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Southwest Orange County, including Bingham, Carrboro, Unincorporated and Chatham— <br /> Northern Border <br /> 2010 Census= 28,343 x .65=minimum 18,423 square feet <br /> 2020 projected population = 33,028 x .65=21,468 square feet <br /> Space Usage <br /> estimated 18-22,000 Square Foot Facility <br /> (not to scale) <br /> Chair Pelissier said that the County Commissioners welcome all comments from the <br /> Carrboro Board of Aldermen and she encouraged the public to speak on this issue at the <br /> Board of County Commissioners' regular meetings. <br /> Sammy Slade said that during the experience of the last siting there was a lot of <br /> frustration on the part of the public. He suggested engaging the public earlier in the siting <br /> process. It is important to have the community involved in this process. <br /> Mayor Chilton said that the criteria set out in the abstract is very broad and what <br /> concerns him is that the Board of County Commissioners are more concerned about the <br /> accessibility of vehicles as opposed to other modes of transportation for this siting. He has <br /> heard from various board members and it seems that what they want is a suburban library and <br /> a large site with a lot of land. He said that this means that this library would be at the edge of <br /> the municipality. He said that what was compelling about this idea was to have this library in <br /> downtown Carrboro, and be more accessible to a more diverse population. He is worried that <br /> the Board of County Commissioners is applying criteria that will drive a suburban library. <br /> He said that the library should not be optimal to the most number of users but to the ones that <br /> need it the most, like lower income households. He also has reservations about the chart that <br /> shows the assumed space that is available for the needs of this proposed library. He said that <br /> he is concerned that the Board is looking at criteria from the past and not looking at the future <br /> library. <br /> Joal Hall Broun said that she does not necessarily agree with Mayor Chilton. If it is <br /> going to be a library branch for the County and southern Orange County has a robust bus <br /> service, the accessibility is there. She said that there is still a large digital divide and there are <br /> more people that need to get to a library. She said that she moved here in 1992 and she has <br /> seen three library studies. She said that they are going to be entering a more difficult <br /> recession and when they talk about suburbia they are talking about Carrboro "suburbia". She <br /> said that she wants more commercial downtown rather than a library, which is a non-taxable <br /> entity. She said that if they are going to have a deliberative process, then it should proceed. <br /> The main criterion is how much money the County is willing to spend. This will drive the piece <br /> of property that is purchased. <br /> Dan Coleman spoke to Mayor Chilton about the process. He said that this is an official <br /> meeting of the Board but it does not seem to be conducive for the Board of Aldermen to come <br /> to an agreement or disagreement on this. He wants to know if the board is giving feedback to <br /> the County as individual board members or as an entire board. <br /> Mayor Chilton said that the Board of Aldermen has not discussed this topic in detail yet <br /> and the members are only expressing their opinions. The board will take this topic and have a <br /> formal discussion later. <br /> Dan Coleman agreed that the cost may affect the siting. He said that the property <br /> currently under consideration by CVS in downtown Carrboro would have plenty of space for a <br />