that 15 and you'd have 30,

0:54:16>> right? It's effectively frozen right now

0:54:18because we haven't put it any

0:54:20appropriated it into any projects or

0:54:22anything.

0:54:23>> No contracts has been signed yet.

0:54:25>> That's correct.

0:54:26>> Okay.

0:54:28>> I see they on the internet back here.

0:54:29Did y'all find something? We did, but

0:54:32I'm gonna leave that to him.

0:54:35>> Yeah. Share share it with us. I'd love

0:54:36for you.

0:54:37>> This is my Yuki Keller with uh SF and

0:54:39LA.

0:54:43>> So, you were the engineer

0:54:44>> talk about Lexington High School in

0:54:46Lexington, Massachusetts. They received

0:54:47$660 million project to replace their

0:54:50building. And uh the original ask was uh

0:54:54553 million. So, you know, they made

0:54:57that increase. So, but I'm going to keep

0:54:59digging into this.

0:55:00>> Yeah. When was that? Because I read this

0:55:02about two years ago. So I don't know

0:55:04when

0:55:04>> 2026 and then it's already complete at

0:55:062029.

0:55:07>> Yeah. Yeah. They call the need.

0:55:10>> They what?

0:55:11>> They call the need.

0:55:12>> Yeah. But I'm saying look at their

0:55:13gradepoint averages before that. Okay.

0:55:16>> It'd be a really interesting study to do

0:55:17and to see what their projected

0:55:20increases are because I know

0:55:22>> but the the student class ratio was the

0:55:25biggest thing that I seen that probably

0:55:27helped you know because that's what I

0:55:29see. That's what I see when I go to

0:55:31these schools. These teachers, they

0:55:33don't have time to spend with the ones

0:55:35that may need more attention because

0:55:38their class size is so big. So again,

0:55:40that's just a common sense thing to me.

0:55:42Maybe I'm totally wrong.

0:55:43>> No, I I I I don't think anyone can

0:55:46disagree that [clears throat]

0:55:47unfortunately that is a lot of times

0:55:49wine magnet schools draw in more

0:55:52students is because they promise that

0:55:54different um class size. But I I do

0:55:57think that I would love to be able to

0:55:59provide some additional information. We

0:56:00do have some resource that we can

0:56:02provide just based off of our

0:56:04experience. Again, I'm I'm Keller. I'm a

0:56:07project architect for um for this

0:56:10project. And we have been working with

0:56:12uh some different facility studies as

0:56:14well with the um with both districts.

0:56:16So, we we are very familiar with the

0:56:18needs here and also with other needs and

0:56:20and trends that are happening and and

0:56:22studies to support new construction. One

0:56:25thing that we can provide some

0:56:27additional information on is also

0:56:28teacher retention and the

0:56:32how new construction and better

0:56:34facilities and better programs that are

0:56:36available when those resources are

0:56:38available to teachers there's also a

0:56:40higher retention. So I think if we can

0:56:42provide some additional information

0:56:43about how a new school not only can

0:56:46benefit student performance and also how

0:56:49some of the new advanced technologies

0:56:50can again benefit student performance,

0:56:52student retention as well as educator

0:56:54retention. I think that's something we

0:56:56can pull together for for you next time

0:56:57to consider to

0:56:58>> what what comes first, the chicken or

0:57:00the egg? I mean, if you got

0:57:02>> if if you got if you got a teacher that

0:57:04don't have as many students and she's

0:57:05not wearing herself out every day trying

0:57:08to keep up. I mean, do you do that first

0:57:09and then the buildings come second or

0:57:12and I get it. This is a state issue.

0:57:14Okay.

0:57:14>> But and it's a it's a difficult question

0:57:17and that we talk to our schools about

0:57:19constantly about what are some different

0:57:21things that we can do to help um

0:57:23increase teacher satisfaction. And there

0:57:25are some things that could definitely be

0:57:27implemented at different phases, but I

0:57:29know in a school that we are designing

0:57:31and about to start construction on now,

0:57:33one of the big calls um was to include

0:57:36um a a mother's room in some of these

0:57:38areas or better dedicated private spaces

0:57:41for for teachers who can have those

0:57:43times to find outside of their

0:57:45individual classroom to kind of collect

0:57:48themselves and improve their mental

0:57:50health to increase that teacher

0:57:51attention. So again, I there are

0:57:53benefits to new construction, but you're

0:57:55right. This is a large-scale problem

0:57:57that I know that these educators,

0:57:58>> right? If we really want to fix

0:58:00education, you know, if we really want

0:58:02to fix it, and I done this the other

0:58:04day, guys, about the data centers, you

0:58:06know, everybody's against data centers,

0:58:07okay? One data center that we had

0:58:10looking here and they left would have

0:58:12hired 1,000 new teachers at the salary

0:58:15we got today. So there's your class

0:58:17sizes right there. You know, if we want

0:58:19to take that money, if we could as a

0:58:21county and say we just want to hire

0:58:23teachers with this money, that's a

0:58:25thousand. I bet we don't have a

0:58:27thousand. Do we have a thousand school

0:58:29teachers in this county now? Probably a

0:58:32thousand.

0:58:34>> Oh, I'm sure that

0:58:35>> probably a thousand. Yeah. So, that

0:58:37would double the capacity of our school

0:58:39teachers. You know, just just one

0:58:41facility like that. So, you know, it's

0:58:43easy to say no on on some of these

0:58:45things and and I get it. You know,

0:58:47there's concerns about the environment,

0:58:49concerns about the water, but there's a

0:58:50thousand teachers that could be hired.

0:58:52>> You're a business businessman. You

0:58:54understand that something has to feed to

0:58:56another. So, right,

0:58:57>> you're right. So,

0:58:59>> so, but anyhow, like I say, nobody wants

0:59:01a better education. These kids coming

0:59:02out those doors there because I know

0:59:04that's their future. I know that's their

0:59:06livelihood. And it's our responsibility

0:59:09as as commissioners. It's our

0:59:11responsibility just as it is y'all's

0:59:13responsibility. It's ours to try to get

0:59:15them as educated as we can and quit

0:59:17fooling oursel, you know. I mean, like I

0:59:20say, and this this starts in Raleigh. I

0:59:22mean, if our class sizes, it's the

0:59:23reason I know that I I went to a

0:59:25particular class and they some second

0:59:27and third grade students that are

0:59:30struggling reading, okay? And their

0:59:32teachers don't have time to stay focused

0:59:36on some of these that are struggling a

0:59:37little bit. They got to stay with the

0:59:40rest of the class. So, what happens?

0:59:41Those kids get left behind. They do.

0:59:44>> And you know, there you're an English

0:59:46teacher. I've been there

0:59:48>> and but I've seen this with my own eyes,

0:59:50you know. So, it don't matter about the

0:59:51building. The building they were in

0:59:52right now is nice enough, you know. It's

0:59:54it's it's a good building. It's dry. Air

0:59:56condition works, but those kids are

0:59:58getting left behind. And it breaks my

1:00:00heart, you know, uh to see them left

1:00:03behind. And it's not the teacher's

1:00:04fault. I think the teacher is wonderful.

1:00:06The two teachers I met are wonderful,

1:00:08but they just can't keep up with the

1:00:10class size, you know. And again, I know

1:00:13that's state driven. I guess the teacher

1:00:15it is uh student ratio is state driven.

1:00:17So anyhow, thank you very much for

1:00:19listening to me.

1:00:20>> And uh

1:00:22I I'm done.

1:00:24>> Okay.

1:00:24>> I want I want to ask uh Mr. uh Mr. Mayus

1:00:28one more question. How much money did we

1:00:30give to the middle school for their

1:00:33renovations?

1:00:34>> Right at 14 14.1 or so.

1:00:37>> Okay. 14.1. And um I I haven't heard any

1:00:41complaints. [laughter]

1:00:43Have you all heard heard any complaints

1:00:45from the middle school in Lexington? So

1:00:48So and they were able to of course that

1:00:50school I think was a newer school than

1:00:53the original high school. Much newer.

1:00:56>> Yeah. The change of the storefront and

1:00:58the HVAC and the windows were a big

1:01:00help. I mean like I said I I was there

1:01:02for for six months too.

1:01:04>> So uh you know it it it is a big help.

1:01:07Um, you know,

1:01:12we will make it work whatever ends up

1:01:14happening. But if we have a chance to

1:01:17get ahead of the other 99 counties

1:01:19>> Yeah.

1:01:20>> and get one school or two schools, I you

1:01:22know, I just think it's it's it's like

1:01:25you said, you know, spend a dollar and

1:01:28get two more, right? That's not that's

1:01:30not a bad deal. And it is a unique time

1:01:32where you know the the career technical

1:01:35education is being considered as one of

1:01:37the heavyweight points on there.

1:01:40>> So

1:01:40>> I think that's great. Uh we we just need

1:01:42a little bit more time.

1:01:43>> Oh yes ma'am. Absolutely.

1:01:44>> And thank you for your presentation. Got

1:01:46a quick question. Did you ever apply for

1:01:48any principal ships in Davidson County

1:01:51like at North Davidson?

1:01:53>> I did.

1:01:53>> Okay.

1:01:54>> I did and I got met you before. That's

1:01:56>> Yes ma'am. I did and and guess what

1:01:58happened? I got blocked by the

1:01:59superintendent from Lexington City

1:02:00Schools from me going.

