Minutes - 19961207 - Laserfiche WebLink

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question from Chair Crowther, Ted Abernathy said that there is a fair amount of disagreement on his Board as to the County Commissioners' support on economic development initiatives. The Board would like to know how the County Commissioners feel on specific initiatives. The Economic Development Districts are being promoted by the Research Triangle Partnership. However, Ted Abernathy noted that prospective businesses will first look at places which have water and sewer. John Link said that he would like to know the Board's perspective in participating in the extension of water and sewer. Chair Crowther said that he feels the planning for extension of water and sewer needs to be done so that when funds are available, there will be no delay. Commissioner Carey questioned when the County would be notified about the grant for extension of water and sewer in the Efland area (Habitat for Humanity Project), and if the Board needs to review the current Water and Sewer Policy to see if changes need to be made. Ted Abernathy made reference to the money in the CIP for extension of water and sewer for economic development and noted that there is a balance of $35,000. Commissioner Gordon noted that the cost of extending water and sewer has increased to $4 million dollars and said that she would like to go slow and not made a commitment of additional resources. Commissioner Brown expressed a concern that if water and sewer is extended into the Efland area that growth will be encouraged. Ted Abernathy said that zoning does prohibit some uses from this area. Paul Thames clarified that the project will cost $1,127,000 and the County has applied for $850,000 in grant funds. This extension of water and sewer will not have any Economic Development implications. The $4 million dollars would include the Economic Development District. John Link noted that the County Commissioners may want to discuss how the public health issue is interrelated to the Economic Development Districts. Commissioner Gordon brought up the equity issue of providing water and sewer for the Efland area and not for some of the other areas in the County, including those in Chapel Hill, which have failing systems. She said this issue has come up in discussion of the Water and Sewer Boundary Task Force. Commissioner Carey feels that the County Commissioners need to discuss the implications of extending water and sewer and the equity issue. In answer to a question about cooperative planning with the Town of Hillsborough, Ted Abernathy said that Hillsborough will start the process of revising their 2010 Vision Plan in January and that cooperative planning would probably be discussed after that revision is finished. This will be added to the County Commissioners joint meeting with Hillsborough in April. John Link made reference to a report on the problems with annexation in the State. One of the major recommendations is that there needs to be structured joint planning between cities and counties to discuss or set annexation guidelines with focus on joint planning aspects of annexation. He will share this report with the Board. Commissioner Carey said that the issue has not been resolved. The cities in the League of Municipalities are adamant in that they do not want requirements from the citizens for annexation or approval from the county. John Link suggested that this needs to be part of the joint planning process in the future -- courtesy review for the extraterritorial area. He will talk with the other managers about this possibility.