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,~ <br />Future steps would be how to put this out to bid, where funding could be obtained, the priority <br />placed on this project, and potential partners. <br />Commissioner Nelson thanked Lori Taft for the time spent on this. He asked when the <br />Twin Creeks fields would be built and Laura Blackmon said 2010 with two of the four fields. <br />Commissioner Nelson said this idea was first brought forward in a joint meeting and the <br />community was excited about this possibility because it increases the availability of these two <br />fields. He said that he is interested in pursuing this, but there is the funding question. <br />Commissioner Foushee agreed with Commissioner Nelson, but she said that it is hard <br />not to look at this without the costs and the priority list for funds. <br />Laura Blackmon said that this project has been brought tonight because this issue has <br />been discussed in the past, but it is not part of the CIP. The Board will be getting the CIP <br />tonight and can then decide how to move forward. <br />Commissioner Gordon agreed with the other two Commissioners. She is interested in <br />nailing down contributions and what the groups would want in return. She wants to see a <br />proposed agreement. Since the land for the two Smith Middle School fields is leased from the <br />University of North Carolina, she wants to review the terms of the lease. She said that the <br />county should consider the merits of building the fields on land the county owns. She asked <br />what it would cost to build a field from scratch. <br />Lori Taft said that it would not be substantially higher than changing the existing fields. <br />She said that there is little economy of scale in the construction. <br />Commissioner Gordon asked why the fields would not be done for Twin Creeks until <br />2010 and Laura Blackmon said that part of it is getting through the Town of Carrboro approval <br />process. <br />Environment and Resource Conservation Director Dave Stancil said that staff is <br />exploring an interlocal agreement alternative to the conditional use permit. This may make the <br />process shorter, but he does not know that as of yet. <br />Commissioner Gordon said that if there were not the possibility of building new fields on <br />land the county owns, she may be more interested in pursuing this turf issue further, but she <br />would like to see more factors worked out. She said that she is really interested in prioritization <br />of projects for the CIP. <br />Lori Taft said that the contributions from the community look in excess of $600,000, <br />and in exchange, the entity would like free playing time, with the contribution being considered <br />as an up front payment. The playing time would be distributed just as it was, but this entity <br />would just not be paying for it. <br />Laura Blackmon said that the Town of Carrboro is the agency that schedules these <br />fields and collects the fees. Orange County would not be providing programming on this field. <br />She said that there has to be funding in place before this project can move forward at all. <br />8. Board Comments <br />Commissioner Gordon distributed the Durham- Chapel Hill- Carrboro Metropolitan <br />Organization Newsletter, which is attached and is hereby made part of the minutes. The <br />DCHC-MPO is involved in two Greenhouse Gas Emissions plans. Durham's plan is being <br />completed before Orange County's plan, because Durham is using older data and Orange <br />County is using updated data. The report also includes information about the 2035 Long <br />Range Transportation Plan and a fresh look at regional transit. <br />At the next DCHC-MPO meeting, the Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Plan will <br />be discussed. The Long-Range Transportation Plan is the planning period between now and <br />2035 and is updated every five years. There was a joint MPO meeting on October 31St, and <br />the Special Transit Advisory Commission presented its report. There are now 18 transit <br />