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Commissioner Halkiotis asked why a citizen can only bring half of a pickup truck load of <br />yard debris to the solid waste collection centers. He had two phone calls over the holidays from <br />people that were cleaning up their yards and loaded up their pickup trucks and were told that <br />they could not bring in a full truck load. Coupled with that, he asked someone from staff to go to <br />the Highway 57 solid waste collection center and look at it, because the Caunty is not being a <br />good steward of this property. All of the fences have collapsed. He thinks the big trucks are <br />hitting the fence and knocking it down. This should be part of the capital budget in the spring. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis said that he attended the Southern Senior Center update <br />meeting today and there were a lot of upset seniors because they thought they were going to <br />have to raise $500,000 to finish out the building. He said that the County Commissioners made <br />a commitment fora 25,000 square foot building and that is what they are going to get. He <br />thinks that he diffused this situation today. He thinks this highlights the importance of having a <br />Commissioner present. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said that he asked the Chair and the Manager to put together a <br />letter to send to the Mebane City Council suggesting a meeting. There was an article in the <br />Burlington paper over the weekend about the large number of residential lots that Mebane is <br />developing in Orange Caunty. The Synthon property that was annexed far industrial <br />development is now being considered for residential development. A big part of this is in <br />Orange County. He is not sure that the Mebane officials are aware of the ramifications that this <br />has on Orange County in terms of schools and other services. Meanwhile, the Efland-Mebane <br />Planning Group is going to have its first meeting tomorrow night. There are two seats on that <br />group for Mebane, and he does not know if Mebane has responded to the letter that was sent. <br />He thinks they need to work out the limits of where Mebane sees extension of its services so <br />that Orange County citizens can know that they can maintain the quality of life that they would <br />like to have in their area. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said that he has been serving on the legislature's Electronic <br />Voting Committee. He said that the optical scanning system seems to be the best marriage of <br />technology and low-tech that there is now. With this system, there is a paper trail, which allows <br />same checks. He said that the citizens can be assured in Orange County that the votes are <br />being counted properly. <br />Commissioner Jacobs asked the Manager for a report on the policy of prison labor by <br />the County government. He would like to know where prison labor is being used and who <br />makes the decisions. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said that he and Commissioner Halkiotis serve on the Recreation <br />and Parks Master Plan group and they have been working on a strategic plan. They have heard <br />how much the Little River Park is being used. He said that this effort has been successful. <br />Chair Carey asked if there was a way to find out what geographical areas these people <br />are coming from. Commissioner Jacobs said that the staff is looking into doing a survey. <br />Commissioner Gordon gave an update on transportation items. Regarding the Triangle <br />Transit Authority, there is some discussion about the phase I regional rail project that goes from <br />Raleigh to Durham. The project is still being evaluated by the federal officials and the model is <br />now being called into question. This means that it will take some time to straighten out the <br />questions of the model. It will probably hold up the project for at least six months. Regarding <br />the Transportation Services Board, one of the staff members from TTA was at the meeting and <br />they talked about the bus service in Orange County. There is discussion that TTA would be <br />willing to take the route from Hillsborough to Chapel Hill, freeing up some money for OPT to run <br />service from Hillsborough to Durham, and maybe even further west into Mebane/Efland. She <br />made reference to a memorandum from the Triangle Transit Authority Planner. The point is that <br />work is proceeding between Orange County's OPT and TTA to see if TTA will provide service <br />into Orange County. She said that there needs to be further analysis. <br />