Minutes 08-19-2010 - Laserfiche WebLink

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James Harris said that peers know what the constituents want, which is lower tax rates, but they are not particularly clear on what the elected officials want. He said that the collaboration is fair, but more resources are needed. Frank Clifton said that everyone is correct and it is a very competitive market. Incentives can be a number of different things and not just cash — such as a speedy permitting process, available land, etc. He said that the elected officials need to have discussions about the guidelines before someone shows interest. Commissioner Jacobs said that the Board of County Commissioners spent hours at a retreat on economic development and they targeted what they did not want. Orange County has never wanted companies that need a lot of water. However, Orange County needs to be more positive. He said that there is no table for the groups to sit at to collaborate. He said that the inter-city trips sponsored by the Chamber were educational. He said that there needs to be some way to bring everyone to the same place to move in concert toward a common goal. He said that both universities and Durham Technical Community College need to come to the table also. Chair Foushee said that what they have heard from the economic development team is that there is no collective vision/incentives. She said that the obstacles are that there is not a vision among the elected officials and those who are authorized to work on the elected officials' behalf. Randee Haven O'Donnell said that everyone needs to be thinking first about how each of the entities in Orange County will commit to teamwork to bring their visions together for a whole vision. This needs to happen before getting a toolbox. Dwight Bassett said that their Mayor sent a letter in reference to this topic and what the entities stood for, the values behind it, and the tools needed. He asked Mayor Kleinschmidt to reinforce this. Mayor Kleinschmidt said that he sent a letter to all from the meeting in the spring. He said that the visions are not really far apart. He said that the University is one of the biggest assets. He said that the Town of Chapel Hill is generally in support of the creation of additional tools for the toolbox that would include more economic development funds, expansion of the revolving loan fund, public financing, effective marketing, branding of the image. He believes that the Council is generally supportive of this kind of approach. Randee Haven O'Donnell said that she is hoping that through this dialogue they will be able to clarify a framework to put these tools in. The framework is one of sustainability and economic resilience. She thinks that this is what is missing. She said that she is looking at the things that are being done in Chatham and Alamance Counties. She thinks this is the direction that Orange County needs to go — promote local businesses and close in on the leakages. She said that it would be great if there was less expensive planning and tax rates to promote more development. She said that the land is very expensive here. She would like to coordinate the visions around sustainability and economic resilience. Willie Best said that when he was in Guilford County, they went to Indianapolis, which partnered with its local university to create an incubator on the campus and then the company went somewhere else after three years. He suggested doing this with UNC. Brad Broadwell said that the County needs to take advantage of what it has now and not look too far into the future. Commissioner Hemminger said that she hates going to Durham for retail and there is so much leakage going into other counties. She said that Orange County needs more retail and she tries to shop in Orange County, but there is not much to choose from. This is a piece that the County is truly missing. Commissioner Yuhasz said that it is important to support local businesses but they also need to recognize that this is not a local community but a regional community. Many of the