Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
1 <br /> I Attachment 4 <br /> 2 <br /> 3 DRAFT MINUTES <br /> 4 BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> 5 REGULAR MEETING <br /> 6 October 20, 2015 <br /> 7 7:00 p.m. <br /> 8 <br /> 9 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, <br /> 10 October 20, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. at the Southern Human Services Center, in Chapel Hill, N.C. <br /> 11 <br /> 12 COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair McKee and Commissioners Mark Dorosin, <br /> 13 Barry Jacobs, Bernadette Pelissier, Renee Price and Penny Rich <br /> 14 COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Commissioner Mia Burroughs <br /> 15 COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: John Roberts <br /> 16 COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Bonnie Hammersley, Deputy County Manager <br /> 17 Travis Myren and Clerk to the Board Donna Baker (All other staff members will be identified <br /> 18 appropriately below) <br /> 19 <br /> 20 Chair McKee called meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. <br /> 21 <br /> 22 1. Additions or Changes to the Agenda <br /> 23 <br /> 24 - PowerPoint slides for item 8a: North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) <br /> 25 Assessment of Orange Public Transit (OPT) <br /> 26 - PowerPoint slides for item 8b: Orange County Detention Center Project Update <br /> 27 <br /> 28 PUBLIC CHARGE <br /> 29 <br /> 30 Chair McKee dispensed with the reading of the public charge. <br /> 31 <br /> 32 2. Public Comments <br /> 33 <br /> 34 a. Matters not on the Printed Agenda <br /> 35 Terry Rekeweg read the following statement: <br /> 36 First, I believe the Durham-Orange LRT project is headed for failure for a large number <br /> 37 of reasons. <br /> 38 Second, if tax money is left over to begin redesign efforts, the project could be <br /> 39 redesigned to take more passengers to where they really want to go. It could be safer, more <br /> 40 cost efficient and faster. 11 minutes faster from Chapel Hill to downtown Durham. <br /> 41 The current light rail plan does not really connect Chapel Hill eastward to the rest of the <br /> 42 Triangle Region. Who in this room would consistently ride a transit system from Chapel Hill to <br /> 43 RTP or Raleigh going 13 miles out of your way? This extremely slow and winding track <br /> 44 alignment would add 26 miles and 1 hour to your work commute. No way! Passengers would <br /> 45 instead take a direct bus or drive. <br /> 46 There are many smart citizens in Orange County who get the problem and have made <br /> 47 comments on this rail project. I will pick one of these comments from many: "In its current <br /> 48 form, I do not believe we should spend the money to build the D-O LRT for the reason that <br /> 49 ridership patterns do not indicate the proposed routing will significantly reduce car trips into or <br /> 50 out of Chapel Hill. The majority of car trips into or out of Chapel Hill do not start or end in north <br />