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01-24-2023 Meeting Minutes EDCEDC Minutes for January 24, 2023 Minutes of the PCEDC Regularly Scheduled Meeting Person County EDC Board Room 303 S. Morgan St., Roxboro, NC 27573 January 24, 2023 Voting Board Members Present: Mr. Phillip Allen-Chairman Mr. Kenneth Perry Mr. Donald Long-Vice Chairman Dr. Scott McKinney Mr. Jay Poindexter The Honorable Gordon Powell The Honorable Merilyn Newell Ms. Sherry Clayton Mr. Jody Blackwell Ex Officios Present: Ms. Katherine Cathey, County Manager Dr. Claudia Berryhill, Agricultural Representative Mr. Brooks Lockhart, City Manager Dr. Pamela Senegal, PCC President Ex Officios Absent: Dr. Rodney Peterson, PCS Superintendent ED Staff Present: Others Present: Ms. Brandy Lynch, Interim Director Mr. George Willoughby Mr. Michael Thibault, Asst ED Director (Minutes) Mr. Bo Freeman EDC Welcome and Invocation: At 4:00p.m., Chairman Allen called the meeting to order and asked Mr. Donald Long to give the invocation. Chairman Allen also asked that his Chairman’s Report be moved to an earlier spot in the Agenda between the Election of Officers and the Advertising Options. Officer Nomination and Vote: ED Interim Director Brandy Lynch opens the floor for nominations for the Chairman position. Nomination of Phillip Allen, for the position of Chairman, was made by Mr. Kenneth Perry. 1 of 16 EDC Minutes for January 24, 2023 A motion was made, seconded and unanimously passed for Phillip Allen as Chairman. Motion: Mr. Kenneth Perry Second: Mr. Jay Poindexter ED Interim Director Brandy Lynch opens the floor for nominations for the Vice Chairman position. Mr. Kenneth Perry nominates Mr. Donald Long for the position of Vice Chairman. A motion was made, seconded and unanimously passed for Mr. Donald Long as Vice Chairman. Motion: Mr. Kenneth Perry Second: Chairman Phillip Allen ED Interim Director Brandy Lynch opens the floor for nominations for the Secretary position. Mr. Kenneth Perry nominates The Honorable Merilyn Newell for Secretary. A motion was made, seconded and unanimously passed for The Honorable Merilyn Newell for Secretary. Motion: Mr. Kenneth Perry Second: Mr. Jay Poindexter Chairman’s Report: Chairman Allen began the next portion of regular business with his Chairman’s Report by stating that the number one priority of the EDC Board for 2023 is to attract a business to the Mega Park as we’ve never been closer to landing someone than we are right now due to so much recent activity. As we are entering into the final year of our land option for the Mega Park, 2023 is the year. Chairman Allen next stated that the second issue that will be top of mind for 2023 is the situation with Duke Energy and the continuation of power generation at our Person County power plants. The third item mentioned by Chairman Allen is the continued partnership between the EDC and the City of Roxboro, particularly with regard to the anticipated development at the Southern end of the County. The fourth priority mentioned by Chairman Allen is to continue the development of our Person County Airport and that he is thankful for the large corporate hanger and the funding in place for the extension off the runway. Finally, the critical elements needed for a vital community are strong elected leadership, a strong Economic Development Commission, a strong public education system, a strong Community College, a strong Health Care System and a strong Chamber of Commerce. Chairman Allen noted that Person County currently has all of those things. In wrapping up his Chairman’s Report, Chairman Allen conveyed his appreciation to the board for their confidence in voting back in the three positions and the entire Board’s continued support and dedication to meetings for “the cause” of Economic Development. 2 of 16 EDC Minutes for January 24, 2023 Advertising Options Discussion: Assistant Director Thibault brought to the attention of the Board two advertising options under consideration, one pertaining to existing Person County business retention in the form of Palace Pointe movie theatre on-screen advertising and the other, pertaining to outside Person County business attraction, in the form of Economic Development magazine advertising (both hard copy and digital formats). An older version of a 30-second on-screen ad that was run several years ago was played for the Board with the disclaimer that many of the featured businesses, locations and logos would need to be updated. In addition, decisions would need to be made regarding ad placement before the movie showing and the production of the updated version. Assistant Director Thibault then proceeded to outline various showing scenarios based upon the Palace Pointe tier system, in addition to several different production scenarios. Next, with regard to attracting businesses into the County, Assistant Director Thibault referenced several print and digital advertising options for consideration along with pricing for said options. General discussion ensued with many good questions and suggestions including a recommendation by Dr. Senegal to contact Beth Townsend at PCC for assistance with the ad production aspect for the Palace Pointe video. An update will be presented by Assistant Director Thibault at the next regular EDC meeting. Carbon Plan Update: Chairman Allen called on County Manager, Katherine Cathey to provide an update on the Carbon Plan. Manager Cathey distributed a Power Point presentation provided by the County’s Carbon Plan Advocacy Attorney, Patrick Buffkin and proceeded to review the presentation with the EDC Board. The presentation addressed such topics as Background, Description of Hyco and Mayo Plant Capabilities, a Summary of the impacts to Person County, a list of reactions from various parties and finally, a Summary of “What’s Next?”