Orange County NC Website
school for OCS is 41 acres. She expects an answer to the question she raised about why it is <br />not smart growth to put two schools on 44 acres, but when there is one school on 41 acres, it is <br />considered smart growth. <br />Commissioner Gordon said that she is also disappointed because the Board has <br />delayed far one year selling bonds for a number of projects, including the Chapel Hill District <br />Park, now known as Twin Creeks. She listed the delayed projects: Twin Creeks, Efland- <br />Cheeks Park Phase II, Northern Human Services Center Park, part of the soccer superfund, <br />Southern Community Park, affordable housing ($1.3 million}, and senior centers ($1.5 million). <br />This also includes some schools. She said that she was disappointed in this meeting and she <br />remains very concerned about the progress the Board is making on Twin Creeks Park. She is <br />getting very impatient. She has nothing against smart growth principles, but feels the Board <br />should move these projects along. <br />Commissioner Carey asked about a letter that John Link wrote to Superintendent Neil <br />Pedersen about appropriation of funds for the third high school site, in which he proposed two <br />options for the Superintendent, and he was supposed to let the Board know as soon as possible <br />which option the school board was going to pursue. John Link said that he just received a reply <br />to this today and Dr. Pedersen's response was that they wished to pursue the second option, <br />which was to utilize impact fee revenue already set aside for this project. Pay-as-you-go <br />funding would be used to replenish the impact fee revenue designated for the project. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis said that he would not engage in getting upset about anything <br />because he thinks the Board has made same good progress. He said that nowadays the <br />decision process is much more involved with many more people and takes much longer. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis requested that the Manager check with the Sheriff regarding <br />several bills in the N. C. legislature, where they are asking for security upgrades for courthouses <br />across the state. He thinks Orange County should apply for some of this money and the <br />legislative delegation should submit a bill requesting monies for security upgrades in the <br />courthouses. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis asked for some additional information about Durham County <br />Commissioners and the Durham City Council that has been discussing a toll road. He asked <br />how they could legally do this. He asked the County Attorney to send the Board some <br />information. He wants to know who gets the tolls and how it could potentially impact the citizens <br />of Orange County. He is concerned about this. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis said that every time there is an election, some interesting things <br />happen. He made reference to a story from the Chapel Hill Herald - "Candidate Acquitted in <br />Sign Trial." He read that an employee of the County planning department testified during the <br />trial that his department decided that they would not enforce the sign ordinance because the <br />school merger issue was so hot and that it did not want to become involved in it. He asked, if <br />this story is correct, if County employees have that authority not to enforce a particular <br />ordinance because they feel a particular political issue is so hot that they do not want to become <br />involved in it. He asked the Manager to give them the correct information and if this actually <br />happened. He said that rules should apply equitably across the County. <br />Commissioner Brown made reference to a letter from Mayor Kevin Foy, who requested <br />that the Orange County staff be available far a meeting to discuss homelessness in Orange <br />County. <br />Chair Jacobs said that they discussed this at agenda review, and he already sent a letter <br />to Mayor Foy, suggesting that this should coordinate with the timing of the Human Services <br />Advisory Commission September forum. This could be incorporated into one effort, if it is <br />agreed to make this the subject of the forum. <br />John Link said that he needs to see if the issue of homelessness is to be the subject of <br />the HSAC forum. The staff would then be working on a daylong effort. <br />