Orange County NC Website
Laura Blackmon: I think the Comprehensive Plan is all the things you have mentioned and as <br /> we go through each year with the goals and initiatives, and establishing tasks that we can <br /> budget from, we would be pulling things from the plan and making decisions on what we're <br /> going to fund and provide both the staffing and the funds to do this. <br /> Chapter 2: Planning Principles <br /> Commissioner Gordon: Number 3 is really two goals. <br /> Chair Jacobs: It's certainly verbose. <br /> Commissioner Gordon: It was, "Promote both air quality and protection of the development of <br /> an effective transportation system," and then we decided that we really ought to encourage <br /> energy efficiency, lower energy consumption, and the use of non-polluting and renewable <br /> energy resources. We just put it all on that one. I just want to flag it, because I don't really want <br /> to open up that we go through and start redoing our goals. The reason that I think about it <br /> right now is that I notice that later on there is one element that deals with air quality protection <br /> and the development of the transportation system, and I don't even think that it gets at air <br /> quality protection. It is not highlighted enough. Certainly, in this day of global climate change <br /> and all of the things that we have in terms of energy crisis, certainly encouraging energy <br /> efficiency, etc., is important, but also so is promoting air-quality protection and development of <br /> an effective transportation system. I think it's so global that I think that, maybe it's not <br /> sharpened up enough because it was such a huge goal. I'm not saying change content or <br /> anything, but I think that "while" should be deleted and then have another goal after"while." <br /> Chair Jacobs: I agree that it's too much but since the Commissioner that suggested that <br /> wording is not here, I think we should wait. Commissioners Gordon and Carey agreed. I would <br /> also point out that the bottom of the page on the CD says, "Public Hearing Draft 3-5-08" and this <br /> says, "Public Hearing Draft 5-6-08." So we may have distributed a two-month old version. <br /> Chapter 3: Economic Development Element <br /> Chair Jacobs: Since we're doing a background of Orange County's history as an economic <br /> entity, I think it's worth mentioning that when Alamance County was created in 1849 and I am <br /> guessing Durham County in 1871, those were the parts that had a lot of industry. So, if we're <br /> doing a history of Orange County and we're saying, based on the University and agriculture, <br /> part of that was because they took with them the vast majority of the manufacturing base of the <br /> County. That is not insignificant. Some of this goes all the way back to the Occaneechi Indians. <br /> Then in this last paragraph, "Strategic economic development efforts,"there is almost nothing in <br /> this whole element about either promoting small business or encouraging existing business. I <br /> know it's part of the strategic plan, but there is virtually no mention. So, I think in that last <br /> paragraph on page 3-1 is a good place to start. <br /> On page 3-6 under Key Issues, it says, "Previous economic development efforts and studies <br /> have honed," maybe check the dictionary to make sure this is the correct word. Under these <br /> Key Issues, I would suggest, another theme that is not in here at all, that says, "providing <br /> improved opportunities for the under-employed and extended opportunities for an aging <br /> workforce." It's a big thrust in the Master Aging Plan to provide opportunities for seniors to <br /> continue to work. And one of the reasons we wanted the Durham Technical Community <br /> College is because we have a lot of under-employed people. We keep talking about low <br />