Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
APPROVED MAY 21, 1997 <br />MINUTES <br />ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />REGULAR MEETING <br />March 18. 1997 <br />The Orange County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, March 18, 1997 at <br />7:30 p.m. at the OWASA Operations Center in Carrboro, North Carolina. <br />COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair William L. Crowther and Commissioners Margaret <br />W. Brown, Moses Carey, Jr., Alice M. Gordon and Stephen H. Halkiotis. <br />COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill <br />COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr., Assistant County Managers Rod <br />Visser and Albert Kittrell and Clerk to the Board Beverly A. Blythe (All other staff members will be identified <br />appropriately below) <br />NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT <br />AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE. ALL RECORDING TAPES OF THE <br />MEETING WILL BE KEPT FOR FIVE u YEARS. <br />1. ADDITIONS OR CHANGES TO THE AGENDA <br />The minutes for March 5 were deleted from the agenda. <br />2. AUDIENCE COMMENTS <br />a. Matters on the Printed Agenda <br />Chair Crowther stated that citizens who have indicated a desire to speak on an item on the printed <br />agenda will be recognized at the appropriate time. <br />b. Matters not on the Printed Agenda <br />Jack Davis spoke about the vehicle fee which is levied by the Town of Hillsborough and collected <br />by the County for Hillsborough. He feels this fee is unfair and that the County should not be collecting it for <br />the Town. <br />Nick Didow, member of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board, presented a petition to the <br />Orange County Commissioners to reconsider, approve, and fund a community gym at the Southern Village <br />Elementary School site. This petition is hereby made a part of these minutes by reference. <br />Commissioner Carey noted that the County Commissioners took action at their last meeting <br />encouraging Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools to proceed as they have planned. While he supports joint <br />planning, they still have not worked out the details of joint recreational facilities to the level necessary to <br />approve this request. <br />Commissioner Brown said that she supports this effort because she is interested in joint <br />recreational facilities. Her concern is that changing the plans at this point may put the project in jeopardy of <br />not being finished as scheduled. <br />John Link noted that a report from the School/Park Committee will be presented in May. In order <br />for this to be successful, it is important for the various parties to be involved at the beginning of the planning <br />period and not at the end. Funding for such an addition would need to be discussed in detail. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis was told that the Town will annex this area in 2 to 3 years. <br />Commissioner Gordon said that the County Commissioners were told that the March 31 deadline <br />for making a decision on the gymnasium was inflexible. She feels that it is not possible to commit this <br />amount of money to this project at this time because of competing projects. If the school can extend the <br />deadline and the Town is willing to help with the funding and/or the commitment of additional land, then there <br />might be a possibility that something can be worked out.