Agenda - 01-22-2009 - 6e - Laserfiche WebLink

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the issues, so there needed to be some organization. Alderman Coleman questioned if it made sense to have an open-ended committee that worked on all the different areas. He stated one of the problems he saw was that because the Committee was trying to do so much, that if a priority was not of interest to a Committee member or if it was not their area of expertise, then it would be wasting that member's time. He said by prioritizing the objectives, that would get them the right membership on the Committee to achieve the quickest results. Alderman Gist said she did not want her remarks to be seen as cynical. She said she had served many years on committees and task forces, and it was beleived that many of those had had meaningful, productive outcomes that just "sat on a shelf." Alderman Gist said the reason was that the people involved in creating the reports were focused on what they were doing, but there was no loop back to the entitities being represented. She said if this task force were to be formed, she believed the charge should include that the members of the task force representing the diferent entities must report back on a regular basis to that entity and receive feedback. Alderman Gist stated that if that did not happen, then the task force members would not be speaking for their entities. She said that must be built into the process, or a lot of good work would be lost. 8:49:15 PM Council Member Kleinschmidt stated he was curious about how Chatham County felt about this proposal, noting that one of that County's frustrations over the years was how the decisions being made outside their boundaries affected them. He said one of the obstacles to the ultimate success of this committee was true and real participation by all affected parties, and was concerned as well that the ratio of membership of the committee garner the optimal cooperation for the most successful outcome. Ms. Blackmon, referring to the packet materials, said they had outlined the proposed membership of the committee which included an at-large member from Chatham County in order to balance the committee. She said there may be other members this group may want to propose. Mike Cross, Chatham County Commissioner, stated that they had just approved their Long Range Transportation Plan, and were working with DOT to try to avoid 13 stoplights planned between Pittsboro and Chapel Hill on 15-501. He stated they were very interested in bus transportation routes to Pittsboro, Siler City and ultimately to Sanford, as well as bikelanes and sidewalks. Commissioner Cross stated perhaps the Committee did need to be split into groups for optimal success. He thanked Durham for providing water when it was needed because it had allowed the County not to spend the funds for an additional water line to Jordan Lake, adding he beleived the water issues needed to be addressed regionally as well. Commissioner Cross stated that the Western Wake Partnership had been promised 38 million gallons a day in wastewater discharge, and Chatham County had been authorized to request up to 19 million gallons a day. He said they needed to know what was available in their area for surface water availability and what they would do with it after it was used. Commissioner Cross stated by forming such a partnerhsip it would likely make more State and federal dollars available, but meeting every three to six months would not get the work done. 7