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Mark Peters said that he appreciates Commissioner Halkiotis pointing out the safety <br />issue of walkability. He thinks the 1 ~/-mile zone is a bit far. The wooded area also concerns <br />him. He pointed out the layout of the property and said that there is only one way to do this <br />right. He wants to make sure it is done right. He wants to make sure that there is sufficient <br />input. <br />Mike Allingham said that he is part of the group that advocates for an action sports <br />facility. He is supportive of the other speakers in favor of the action sports facility. He said that <br />Brian Decker is the owner of the Premier Bike Shop in Chapel Hill and Andrew Farris is one of <br />the most vocal riders in the community. He said that he is in his fourth year of his M. D. Ph. D. <br />At UNC, and most of his clinical experience has been with pediatrics and children are not <br />getting enough active recreation. They watch too much television and a lot of kids do not play <br />group sports, but would rather do the action sports activities. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis asked how many people are involved in this kind of activity in <br />Orange County. Mike Allingham said that he could not begin to put a number on it. He <br />personally knows 20-30 people locally, but he believes there are certainly more. <br />Steven Mills said that he is the father to Peter Mills (who had to go home). He said that <br />his son is 18 and he loves this sport and he works at a bike store. His son's complaint is that <br />there is not a good safe facility in this area to participate in biking. He thinks that there is a need <br />to develop this type of facility in Orange County. <br />Commissioner Gordon asked about the Homestead Park facility and why it is not more <br />successful. Steven Mills said that it is only for skateboarding, and it does not fulfill the need. <br />Gene Shelton spoke an behalf of himself and his wife and his three children. He said <br />that they just moved here but they are concerned with two areas. One is the extensive walking <br />distance from the Lake Hogan Farm area to the proposed school site on Eubanks Road. He <br />said that the last 7110 of a mile is predominantly through a wooded greenway. The other thing <br />is that since they live within the 1-'/ mile radius, they cannot use the bus and they will be forced <br />to walk or be driven to school. He said that this defeats the purpose of reducing automobile <br />traffic. He thinks it would be in the best interest of everyone if the Board would take into <br />consideration the Citizen's Revised Plan #3. <br />Chair Carey asked one of the school board members to comment on the 1 '/2 mile radius <br />policy for using the school bus. He asked that this person speak after the next speaker. <br />Martha Sheard-Farley is a parent of students at McDougle Elementary School and <br />McDougle Middle School and is also a teacher. She is also a representative on the Chapel Hill- <br />Carrboro City Schools District Wide Health and Safety Committee. She wants her kids to walk <br />to school, and she would like the school to be moved further south. She thinks that a mile and a <br />half is not walkable far a kindergartner. She would prefer it to be called the no transportation <br />zone and not the walkable zone. Regarding safety, she does not consider a wooded area to be <br />safe for her children to walk through. She is also concerned about a public transportation stop <br />near that wooded area. She does not see this as a safe place for children. She asked that the <br />school be moved south. <br />Matthew Barton brought a map. He is a Carrbora resident and he presented a Carrboro <br />subdivision map that shows the Twin Creeks site and the subdivisions to the south and east. <br />There is almost no development to the west and north. The big red X is the County plan for the <br />proposed school and the green circle shows the citizen's plan 3. He said that he was a <br />CHATPEC member. He said that the school site in the County plan is too far from the dense <br />neighborhood to the south, and since the County owns the whale site, the school can be moved. <br />If the school is moved closer, many more people will walk to school instead of drive. He <br />believes that some walking is better than none, but he thinks that there will be no walking if <br />children are required to walk 314 to 1 % miles each way. Regarding timing, he believes that <br />