Agenda - 03-19-2019 8-a - Minutes

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5 1 Commissioner Price said at this point it is hard to tell what the community members 2 are seeing as detrimental, but the community thinks that the plan will have two of the 3 routes go through family cemeteries. 4 Craig Benedict said nothing is imminent, and this plan goes from Efland to Mebane. 5 He said the Board could approve the access management plan and work with the 6 community to provide all information, bring Mebane into the picture, and if the community is 7 not happy staff can pull sections out of it. 8 Commissioner Price asked if staff could speak to the community prior to the Board 9 voting. 10 Craig Benedict said he can always talk to the community. 11 Commissioner Dorosin said the Board could delay it briefly, or alternatively, the 12 Board could approve it and add an addendum letter that lays out the community's 13 concerns. 14 Commissioner Greene asked if the public hearing could just be reopened. 15 Nishith Trivedi, Transportation Planner, said there is an appendix to the report that 16 includes the information from the community meeting and letters and responses with the 17 public. 18 19 PUBLIC COMMENT: 20 Reverend Norman Umstead said the community is here tonight because of the 21 recommendations presented at the February 51" meeting. He said there are two historic 22 black churches on Buckhorn Road, and they would like for their community to stay intact. 23 He said all three proposed options run through 3 cemeteries. He said over 141 years of 24 ancestors are buried in these cemeteries, and a flyover will not help when the concrete and 25 steel will be sitting in the middle of the cemetery. He said noting that the plan is not yet 26 definite does not provide much comfort to the community. 27 Chair Rich asked if John Roberts would lay out some options. 28 John Roberts said there are two options: approve the plan and anyone who has 29 concerns to send them in writing, which can be appended to the plan; or restart the 30 community process of public hearing, etc. He said the latter option is a long process. 31 Commissioner Greene asked if there is a reason the process takes so long. 32 Nishith Trivedi said the process takes so long is because staff sends out 1000 33 letters to community members; hosts community meetings; goes back through advisory 34 boards such as planning and OUTBoard; and schedules another public hearing in front of 35 the BOCC. 36 Chair Rich asked if the County must go through the whole process again, or could a 37 public hearing just be opened this evening or at another time. 38 John Roberts said the public hearing could not be opened tonight, and he will look 39 into whether one can be opened at all. 40 Commissioner Marcoplos clarified that there will be a time in the process, moving 41 forward, for the community to address its concerns. He asked if this would be as thorough 42 a process as a public hearing. 43 Craig Benedict said an access management plan is a rudimentary one that begins 44 other processes, and there is nothing within it that is set in stone. He said it is ideas, and if 45 those ideas are infeasible then the alignments will be analyzed. He said addendums can 46 be added to the plan, so that all comments are included, and distributed to all relevant 47 partners. He said opening a public hearing requires for everyone to receive notice. 48 Commissioner Marcoplos asked if this process could be completed in the next week 49 or two and if acceptable to the community, things could move on, and if not, the Board 50 could make another decision at that time.