1:02:01>> How about that?

1:02:03>> So, uh, but yes. Yes, sir. Yes, ma'am. I

1:02:06I do remember that. So,

1:02:07>> when I heard your name, I thought I have

1:02:08to ask that question.

1:02:09>> I almost became a knight. [laughter]

1:02:12I did.

1:02:13>> Anyway, thank you ladies and gentlemen.

1:02:15I appreciate everything. Mr. Manis

1:02:17Debbie, thank you so much for everything

1:02:19and I just appreciate your time this

1:02:20morning.

1:02:21>> Thank you very much. Tim, I think what

1:02:22you need to do at one of these next

1:02:24meetings is bring bring the chart to

1:02:26show us when our debts coming off and

1:02:28years because again,

1:02:30>> if they don't get these and we keep

1:02:32kicking this down the road, at what time

1:02:36do we make a decision on what we got to

1:02:38do, you know, other than and then again,

1:02:41how [clears throat] much debt's coming

1:02:42off and what we can do.

1:02:44>> But but can he apply? Can the school

1:02:47system apply unless they had that

1:02:50commitment from the county?

1:02:52>> No,

1:02:54I don't think so. Is that right, Tim? Is

1:02:56that right?

1:02:57>> Is that it?

1:02:58>> Right.

1:02:59>> Y'all got to have our commitment or they

1:03:00won't they won't.

1:03:01>> So, we need to move the board needs to

1:03:04move fast on this.

1:03:05>> Well, they don't have to have their

1:03:06application into them.

1:03:08>> Well, but the sooner they have it in, I

1:03:09think the better.

1:03:10>> It's due on It's usually due the first

1:03:12week of October. Okay. And and that was

1:03:14another reason why we came today even

1:03:16before the application opened up so that

1:03:18you would have that time to do the due

1:03:19diligence

1:03:20>> because I know what it's like whenever

1:03:22you know my kids come to me and ask me

1:03:24on the spot that they need something

1:03:26right then and there as opposed to

1:03:28sitting down and being able to talk

1:03:29about it, think about it, and I'd much

1:03:31rather have y'all have the chance to

1:03:33look at it and really look at the pros

1:03:35and cons. So again, thank you.

1:03:37>> Thank you.

1:03:38>> Thank you.

1:03:39All right, we're moving on to um the

1:03:42appointments to the VA partners

1:03:44governing board u and the county

1:03:47commissioner advisory board as well. Mr.

1:03:49Copeland is coming up to speak with us.

1:03:52Good to see you.

1:03:54>> Thank y'all.

1:03:54>> Thank y'all.

1:03:56>> Good morning, Madam Chair. Good morning,

1:03:57commissioners. Hope everyone is well.

1:03:59Again, Jackie Copelan with Partners

1:04:01Health Management as of today. uh wanted

1:04:04to come to you because uh you've heard

1:04:07um partners has uh talked to uh via

1:04:10health which is in the western part of

1:04:12the state and our boards have agreed to

1:04:15uh merge uh so we'll be become via

1:04:18partners. So with that uh what we're

1:04:21doing also is looking at the governance

1:04:23structure uh of that new organization.

1:04:26So, one thing that I want to do, we sent

1:04:28a letter out and and Debbie has probably

1:04:30shared that with you, is to ask you all

1:04:32to look at who your representatives

1:04:35would be on the governing board and and

1:04:38or on the um uh county commission

1:04:42advisory board. Uh so, I wanted to put

1:04:44just bring that to your attention, offer

1:04:46the opportunity to you all to select

1:04:48someone for that. I know right now uh

1:04:50with the retirement of Trish Baker, the

1:04:53person you had is kind of open now. Um

1:04:56so I thought that it would be good

1:04:57opportunity just to share that with if

1:04:59you ought to consider and you nominate

1:05:00that person who could fill the remaining

1:05:03part of uh Miss Baker's term on our

1:05:06board, but also if if you see fit also

1:05:10uh nominate her to be on the uh

1:05:13governing board or on the advisory

1:05:15board. So that's why I wanted to come

1:05:17and just uh point that out to you and

1:05:19answer any questions you may have.

1:05:24>> When does this need to be done?

1:05:26>> Um I see a date on that because the

1:05:30board uh right now the two boards are

1:05:32meeting together and I think they want

1:05:34to the date part I'm so sorry I had that

1:05:37on other sheets is um I think it's the

1:05:41end of August. I'll get the exact date.

1:05:44I apologize and get that to Debbie if

1:05:46that's okay for you all. But I think

1:05:47it's end of August the August. Yeah, end

1:05:50of this month they're going to have that

1:05:51meeting to to start negotiating that.

1:05:54What they want to do is have a slate of

1:05:56people to consider. And so that's why

1:05:58that date of August.

1:06:00>> So do you need two two people or

1:06:02>> That's up to y'all's choice. That's the

1:06:03options that are there. I want to make

1:06:05sure that you all know your options.

1:06:07That's why I suggest said there could be

1:06:09two. Again, you can have one uh the the

1:06:13two options on the governing board on

1:06:14the advisory. It could be one person

1:06:16that serves on both or can or you can uh

1:06:19try to have two who who can divide and

1:06:22conquer. It's whatever you all feel.

1:06:24>> Karen, you know much as much about this

1:06:26as anybody.

1:06:29>> One person could serve on both or you

1:06:31could choose one for each. Right.

1:06:32>> Right. That's right. Yes, sir.

1:06:36And when Jackie spoke with me after our

1:06:39last opioid committee meeting, I think

1:06:40he just wants to make sure Davidson

1:06:42County has a spot

1:06:43>> representation.

1:06:44>> Representation and Trip Trip is on um

1:06:48>> DS

1:06:49>> DSS and um

1:06:51>> and opioid

1:06:52>> and and Okay. So, um the thing about it

1:06:55is would would it be appropriate to say

1:06:59that the new DSS

1:07:02uh director could be on this board?

1:07:06>> I think that's up to you all to decide.

1:07:08Yeah,

1:07:09>> they're working on it.

1:07:10>> We've got one more interview. We just

1:07:12scheduled it yesterday and I believe

1:07:14it's next Thursday. We're interviewing

1:07:15someone that we feel pretty good about.

1:07:17We've had like eight interviews so far

1:07:19and none of them say no. Yeah. Well, I

1:07:22knew it was going to be a difficult

1:07:23difficult.

1:07:24>> We've got one this coming week that that

1:07:26I've spoken with Caleb Sync and he's

1:07:28pretty encouraged. I think it might be a

1:07:30good possibility.

1:07:31>> Okay. Can Can we say that?

1:07:33>> Well, that or we could put it back on

1:07:34for the August 24th meeting

1:07:36>> so you guys could sort of have time to

1:07:38think about it.

1:07:39>> Sort of like what we did with the last

1:07:40item

1:07:41>> and um then we could get an answer back

1:07:43to Jackie after the 24th.

1:07:45>> Okay. And I'm I'm going to say since

1:07:48since there's so much change going on,

1:07:50let's just let's just at this time do

1:07:53one, you know, for both and then as

1:07:57things move forward with the new merge,

1:08:00um we can add add

1:08:03>> if the board chooses to do that.

1:08:04>> Exactly. Okay.

1:08:06>> So the county commissioner advisory

1:08:08board is usually built made up of

1:08:10commissioners. Correct.

1:08:11>> Yes. That's typically the construction

1:08:13of it.

1:08:13>> Okay. Yeah, we know there's a

1:08:14commissioner that needs to go on there.

1:08:16>> Yes, exactly.

1:08:17>> So, Trip, is that something you

1:08:18interested in? I mean,

1:08:19>> I think we're going to look at it cuz

1:08:21I've just taken on three new ones here

1:08:22recently. I'd like to

1:08:24>> Well, the reason I had mentioned Karen

1:08:26earlier, she's been through this when

1:08:27we've merged with these other ones. She

1:08:29she knows this stuff, but

1:08:31>> Right.

1:08:32>> But I get it.

1:08:34>> But I don't think the county

1:08:35commissioner advisor board has to be a

1:08:37commissioner.

1:08:39If if it's like it used to be, they

1:08:42don't necessarily have to be a

1:08:43commissioner,

1:08:44>> right? This is your representative on

1:08:46that.

1:08:46>> Yeah.

1:08:48>> But it's nice to me it's nice if you got

1:08:50a commissioner there because a lot a lot

1:08:52of other places has got

1:08:53>> commissioners.

1:08:54>> Oh yes.

1:08:55>> And you need somebody from your

1:08:58>> board there. And I think the present uh

1:09:01composition of our partners board now is

1:09:04a large majority of my county

1:09:06commissioners serve on there. One of the

1:09:07things too that to think about that the

1:09:10the department of health human services

1:09:13identified in just composition of that

1:09:15board they requires because we're a

1:09:17health plan have certain certain

1:09:19representation such as insurance finance

1:09:22as you so we've been lucky we that uh in

1:09:25our areas uh the county commissioners

1:09:27are very skilled folks so we have a lot

1:09:29of that talent there we can draw on and

1:09:31meet those requirements.

