OUTBoard minutes 121813 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

Approved 2/19/14 Abigaile Pittman responded that the maximum distance is 2 miles. Paul Guthrie asked about the distance for busing and Don Wollum asked about the greatest distance for busing. Abigaile Pittman referred the Board to the map and advised that it shows the traveling distances. Nancy Baker advised the Board that the County also buses students based on `hazard' and literally have students who live across the street from the school who are bussed because it is not safe for them the cross the road. Additionally this program will make it accessible for walkers and bikes not only for the elementary students but also for the high school students at both Cedar Ridge and Orange High School as they are beside two of the chosen elementary schools. Nancy noted there are also large apartment complexes within easy walking distance from Grady Brown and some facilities there are going to help a large group of children. She noted that with Cameron Park being in downtown Hillsborough the benefits will include a lot of the residents. Pascale Mittendorf noted that many children within walking distance are driven which creates a lot of traffic congestion. That is especially a concern with Cameron Park as there a bad corner on a hill with limited line of sight. It is a dangerous location. Paul Guthrie commented that he was not involved in the placement of the schools but he was involved very heavily in the placement of 2 schools in the Chapel Hill district and he does not remember any time that they talked about the issue of walking to school. He said the only issue was the driving issue and the only place you could put a school with the acreage required was out where there aren't any people. He noted that the system has been built where the schools are located are out away from the towns, so he is very enthusiastic about the request. Holly Reid agreed that the short term costs of locating schools where it is less expensive but then there is the great long term cost for busing in the County system. She pointed out that the project also helps the afterschool and extra - circular activities, and since the facility are available for public use it also benefits that use not just before and after school but multiple times a day and weekends. Abigaile Pittman noted that in the process of meeting with DOT regarding the maintenance for the facilities there will need to be a contract with the Town of Hillsborough to provide that maintenance. This will be one of the discussions at the joint meeting between the BOCC and the Town of Hillsborough in February. The final decision on the Plan will be postponed until after that meeting has been held. She noted it could be a March or April BOCC meeting. Jeff Charles noted that if there are going to be bicycle lanes or bicycle areas there has to be maintenance in those area that involves running a power brush over them to get debris, gravel, broken glass, etc. Abigaile Pittman advised she would make sure it was included in the discussion. She also told the group that Grady Brown School went into the project list for the DCHC MPO, who is allowed to submit 20 bike /ped projects up to DOT, and Grady Brown made it as number 19. Nancy Baker asked Abigaile if that included the overpass and was told that it does. Ted Triebel asked if there was any effort to prioritize between the three schools as to which one should go forward first. He noted that the possibility of getting funding for all three was slim and Abigaile Pittman responded that the Grady Brown projects have been prioritized by the BOCC. Abigaile Pittman noted that Hillsborough submitted the Cameron Park projects as a package but it wasn't accepted as one of the 20 projects. Alex Castro asked if the County would have to pay for 20% of the costs of the Grady Brown project. Abigaile Pittman responded that there is a lot of money left over that was not obligated because very few of the plan are ready right now if this project can get there first with an adopted plan and constructability with DOT resolved and cost estimates that are fairly accurate, with the fact that the County has staff engineers that can lay out some pre-