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John Kent said that he has emailed the handout, which was at the County <br /> Commissioners' places, which is a resolution and supporting letter for the Board of County <br /> Commissioners to review and take action to support the committee in this issue with the bridge <br /> and DOT. He said that the committee would like the Board to pass the resolution, which <br /> requests a field meeting. This would be a meeting of qualified biologists at the bridge site with <br /> DOT engineers. The committee would also like consideration of raising the bridge for a <br /> pedestrian path and also for adequate wildlife passage. <br /> Ryke Longest is the newly appointed Director of the Environmental Law and Policy Clinic <br /> at Duke University School of Law. He and some of his students have been to the site and they <br /> have helped the corridor committee. He became involved in helping the committee in <br /> December 2007. Since that time, a permit appeal has been filed with the Division of Water <br /> Quality for the permit on the original bridge, and it is still pending. Meanwhile, the construction <br /> plan is on-going and is scheduled for July. He said that they are not asking for the Board of <br /> County Commissioners to participate in the permit appeal, only to support the resolution. He <br /> spoke of how special this part of the creek was and encouraged everyone to visit it. <br /> Chair Jacobs said that this would be referred to staff to come back at the meeting on <br /> April 1'. He said that Orange County was very instrumental in helping to start the efforts for the <br /> preservation of this corridor. He said that the Board of County Commissioners has already <br /> written a letter to DOT, and it intends to continue participating in a supportive manner. <br /> Commissioner Carey asked about the field meeting and who the agreement would be <br /> between. John Kent said that normally this is a standard procedure for federally-listed <br /> endangered species. The species in this area are state-listed only. The DOT did a mussel <br /> survey for this site, and the report is that there is a very rich resource. He said that the field <br /> meeting is typically done with qualified biologists and DOT, and DOT says what it plans to put in <br /> the bridge and the biologists give their opinion. It is then reflected in the environmental <br /> document that is done for the project. The agreements are not a legal document, and in the <br /> proceedings, the committee would want to make sure that DOT would be legally bound by the <br /> results of the field meeting. <br /> Katherine Harper read a prepared statement, as follows: <br /> "Hello, my name is Katherine Harper, property owner of 1808 Hwy 15-501 S, which is <br /> located about a mile south of the Chapel Hill city limits. It is a residential area in which the <br /> houses are between 100 and 200 feet apart as they line the highway. For reference, it is the <br /> section in which Smith Level Road runs parallel to the highway, and our property is one of the <br /> two-acre parcels in between these two roads. I live there with my husband and three-year old <br /> daughter. <br /> My problem is that our next door neighbor, and his friends, recreate by shooting rifles <br /> and hand guns at a target and dirt mound located about 25 feet from our property and 50 feet <br /> from our bedroom window. This goes on for hours on weekdays and weekends. The noise is <br /> piercing (they are wearing ear protectors) and we have to run inside because my daughter is so <br /> frightened. Once inside, the noise and vibration of the guns rattles our lamps. The noise is one <br /> of my problems, but the main problem here is human safety. What happens if a bullet ricochets <br /> off of their target or it hits someone at a house behind our properties? We spoke with the <br /> Orange County Sheriff's Office, who said there was nothing they could do about it as they <br /> laughed in my face and said they knew it was crazy, but there was no ordinance. Donna and <br /> Evelyn were extremely helpful and were able to pinpoint that there was no specific ordinance to <br /> deal with this issue. Please let me know what we can do to establish an ordinance banning <br /> target practice in residential areas. This is a Human Safety issue." <br /> Katherine Harper <br /> 1808 Hwy 15-501 South <br /> 2 <br />