Orange County NC Website
• 13 <br /> local radio stations, unless citizens are alert and willing <br /> to listen and read and inform other citizens who do not <br /> access the local stations and newspapers . Mr. Williams noted <br /> that those citizens are in attendance now and asked if the <br /> Board is listening to them and their concerns . He asked also <br /> if the people involved in developing the greenways system <br /> were lifelong residents of Orange County, owners of single <br /> lots or large landowners of the County. Ms . Marshall <br /> responded that some of all those groups were involved. Mr. <br /> Williams expressed doubt that this was true. Mr. Williams <br /> expressed concern that land will not be donated or sold to <br /> the County for the greenways system. He indicated that he <br /> felt establishment of the greenways was a contrived way of <br /> taking land from the taxpaying landowners for the primary <br /> purpose of providing access to privately owned lands in rural <br /> Orange County for the use of the non-taxpaying student <br /> population of UNC at Chapel Hill and the Chapel Hill area. <br /> Ms. Marshall responded "absolutely not" . Mr. Williams <br /> continued expressing non-belief and stated that he felt the <br /> monies required for the Plan could be put to better use for <br /> the citizens of Orange County within the school system. Ms . <br /> Marshall responded that the choice is not between the schools <br /> and out-of-state students at UNC. She stated that the <br /> schools must be funded but if the County is to develop and <br /> get the kind of economic industrial development that many <br /> want to help the tax base, the amenities that really fine <br /> industrial people look for are schools and recreational <br /> opportunities . This is a requirement for the high class tax <br /> base that many in Orange County would like to have. Mr. <br /> Williams responded that the residents of rural Orange County <br /> have means of recreation and noted again that he felt the <br /> greenways were solely for, the students of the Chapel Hill <br /> area. Mr. Williams stated that he had been informed, as a <br /> recent member of the Board of Directors of White Cross <br /> Recreation Association, that the statement had been made that <br /> the Orange County Recreation and Parks Department was going <br /> to take-over the White Cross Recreation Association when it <br /> went broke and asked Ms . Black if that was a true statement. <br /> Ms. Black responded that it was not. He noted that there had <br /> been mention of a joint effort of development between the <br /> White Cross Recreation Association and the County Recreation <br /> Department and he expressed opposition to such an endeavor. <br /> He noted that the community center was built through <br /> volunteer efforts with no assistance required from the County <br /> and that the White Cross Community residents are totally <br /> opposed to the greenways as an unnecessary and ridiculous <br /> idea. <br /> Bill Ray referenced the fifty-foot stream buffer noting that <br /> the greenway requirement would be an additional sixty feet. <br /> He cited a California case and stated that the greenways <br />