Agenda - 03-19-2013 - 5a - Laserfiche WebLink

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7 1 development of joint policy for dealing with archaeological, cultural and historic sites within the 2 jurisdiction. 3 4 OUTBoard (Orange County Unified Transportation Board) Paul Guthrie, Chair—Jeff 5 Charles, Vice Chair 6 Paul Guthrie thanked the Board of County Commissioners for appointing new members 7 recently. The board is moving ahead getting organized. There are still two vacancies, one 8 relative to Economic Development and one relative to Environment. 9 Paul Guthrie said their report covers the subjects asked for. He pointed out that on the 10 first page of assigned charges is their guiding principle. He noted that this is very vague and 11 broad, therefore what they do or don't do depends on the direction of the Board on a yearly 12 basis. He noted that with the number of new members, on issues of certain topics, it might be 13 wise to have briefings or one on ones. He referenced a recent sensitive and critical topic that 14 came up about the issue of the interaction of the planning and management functions for 15 transportation in the county and among the municipalities in the triangle and triad. This area 16 keeps coming up. How can the most interaction be gained from these multi-jurisdictional 17 transportation boards without overburdening each of the individuals appointed to represent 18 those bodies? He said their board has two central functions —to advise Board of County 19 Commissioners on things going on or that may come before them, but also it owes them 20 foresight on what will be coming on the horizon. He said they just initiated a list of 39 21 organizations that have issues of transportation. Effort will be made to have the members 22 volunteer to be monitors of these entities to give the Board of County Commissioners a more 23 comprehensive view of what is going in transportation. He noted that it is hard to staff this. He 24 said they have a list of activities for the future and at their next meeting they will be reviewing 25 the Comprehensive Transportation Plan. He said that they have been deeply involved in that 26 plan. 27 Craig Benedict said this board is a county wide board that has been around about eight 28 years and looks at all issues related to transportation. The board's role in the coming year 29 would be to focus on part of the Orange County Bus and Rail Investment Plan and how to 30 continue to have that representation county wide to facilitate movement of people to jobs and 31 services in the county. He said the board is enjoying the diversification of the new membership. 32 There has been a lot of action around CTP and safe routes to schools. . Mr. Benedict noted the 33 contributions of Tom Altieri and Abigail Pittman. 34 Commissioner Rich asked how many people are on the board. Craig Benedict responded, 35 about 13. 36 Commissioner Rich asked if younger people are being attracted onto the boards and Jeff 37 Walker said that he sees young students getting involved and learning about the existence of 38 the OUTBoard and he believes there will be more young applicants. 39 Commissioner McKee said that he realizes there are many layers involved in 40 transportation and he expressed his appreciation for the OUTBoard and their input. He noted 41 that he had found surrounding rural counties to be very amenable to including the needs of 42 Orange County on equal basis. He attributed this to the active subgroup of people that are 43 involved and giving input. He said that the new construction for Hwy 86 North will be carrying a 44 four foot shoulder, which is a considerable improvement from a safety standpoint. 45 Jeff Charles said Orange County is a bicycling mecca due to its rural roads and attracts 46 this segment of tourism. He noted that Bikefest in Hillsborough in August attracts about 850 47 people, which has an economic impact. He said there is a need to start thinking about 48 connectivity, not only for commuting, but for cyclists, and recreational cycling. He said there 49 are more slow-moving 35 mph top end scooters in Orange County. He noted the benefit of 50 sharing that four foot side shoulder with cyclists, and slow moving individual powered vehicles.