1:09:33>> Okay. Well, let's let's and at the 24th

1:09:36on the 24th and I guess we could say we

1:09:40might be able to do the DSS uh director

1:09:43for one and see if we can get a county

1:09:46commissioner for the other one. So,

1:09:47>> you know when the when the meetings are

1:09:50>> uh

1:09:50>> or has that been established yet

1:09:53>> for the the new [snorts]

1:09:55>> um No, they haven't been established

1:09:57yet. I yeah my guess is right now no I'm

1:10:01I'm going to stop it I don't want to

1:10:02misspeak so I don't think so right now

1:10:04they meet on monthly basis uh as a whole

1:10:07group uh is virtually so it's um and so

1:10:11then they also have subcommittees that

1:10:13also meet within that

1:10:14>> and the current partners board when does

1:10:16it meet

1:10:17>> it meets the I think the third Thursday

1:10:20>> is it during the day or at night

1:10:21>> uh in the evenings

1:10:22>> okay

1:10:23>> where do they meet at

1:10:25>> via it's virtual they meet via teams

1:10:28just to they moved to do that. Well, one

1:10:31as a lot of things co precipitated the

1:10:33move to that and now that's worked for

1:10:35them. It just we have some very busy

1:10:37people obviously.

1:10:38>> Well, and it's the size.

1:10:40>> Yeah. And size huge uh you know

1:10:43>> so all the meetings are virtual

1:10:46>> uh at this time they've been I don't

1:10:48know if they if they're going to choose

1:10:49to go back to face to face or not.

1:10:51That's why it's a option they could

1:10:53choose to do.

1:10:55So, does the merge happen yet?

1:10:57>> No. The the merge is scheduled on

1:10:59October 1st.

1:11:00>> October 1st.

1:11:02>> Okay.

1:11:05I'll tell you I'll tell you what my

1:11:07opinion is about the virtual,

1:11:11you know, s serving and and being on the

1:11:14board, which was a huge board um before

1:11:19and and I felt like we mo we knew more.

1:11:24We knew each other. We had we had

1:11:28colleagues, you know, between counties,

1:11:30you know. I became very good friends

1:11:32with uh Randolph County folks, you know,

1:11:36and um

1:11:38the virtual. [laughter]

1:11:41Oh. Oh. Well, I'm old.

1:11:46>> They don't work as good. That's

1:11:48>> No, they don't. They don't. Am I wrong

1:11:51in in when I'm looking at this and

1:11:53seeing that this is going back refle

1:11:57uh reverting back to the old cardinal

1:12:00standards of how they done it?

1:12:02>> Well, I think I see your phone because I

1:12:05think Chris came to you in that

1:12:06question.

1:12:07>> How about that? Uh I think I won't say

1:12:10it's back to the car days, but it is a

1:12:12way to look at how do how we're going to

1:12:15manage make sure governance.

1:12:16>> I just want to get back to that

1:12:17nastiness. Well, here here's one thing I

1:12:20think uh more background. One of the

1:12:22things is uh as you all know, you've

1:12:26been around to see the various changes

1:12:27that LME MCOs are local management

1:12:29entities, management organizations that

1:12:31went through over the decades. I was

1:12:33around. We had era programs and we had

1:12:38lots of them.

1:12:39>> Uh and and so as we now have went

1:12:42through a process where they've

1:12:44consolidated down to four as of today.

1:12:47Um, I know to get to that process of

1:12:49four, I remember we was six. I recall

1:12:53um, one of the things a lot of forced

1:12:56marriages took place. I like to use that

1:12:58term, a lot of shotgun weddings, if you

1:13:00will. And that uh, I I think that's one

1:13:03thing we didn't want to do. Partners has

1:13:05since we merged with the three

1:13:06organizations back in 2013.

1:13:11uh we've been able to kind of control

1:13:14who we partner cuz we want to make sure

1:13:16that they that they fit our mission when

1:13:19our counties want. One of the reasons

1:13:21why VA was shows is we had some

1:13:24nonnegotiables. Our I say we but our

1:13:27executive leadership team is they our

1:13:29CEO especially when she was negotiating

1:13:32saying well who we want to partner with

1:13:34because we know the state wants that to

1:13:35happen and we want we want to be in

1:13:37control of that as much as we can. So

1:13:39when we did that, we identified one of

1:13:41the big things is you me services to

1:13:44members. We want to make sure that's in

1:13:45place. That's what we're all about. We

1:13:47fund that. So we want someone has a

1:13:49similar focus on members. And then also

1:13:52the local communities partners has put a

1:13:54lot of effort in um being in in

1:13:58communities like in Davidson County

1:13:59working in various ways to be there be a

1:14:02part of as much as we can. So we won

1:14:05partner with the LMC had the same type

1:14:07me same type of of culture and so with

1:14:10that that's why and we've been working

1:14:13via health for years I kind of make a

1:14:15joke we have we had a a sibling rivalry

1:14:18when the performance measures the state

1:14:20has out we always try to see we always

1:14:24one of us always going to be the the the

1:14:26fir be the top spot right so so so that

1:14:29me a good also good people who try to do

1:14:33and help members and so that's some of

1:14:35the reason why we did that to get your

1:14:37point uh m I think one thing we want to

1:14:40do is even with this growth we don't

1:14:42want to lose those core pieces that are

1:14:44important I think to you all is to serve

1:14:46you all your your residents at the same

1:14:48token be available to you all and work

1:14:50with you and they committed to that uh

1:14:52locally you won't see a change in some

1:14:55of people on the ground here in Davidson

1:14:56County um that's we have a community

1:14:59community community engagement

1:15:00specialist memory engagement specialist

1:15:02We're going to that event this weekend,

1:15:04I think. Uh it's going to be um um

1:15:07>> at Braden Amphitheater.

1:15:08>> Yeah, we're going to be there. We're

1:15:10scheduled to be at the uh night out, but

1:15:12we know they got cancelled. So, those

1:15:14people be there and be available to the

1:15:16members and also joke, you still have to

1:15:19deal with me because you'll still have

1:15:20me as a regional director in this area.

1:15:22So, we want to in as we went through

1:15:25this process, we made sure we have those

1:15:27pieces in place to try to meet those two

1:15:28areas. and the VIA partners governing

1:15:32board how those eight selected and what

1:15:35process are they selected? Yeah, they

1:15:38among that's one of the reason why I

1:15:40wanted to have you all here come to you

1:15:42all is that you all would nominate who

1:15:44you feel and that group will kind of

1:15:47decide amongst the boards the governor

1:15:49>> used to be under cardinal

1:15:51>> but I I was familiar with that but I

1:15:52guess so yeah and that's why I wanted to

1:15:54make sure you have the opportunity

1:15:56>> that's very political very political

1:15:59that means that you could point a

1:16:00representative and not even be on the

1:16:02governing board

1:16:04and I never have thought that was Right.

1:16:07>> I'm sorry, but I don't think it's right.

1:16:09And I think it was the downfall of

1:16:11Cardinal, and you're I think you're

1:16:13setting yourself up for the same

1:16:15eventual results.

1:16:17>> Well, and I think it goes back to the

1:16:20state. This is the state, the HHS,

1:16:24making these four humongous regions, you

1:16:28know, and and when I was on the board,

1:16:29that's what they were working on right

1:16:31then. moving moving from four from six

1:16:35to five and now we're got we're and that

1:16:37was the plan that was the plan 10 years

1:16:39ago and now it's happening and so if as

1:16:44long as we get people like him on the

1:16:46ground you know and and he has helped us

1:16:49uh get some things especially in DSS you

1:16:52know extra workers extra money you know

1:16:55to use locally as long as that continues

1:16:59to happen and we see that happening I

1:17:01think we'll be okay. But it's we're

1:17:03working with a big thing now. It's just

1:17:05all big and it's all it's not

1:17:09it's not like a small community. It's

1:17:11it's a large community, you know, and

1:17:14and if our workers uh work hard to take

1:17:19care of, you know, our people, you know,

1:17:22it it will happen, you know. And Triple

1:17:26T triple understand this. the longer he

1:17:29stays on um to kind of understand how

1:17:32all this works. But um

1:17:34>> and if I can mention one point to to

1:17:36kind of build off points you made, if

1:17:38you look at what's going on now

1:17:40statewide regarding because our main

1:17:42business is Medicaid or

1:17:43>> Yes.

1:17:44>> Taylor plan, Medicaid direct and we have

1:17:46the state funds or single stream

1:17:48dollars.

1:17:48>> That's right.

