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<br />and give the citizens of Orange County time to comment on this. He would like to leave the <br />public hearing open for a longer period of time. <br />Nerys Levy was a member of the Library Services Task Force. She said that, as a <br />taxpayer, she wants to know the origin of the $23,000,000 set aside for this project. As a <br />member of the Library Services Task Farce, she is astonished that the task force was not <br />consulted about the latest development of a proposed 24,000 square foot County library facility <br />in downtown Hillsborough. She said that task force members received the first communication <br />regarding this development at 12:55 p.m. today. In the 2004 Task Force Report, the new <br />County library facility was one, which was going to be part of the proposed DTCC complex at <br />Waterstone, with expanded branches of the County system in Carrboro and Hillsborough. She <br />said that in October 2005, the Friends of the Carrboro Library and others asked the Board of <br />County Commissioners for a report on how the 2004 task force recommendations were being <br />implemented and asked to be included in further developments and communications. She said <br />that six months later, two BOCC declarations arrived by email -one concerned the Town of <br />Carrboro and the other the Town of Hillsborough. Bath declarations requested that bath towns <br />furnish 50°~ towards their respective proposed freestanding branch libraries. She said that, <br />given the proposal tonight, she would like the BOCC to consider the following questions: Has <br />the Town of Hillsborough been asked to provide 50% of the costs for what will be its downtown <br />free-standing library? If they have not been asked to contribute 50°~ of the cost, then she feels <br />that Carrboro should not be asked to contribute 50°~ towards its downtown library facility either. <br />Will the building of this large library facility dilute the already meager library services received by <br />the citizenry of the County? If so, then as a taxpayer and a member of the Library Task Force <br />Committee and Friends of the Carrboro Library, she has no choice but to oppose the building of <br />a 24,000 square foot library facility in this complex. She said that the branches in Carrboro are <br />not adequate and the hours are totally confusing to the citizenry. Both branches are in shared <br />facilities and suffer from an identity problem. She said that Carrboro is still the largest town in <br />North Carolina without a freestanding library facility. She said that it seems hardly justifiable to <br />build a 24,000 square foot library facility for 6,000 people in Hillsborough and the north of the <br />County when Carrboro has nothing that it can call a recognizable library building. She sees no <br />logic in the proposal for a larger downtown facility in Hillsborough if it means that the rest of the <br />County has to do without. She said that there has been very little transparency in the planning <br />and very little thought given to fiscal equity. She said that this proposal does not conform to the <br />recommendations that were made. She said that emails and letters have been to the BOCC by <br />other members of the Friends of the Carrboro Library and the Carrboro community. <br />Margaret Wood-Connell is the Director of the Hillsborough-Orange County Chamber of <br />Commerce. She said that several months ago the Chamber Board of Directors sent a letter of <br />support far the Gateway Center. With the proposed expanded County campus project, the <br />Chamber also recognizes the advantages of this and they encourage approval of this project. <br />The Chamber also encourages the approval of the proposed consolidation of land services in <br />one location. She personally looks forward to expanded library services in Hillsborough. <br />Rachel Royce is a member of the Walkable Hillsborough Coalition and a neighbor to <br />the proposed facility. She read a statement from Holly Reid, a member of the Walkable <br />Hillsborough Coalition: "Dear County Commissioners, I support the proposal for the new <br />Orange County facilities on Margaret Lane and on the site of the old Nash Kollock School. <br />Locating these facilities downtown is very important to Hillsborough's vitality by promoting foot <br />traffic for our businesses, encouraging healthier lifestyles with walkable and bikable downtown <br />destinations, and bringing ideal educational and community opportunities to our downtown Eno <br />River corridor, to name a few. I very much appreciate your proposal to redevelop part of <br />downtown Hillsborough to keep the footprint of our downtown denser and not to extend services <br />and transportation into rural areas. Thank you for being forward-thinking and responsive to <br />smart growth principles. Holly Reid." <br />