Orange County NC Website
Commissioner Lloyd said that oftentimes the Town will ask the County to help with <br /> grants and the County does. So if the County asks for help now, then the Town should also <br /> help in some way. She said that she does not mind helping the County out, but she does not <br /> want to be surprised with having to spend more money all of a sudden. <br /> Frank Clifton said that if the Town wants an interior bus route for Hillsborough, then this <br /> is an opportunity for them to have it at a lower cost than they could otherwise. He said that the <br /> County is already running a bus system for those that qualify, and this is an opportunity to <br /> provide a service via mostly federal money that requires some matching funds. This service is <br /> aimed at people that do not fit into the other categories (disabled, etc.). <br /> Frank Clifton said that someone has to guarantee the 20% local match for this grant. <br /> Commissioner Lloyd said to keep in mind that Hillsborough is a very poor town. <br /> Mayor Stevens said that this is a start and Hillsborough needs to do this and even a lot <br /> more than this. He said that this is a huge economic development issue and a huge traffic <br /> mitigation issue. <br /> Commissioner Nelson said that this is clearly crucial from an economic development <br /> standpoint, but the County has to treat all of the towns the same. <br /> Frank Clifton suggested asking staff to refine this and bring it back to both boards. The <br /> fees and stops can be reviewed more. <br /> 3. Next Steps to Address Churton Street Traffic Congestion Following NCDOT's No- <br /> Build Decision on Elizabeth Brady Road <br /> Margaret Hauth said that in the agenda packets there is a list of projects that the Town <br /> developed as alternatives for Elizabeth Brady Road. She said that the Town would like to <br /> participate in any discussions regarding this process. She asked that the County share all <br /> information with the Town regarding this. <br /> Chair Foushee said that this request is reasonable and the Board of County <br /> Commissioners would not be opposed to having representation by the Town of Hillsborough at <br /> those quarterly meetings as they move through this process. <br /> Commissioner Jacobs said that the County has talked with DOT about changing the <br /> access from the west to get to the US 70 connector. He said that the County has lobbied with <br /> DOT several times on this issue and it may be a good designated bypass and it could be part <br /> of the conversations. Regarding railroad crossings, if there is going to be a high-speed rail, <br /> there will be a huge impact because there are a ton of railroad crossings between Efland and <br /> the east side of Hillsborough. He hopes that the County and the Town can work on this <br /> together. <br /> Commissioner Gordon said that numbers 2, 3, and 4 are on the existing regional priority <br /> list and both Orange County and Hillsborough supported these. She said that we could try to <br /> move these projects forward on the priority list. <br /> 4. Efland Area Sewer Allocation Agreement <br /> Frank Clifton said that he and Eric Peterson have had conversations about this and <br /> part of that discussion is that this is the only place where Orange County is in the utility <br /> business and the desire is to get out of the utility business. If Hillsborough is not interested, <br /> then they might talk to the City of Mebane. <br /> Planning Director Craig Benedict said that in the 1980's there were failing septic <br /> systems and in order to solve this problem, the County and the Town talked about constructing <br /> a system and sending it back to Hillsborough. He showed the Phase I system on a map, which <br /> includes Efland-Cheeks Elementary School and about 100 residents. The system has been <br /> expanded to 200+ residents, and they only use 30-40,000 gallons a day, versus the 380,000 <br />