1:17:49>> Which are always being cut it seems over

1:17:52the years. I think um yeah I won't get

1:17:55into all that but if you look at what's

1:17:57going on in some of the new legislation

1:17:59that's coming in place there's going to

1:18:00be pressures I know uh DSS is looking at

1:18:03too with HR1 the effect it's going to

1:18:04have on a variety of pieces

1:18:06>> so with that in play that's another

1:18:09reason why we thought it's a time for us

1:18:12to find a to merge with entity that we

1:18:15feel comfortable with to be able to kind

1:18:17of one get some economies of scales

1:18:19because one of the things we're

1:18:20challenging talking back to the cardinal

1:18:23days. I know um one thing I've always

1:18:26when I've been around a while but came

1:18:29into this role as regional director in

1:18:31another county uh I was introduced that

1:18:34was a Cardinal County. I I I was uh I

1:18:37had to go to a series of invite to a

1:18:39series of meetings uh and and the first

1:18:42thing they thought is okay uh Cardinal

1:18:45promised us $100,000. have one that's a

1:18:48million dollars for for this project

1:18:50we've got in community grants. One of

1:18:52the things we faced is because over the

1:18:54years those dollars we didn't have VIA

1:18:57faces the same kind of constraints. So

1:18:59we're hoping too this merger allows to

1:19:02be able to find those Medicaid dollars

1:19:04to truly reinvest more back in the

1:19:07services that community needs. Um so

1:19:10that's another reason why we decided

1:19:12it's a good time to do this. the

1:19:14secretary of health human services. He

1:19:17uh he's approved this already when the

1:19:19board did that. They reached out to him

1:19:21beforehand. He signed I think both our

1:19:24boards met

1:19:27back in was it June I think and the next

1:19:30at Thursday night by f by f next morning

1:19:34he had a letter hit and he approves he

1:19:37supports uh the resolutions to merge. So

1:19:40yeah, there's a lot of pressures to we

1:19:42face that we hope we can get ahead of in

1:19:45regard to this because uh there things

1:19:46outside of our control. We're just

1:19:47trying to do what we can do to control

1:19:49what we can control.

1:19:50>> Yes. Thank you.

1:19:51>> Okay.

1:19:52>> Thank you so much.

1:19:53>> We'll work with Miss Harris and make

1:19:56sure we can find some good people for

1:19:58you.

1:19:58>> Quincious, thank you for your time. Have

1:20:00a great day. [clears throat]

1:20:02>> Okay. Um Miss Harris has got the next

1:20:05one. the property of the workshop of

1:20:09Davidson.

1:20:10>> Cara Cody is here this morning. The

1:20:1210-year lease with the workshop expires

1:20:14on November 30th of this year.

1:20:16>> So, this is just to sort of get the

1:20:18process started again.

1:20:20>> And I know when we did this back in

1:20:212016, we took the bigger footprint that

1:20:24went all the way from Marian to Holly

1:20:27Grove and sort of cut it in half. So,

1:20:29right now, what they've got is pretty

1:20:31much just the footprint that they're

1:20:32building and their parking lot sit on.

1:20:34But just [clears throat] wanted to give

1:20:35you all a heads up and get the blessings

1:20:37to get the ball rolling again to get

1:20:39this next 10-year lease started.

1:20:40>> Okay.

1:20:41>> So, we're not having an automatic

1:20:42renewal.

1:20:43>> No, sir.

1:20:44>> What else?

1:20:44>> The way the statutes are, we have to do

1:20:46go through this because it initially we

1:20:49had a 50-year lease,

1:20:50>> right?

1:20:51>> And um it expired in 2016. And when it

1:20:54expired, there was some new legislation

1:20:55that came in that leases can only be for

1:20:5810-year periods. now. Okay.

1:20:59>> So, so this one is going um it was from

1:21:02December 1st of 2016 to November 30th of

1:21:052026.

1:21:06>> So, this will allow us to get get the

1:21:08ball rolling again.

1:21:09>> So, this is to renew the lease.

1:21:12>> No. So, Monday, what we'll do

1:21:13>> draw a new lease.

1:21:14>> That's correct. So, on Monday, you'll

1:21:17see something on the agenda that's to

1:21:18schedule a public hearing for the end of

1:21:20September so we can get the ball rolling

1:21:22and get the lease in place.

1:21:24>> Okay.

1:21:24>> Are you all okay with that?

1:21:25>> The board amenable

1:21:26>> to

1:21:28Yes,

1:21:29>> we appreciate your consideration. Uh

1:21:31we've been on the property since 1966.

1:21:34We've made significant improvements

1:21:35there to our buildings.

1:21:37>> Um and we'd like to continue to to be

1:21:39there.

1:21:40>> Thank you.

1:21:40>> Over the past several years, there's

1:21:41been a lot of improvements made to the

1:21:43building. It's very nice

1:21:45>> and thank you. Thank you for the work

1:21:47you do.

1:21:48>> Thank you. Have a great day.

1:21:50>> Thank you.

1:21:51>> Okay. Item number D, social services

1:21:53request to add compensation option for

1:21:56certified interpreters. Finally, we're

1:21:58getting to you so you can go back to

1:22:00work. [laughter] It's okay. Good

1:22:03morning, everyone. My name is Tammy

1:22:05Shik. I'm with the North Carolina

1:22:06Division of Health and Human Services,

1:22:08Division of Social Services, and I'm uh

1:22:10here um representing Felissa Frell, the

1:22:13acting child welfare director. Um, and

1:22:16so I wanted to talk about the um,

1:22:19request for compensation for certified

1:22:22interpreters. Um, as you know, we are

1:22:25required by title six of the US Civil

1:22:27Rights Act to provide interpretive

1:22:29services to families that require that.

1:22:32Um, and we have, uh, fortunately we have

1:22:35a staff person right now and we would

1:22:37like to recruit and hire additional

1:22:39staff folks in the social work uh, roles

1:22:42who have the ability to be dualingual

1:22:45interpreters. Um, this particular worker

1:22:48is a Spanish has Spanish speaking

1:22:50capacity. Um and so there is a

1:22:53requirement that they have some

1:22:55training, some certification that they

1:22:57go through to actually be allowed to

1:22:59interpret um for this title six via

1:23:02Civil Rights Act. Um and that is beyond

1:23:06the scope of their social work position.

1:23:08It's something additional and different

1:23:10that they do. Currently, we use mostly a

1:23:13telephonic interpreter service for um

1:23:16the work that we do in Davidson County.

1:23:19Um, and um, right now you're that's

1:23:22running about $2,100 a month. That's for

1:23:24the entire DSS. I am aware of a couple

1:23:28of situations where we have not been

1:23:30able to use that service. I can give you

1:23:32a quick example. Um, one of the parents

1:23:35was in jail, incarcerated in jail um, in

1:23:38in another county and that county jail

1:23:40would not allow us to call an

1:23:44interpreter to speak with that parent.

1:23:46So, we were not able to do the work that

1:23:48we needed to do. There's also been some

1:23:50situations where we've had some

1:23:52teenagers um that came into the

1:23:55department's custody where we needed to

1:23:57have conversations with them and it's

1:23:58very difficult to have a meaningful

1:24:00conversation um where you're on the

1:24:03telephone with them and interpreting for

1:24:05you. So, um this this request would be

1:24:09that for a social worker who is able to

1:24:12complete the certification process um

1:24:15through the National Council for

1:24:16Interpreting and Health Care, um that

1:24:18they would receive an additional $175

1:24:22per month. Um that would be a cost of

1:24:25about 20 uh $2,100 for 12 months. It is

1:24:29reimburseable up to 50%. So, the county

1:24:32cost would be approximately $1,50 per

1:24:36year. Um, again, your current average

1:24:39monthly cost for your telephonic uh

1:24:42interpretive services is $2,100 a month.

1:24:45This would decrease that because the

1:24:47child welfare um part around the

1:24:49interpretive services would be offset by

1:24:51this person being able to interpret.

1:24:54Additionally, they could be assigned to

1:24:57the cases that have Spanish for this

1:24:59particular worker, Spanish-speaking um

1:25:01clients. And so that that continuity as

1:25:04having someone who actually speaks their

1:25:06language and able to communicate them

1:25:08would be very beneficial um not just for

1:25:11cost savings but also for the family

1:25:13receiving the services. So we would ask

1:25:16um we did present this to the DSS board.

1:25:18They were in favor of this and we would

1:25:19ask that you consider um this request.

1:25:23So, actually we're we're we're taking

1:25:25the four part-time and making two two

1:25:28full-time.

1:25:28>> That's a interpreter.

1:25:30>> No, that's that's different.

1:25:32>> That's different. This is the um

1:25:34interpreter pay.

1:25:35>> Okay.

1:25:36>> For social workers. And this is um right

1:25:38now um if this worker um takes the

1:25:41certification course, passes it,

1:25:43assuming all that happens, it would be

1:25:45an additional $175 per month for that

1:25:48worker. But if we get additional staff

1:25:51who have that option, we would like to

1:25:54be able to consider to pay pay them

1:25:56additional as well. Okay.

1:25:58>> Is Spanish the only interpreter that

1:26:00that we need here in this county?

1:26:01>> It's the primary um interpretive service

1:26:04that you need. It's not the only you you

1:26:07sometimes have um different dialects

1:26:09even within the Spanish community. So

1:26:11sometimes even though they may speak a

1:26:14um a dialect of Spanish, it would it

1:26:17would be dependent. Yes. Yeah,

1:26:23>> I don't see any issue with it myself.

1:26:24>> I I don't either.

1:26:26>> So, so um we'll place this item on the

1:26:29August 10th consent agenda for approval.

1:26:31>> And there'll be a an HR policy to

1:26:33accompany that that

1:26:36>> just a one-page policy that basically

1:26:38outlines how the pay would work, how how

1:26:40they would maintain their certification,

1:26:42maintain the certification because this

1:26:44is a little different from translation.

1:26:46and it's interpreter is a little more

1:26:48stringent. So,

1:26:48>> Right. Right.

1:26:51Okay. Would you like for me to move on

1:26:54to the next one? Okay.

