Minutes 01-21-2020 Business Meeting

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20 Commissioner Dorosin said he appreciated Commissioner Bedford's comments. He said the hope that they will reach a consensus next week is great, but probably unrealistic, as even late today the Board received a change by one of the parties. He said he favors moving the assessment forward and setting some hard targets and timelines for that at the AOG meeting. He said some in the collective want to move this forward, and others are not as enthusiastic. Commissioner Dorosin said the Commissioners need to be cognizant that everybody that lives on Rogers Road, and to the east, are Orange County's constituents. He said Chapel Hill is not politically accountable to anyone that lives in the extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ). He said all three of the boards need to be collectively involved in the public engagement process, and things seems to have gone awry because different people had conversations with different people in the community, and everyone was not on the same page. Commissioner Dorosin said, at the very least, all parties need to agree next week as to what will be communicated to the public, otherwise it is just a massive game of telephone. Chair Rich said at the end of the last MMC meeting, everyone involved had an assignment to complete. Commissioner Dorosin said all are agreeing to the environmental assessment, which seems quite straightforward. He asked if there is a plan as to what will happens after the parties sign the other MOU; is there is a checklist that there will be 10 public meetings, etc. Chair Rich said these details will be discussed at the next MMC meeting. She said the environmental assessment needs to be done first, and after the AOG, the MMC will reconvene and put in timelines, etc. Commissioner Dorosin said this was all laid out 2-3 years ago when he was Chair, and the process should not be starting at zero. Chair Rich said one of the partners did not want that plan anymore, and the 2002 agreement states that all three partners must agree. Chair Rich said Chapel Hill added point#3, and Carrboro added point#4. She said a meeting occurred, of which the County and Carrboro were not aware, and staff was blindsided by public input. She said point#4 came out in order to prevent this type of meeting from occurring again, without appropriate representation of all parties. Commissioner Price clarified that the County did an assessment, which was not good enough for the partners, and has lead to a new environmental assessment being needed. She referred to point#5, which states developers may rely upon this. She said she is hoping that this new assessment will be good enough for all three parties. Travis Myren said he is not sure of the issues surrounding the first assessment, and why it was insufficient. He said the new assessment will involve dispassionate, third party analysis, which should be viewed as more neutral. Travis Myren said the intention would be for the assessment to be turned over to future developers. He said the County will not pay for anything further. Commissioner Greene said it is her understanding that this would be the final environmental assessment, and she thought this would be included this resolution. Travis Myren said it is included in point#5. Commissioner Greene said this is acceptable language. Commissioner Marcoplos said there is now is a mediator with the MMC and minutes are being taken, which are being received by all elected officials. He would like to see these minutes available to the public as well. Chair Rich said these minutes are public record. Bonnie Hammersley said staff can put these minutes on the Greene Tract page of the website. Commissioner Marcoplos said he would like to put out PSAs to make the public aware that these minutes are available.