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1 <br />2 <br />3 <br />4 <br />5 <br />6 <br />7 <br />8 <br />9 <br />10 <br />11 <br />12 <br />13 <br />14 <br />15 <br />16 <br />17 <br />18 <br />19 <br />20 <br />21 <br />22 <br />23 <br />24 <br />25 <br />26 <br />27 <br />28 <br />29 <br />30 <br />31 <br />32 <br />33 <br />34 <br />35 <br />36 <br />37 <br />38 <br />39 <br />40 <br />41 <br />42 <br />43 <br />44 <br />45 <br />46 <br />47 <br />48 <br />49 <br />50 <br />51 <br />32 <br />unhappy that we were changing the way in which that property is going to be used. We should <br />not speak lightly about changing the borders of an EDD without doing a lot of outreach in <br />advance with the public. People here have a more aggressive attitude than elsewhere in the <br />state about how they want to be treated with regard to their land. I felt reading the report that <br />Timmons was doing what it was supposed to do, but that it was not as tuned to local conditions <br />as we are. <br />Commissioner Burroughs said she was struck this morning by the immediate impact the <br />Wegman's project has on the Orange County budget. "Big game hunting" can make a difference <br />on the budget, on the quality of life in Orange County, on taxes, and on the resources we have <br />available to do what we want to do. <br />In reply to a question from Commissioner Burroughs, Mr. Hall explained that sewer service <br />already exists on NC -10. In order to make the 95 acres south of NC -10 next to the Buckhorn <br />EDD available, the water and sewer boundary needs to be updated, he said. Water would need <br />to be extended from the Morinaga site. Mr. Benedict added that the land use plan would need to <br />be changed in order for the water and sewer boundary to change. Commissioner Burroughs <br />said she thinks it is time to have a discussion about changing the water and sewer boundary in <br />that area; 35 years is a long time, she added. She also said she is open to another conversation <br />with Mebane. I don't want us to assume that what we have done in the past in what we will do in <br />the future. On a smaller note, she added, I'm open to eliminating the name "CITAN." Every time <br />I see it I have to look up what it means. <br />Commissioner Rich said that the Board needs to have a work session to follow -up from today's <br />discussion. I would like to learn at that work session how much we are paying to support our <br />economic development efforts, and what the payoff is from that investment. I've been on this <br />Board for six years, and other than Morinaga and Wegman's I've not seen the needle move <br />forward, she said. In addition, at the work session we need to discuss Article 46 funding, she <br />said. The Towns have been asking for Article 46 funding, but we tell them we cannot give any of <br />it to them because we are investing it into economic development infrastructure. <br />I also agree with my colleagues here who already have said that we can think much further <br />outside of the box. Lots of smaller development might be more fitting than another Morinaga, <br />for example. Another research campus such as Carolina North might not be an appropriate <br />model for us, she said; that effort fell apart. And let's be careful about referencing Amazon as <br />the kind of business we would want to attract. Amazon has destroyed Seattle. It gentrified the <br />City, chased away the artists and grunge community, took away its charm, and raised the cost <br />of living to a ridiculous level. <br />Finally, she said, Mebane has a $4M surplus because it is directing its non - residential <br />development to its Alamance side and its residential development into Orange. Commissioner <br />McKee said that Mebane is directing non - residential development into Alamance because the <br />timeframes and cost of development are lower in Alamance than they are in Orange. <br />Commissioner McKee said that the County's fiscal situation calls for an approach to economic <br />development that is optimistic, hard headed, and realistic. Some of the decisions might get us <br />unelected, but let's not do the same things over and over and expect different results; that's the <br />definition of insanity. We've been doing the same thing with EDDs for 30 years. It's only recently <br />that we have put water and sewer in Buckhorn. Only in the past few months has this Board <br />moved forward with a sewer system in Hillsborough. The Eno EDD is still "on the books," but I <br />don't have a clue as to what that means. There are sites across Old NC -10 from the Buckhorn <br />