1:26:57Um, so the next item is um you currently

1:27:00have four part-time positions that you

1:27:03have uh ha have in your organizational

1:27:05chart for child welfare. And we are

1:27:08requesting to convert those four

1:27:11part-time positions into two full-time

1:27:13positions. Um, I'm going to go into the

1:27:16financial piece of it, but I want to

1:27:17kind of give the contextual background

1:27:19for why this is a request that that we

1:27:21think is important. Uh, one, it is very

1:27:24difficult to fill part-time positions

1:27:26across the board. Um, and we have had a

1:27:29lot of success in filling the full-time

1:27:32position vacancies that you have at at

1:27:34DSS, but we got to the point with the

1:27:37part-time, we just took them off the

1:27:38recruitment because we were not uh able

1:27:41to fill those. Additionally, in the

1:27:43social work field, it's very difficult

1:27:46to have someone working part-time.

1:27:47Families and children have kind of

1:27:50constant need. And so, if someone's only

1:27:52working a couple of days a week or half

1:27:54a day, that's very difficult for them to

1:27:56meet the needs of the families and

1:27:58children that they serve. Additionally,

1:28:00you know, we have court one day a week.

1:28:02So, if someone is not able to work that

1:28:05day, but they need to be in court, it's

1:28:06just lots and lots of challenges with

1:28:08those part-time positions. Um and so we

1:28:12do need the two additional full-time

1:28:14positions to meet the needs specifically

1:28:16in your um foster care permanency

1:28:19planning area. So we are requesting that

1:28:23you look at um taking those four

1:28:25full-time those four part-time positions

1:28:28um you know and converting those to two

1:28:31full-time positions. Um right now the

1:28:34annual pay for a social worker three

1:28:36which is the social workers that fill

1:28:38the um the permanency planning positions

1:28:41is um $63,689

1:28:45with almost $16,000 in benefits for each

1:28:48position. So, a total cost of a little

1:28:51over $79,000

1:28:53um per position

1:28:55um for a total cost of um of that. The

1:28:59county can receive roughly 50% federal

1:29:02and state reimbursement for these

1:29:04positions. Um so, when you look at all

1:29:07of that together, um the additional

1:29:10dollars needed to convert these two

1:29:12these four part-time positions into

1:29:14full-time positions would be around

1:29:17$43,000.

1:29:18It's 42,867.

1:29:21Um,

1:29:24when you think about and you all are

1:29:25very aware that we've had to use a lot

1:29:27of u temporary agency work to help the

1:29:31cost of that of those positions is

1:29:34extremely high. Um, and it just

1:29:36continues to go up and so um fortunately

1:29:39we have um been able to release uh

1:29:42almost all of the Vanguard PE folks that

1:29:44were working.

1:29:45>> That's wonderful.

1:29:47>> Yes. [laughter] And and you're going to

1:29:49be so happy to hear this, Miss Watford.

1:29:50By the end of August, we will be

1:29:52bringing on 11 additional staff that

1:29:54will be either finished training in

1:29:57August or five that are coming on that

1:29:59are fully trained. So, 11 new positions

1:30:02that will be up and running in August.

1:30:04So, we're really trying to get you out

1:30:06of those contractual positions as

1:30:08quickly as possible because they are

1:30:10extremely expensive. Um, we we do think

1:30:14that that these positions are necessary

1:30:16in order to meet the demand. We've

1:30:18talked about that. Right now, your

1:30:19permanency planning workers are still

1:30:21carrying over case load standards. This

1:30:24would address help address that. Um, and

1:30:27so, um, we respectfully ask that you

1:30:30consider taking those four part-time

1:30:33positions and converting them to two

1:30:34full-times.

1:30:35>> Yes. Thank you.

1:30:38>> Everybody okay with that? You're looking

1:30:41at a salary of 63,000

1:30:44absent benefits. Correct.

1:30:45>> Correct. Yeah.

1:30:46>> The incoming people you have coming in,

1:30:48what is their salary going to start at?

1:30:51>> Um I I believe that's the offered salary

1:30:55that they they negotiate.

1:30:57>> So it's comparable.

1:30:58>> Yes.

1:30:59>> You know, we're not put one group over

1:31:00another group and we're going to lose

1:31:02this group because this group we put

1:31:04above them.

1:31:05>> No. Okay.

1:31:06>> No, I don't believe so. Commissioner

1:31:08Shell, we just I mean just to add to

1:31:09that, we everyone has ran through a

1:31:11salary calculation and their salary can

1:31:14start above the minimum pay, but that's

1:31:16based on education above and beyond and

1:31:18years of experience if they've completed

1:31:20certain trainings. But

1:31:22>> um you know, generally speaking, this is

1:31:26>> to do this. I mean, the the real gain

1:31:28and the cost increases the fr a little

1:31:31bit of fringe and the insurance is

1:31:33what's driving the cost. I mean, the

1:31:34salaries are

1:31:35>> Yeah. you know, that would be the

1:31:36equivalently the same as the part-time.

1:31:39>> And one thing I wanted the other

1:31:41commissioners, if if if y'all haven't

1:31:43looked at that little chart right there,

1:31:45uh this this is one reason why Davidson

1:31:49County is a good place to work. When you

1:31:51see the benefits, and some people say,

1:31:53"I don't care about the benefits. Our

1:31:55benefits, our benefits add a great deal

1:31:59to their salary." and and um that we've

1:32:03increased them in DSS and um you know

1:32:07that's you know that's a call that

1:32:10people need to understand

1:32:11>> and we've had some that left and went

1:32:14other places then discovered too late

1:32:16they've made a bad mistake.

1:32:17>> That's right. That's exactly right.

1:32:19>> That's correct. You all are you all are

1:32:21we are getting experienced staff now. As

1:32:24I said we've hired five that will start

1:32:26in the month of August that are already

1:32:28trained. Y'all have no idea how big this

1:32:32is compared to last year or the year

1:32:36before or even the year before that. Uh

1:32:38this is big.

1:32:40>> The biggest part if they stay.

1:32:42>> Yes. Yes.

1:32:42>> That's the biggest part.

1:32:44>> Yeah.

1:32:46>> That's always the problem [laughter] we

1:32:47had. They would come but they wouldn't

1:32:49stay.

1:32:49>> But they wouldn't stay. So anyway, thank

1:32:51you so much. Um I I'm I believe we're

1:32:54all amable to this. Um, so happy and

1:32:57thank you for the information and thank

1:32:59you for what you've done. Um, Tammy has

1:33:03been uh just wonderful. Uh, she really

1:33:07has. Um, she's made such a difference.

1:33:10All of all the whole group I'm but

1:33:14seem like you and I I think have the

1:33:18same kind of vibe about DSS. So, thank

1:33:21you.

1:33:21>> Thank you, Chairman Watford. Thank you.

1:33:24So, everyone's [snorts] good with this

1:33:25going on Monday.

1:33:26>> Okay. And Jackie just sent me an email.

1:33:30I'm gonna ask him to come back up real

1:33:32quick.

1:33:32>> Okay.

1:33:36>> Do that.

1:33:37>> My apologies, commissioners. You asked

1:33:38me a question of when uh the partners

1:33:42board is going to decide on the nominees

1:33:43for the uh governing board or the C the

1:33:47advisory board. I found in my notes. I

1:33:49apologize. I I forgot to bring the page

1:33:52up with me. uh on August 20th they're

1:33:55going to make that decision. So I want

1:33:57to let you all know because you all

1:33:58mentioned we're looking at the 24th. So

1:34:00I wonder oops

1:34:02>> yeah it's close. I know I assume you all

1:34:05too are going to the that commissioners

1:34:09meeting in Durham. So I wanted to make

1:34:12you aware of that little challenge. One

1:34:14of the things that they that their

1:34:15timeline is um they've set this date uh

1:34:20in advance. One of the things is um I

1:34:24again back to as Debbie said, I I wanted

1:34:26to make sure that you all knew the

1:34:27options to be there because as the shell

1:34:30talked about how the process was in the

1:34:32past, I want to make sure Davidson

1:34:33County has opportunity to um really h

1:34:36have representation on that board.

1:34:39>> Just a suggestion, I know Amanda Puit is

1:34:41the interim director.

1:34:43>> She is. I mean, c could you all nominate

1:34:46her to fill that position and then when

1:34:48we get the director in place to let the

1:34:50director fill the position?

1:34:51>> Exactly.

1:34:52>> That's great. That's a great

1:34:53>> I mean that way we've got someone at the

1:34:55we've got a name to put out someone to

1:34:57get at the table and then when we do get

1:34:59the new director in then we can get with

1:35:02partners via or via partners and make

1:35:04that transition. But that way

1:35:05>> she may want to leave. She may enjoy it

1:35:07and

1:35:08>> I mean she she's really really doing a

1:35:11good job. She really is. When you talk

1:35:13to the DSS folks, we've got some

1:35:16>> It's a good idea.

1:35:17>> Okay. You guys are okay with that?

1:35:19>> Yes. Okay.

1:35:20>> And then the rest of the commissioners

1:35:22need to consider

1:35:24>> the commissioner position.

1:35:25>> The commissioner position.

1:35:28>> Okay.

1:35:28>> You want me to put that back on for

1:35:30Monday? Yes. You all contemplate it?

1:35:33>> Yeah.

1:35:33>> I mean, who's decide that today?