. A brief period of question and answer ensued including a description of the difference between the Legal Team versus the Lobbying Team that were both recently retained to represent the County in Duke’s Carbon Plan process. Interim Director’s Report: Interim Director Lynch’s presentation will be included in these minutes. The schedule for review of the North Park bids for the clearing and grading RFP’s for the site has been extended for another month, after which a bid will be accepted and the process moved to the next phase. Final bids would be expected sometime during the January timeframe with a recommendation forwarded to the Commissioners by sometime in early February. Interim Director Lynch next described the current status of the department and her observation that more of an emphasis needs to be placed on the youth of Person County from a Person 3 of 16 EDC Minutes for January 24, 2023 County employer advertising perspective. Given the substantial cost of print ads, Lynch is recommending the alternative of re-engaging with Palace Pointe and running 30-second spots during the previews, highlighting Person County businesses. This was a very popular venue prior to Covid and would be a more economical alternative to the print ads and perhaps provide a more direct local impact. Assistant Director has been in contact with Palace Pointe and has procured the necessary pricing information as detailed in the “Advertising Options Discussion” section above. The survey of the Person County Mega Park has been completed, reviewed and filed with the County. Interim Director Lynch provided a brief summary of her meeting with Person County Planning and Zoning to discuss possible rezoning as discussed and recommended by the EDC Board. At this time, although rezoning is allowed, Planning & Zoning recommends holding off any formal zoning changes until an occupant for the Mega park has been identified at which time, rezoning can be revisited. Interim Director Lynch mentioned that Assistant Director Thibault will be attending the NC Chamber government Affairs Reception at the Merrimon-Wynne House in Raleigh on Wednesday, February 22, beginning at 4:30. Dr. Senegal will also be attending from the EDC Board as well as Samantha Bagbey with the Roxboro Area Chamber of Commerce. In addition, both the Interim Director and Assistant Director were able to attend the recent Roxboro Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet at Palace Pointe. Interim Director next gave a brief summary of how the month of December from a volume of Projects perspective was extremely active and not at all customary for the month. The Department has been straight out with lining up Site Visits, utility, County and other partners for numerous meetings and visits to the Mega Site. The volume continues to be very steady and includes older, ongoing contacts as well as new referrals from EDPNC to work through. The department received the “very detailed” final report from the Duke Site Readiness Program last month and from that report, one of the conclusions regarding the PCMP is that more recent and easier to interpret maps are recommended. Currently, maps being used with prospective businesses were prepared by the Timmons Group back in 2017 and most refer to a particular Project that never materialized. The Mapping Department at Duke Energy has offered to assist with updating the maps for PCEDC and Interim Director Lynch will be meeting with John Nelms at Duke Energy sometime in the immediate future. Next up, Interim Director Lynch gave a brief update regarding the North Carolina Department of Commerce Mega Site re-certification under the NC Certified Sites Program. As the Person County Mega Site was last certified in March 2020, it is currently up for renewal in March of this year. After extensive research, the re-certification application was turned in today, 1/24/23. 4 of 16 EDC Minutes for January 24, 2023 Finally, Interim Director Lynch noted that she has received information regarding the 2023 State of the Region Sponsorship Opportunities. The event will be held again this year at the Angus Barn on Thursday, May 11 at 5:30 PM. Sponsorship opportunities include a table sponsorship at $5,000, which includes 10 people or a table sponsorship plus podium recognition for $7,500. A motion was made, seconded and unanimously passed to become a sponsor at the $5,000 level. Motion: The Honorable Merilyn Newell Second: Ms. Sherry Clayton Member Comments: Mr. Brooks Lockhart, City Manager mentioned that he had met with Representative Ray Jeffers regarding three priority projects for the City of Roxboro, the Western Sewer, the Water Plant Lab Building and other needs. The intent was to hopefully, have these important items included in the Governor’s Budget. Requests were also sent to Senator Meyer and Secretary Flowers of the NC Rural Economic Development. Next, City Manager Lockhart updated the Commissioners on the project at 108 North Main, which has been visited by the Building Inspector and is nearing completion. Reopening Main Street is expected within the week pending safety inspection and removal of Contractor’s equipment. Mr Lockhart next mentioned some work being completed at 118 South Main Street, but this project will not close off traffic. For his Wastewater Treatment Plant update, the City Manager announced the repair to the oxidation ditch crack at the wastewater treatment plant was supposed to begin in January, but progress has been delayed due to “Attorneys”. Mr. Lockhart then shared that although there has been activity with regard to the Public Service Director opening, the search is ongoing as any applicants that rose to the top ended up taking positions elsewhere. Finally, for an update requested by Chairman Allen regarding the Long Avenue Extension, Mr. Lockhart again mentioned “Attorneys”. Ms. Katherine Cathey, County Manager stated that the search for the next Economic Director has been reopened and that the position has been posted in a variety of advertising resources and will remain open until February 12, 2023. The position of Public Information Officer will also be posted. The County Manager next mentioned that the position of Assistant County Manager has been filled by Brian Hart. Finally, a contractor has been appointed for the Broadband Project, but work has not yet begun due to waiting for the agreement being signed. However, conversations are in process with the State Office of Information Technology regarding Project Stopgap as well as Project CAB (Continuing Access to Broadband). Chairman Gordon Powell next related that he, like the City Manager, has been in contact with Congresswoman Foushee, Representative Jeffers and Senator Meyer as well, attempting to lure them to Person County for further conversations and to ensure that the County stays “on their minds”. 5 of 16 EDC Regularly-Scheduled Meeting January 24, 2023 7 of 16 Interim Directors Report 8 of 16 Updates and Info •North Park RFP are being reviewed •Advertising-Decisions •Survey of the PCMP is complete and filed •Meeting with Planning and Zoning and Attorney •Director search information will be provided by the New County Manager later in the meeting •Mike will be attending the NC Chamber Government Affairs Reception •Roxboro Area Chamber of Commerce Banquet •Projects 9 of 16 Updates and Info •Duke Site Readiness Report Results •NC Certified Sites Recertification was turned in 1-24-2022 •North Carolina Site Readiness Results •2023 State of the Region Sponsorship Opportunities •Timmons Mapping 10 of 16 Thank You! 11 of 16 12 of 16 13 of 16 14 of 16 15 of 16 16 of 16