Agenda - 03-07-2019 8-a - Minutes

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4 1 Commissioner Marcoplos asked about maps that show what commutes and other trips 2 look like for people moving from rural to urban areas. 3 Travis Myren said that in the light rail process there were some spaghetti maps 4 developed that show that. 5 Commissioner Greene said Chapel Hill had maps showing people commuting in and out 6 of Chapel Hill and were readily available, and also showed traffic in and out of the County. 7 Commissioner Price said the maps also show driving within the county. She said her 8 perspective, coming from 20 years living in the County and prior experience in both rural and 9 urban areas, is that everyone shares similar needs. She said they need food, access to 10 transportation, and better jobs, and the difference comes in how services are delivered, and 11 how the County collaborates with other jurisdictions to meet the needs of the citizens. 12 Commissioner Price said many of the people living in urban areas are not very far 13 removed from rural life, as many have only moved to more urban settings in the last generation 14 or half generation. 15 Commissioner Price said Hillsborough was experiencing a good deal of new residents 16 coming to a town where many residents have lived for a long time. She said she sees some 17 resentment coming from longtime residents, but has also seen some growth in bridge building. 18 She recalled a time when she was approached by a person who said to her, "You're not a 19 politician, because you didn't just start changing things." She said this is a perception people 20 have that politicians are not from here, and then make lots of changes. 21 Chair Rich spoke to the "One Orange County" idea referenced by Commissioner 22 Dorosin. She said sometimes the biggest challenge is not between residents of the County, but 23 leaders. She encouraged a continuing conversation to get the board on the same page, and 24 mentioned the counter-productive nature of competition over who gets political credit behind 25 ideas. She said the jurisdictions need to collaborate to solve issues for the greater benefit of the 26 County. 27 Commissioner Dorosin said all local elected officials need to be able to tell their 28 constituents how actions taken outside of their jurisdiction benefit the County as a whole. He 29 said there needs to be more recognition that what benefits the County as a whole, generally 30 benefits the municipalities and vice versa. 31 Chair Rich said this does not happen often. 32 Commissioner Dorosin said it is important to be able to justify the decisions they make 33 by noting how they benefit the entire county. He cited the Wegman's and Hillsborough EDD as 34 examples of projects the County has invested in that benefit the County as a whole. 35 Commissioner McKee said he had been questioned quite sharply by constituents on why 36 the County put money into Wegmans, as it was in Chapel Hill. He said he responded by 37 explaining that Chapel Hill and Orange County collaborated on that project, and that Wegmans 38 had a choice to be across the county line in Durham, but ultimately chose an Orange County 39 location because of congruence with values and viewpoints. 40 Commissioner McKee also cited Morinaga as an example, where skepticism proved to 41 be strong but the results were ultimately similarly strong. He said there was a lot of skepticism 42 on why Orange County was incentivizing a large corporation, and his response was that 43 projects like this keep tax rates down now and in the future. 44 Commissioner Greene asked if those answers were satisfying to residents. 45 Commissioner McKee said he was not sure their minds were changed, but these 46 examples were evidence that good collaboration has been improving in recent years. He said, 47 conversely, there has been less of a common direction in affordable housing, and further work is 48 needed in that area. 49 Commissioner Price said projects like Morinaga became palatable to people when they 50 realized there would be jobs attached to the project. She said Wegmans will eventually be 51 accepted for the same reason, but skepticism remains due to the project being located in