1:35:36>> It can't be me. [laughter]

1:35:39>> It can't be you. can't be made

1:35:43>> meetings. Are they in the evenings as

1:35:45well? That board?

1:35:47>> I don't know. That's that's one thing

1:35:48they haven't decided yet. I would assume

1:35:50so. That's that's typically where

1:35:51because that's where it is now. I think

1:35:53it just makes

1:35:53>> Here's an idea. if one of you could fill

1:35:58the position until the change of the

1:36:01guard in December and then turn that

1:36:06over to one of the new commissioners.

1:36:10I mean, that's an idea,

1:36:14>> but fill fill the hole for right now and

1:36:17then either stay on it or let one of the

1:36:22new

1:36:22>> Sounds like there's only going to be

1:36:23like two meetings at the most.

1:36:25>> Yeah, I think I I don't think it's going

1:36:27to be a lot. Uh, but it needs it's

1:36:29important. It's important.

1:36:31>> That's all I I I hate I want Davidson

1:36:34County have opportunity to submit

1:36:36[snorts] some names for the partners

1:36:38board. they'll be deciding this to make

1:36:40that decision. That's why uh we'll make

1:36:44sure that that um you take advantage of

1:36:46that.

1:36:47>> So, it's the three of y'all [laughter]

1:36:50>> by Monday. Let's decide. Okay.

1:36:54>> See, I had never been involved that much

1:36:56in this part of it.

1:36:58>> I think we'd all be pretty good.

1:37:00>> Oh, yeah.

1:37:00>> Yeah. Yeah.

1:37:03That's that's why Karen really I thought

1:37:05and I you may not want to do it that if

1:37:07you could do it till the change of guard

1:37:10because you've been through this process

1:37:12already.

1:37:13>> I have I could you could come back and

1:37:14give us a

1:37:15>> an honest report of really what take

1:37:18what's taking place and

1:37:19>> Okay. Okay.

1:37:21>> Is that okay? Because she's been through

1:37:23a couple cuz

1:37:25>> we just took on I took on three here in

1:37:27the last six months.

1:37:29I would that that would make sense to me

1:37:31and then we can find somebody to

1:37:33>> if you're willing to do that because

1:37:35again when you go through these mergers

1:37:36and like say you will

1:37:38>> Is there anything that you need from me

1:37:40>> Deb if you just send us an email uh

1:37:42acknowledging the nominees

1:37:44>> and chair and I'll share that with our

1:37:47clerk and then she'll go forth and add

1:37:48that to the votes of consideration

1:37:51>> and you can give us a report kind of

1:37:53what happened because you you've lived

1:37:55this life before. Sure.

1:37:57>> Quincers, thank you again for me

1:37:58intruding again on your meeting. Thank

1:38:00you. [laughter]

1:38:01>> That's okay. Okay, we're ready for Mr.

1:38:03Jones to come up. He's been waiting

1:38:05patiently. [laughter]

1:38:07>> And this is going to be a short one.

1:38:09>> Okay.

1:38:09>> Thank you for doing that.

1:38:10>> Oh, we Oh, yeah.

1:38:12>> Good morning, commissioners.

1:38:14>> Good morning.

1:38:15We have [clears throat] uh provided an

1:38:17opportunity by um integrated mobility

1:38:20division of NC do for a grant um that

1:38:24would allow us to uh start a pilot

1:38:27project. Uh not committing to it long

1:38:29term, but to set up a route that would

1:38:32go here from Lexington and connect with

1:38:34Wista at the uh Walmart on Peters Creek

1:38:37Parkway. So we go over into Foresight

1:38:39County, connect with them, allowing

1:38:41Davidson County people to be able to get

1:38:43into Win Winston and then ride their

1:38:45public transportation wherever they

1:38:47wherever they go. Um, this particular

1:38:50grant um for this this year is 100%

1:38:54funded by the state. Um, I'm sure

1:38:56they're using some federal money in

1:38:57that, but there's no local match. which

1:38:59was 400,000 that we would be uh getting

1:39:03to um plan it and then um start the

1:39:06route. Um and then this grant is also

1:39:09available on future years but future

1:39:13years will probably be a a local match

1:39:17probably 20%. Um, I know you all are

1:39:20well aware, but so I don't want to bore

1:39:22you with how we're doing our funding

1:39:24currently, but our deviated fixed routes

1:39:26are funded through the urban small urban

1:39:29from um, High Point and large urban from

1:39:32Winston Salem. That's the 5307 grants

1:39:34that we get and they're 50/50 federal

1:39:37money and 50% local money. Then

1:39:40[clears throat] our administrative costs

1:39:42are covered through the 311 grant and

1:39:45that's um 85% federal and state 15%

1:39:49local and that's what covers our office

1:39:51staff paying our basically paying paying

1:39:53the salaries and then also help

1:39:55contribute you know covering

1:39:57administrative cost you know office

1:39:59supplies and all that kind of fun stuff.

1:40:02Um and then for our demand response

1:40:04transportation, we primarily use um rope

1:40:08funding, which is all state funding.

1:40:10That's the rural general public funding

1:40:11that we get. Um you'll have an

1:40:14application coming before you soon,

1:40:16>> Monday.

1:40:16>> Well, soon Monday on that, they they

1:40:19finally rolled that program out for this

1:40:21year. Uh we have the employment funding

1:40:23that we get through the ROE program and

1:40:24then EDTAP, which is elderly and

1:40:26handicapped folks that we can provide

1:40:28transportation for our rural residents.

1:40:31Um a couple years ago um well during

1:40:34COVID we have started providing

1:40:35transportation outside the county

1:40:37because we had all that federal money.

1:40:38Um we had to stop providing those trans

1:40:42transportation

1:40:43uh really last beginning of last year.

1:40:46We just didn't have the funds to

1:40:47continue to provide it. It's very

1:40:48expensive trips uh for the demand

1:40:51response contractors to take people uh

1:40:53to Winston or anywhere out of county.

1:40:56Um, so this particular grant would allow

1:40:59us to provide that transportation for

1:41:01someone for people riding the public

1:41:03transportation buses uh to get to

1:41:05Winston and be able to get to Foresight

1:41:07or Baptist or wherever they need to go.

1:41:09Um, covers the city pretty well up

1:41:12there. So, it just opens up an avenue

1:41:14for for Davis County residents to get up

1:41:16there.

1:41:18>> Rership. Yes, ma'am.

1:41:19>> At the at the end of the year, would you

1:41:22be able to provide us with how much

1:41:25ridership? Yes, ma'am.

1:41:26>> Uh so that we can decide whether we

1:41:29wanted

1:41:30>> continue. Right.

1:41:30>> To continue.

1:41:31>> Exactly.

1:41:32>> Exactly.

1:41:32>> Yeah. We track our ridership right now

1:41:34um on the buses um well, we track it by

1:41:38hour and we track it how many people get

1:41:40on the bus any given hour of the day on

1:41:42the four routes and wherever they get on

1:41:44at. So we track by stop. So we'll know

1:41:47exactly how many people are using um

1:41:50using that bus to to get um to get up to

1:41:53Winston. I think that's something that,

1:41:55you know, because we've not always had

1:41:58transportation. I mean, when when when

1:42:00when did we start doing all this

1:42:03busing? 10 years ago, 15 years ago, 20

1:42:06years ago.

1:42:06>> Yeah. The EVA fixed route started with

1:42:08the bulldog route in Thomasville. I

1:42:10believe that was 2012. Before then, it

1:42:12was just demand response. Yeah.

1:42:14>> So, there wasn't a lot of

1:42:15transportation.

1:42:16>> So, there's a, you know, a lot of change

1:42:18and but but we've had to take on the the

1:42:20the cost, you know. So you're saying

1:42:23this will be 100% upfront

1:42:25>> for this year just to get going.

1:42:27>> And that amount will actually cover more

1:42:30if we started that route actually today.

1:42:33I don't that would cover really more

1:42:35than a year. Okay. uh the route uh I

1:42:38didn't say this but parked uh pond

1:42:40authority for regional transportation

1:42:42they have a great planning department

1:42:43and I've been working with them on kind

1:42:45of mapping out the route how we would do

1:42:48the route and then they can they plug in

1:42:50our cost and come up with a cost for it

1:42:53um so they're still evaluating that but

1:42:55it's going to be

1:42:57maybe 225,000 a year

1:43:00>> for that route if we do it like three

1:43:02times do that route three times in the

1:43:03morning three times in the afternoon. We

1:43:06still need to work out all those

1:43:07details. It's not a route we would do

1:43:09all day long. There just I don't think

1:43:11there'd be a need for it.

1:43:13>> No. Okay.

1:43:13>> And then one of the stops would be the

1:43:15Welcome Business Park. Um so we could

1:43:17take people to Atrium or anyone who's

1:43:19working in that. We could right now

1:43:22there is no trans translate unless we

1:43:23use our employment funds to pick them up

1:43:25at home and take them take them to work.

1:43:27>> Um so that would be one stop and then

1:43:30the next stop would be the Walmart up on

1:43:33Peters Creek primarily. to we go up

1:43:36Winston Road to get up to uh 285.

1:43:40>> Will it require an additional vehicle?

1:43:43>> I don't think No, not another vehicle

1:43:45because we have three spares.

1:43:47>> Okay.

