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February 20th, Focus 20/20 Regional Economic
Development Summit @ McGregor Hall Performing Arts Center.
Registration begins at 8:30.
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Next COG Board meeting with be Thursday, March
26th.
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KTRPO will hold its next meeting on Thursday,
February 27, 2020 @3:00PM.
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RAAC Meeting on Wedneday, February 12th @
2:00PM
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Announcing
Focus 2020 - A Regional Economic Development Summit
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Don't
forget to register. Space is limited!
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DEQ
Community Waste Reduction and Recycling Grant (CWRAR)
Available
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The North Carolina Department of Environmental
Quality (DEQ) is now accepting proposals for the 2020 grant
cycle. The deadline to submit a proposal is 5:00 p.m. on
Thursday, February 20, 2020. This recurring annual grant
program provides funding to public recycling programs for
projects that help communities build lasting capacity to
divert materials from the waste stream and / or increase
public awareness of recycling. This grant cycle is timed to
correspond with local government budget cycles. Funding for
the 2020 CWRAR Grant winners becomes available on July 1,
2020.
Download the 2020 request for
proposals (RFP) by selecting one of the following
links (PDF or Word). For more information or assistance please
contact Sandy Skolochenko at (919) 707-8147.
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Vance-Granville Community College recently
launched a new partnership with KARTS, the public, rural
transportation system, to help students travel to and from
any of the college’s four (4) campuses at no cost. Through
the partnership, the college will use grant funds and
donations to the VGCC Endowment Fund to pay for students to
use KARTS. Students can now make appointments for KARTS
to pick them up by calling 252-438-2573 and then dialing
“0”. If students need to cancel appointments, they can call
the same number. Appointment
timeslots are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Appointments can
be made up to two weeks in advance. Service requests for the
following day are taken no later than 1 p.m., or as capacity
allows.
Students can request tickets on campus from
any VGCC employee. Once students have these fare tickets,
they must present their VGCC student IDs, along with the
tickets, when boarding the KARTS transportation bus. Students
who do not show up for scheduled appointments three times are
subject to be prohibited from using this service in the
future.
Current
pickup/drop-off locations on campus are as follows:
• VGCC Main Campus (Vance County), in front of
Building 7;
• VGCC Franklin Campus (Louisburg), in front
of Building 1;
• VGCC South Campus (Butner/Creedmoor), in
front of Building 1; and
• VGCC Warren Campus (Warrenton), between
Buildings 2 and 3.
KARTS is a service
of the Kerr Area Transportation Authority. Its mission is “to
provide safe, dependable and accessible transportation
services in the most efficient and effective manner possible
in order to improve mobility, support livable communities,
enhance local economies, and provide opportunities to expand
horizons of the citizens of Franklin, Granville, Vance and
Warren Counties.”
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PLANNING & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
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2020
Tentative TCC/TAC Meeting Dates
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All meetings are open to the public and held
from 3:00 – 5:00 pm at the Kerr-Tar Regional Council of
Governments’ located at 1724 Graham Ave. in Henderson.
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January
30, 2020
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February
27, 2020
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March
26, 2020
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April
23, 2020
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May
28, 2020
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June
25, 2020
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July 2020
- No Meeting Scheduled
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August
27, 2020
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September
- No Meeting Scheduled
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October
22, 2020
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November
2020 - No Meeting Scheduled
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December
2020 - No Meeting Scheduled
*Meeting dates are subject to change in order
to accommodate NCDOT deadlines. If a meeting date changes,
members of the TAC and TCC will be notified
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SPOT
Prioritization 6.0 Subcommittee
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The Prioritization 6.0 Subcommittee will meet
on Thursday, February 13th at the
Kerr-Tar Regional Council of Governments office in Henderson.
The Subcommittee’s recommendations will be presented to the
full KTRPO TAC and TCC at the February 27, 2020 meeting for
approval.
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Statement of Economic Interest (SEI) and Real
Estate Disclosure (RED) forms are now available through the
N.C. State Ethics Commission. All voting TAC members and TAC
alternates are required to complete SEI and RED forms
annually. The KTRPO is available to schedule appointments
with TAC members and TAC alternates to assist with completing
and filing of these forms.
