Agenda - 02-21-2017 - 6-a - Minutes

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10 1 Commissioner Jacobs wondered if UNC Hospitals contributes to the Hillsborough routes. If they 2 can approach Tanger Outlets then certainly they should approach UNC Hospitals. It has a major 3 impact and is about to add another wing. If Hillsborough does not ask them then they should. 4 5 Commissioner Jacobs noted that the Manager is conducting an analysis of how growth in the 6 municipalities is affecting County services. They can take a less passive approach to 7 transportation impacts now that they have transportation staff. Perhaps a team can be 8 assembled to engage proactively with municipal staffs about the impact of development on the 9 County transportation system. For example, what if Carrboro wanted to develop more 10 intensively along Old 86? Our participation on the MPOs is formulaic, and getting a project onto 11 a TIP is a 7-10 year process. They need more creative ways of getting involved in the 12 transportation planning process with the neighbors who affect them, including Alamance. 13 14 Commissioner Rich noted that Commissioner McKee has been asking for years to bring 15 services and programs into the rural parts of the County. It does not have to be permanent: 16 periodic flu shots in Cedar Grove, for example, or blood pressure or diabetes screening. 17 18 Commissioner McKee said the Cedar Grove community center has smaller rooms that would 19 support the kinds of services that Commissioner Rich is talking about. He asked Janet Sparks 20 what the status is of bringing such services to the community centers. 21 22 Janet Sparks replied that the Department Directors recently met with the Cedar Grove staff for 23 initial conversations. 24 25 Bonnie Hammersley said her direction to David Caldwell when he was the Community Center 26 Coordinator was to assess needs and coordinate with the Department Directors and Manager in 27 developing a plan for bringing services to the centers. He recently took a different position with 28 the County and they are recruiting now to refill the position. The new coordinator will continue 29 the work that Mr. Caldwell started. In the meantime, she is meeting weekly with representatives 30 from the community centers, talking mostly about facilities because the winter is a down time for 31 programming. 32 33 Commissioner McKee expressed support for asking Tanger Outlets for a contribution, and for 34 improving the ability of rural residents -- including people in Bingham Township --to access 35 services via public transportation. There are a lot of elderly people in this county who do not 36 have family who can drive them to appointments and they need to keep that in mind. 37 38 Commissioner McKee said they also need to keep the LRT component of our transportation 39 plans in mind. The increase in its cost impacts everything they are talking about today. If they 40 are truly committed to holding down their local taxes then this Board is going to need to ask 41 some very serious questions about LRT. None of them imagined a year ago that the borrowing 42 for that project would go out to 2062. He said he only found out about that a month ago, and 43 only because he asked a question from out of the blue. As Commissioner Dorosin said earlier 44 today, sustainability is not only about holding the line, it also is about moving forward. They 45 won't be moving forward if they commit themselves to repeated tax increases; they'll just be 46 spinning their wheels. 47 48 Commissioner Price said most of the community centers hosted County services before those 49 services were cut back. Cedar Grove hosted Durham Tech, the library, and day care for 50 example. Efland-Cheeks and Rogers Road had services as well. The issue now is whether they 10