Orange County NC Website
3 <br /> Chair Carey pointed out that the program, Adolescents in Need, won a couple of <br /> awards. <br /> Commissioner Halkiotis made reference to the County Commissioners' calendar for this <br /> week and said that the scheduling is out of control. He wants to be practical and realistic with <br /> the scheduling. He especially pointed out Commissioner Jacobs' schedule, which showed <br /> three meetings for Commissioner Jacobs on Monday night at overlapping times: the Human <br /> Relations Commission at 6:30, the Commission for the Environment at 7:30, and a committee <br /> meeting. He suggested that Commissioner Jacobs slow down. <br /> Commissioner Halkiotis said that he, Economic Development Director Dianne Reid, and <br /> a citizen from Carrboro, Marty Mandel are going to be going to McKimmon's Center at N. C. <br /> State on April 27th for the Renewable Energy for Economic Development Workshop. He <br /> encouraged the Manager to get more of the staff to attend. <br /> Commissioner Halkiotis made reference to the letter from Time Warner's new Public <br /> Affairs Manager. He is going to call her and thank her for her letter and tell her that he would <br /> be available to meet with her. <br /> Commissioner Halkiotis said that he saw the trees coming down for the new Home <br /> Depot at Hampton Pointe. He verified that the pile of trees would not be burned. He read <br /> some positive things about Home Depot that they are hiring retired senior citizens with full <br /> benefits. He read in the same article that a typical Wal-Mart of 200 employees, is actually <br /> being subsidized by governments with respect to daycare, health care issues for children, etc. <br /> He wants to know if the Wal-Mart in Hillsborough is actually being subsidized by Orange County <br /> taxpayers through efforts from the Public Health Department, Social Services, and any other <br /> agency. <br /> Commissioner Gordon said that she recently served on jury duty at the old courthouse. <br /> She said that the acoustics are very poor there and it is difficult for the jurors to hear the <br /> attorneys and it is difficult for the audience to hear much of anything. She asked that a better <br /> sound system be added to the list for justice facilities. <br /> Commissioner Gordon said that Carl Fox recently became the second resident Superior <br /> Court Judge. She asked that the Board empower Purchasing and Central Services Director <br /> Pam Jones to call Carl Fox and ask him to serve on the planning groups for justice facilities. <br /> Commissioner Gordon made reference to the Homestead Road Safety Task Force. <br /> Some citizens were concerned about safety in the neighborhood of Chapel Hill High School. <br /> She is on the task force, and they met again yesterday with Mike Mills and Chuck Edwards from <br /> NCDOT to discuss the sidewalks. They thought last June that the sidewalks were taken care <br /> of, but they are not. The funds were never designated for this project. Mike Mills will forward <br /> the formal request for this project to DOT. She asked Mike Mills that any money that is not <br /> used in this project remains in Orange County. <br /> Commissioner Gordon said that there is a meeting on the 1-85 widening TIP project. <br /> The first meeting is May 2nd at 3:00 p.m. for public officials at Cameron Park Elementary School <br /> and from 4:00-7:00 p.m. there is a citizen's informational workshop. This project would widen <br /> 1-85 from Hillsborough to the Durham County line. <br /> Commissioner Gordon made reference to the New Hope Preserve and said that it has <br /> been a long-standing priority to Orange County to protect the New Hope Corridor. She said <br /> that this was a landmark event. <br /> Commissioner Gordon said that she attended the Commission for the Environment <br /> meeting last night where they worked on the program for the upcoming Environmental Summit <br /> on April 23`d <br /> Chair Carey said that, due to illnesses of staff persons, the report on district elections <br /> would be delayed to the work session on May 5th. He asked the staff to notify all of the <br /> interested parties, including Representative Bill Faison and Bob Strayhorn. <br />