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The North
Carolina Department of Transportation is encouraging
students to create posters around the theme, Leaping
into the Future as it relates to future transportation
needs in North Carolina. All
students who live in and/or attend school in North Carolina
and were born between Jan. 1, 2001, and Dec. 31, 2014, are
encouraged to participate by submitting their own artwork. All
entries must be turned in or mailed and postmarked no later
than Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020. For more information and a list
of permitted media, please refer to: https://www.ncdot.gov/initiatives-policies/Transportation/nc-2050-plan/Pages/poster-contest.aspx We look
forward to some great submissions from our region’s talented
students!
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NC
MOVES 2050 FUTURE NEEDS SURVEY
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The North Carolina Department of Transportation
wants to build a transportation system people want, need and
will use. So, what is it that you want? Now is the time
to speak up.
Participate in the
survey to tell us what is important to you. Share this
survey with your family and friends. Everyone’s voice is
welcome. Survey
will be open through February 14, 2020.
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NCDOT
Receives Grant to Start Human Trafficking Training
for
Public Transit Workers
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Thanks to a federal grant, the N.C. Department
of Transportation will start a program this year to train
public transportation employees on how to recognize and
respond if they see human trafficking.
The U.S. Department of Transportation announced
this week the NCDOT will receive a $120,000 grant to develop
and deliver training on human trafficking for public transit
providers statewide. The grant will also be used to pay for
human trafficking education materials that can be posted in
bus stations and other public transportation facilities, as
well as on public transit vehicles.
“Human traffickers frequently use public
transportation to move their victims because it’s inexpensive
and provides for greater anonymity,” said Julie White, NCDOT’s
deputy secretary for Multi-Modal Transportation. “That’s why
it’s critically important that front-line staff and operators
of our public transit vehicles know what to look for and how
to respond, if they even suspect they’re witnessing human
trafficking.”
NCDOT is one of 24 organizations nationwide
selected to receive grants for a federal human trafficking and
public safety initiative. Human trafficking refers to
modern-day slavery and affects millions of people worldwide,
but is often underreported because it’s difficult to recognize
and victims are afraid to come forward.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper proclaimed
January as Human Trafficking Awareness Month.
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Comprehensive
State Rail Plan Update – Input Needed
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The NCDOT Rail Division is working to update
the Comprehensive State Rail Plan. This plan will identify
ways to make strategic passenger and freight rail investments
that support safe and reliable rail transportation, while
spurring economic development. The completed plan will be
issued in 2020.
Stakeholder feedback is a key piece of this
plan. The Department appreciates all the feedback received so
far. To ensure a wide range of feedback, NCDOT has created an
online survey site with questions about rail project needs and
opportunities. The Department encourages you to participate in
this survey. The survey is available via the following: https://ncstaterailplan.metroquest.com/
If you have any questions or would like to
speak with the study team, please contact Eddie McFalls with
the NCDOT Rail Division at: ebmcfalls@ncdot.gov or (919) 707-4727 or the consultant team at
Dewberry Engineering; Rachel Vandenberg rvandenberg@dewberry.com or Beth Smyre esmyre@dewberry.com
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On January 16, 2020, the KTRPO, regional and
neighboring stakeholders as well as NCDOT Division 5 engineers
attended an S-Line meeting in Raleigh. The S-Line is a
proposed regional vision for rail that will connect North
Carolina to cities throughout the Southeast and heavily
traveled Northern area corridors. Representatives from the
NCDOT Rail Division and Virginia Department of Rail and Public
Transportation made presentations providing an overview of the
S-Line; discussing the purpose and benefits of infrastructure
investment; and providing critical next steps. The S-Line is
designed to serve passengers and freight to meet the needs of
the changing economy and provide an alternative transportation
option. The key stops in the region to be serviced by the S-Line
include: Henderson [Vance County], Youngsville [Franklin
County], and Ridgeway [Warren County].
