Agenda - 10-03-2017 - 8-a - Minutes

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20 1 is her understanding from staff, that in order to achieve this, the designation must be changed 2 from rural buffer to ETJ. She said she would prefer staffs to work together and achieve this 3 goal under the "essential public services" definition to allow bathrooms in public park facilities. 4 She said the Town has no interest in damaging or changing the rural buffer. She said there are 5 five entities that need to agree in order to move forward, and there are public-private 6 partnership opportunities for funding. 7 Mayor Hemminger said the Town has had no discussions about the parcel on the 8 southern end of the County. 9 Commissioner McKee asked if there is a reason the letter in the packet cannot be sent 10 anyway, or will it lock the Board in to something. 11 John Roberts said he does not interpret the letter as an approval to expand the ETJ, 12 and if the Board votes on the letter this evening, that will start the public hearing process, 13 allowing Chapel Hill to gather more information. 14 Commissioner Burroughs said the letter shows support for the Town in setting a public 15 hearing for the extension. 16 Mayor Hemminger said it was not the Town's intention to hold a public hearing on 17 changing the terminology from rural buffer to ETJ. She said it would be nice for the BOCC to 18 write a letter expressing support of County and Town staff working together on the issue, and to 19 take this letter to the AOG. 20 Commissioner Rich said the letter needs to be re-written to focus on a path forward for 21 these properties. 22 Mayor Hemminger said sending the letter as it stands would give the community reason 23 to believe that the Town intends to hold a public hearing about whether or not to keep the rural 24 buffer, which is not the Town's intent. 25 Commissioner Jacobs said to re-write the letter and re-submit it to the Board prior to 26 sending it to the Town of Chapel Hill. 27 Commissioner Jacobs asked Perdita Holtz if she could clarify the effect of going from 28 rural buffer to ETJ, as pertains to the control of the property. 29 Perdita Holtz said it would change the property from County jurisdiction to Town 30 jurisdiction, and the Town would extend zoning districts over the property via a public hearing. 31 Commissioner Jacobs suggested doing this very cautiously, as there is no plan in place 32 for a park or the land in general. He said discussing the extension of water and sewer, as well 33 as possibilities for the land is a starting point. He said the County can approve its own park, 34 while the Town has different standards. He said he is not comfortable having a process in 35 which the Board indicates its willingness to move a County parcel into someone else's 36 jurisdiction, until the intended use for the parcel is very clear. 37 Mayor Hemminger said Commissioner Jacobs' words capture the spirit of the topic, but 38 she would like to know if staff can work on a definition of"essential public services". She said 39 the Town wants to work with the County. 40 Commissioner Marcoplos said he generally agreed with Commissioner Jacobs, and he 41 finds the Sunrise Road site to be simple. He said he would like to see more data on the water 42 and sewer issue. He said the Millhouse Road area is a prime location for a transfer station, but 43 he sees the possibility for this narrowing, and he would like to discuss this further. 44 Commissioner Jacobs said he is amenable to this discussion, but he heard this area is 45 only big enough for Chapel Hill. He said now is a more amenable time to discuss the transfer 46 station issue. He said this was discussed 10 years ago, and the area was still considered part 47 of the Rogers Road community. He said the topic has been mentioned in several BOCC 48 meetings, and he is shocked that no one has come forward to speak about the issue.