1:43:47>> Um even though I don't write this

1:43:49minute. [laughter] I got one that gave

1:43:52up the ghost. Um we It's kind of It's

1:43:56kind of sad. We had a 20 FY20 25 grant

1:44:01for two bus replacements. We ordered

1:44:02those buses. We're still waiting.

1:44:05>> We ordered two more buses with the FY26

1:44:08grant. They're supposed to be here in

1:44:10December. The ones are 25. I mean, I'm

1:44:12told now September. Um, and then one of

1:44:15our older buses, the transmission went

1:44:17out and we just didn't want to

1:44:21spend the money on a bus with almost

1:44:23200,000 miles, right?

1:44:24>> So, we parked it. And then um you know

1:44:27Ford

1:44:28is the same engine that the EMS vehicles

1:44:31use and it's not a good engine for these

1:44:34for the with the when you have the

1:44:35doghouse covering it. It's just not

1:44:37enough air flow. So it's crazy how how

1:44:40many engines we have to replace u

1:44:43between the two between buses and

1:44:45fortunately most of them have died still

1:44:47under warranty. Um so we get a new one

1:44:50that starts a new warranty. Um, but it

1:44:53but they spend a lot of time down

1:44:54because of that.

1:44:57>> Well, uh, so we're going to put this on

1:45:00the August 10th consent agenda.

1:45:03>> Okay.

1:45:04>> Since this since this was a new grant,

1:45:05we thought that you guys needed to hear

1:45:07about it instead of just putting it on

1:45:08an agenda.

1:45:08>> Yeah. Thank you.

1:45:09>> A surprise.

1:45:11>> Thank you, Richard.

1:45:14>> Okay. Um, delegates, Miss Harris, PTRC,

1:45:18>> and I think that Jesse Day, Jesse, are

1:45:20you able to help me on this one, too?

1:45:22>> Yeah.

1:45:22>> Okay.

1:45:24>> Jesse Day from PTRC has come up has come

1:45:26down this morning to help with this one

1:45:28and the next one.

1:45:29>> Okay.

1:45:29>> About these two boards.

1:45:30>> Yeah. Good morning, commissioners. I

1:45:31know we're at the bottom of the agenda.

1:45:32Um, my name is Jesse Day and I'm the

1:45:34planning director at Punch Tribe

1:45:36Regional Council. So, appreciate your

1:45:37membership in our regional organization.

1:45:39Um, yeah, so delegates meetings are

1:45:42every two months. Um and you know do do

1:45:45want to acknowledge you know um

1:45:47Commissioner Mccclure's health issues

1:45:48and he's been a great advocate for

1:45:51regionalism and and participation in our

1:45:53our regional body. So um yeah so uh

1:45:57delegates meeting every two months and

1:45:58then the executive committee is a

1:45:59monthly meeting. So first Wednesday for

1:46:01the executive committee, third Wednesday

1:46:04I think so February, April, June,

1:46:07August, October and December for the

1:46:10delegates meetings. And are they in

1:46:12person or or is a virtual option

1:46:13available?

1:46:14>> There is a virtual option uh but to to

1:46:16vote needs to be in person just to

1:46:18follow the post postcoavid or Yeah.

1:46:21Yeah. Postcoid rules for uh public

1:46:24meetings.

1:46:25>> It's been close to a year since we've

1:46:26had anyone at these meetings.

1:46:28>> All right.

1:46:28>> And they reached out because they really

1:46:30want to have Davidson County at the

1:46:31table. So,

1:46:35>> okay. And here we go.

1:46:39We give you food every time. So,

1:46:42[laughter]

1:46:47>> and I don't know whether someone could

1:46:48just fill in for a couple of months and

1:46:50then we could put this this will be on

1:46:52in on the December organizational

1:46:54meeting for discussion.

1:46:57>> Okay. I'm not going to do this one. No.

1:47:00Y'all are going [laughter]

1:47:01y'all are going to have to come up with

1:47:03this one.

1:47:06[clears throat]

1:47:11What time is it?

1:47:12>> Noon.

1:47:12>> They're all at noon. All at noon.

1:47:15[cough]

1:47:15>> And I [clears throat] think maybe at one

1:47:17out of the I've been there 20 years, but

1:47:19one time it went after 1:00. So

1:47:21>> Pedmont Tri Regal on Carolton Drive in

1:47:24Kerner.

1:47:25>> Oh,

1:47:26there's a virtual option.

1:47:28>> Yeah,

1:47:30>> sounds like you.

1:47:32>> I'll add it. It'll be number eight

1:47:34committee, but I I'll I'll do it. Uh

1:47:36>> I've had nine temporarily

1:47:38>> I've had none for years.

1:47:40>> Yeah. I don't know how many I've had

1:47:41[laughter]

1:47:42>> eight seven eight working full-time, but

1:47:45I can do it temporarily until the new

1:47:48board gets in place and then we can more

1:47:50evenly distribute them.

1:47:51>> The next executive committee meeting is

1:47:53on dece or on September 2nd

1:47:56>> and there is no board of delegates

1:47:58meeting in September. already get those

1:47:59back.

1:48:00>> Yeah, as long as it's on the calendar,

1:48:02>> I'll make sure that Mandy gets them on

1:48:04the calendar. So, are you okay with with

1:48:06serving in that

1:48:07>> for the time being? Yes.

1:48:08>> Okay. For the time being. Okay.

1:48:09>> Thank you,

1:48:11>> Commissioner.

1:48:12>> Thank you.

1:48:14>> And H is another one.

1:48:18>> Yes.

1:48:18>> Yeah, we're we're involved in that if

1:48:20I'm

1:48:21>> This is for the um home consortium.

1:48:24>> Yes. So, the Burlington Home Consortium

1:48:26um it was formed uh a couple years ago.

1:48:30Uh Davidson County agreed to be a part

1:48:32of it. Um Lexington actually has not

1:48:35formally joined, but the other

1:48:36municipalities have joined within

1:48:38Davidson County. Um and so it's a 5count

1:48:42home consortium roughly an annual budget

1:48:44of $1.65 million quarterly meetings for

1:48:48the home consortium board member. Other

1:48:50me each county gets two appointments.

1:48:53Alamance County and Burlington is the

1:48:55lead agency. So the HUD has to go

1:48:57through um through a a jurisdiction for

1:49:01their funding. PTRC, the Pedmont Tribe

1:49:04Regional Council, we provide

1:49:05administration for that. So there

1:49:07quarterly meetings. The next one's on

1:49:08August 26th. Um

1:49:12uh there's two elected officials on a

1:49:13board of 12. Others are staff, some are

1:49:16nonprofits involved in housing

1:49:18development. So, um, there's a a good

1:49:21chunk of money there that I think can

1:49:22kind of, you know, chip away at some of

1:49:25the housing issues in in the region in

1:49:27the county. So, uh, interesting, uh,

1:49:30opportunity there to to influence some

1:49:32of that. Janice Hurley is the other, um,

1:49:35member. Of course, Jason was the the

1:49:37previous, uh, member.

1:49:38>> Martin was was on board.

1:49:40>> When does that one meet?

1:49:42>> So, that's quarterly and the next

1:49:43meeting is in person. Um, they're not

1:49:46all in person, but the next one is in

1:49:47person August 26 and uh at Lake

1:49:50Macintosh at 9:00 a.m.

1:49:52>> But now this one does not need to be a

1:49:54commissioner.

1:49:55>> No.

1:49:56>> Actually,

1:49:58>> I got a question for Tim. Tim, who's the

1:50:00new guy you got coming?

1:50:03>> He won't be here in time. Really?

1:50:05>> He won't be here until a little while.

1:50:07>> You know, the the new assistant to Tim.

1:50:10I was thinking maybe that'd be a good

1:50:11one for him.

1:50:12>> Yeah, that would. and Tim could go this

1:50:14one time and then

1:50:18>> I'm fine with

1:50:19>> and then let him

1:50:20>> I mean

1:50:21>> admittedly Jesse emailed me a while I

1:50:23don't know how long too long ago and I I

1:50:26did not I was not ignoring you

1:50:28[laughter] know I was just waiting to be

1:50:30told. So here we are. So I I'm okay with

1:50:34that. Um

1:50:35>> okay

1:50:35>> just the one meeting and then you can

1:50:37kind of coach it off to in my opinion

1:50:39>> to the the new assistant to attend. Let

1:50:42me get to the first one and then after

1:50:43that, you know, the we'll go heck, if

1:50:45you go to that one, that one's in

1:50:46person, that's the hard one to get to,

1:50:48right? And after that, it's a little

1:50:50easier.

1:50:51>> Yeah.

1:50:51>> So,

1:50:53I'm good with that.

1:50:54>> All right. Okay. Thank you, Jesse, for

1:50:57driving down this morning.

1:50:58>> Oh, my pleasure. It's good. Good to see

1:51:00you.

1:51:00>> Know the next time you need to talk to

1:51:01Tim, you got to come here.

1:51:03>> Okay. [laughter]

1:51:05>> Don't email or call.

1:51:07>> Fair enough. Fair enough.

1:51:09>> Reached out to me a couple of days ago.

1:51:10And he says, "Now, do you want me to

1:51:11come to the meeting to help you with

1:51:12this?" And I said, "If you can, please."

1:51:14>> Absolutely.

1:51:15>> Appreciate it.