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Consolidated
Rail Infrastructure & Safety Improvements [CRISI]
Grant
Application Now Open
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The S-Line is a key component in NCDOT applying
for the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety
Improvements (CRISI) grant application in April 2020. The
CRISI grant leverages private, state, and local investments to
support safety enhancements to infrastructure for passenger
and freight railroads. Improving corridor and multi-modal
connectivity and securing funding for environmental projects
through STI and federal discretionary grants are the two main
purposes of the grant. The proposed corridor cost is $100M,
with $45M in right of way funding availabilities. To
strengthen the grant application, resolutions of support are
encouraged. If interested in obtaining sample resolution
supporting the grants efforts, please contact a member of the
KTRPO.
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Announcing
National Diesel Emission Reduction Program RFP
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The U.S. EPA is offering approximately $44
million in Diesel Emission Reduction Program (DERA) grant
funds to support projects aimed at reducing emissions from the
nation’s existing fleet of older diesel engines. The Agency’s
DERA applications are being accepted nationwide for projects
that represent significant reductions in diesel emissions from
fleets in areas designated by the EPA as having poor air
quality. Application packages must be submitted
electronically through Grants.gov by Wednesday, February 26, 2020. The EPA will host a series of webinars
to assist applicants in learning more about the program and
grant guidelines. For further details, please visit https://www.epa.gov/cleandiesel/clean-diesel-national-grants#rfa If interested in applying for a DERA grant,
please contact a member of the KTRPO.
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RAAC
meeting February 12, 2020, 2-4 p.m. at the COG
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Please join us for our RAAC meeting. Our guest
speaker will be Joyce Massey-Smith, Director of the NC
Department of Aging and Adult Services. She will speak about
aging concerns in rural areas. We will also explore ideas as
we develop our new regional aging plan. All are welcome!
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Kerr-Tar Area Agency on Aging is developing a
new regional aging plan for 2020-2024. Here is the link is for
the ten-item survey. Survey responses will guide our
priorities and help us plan for the future. We are interested
in responses from all ages and perspectives. You may have
personal or professional experience with aging adults, and may
have very good ideas for our new plan. With the growing older
population, new ideas and innovations are coming from many
sources! Our new aging plan will address the needs of aging
adults, caregivers, and persons living with disabilities in
your county.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8RH3MDX
Please return this survey by February 29, 2020.
Feel free to forward the link to others in our region.
If you would like to help develop our new aging
plan, we would love to have you join our next meeting. Thank
you, and if you have questions or would like to know more
about the Kerr-Tar Area Agency on Aging, please call our
office at 252 436-2040.
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NEW
Family Caregiver Social Group
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Caregiver
Directed Voucher Program
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Marcus stopped in to the Henderson NCWorks
Career Center looking for full-time employment
opportunities. He acknowledged that he had a felony
conviction and served 19 years in prison for a crime that he
had committed when he was 16 years of age. Marcus was
released in January and has been working part-time at Food
Lion but wanted to find a full-time opportunity. We
discussed the best approach for disclosing his background with
prospective employers, both on applications and during the
interview process. Marcus was referred to a job fair the
following day and provided the contact information for Hard
Hat Workforce Solutions.
Marcus called our office two days later to
report that he had contacted a Hard Hat recruiter after
leaving our office, interviewed the following day (using the
approach we had discussed) and was hired as a Laborer. He
started his new job on Monday, December 16th.
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Denise Marrow is currently attending Vance-Granville
Community College and has an expected graduation date of
May, 2020. Denise will graduate with an associate degree in
Bioprocess Technology. Denise was faced with unexpected car
repairs and was unable to pay her tuition for the 2020 spring
semester. She applied for the Finish Line Grant to assist with
tuition payment.
Denise is very thankful for receiving the Finish
Line Grant. She is also very appreciate of the assistance
she received from the staff at VGCC and NCWorks Career
Center.
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Are you having a hard time landing a job and
feel defeated or frustrated? NCWorks Career Centers have staff
and programs that can assist you. To find your local
NCWorks Career Center and see the upcoming events click here.
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MISSION
STATEMENT
Kerr-Tar
Regional Council of Governments aims to
promote
regionalism that provides opportunities for
local
governments to enhance and improve the quality
of
life for our citizens through effective delivery of
services
and programs.
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Kerr-Tar Regional
Council of Governments
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