Agenda - 03-21-2017 - 8-a - Minutes

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9 1 remained in contact with Sheetz officials to offer assistance as needed and Orange County 2 Erosion Control has worked with the property owner to keep the project moving forward. It is 3 hoped construction on the Sheetz facility will begin soon. There are rumors of a restaurant 4 being located adjacent to Sheetz but no formal site plan has been submitted denoting same. A 5 food truck has taken up operation(s) on the Paliouras property consistent with the County's 6 recently adopted food truck ordinance. 7 8 9 d) Tourism and Arts (in coordination with Orange County Visitors Bureau/Hillsborough 10 Visitors Center/Tourism Board/Arts Commission/etc.) 11 12 Commissioner Rich said Orange County sent a letter to the legislature about the number 13 of losses Orange County has suffered due to HB2, and requested its repeal. 14 Chair Dorosin asked if there is an update on the Colonial Inn. 15 Mayor Stevens said it is in the process of imminent domain, and mediation is likely in the 16 next 30 days. 17 Commissioner Rich asked if the building will hold up during this wait time. 18 Mayor Stevens said professionals are telling the Town that the building can be restored. 19 He said the Town is going through a process of due diligence, and the top goals is to make 20 sure this landmark can be preserved for posterity. He said the secondary goal is to see it be 21 put to use, hopefully in a way that engages the public. 22 Commissioner Jacobs said he asked that the Cornelius area be included in the SWOT 23 analysis, but he was the only one making this request. He said if any other County 24 Commissioners are interested in this as well, to please tell the Manager to include this in the 25 SWOT analysis. 26 Chair Dorosin said this could be treated as a petition at the next BOCC meeting. 27 Mayor Stevens said the Town is constrained budget wise, but is planning to move the 28 fire and police stations, and create a campus area where Town offices can be located. He said 29 this will free up some properties in the downtown area. He said this is in the early stages. He 30 said there has been a great deal of change downtown, and this is likely to continue over the 31 next 10 years. He said the enduring and endearing elements of downtown should always 32 remain. 33 Commissioner Price asked if the Town owns a portion of the Bacon store corner. 34 Mayor Stevens said the Town bought the old Singer building, the doctor and dentist 35 office, the furniture store and the house. He said the commercial area on the corner is still in 36 private hands, but these purchases give the Town an opportunity for fire trucks to be able to go 37 down Cornelius Street, and come out on a driveway on Churton Street without having back in. 38 Commissioner Price asked if there are plans for economic development in this area. 39 Mayor Stevens said it is in private hands except for what the Town is going to develop 40 for fire/police/office space. He said there is no small area plan. He said the Town may be 41 interested in developing the area with sidewalks and other types of connectivity. 42 Commissioner Weaver said the Cornelius area is proximate to the County's parcels for 43 affordable housing. 44 Commissioner Ferguson asked if there is an update on the Mountains to Sea Trail 45 (MTS). 46 David Stancil, Department of Environment, Agriculture, Parks and Recreation (DEAPR) 47 Director, said the final community meeting will be held on March 6th, and a preferred route has 48 been determined, as well as three alternate routes. He said this will be discussed at the March 49 6th meeting. He said the focus is on the stretch south from Occaneechee Mountain towards 50 Saxapahaw and the Alamance County line. He said the recommendation is to focus initially on