Orange County NC Website
democratic process. She is surprised and concerned that the democratic process has <br /> been left out with siting this third high school. She hopes the CHCCS board looks for <br /> other locations and leaves the locations outside of the water and sewer boundary alone. <br /> A motion was made by Commissioner Brown to not support changing the <br /> boundary at this time and send this to Chapel Hill and Carrboro. <br /> Chair Jacobs pointed out that there were several people who wanted to speak to <br /> this, and then a motion will be entertained. <br /> Valerie Foushee, Chair of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board, said that <br /> they do respect all of the processes that Commissioner Brown just mentioned. She said <br /> that, last week when they reviewed tonight's agenda, they were surprised to see this <br /> action item. On October 28`h, the Superintendent sent the Chair and the County <br /> Manager a copy of the resolutions passed by the board on October 17`h related to future <br /> school facilities. One of the resolutions states, and she quoted, "In the event the board <br /> finds that the site along the Smith Level Road is the best site for a third high school, it <br /> will request that the appropriate governmental entities move the urban services <br /> boundary line. The attached map outlines the very minor change that may be <br /> requested." She said that the board deliberately decided not to make a request to <br /> change the boundary until it was determined that this was absolutely necessary. She <br /> said that it is puzzling to the school board that the County Commissioners would be <br /> taking action on a request that was never made. She said that no mention of this action <br /> was made at the meeting of the High School Facilities Task Force last week. <br /> They would like the courtesy of at least a personal notification of this item having been <br /> on the agenda in light of the significant impact on facility planning. She suggested that <br /> representatives from the County and the School Board have some dialogue on this item <br /> before having it appear on an agenda. She asked, with the backing of the Board of <br /> Education, that the County Commissioners table this item until such time that a request <br /> for action is transmitted. She emphasized that such a request was never made. She <br /> said that they were expecting the adoption of the SAPFO memorandum of <br /> understanding. Members of the school board attended last week's meeting of the <br /> Assembly of Governments and left with the impression that consideration of the SAPFO <br /> would proceed on schedule in light of the support from all of the elected bodies <br /> represented at this meeting. She said that it seems odd that an opportunity to begin the <br /> process was not provided this evening. The school board is ready for the County <br /> Commissioners to take a position on the SAPFO that the County staff has spearheaded. <br /> Gloria Faley said that the resolution that was passed was very carefully worded <br /> because they are struggling with a very limited amount of sites for a third high school. <br /> She said that the board would support a provision that restricts development of these <br /> properties for school purpose. The most significant thing is if they find it to be the best <br /> site, and this site is the only site to the school board. She said that there have been <br /> encouraging conversations in the individual committees with the County Commissioners. <br /> It would have been more helpful to have some of the legal, planning, and historical <br /> information to come into this committee so that everyone could understand the <br /> dilemmas. She encouraged continued communication between the school board and <br /> the County Commissioners. <br /> Julie Coleman distributed a map. She lives at 809 Smith Level Road. She said <br /> that she was here on behalf of her neighbor, Mrs. Eva Snipe, who is 90 years old and <br /> has lived on her land for over 60 years. On the other side of her is Mrs. Gene Womble <br /> Francis, who lives in Virginia, but is hoping to pass her land on to her children and her <br /> brother, as well as herself. She thinks it would be terribly wrong for the school board to <br /> take their lands for a school site. She gave some history of this area. For years, the <br /> people on Smith Level Road have joined a group called the Smith Level Alliance. The <br />