Minutes - 03-21-2000 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commissioner Halkiotis made reference to Highway !0 and the dangerous condition of the road. He would like an update on what DOT plans to do about the condition of this road. John Link said that the County Commissioners have asked that DOT officials come and talk about snow removal and this item could be added to that agenda. Commissioner Brown asked John Link if the third high school was mentioned at his monthly meeting with the schools and he said that it has not been discussed at his monthly meetings. Commissioner Brown also asked Commissioner Gordan if this was ever mentioned at the Schools and Land Use Council meeting. Commissioner Gordon said that she was aware that there would be a need for a high school for an additional 400 students. Commissioner Jacobs said that he attended the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board retreat and they projected that the elementary schools would be out of room in 2004 or 2005. He said that the school board traditionally aver project the high school populations and not count mobile classrooms in calculating capacity. The sense that he got was that there was an immediate need for another elementary school. Commissioner Brawn spoke about the passibility in the near future of having a meeting with Chatham County. The Mayor of Chapel Hill would like for the County Commissioners to sponsor this meeting. The meeting would be a work group meeting between Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Orange County, and Chatham County. This would be a work group meeting and not a meeting of all of the Boards. She suggested and the Board agreed to have Beverly A. Blythe set up a meeting of this work group and gather agenda items. Commissioner Brown said that tomorrow is the Workforce Community Forum from 9:00 a. m. - 12:00 p. m. The forum will bring everyone up-to-date on programs, successes, and funding. The meeting will be at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill. Commissioner Brawn said that she has a draft letter regarding the Skills Development Center ready to go to Chapel Hill that she would like for the Board to support. This is a request that Chapel Hill look at their budget for any assistance they can give the County to help develop the front outside area of the Skills Development Center. She will fax a copy to the County Commissioners for their input. Commissioner Brown asked if John Link has had any contact with Carrboro about the expansion of their library and facilities. She received an email from the Mayor asking if the Commissioners would consider this request. John Link said that he has not talked with the Carrboro Town Manager. He plans to talk with him about this and also the report from the library ad hoc committee that looked at potential needs of library services throughout Orange County. He suggested discussing this during the budget process. He said that Carrboro is proposing that there be a resource center that would be computer oriented. The proposal was that Carrboro would provide the space, technical setup, and the computer system. Carrboro is asking the County to provide the staff support. Commissioner Brown asked about the Census and said that something needs to be placed on cable television to encourage people to send in the forms. Commissioner Brown asked the County Commissioners if they would consider responding to articles printed in the newspaper that are factually wrong or inaccurate. Commissioner Halkiotis supports this idea. Commissioner Jacobs said that most newspapers will run a correction if it is pointed out to them. When it is a letter to the editor within inaccurate information, he feels that the newspaper should receive information that is accurate. He suggested having a standard letter of clarification. Chair Carey said that if anyone sees this, they could bring it to the attention of the County Clerk. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the libraries. He is the representative on the Hyconeechee Library Council. He said that he read a report done by a college student and that report said that library services are needed in Carrboro and Cedar Grove. Also, Chapel Hill is asking for a higher level of allocation for the Chapel Hill library. He said that the Library Director is going to work on a strategic plan so that requests could be prioritized to indicate if there is a basic level of library service that the County needs to provide in each community. Commissioner Jacobs said that regarding the DOT issues, he would like for the Board to consider requesting the County Manager to put on the agenda for April 11th a meeting with the DOT District Engineer Mike Mills and the DOT Board representative. There seems to be a total lack of communication between the Board of County Commissioners and DOT. Commissioner Gordon suggested getting the answers back from DOT and then considering a meeting or working it into a meeting which is already scheduled. The Manager will see if there is time on the agenda for the first meeting in May for a session with the DOT. If there is not time on the agenda, then there could be a dinner work session before the meeting. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to a letter from Betty Matthews in late January that was distributed about same handicapped people that are having difficulties with landscaping requirements and permits for ramps. He wanted to find out if anyone had begun to address this yet. This letter will be redistributed in order to get a response to Ms. Matthews. Commissioner Jacobs asked that as the Board considers recreation and parks for the County that athletics should be viewed as a clean industry that should continue to be promoted in Orange County.