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the northern direction, being able to get off the interstate and make a left turn onto Buckhorn Road because of the existing traffic there already. And then we have people who are coming south, going toward Burlington, who are getting off the interstate, coming up and turning around in our church's parking lot, in order to get back in line to go back toward the flea market. And we have had some of our members pause to be hit in the parking lot because some people are in such a haste to get back in line. I think this project would be a benefit to Orange County, but we are concerned about the churches and roads. Naola Fearrington: I have been sworn in. I live at 710 Buckhorn Road. I'm a member of People for Progress. The question that I have, at our last People for Progress meeting, we had several questions, and I think you answered two of those in the presentations that were made tonight. But there's one thing that, in addition to what Rev. Umstead has said, the other thing that concerns us, in our area, the residents are concerned about property taxes—tax values, County tax increases, and the possibility of Mebane City taxes if they are annexed. Chair Jacobs: Just so you know, the Northern Buckhorn/Central Efland Sewer project will go to public hearing in this room on April 1St David Permar: I have been sworn. I'm an attorney from Raleigh. I'm here representing McLeod Oil Company. McLeod Oil Company operates the BP Buckhorn station right at the southeast corner of this interchange. McLeod is headquartered in Mebane, it is a petroleum marketing and distribution company, it has been in existence since the 1940's. The Thompkins family has owned and operated it since the 1970's. It has approximately 70 employees. It distributes and sells petroleum products to the retail public through approximately 30-40 outlets in the central Piedmont area of North Carolina. They have owned and operated what I call the Buckhorn BP station since the 1980's. It is one of McLeod's best outlets in terms of volume. The retail gasoline business is highly competitive. Price is an important factor. Higher volumes mean lower margins and lower prices. But access in and out of a station is even more important than price - ease of access in and ease of access out. At the Buckhorn BP, 99% of the business comes right off the interstate and returns immediately to the interstate. All of those customers must make a left turn into the Buckhorn BP. Currently, that left turn is very easily accommodated, it's good access in and it's good access out. If, however, our customers and the motoring public lose the ability to make a left turn into that site, it will be devastating to the Buckhorn BP business. It is no exaggeration to expect a loss of 50% in sales if that were to occur. Traffic impact analysis indicates that Buckhorn Road would need to be expanded to four lanes, with a turn lane in the center. The second concern for us is whether or not additional rights-of-way will need to be taken in order to accommodate the four lanes plus the turn lane. I urge you not to take any additional right-of-way from the Buckhorn BP site. If very little additional right-of-way being taken would require that the pump islands be moved, if the pump islands are moved, the entire UST system must be replaced, and if you're going through all of that, you're likely going to have to replace everything on the site. That becomes a very expensive process. I'm really sure that the developer or the Department of Transportation doesn't want to take on that expense. I urge you to do two things. First, keep the current traffic patterns on the site and keep the left turn into the BP site open. Second, keep all of the improvements in the current right-of-way. If all of that can be accomplished, we have no objection to this proposed development. We look forward to working with the DOT, the developer, and Orange County to see if we can accomplish all of our goals and let the project move forward. Michael Collins: He gave his handout to the Clerk. I have been sworn. Tonight I'm speaking on behalf of the Intercity Visit Sustainability Workgroup. We are a group of concerned citizens