1:51:15>> In terms of defense, we've had him

1:51:17loaded down here.

1:51:18>> Yeah. Yeah. A lot going on. For sure.

1:51:20>> We're trying to not do too much.

1:51:23>> Good luck with

1:51:24>> to send him away. [laughter]

1:51:26>> Thank you.

1:51:27>> Thank you. Have a great day. Thank you

1:51:28for

1:51:29>> your patience, too. I know you had to

1:51:31wait a long time. No problem. Well, I

1:51:32put it towards the end of the agenda

1:51:34thinking that it was going to be me and

1:51:35we weren't going to have anyone else

1:51:36support Jesse's had to come up with.

1:51:37will not plan to be here on Monday for

1:51:40>> Yes. [clears throat]

1:51:41>> Good. Okay. Thanks. All right. Great.

1:51:43>> Okay. Item number I is appointment to

1:51:45the Yakim PD water management group.

1:51:48>> I'm going to make this one easy for you,

1:51:49Madam Chair.

1:51:50>> Okay.

1:51:51>> Um Casey and and Jason were serving as

1:51:54members and alternates on this board.

1:51:57>> This board was um [clears throat]

1:52:01formed, I think, by Ron Sink for his

1:52:04group. So, we reached out to Ron. He's

1:52:07retired, so he's available. He's a water

1:52:09expert.

1:52:10>> Yes.

1:52:11>> So, we're recommended we uh and he's

1:52:13agreed to to do that.

1:52:15>> Are y'all available?

1:52:17>> Yes.

1:52:18>> Tim would serve in Jason in Jason.

1:52:20>> Tim would serve as the alternate in

1:52:22Jason's

1:52:24spot for now.

1:52:27>> Excellent. Thank you. All right. And

1:52:29then finally, Miss Harris has our

1:52:31meeting and county holiday schedule. And

1:52:33I don't think we need to vote on that,

1:52:35do we? We just by common consent you all

1:52:37are okay with that those changes. Okay.

1:52:39Yes.

1:52:40>> Okay. The meeting schedule. Let me get

1:52:41that up.

1:52:42>> I looked at it online. Has everybody

1:52:44looked at it?

1:52:44>> That looks fine to me.

1:52:46>> I need to the one meeting that I need to

1:52:49that we have two meetings in July to

1:52:51propose

1:52:52>> either the 8th or the 22nd. The 22nd is

1:52:56almost it's a little late in the month

1:52:58to go almost a whole month without a

1:53:00meeting.

1:53:00>> But of course the eth we're sort of

1:53:02between a rock and a hard spot. Which

1:53:04which would you rather have the 8th or

1:53:06the 22nd?

1:53:06>> 22nd.

1:53:07>> 22nd. Okay.

1:53:08>> Yeah.

1:53:09>> I mean, that gives a break. This July

1:53:10was pretty pretty nice.

1:53:12>> Well, then I'll go ahead and make that

1:53:14one revision to the 22nd, then these

1:53:16will be on the agenda on Monday.

1:53:18Hopefully, we will hear. Okay. Okay.

1:53:20>> Thank you.

1:53:21>> All right. M.

1:53:22>> I got I got one other question before,

1:53:24please. Uh Debbie, how do we stand on

1:53:26any of the site visits for any of the

1:53:29data centers?

1:53:30>> I think I'm going to have to reach out

1:53:31to EDPNC. I have sent emails to all all

1:53:34of our local data centers. Have not

1:53:36heard. They've ghosted me.

1:53:37>> Okay.

1:53:37>> I've told them it's for the board of

1:53:38commissioners and the economic

1:53:40development board.

1:53:41>> Okay.

1:53:42>> That we wanted to come and visit and

1:53:43I've had no responses. So, and there was

1:53:46the one in Maiden actually has a

1:53:48telephone number. I've tried calling it

1:53:50several times. There's no answering

1:53:52machine and it just rings and rings and

1:53:53rings. While while you reaching out to

1:53:55them, if you would uh see if they have

1:53:57somebody knowledgeable of of data

1:54:00centers that can come and speak or

1:54:02answer questions

1:54:04>> at these places.

1:54:05>> Yes. Or

1:54:06>> No. Well, not necessarily. Just come

1:54:07here at the 24th meeting or whenever

1:54:09we're going to discuss these data

1:54:11centers.

1:54:11>> You're talking about the someone from

1:54:12the data centers.

1:54:14>> Well, or either ED PNC or some kind of,

1:54:17you know, I mean, I'd like to have

1:54:18somebody that

1:54:19>> some experts,

1:54:20>> right?

1:54:21Well, I know um Jesse had sent that

1:54:23information to me that I sent out to you

1:54:24last week and um Tavis has actually sent

1:54:27an update to

1:54:28>> I've read a good bit of that stuff.

1:54:29>> Well, he sent an update today. So, I'm

1:54:31send that back out to you. Okay.

1:54:32>> Um but I I'm going to reach out to EDPNC

1:54:35to see if they can get me some telephone

1:54:36numbers or some contact information

1:54:38because all I've been able to get is

1:54:40just their basic emails off their

1:54:42websites and and it doesn't give you

1:54:44contact us. There's no telephone

1:54:46numbers. So, it's been a little bit more

1:54:48difficult than we thought it would be.

1:54:50Okay.

1:54:51>> Okay. Cuz like I say, I mean that's

1:54:52that's this is a big decision for the

1:54:54county. We need to make sure we got it

1:54:56right one way or the other or try to get

1:54:58it as close to right as we can. So,

1:55:00>> and those those data centers are like

1:55:04ultra ultra high security. So, yeah. I

1:55:07mean, so they probably really restrict

1:55:10>> who goes, you know, who goes in or

1:55:12whatever. So, I'm I'm not surprised that

1:55:14you're having a little bit of problem.

1:55:16Well, I know that Rowan County, didn't

1:55:18you say Rowan County went and visited

1:55:19Apple?

1:55:21>> No, I said they Who was that told me? I

1:55:24don't remember, Debbie. I know they got

1:55:26they got a data center coming.

1:55:28>> Okay. But I said it's being

1:55:31at the last EDC meeting that I thought

1:55:33you'd said,

1:55:33>> but somebody told me about Apple. I

1:55:35don't remember who exactly. I I don't

1:55:37want to say because I don't remember.

1:55:38>> But I've reached out I've reached out to

1:55:39Apple. I've reached out to the one in

1:55:42Maiden is

1:55:43>> Google.

1:55:44>> Google. I've reached out to um the one

1:55:48in Lenor. So, I've reached out to those

1:55:51three and I'm just not getting anywhere.

1:55:55So, I thought I'd contact

1:55:56>> like EDPNC may be the contact and like I

1:55:59say, they going to have they know more

1:56:00about these. I know Philip Corer had

1:56:03reached out one of the gentlemen

1:56:04>> and he's willing to come and speak

1:56:06>> if you'd like him to come and speak at a

1:56:07meeting. I know he had told David

1:56:09outline of the different types too that

1:56:12he sent us.

1:56:16Which company's Lenor? Do you remember?

1:56:19>> Or we can talk about it later if

1:56:20>> Okay, I've got them on my desk.

1:56:22>> But I think EDPNC would be and that that

1:56:24way you're not biased. I mean, Phillips,

1:56:25I'm sure, got a ton of information, but

1:56:28the public could look at him as going,

1:56:29"Well, wait a minute. You know, he's got

1:56:31>> Yeah,

1:56:33>> he's got an objective here, not an

1:56:36object." And he's been very fair at what

1:56:37he's saying. I'm not saying he's that

1:56:39way at all. I know different but you

1:56:42know the perception could be

1:56:43>> well I want to take a 360 view

1:56:45>> right

1:56:45>> yeah and I'll get up with EDPNC and see

1:56:47if they can give us if they don't have

1:56:49someone they may know someone that we

1:56:51can contact

1:56:52>> that's right that's right

1:56:54>> okay now I have a motion do I have a

1:56:55second all in favor here say I All

1:56:57right.

1:56:59>> Good.

1:58:34>> [music]

1:59:39>> Heat. Heat.

2:08:16>> [music]

2:08:17>> Heat. Heat.

2:08:39Heat. Heat.

2:16:25Heat. Heat.

2:18:08Heat. Heat.

2:18:39Heat. Heat.

2:19:39Everybody's

2:20:06Heat. Heat.

2:23:50Heat. Heat.

2:24:14Heat.

2:24:26Heat.

2:24:59>> [music]

2:27:05>> Heat. Heat.

2:29:14Heat. Heat.

2:30:51Heat.

2:31:02Hey, Heat.

2:31:23Heat.

2:31:40Heat.

2:33:21Heat.

2:33:40Heat.

2:36:08Heat. Heat.

2:36:44Heat. Heat.

2:38:02All in favor?

2:38:03>> I.

2:38:03>> Any opposed?

2:38:05All right. Update, Mr. Attorney.

2:38:07>> Yes, sir. The board met in close session

2:38:11um to discuss economic development

2:38:15matters. Um the board uh discussed three

2:38:19three separate economic development

2:38:20matters in in total um were given

2:38:23updates and uh staff were given

2:38:26instructions.

2:38:28>> Thank you very much. Any other business

2:38:30from the board? Can I motion?

2:38:32>> Second. All in favor? I

2:38:34>> any opposed? Back.