Agenda - 12-06-2012 - 3 - Laserfiche WebLink

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66 irrtemal iransaction, as long as the County has the asset, it is not quite so importarrt as to which pocket the money is coming from. Chair Carey said that the 60 acres would be a solid waste assef and if it were used for anofher purpose the appropriate transfer would have to be made to fhe landfifl.fund. Commissioner Jacobs feels the CouMy needs to leave some ability to do something ather than protect the 60 acres for future Commissioners. He said that if the 60 acres were going to be put in open space permaner�tfy, . Orange Counfy wouid need to do it with the understanding that they would pay the solid waste operation for the land. Commissioner Halkiotis feets that the Courity has already lost the possibif'�t�r of interconnecting three tracts of land and looking at the passibitity of estabfishing a mega-park. He nrtade reference to a letter that was in the Chapel Hill Herald today that suggested that the Counfy sell the Greene Tract and put the money in the landfill fund. He thinks there is an opportunity to make a statement for the future and keep the best piece of land as an asset and then figure out what is in the best irrterest of the cit¢ens. Commissioner Gordon said that she prefers altemative#1. She said that her vision for the Greene Tract is that it would remain undisturbed. She proposed that the Coutny pursue obtaining coritiguous property. She wants the County to be interested in delineating the natural areas. She indicated on the map the locafion of the natural areas. She said that theoreticalfy the land is an asset of the landfill. She asked about the Duke Power restricfions on the easemenf. She also_asked how much land the County would need to have access to the railroad. She said that her vision for the Greene Tract is that it would be mainly open space. She would like the staff tfl research what the ' restricEive covenants are for the residences,what the Greene Tract buffers mean,and what would the other jurisdictions do with the property adjacent to the railroad tracks. Chair Carey feets that attemative one does provide some potential for the area for both development and � protection. He feels that because the 60 acres is an asset of the system that some opportuniEies should be preserved for it to be used for developable purposes. Commissioner Gordon asked how much is designated along the railroad and David Stancil said between 500�00 feet She asked what it could be used for and John Link said that he would think that any structure would be accornmodated. She suggested having an altemative access in the northem part of the tract where the Duke Power easernent would not have to be crossed. � � Geoffrey Gledhill said that someone could be employed to determine the needs of access ta the railroad. He said that since there are so many unknowns associated with the raifroad,the County should focus on physically rnaking a connection to the railroad right-of-way. � Chair Carey said that the County could exclude a right-of�nray from the 60 acres and negofiate with the. towns for using it for that purpose as a part of the 109 acres without having to assume responsibility for it as an asset Chair Carey supports altemative#1 because it provides ma�dmum fle�obility for the use of this property. Commissioner Gordon asked about the buffers from the Neville Tract Gayle Wilson said that in changing the Neville Tract to allow excavafiion of soil,the Town required a buffer. � The landfil(required a certain amount of soil to come off the property, and it was determined that since most of the property would have to be used for soil excavation,that the buffier was placed on the adjacent property,which was the Greene Tract. A motion was made by Commissioner Brown,seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to adopt altemative#1 and send on to Chapel Hill the following: 1)the wildlife corridor map, showing and highfighting the various natural areas with an explanation;2)the goldenrod sheet showing the drainage pattem and what it rneans in terms of a natura(area being the headwaters of the creeks; and 3)a statement of support of Chape(HifPs resolution to maintain the Greene Tract in a natural sta#e to ii�e greatest exEer�t possible,since there has been a mention of affordable . housing. The County's interrt is to preserve the propetiy in its natural state and build on the support of the Chapel Hill resofution. OTE: UNANIMOUS � .__._--- Chair Carey will circulafe e letter to the other Commissioners before it is sent to Chapel Hilt. With regard to the resolution added to the agenda, Geoffrey Gledhill said that the application for rezoning is still out there and pending and it will be processed if there is no formal action to withdraw the appfica6on for the � rezoning. By this resolution, Orange County as an owner of the properiy will withdraw their support for rezoning the Greene Tract A mation was made by Commissioner Jacobs,seconded by Gommissioner Halkiotis to withdraw Orange County's support of the rezoning request of the Greene Tract. . VOTE: UNANIMOUS �—'"� c. Adotstion of Countv CaRital Proiect Ordinances The Board was to consider adoption of capital project ordinances for projects included in the 1999-2009 Capital Investment Pfan. This item was postponed to the March 23,2000 work session. 9