This is a big week for the Guilford County Board of Commissioners because, instead of holding their regular meeting on Thursday night in the Old Guilford County Court House, the commissioners are headed to High Point for their annual commissioners retreat.

It will be two full days of hearing department reports, setting goals for the next 12 months, beginning budget considerations for the next budget due in June, and perhaps even taking a few votes on some pressing county business that can’t wait until the board’s next regular meeting.

This year the retreat will take place in High Point at Congdon Yards – a 1920’s-era factory building that’s been transformed into a cornerstone of the revitalization effort of downtown High Point.

The retreat will be held on Thursday, March 7 and Friday, March 8, where the commissioners will also talk about water and transportation infrastructure in the county as well as strategies to address homelessness and other challenges currently  facing the county.

The board rarely meets in High Point but the commissioners have held previous retreats in the city.  One of the nicest – with the best food – was when the board held the retreat at High Point University.  At that retreat, in addition to fine dining each lunch, there was also a table chock full of candy set out for the entire two days.

The commissioners retreat has only been held outside of the county one time in recent history. In 2006, then Chairman of the Guilford County Commissioners Bruce Davis held a one-day retreat in Chapel Hill despite the fact that the weather reports called for a major snowstorm that Saturday. Snow was already falling when the meeting adjourned in the afternoon and some county staff and one reporter nearly crashed on the trip home driven on increasingly icy and treacherous roads.

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