Minutes - 20021210 - Laserfiche WebLink

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situation. He does not understand why Chatham County has decided to go against this. He thinks it is a question of what is fair. Commissioner Halkiotis said that he is disappointed in Chatham County. He thinks we need to write a letter and appeal as one elected official to another who acted in good faith in 1989. He thinks elected officials have a responsibility to look at the historical record. He does not remember a letter from Chatham County responding that they were a new board and not bound by the resolution. He said that he, Commissioner Jacobs, and the Manager have met with Chatham County and there is a good relationship now. He thinks the letter should be signed by all members of this Board. Commissioner Carey agreed and said that he was on the Board when they did this agreement. He thinks this has serious implications for future joint efforts between the counties if we cannot count on other elected bodies to abide by their predecessor's commitments. He said that perhaps there should be a conversation between the new Chair and Vice-Chair of the Chatham County Board of Commissioners. The Board agreed by consensus to write this letter to Chatham County. b. Matters on the Printed Agenda (These matters were considered as the Board addressed the items on the agenda below.) 3. BOARD COMMENTS Commissioner Halkiotis wants the public to hear from Duke Power and Piedmont Electric and he would like to invite them to the Board's next meeting to explain their response to the ice storm. He has received many calls from people who are very upset. He said that Piedmont Electric did a heroic job in getting power back an. He said that this was worse than Hurricane Fran as far as downed trees. Commissioner Halkiotis wants to applaud the staff and the Board in allowing the rewiring of Stanford Middle School a year and a half ago. He was at the opening of the shelter and if there was not a shelter he does not know what senior citizens with health problems would have done. He is going to bring forth a letter because one of the staff members of Orange County Schools drove the diesel fuel truck from the school bus garage to fill the generator at the shelter four times. The Red Cross also stepped in. He thinks it is a classic example of one government agency helping another government agency to help people. He said that the next step is to have two sites at both ends of the County and make sure there is a generator for both schools that would house a shelter. He is concerned about what we would do if there were a true national emergency. Commissioner Halkiotis would like to send a letter to the Hillsborough Police Department and the Orange County Sheriff's Department and ask the County Manager to hook up with the Hillsborough Town Manager. He was upset to hear about the vandalism that took place at the Occoneechee Indian Village. He would like to set up a community watch program on this property. Commissioner Halkiotis distributed his holiday cards, which have been recycled for 17 years. Commissioner Jacobs shared a letter with the Board that invited him to serve on an External Relations Working Group with the University. He is willing to serve, but he has not responded yet. He asked for feedback. Commissioner Jacobs said that he gat a call from the General Manager of The People's Channel in response to the Board's letter regarding the meeting where there was no audio. The People's Channel is willing to meet with the Board and will reimburse for the meeting that was not able to be shown. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to some Homestead exemptions that were allowed at the last meeting and he asked the Manager to tell the Board how we publicize the Homestead exemptions so that people know who is eligible. He would like to make it more noticeable for people. Commissioner Jacobs said that some counties have already adopted early action compacts regarding the Clean Air Act. There is a push to try and have as many Boards of Commissioners and City Councils adapt this by the end of the year as is possible. There is a meeting on December 13th at RDU. There will be a briefing about what this is all about. He said that he tried to explain to people who were trying to get Orange County to take action that we are not the kind of Board that would take an action without asking some questions and having them answered. He invited the County Commissioners to attend this meeting. Commissioner Jacobs expressed his condolences to the family in Carrboro whose son died in a house fire.