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2 <br /> Chair Rich asked if Board members wanted to hear from all speakers, or from only the <br /> first 20 speakers, due to the hour time constraint. <br /> The Board unanimously signaled to allow all 29 speakers the time to speak, regardless <br /> of the time overage. <br /> Jessica Sheffield thanked the BOCC for allowing her to speak. She said she is the Eno <br /> River Association (ERA) Executive Director, and thanked the Board for its capital investment. <br /> She asked if the Board would continue to maintain funds for ERA in the future years of the <br /> Capital Investment Plan (CIP). She said the ERA works to protect good environmental <br /> stewardship in the Eno River watershed. She said ERA has great concerns about the proposed <br /> Research Triangle Logistics Park, as it will not protect water quality, and quantity, of Cates <br /> Creek and the Eno River. She said 6 acres of the 161-acre proposed project have been <br /> designated by the State as Natural Heritage Natural area, and the current plan goes over this <br /> land. <br /> Chair Rich said the Commissioners have not received this project yet, and it is set to <br /> come before the Board of County Commissioners on September 15th from the Planning <br /> Department. <br /> Ronald Sieber read the following comments: <br /> My name is Ronald Sieber, and I live in the New Hope Springs neighborhood off of Davis Road. <br /> I live approximately 1 3/4 miles away from the proposed RTLP project, about which I am <br /> addressing you tonight. I mention this mileage figure because that cited distance triggered an <br /> offhand comment from a Planning Board member at their August 5th meeting which implied that <br /> the citizen who was speaking at that time lived too far away from the project to be affected by it. <br /> I am here to assert that ALL of the people who live along Ode Turner Rd. and Davis Rd. use <br /> Davis at its intersection with Old NC Hwy. 86 as an entrance/exit to our homes. We will ALL be <br /> affected by this project that threatens our rural neighborhoods. <br /> I've written several letters about this and other matters related to the process by which decisions <br /> so far have been made and how those decisions will affect both the community of which I <br /> speak, as well as the surrounding communities all along Old NC Hwy. 86, because all <br /> communities will likely be affected. <br /> Although I write as an individual, I am a member of my local neighborhood as well as the larger <br /> community of Hillsborough and Orange County. I have listened to what others have said about <br /> this issue, and therefore, many of my concerns reflect what others have also voiced. Therefore, <br /> in this manner I am speaking for a much larger group than myself alone. And we are all of one <br /> mind on this issue: the proposed project is too oversized in its present state and amendments to <br /> land use should not be approved that would allow it go forward as proposed. <br /> I ask that the Board of County Commissioners read the concerns expressed in the letters that I <br /> have written, and I implore each commissioner to consider the ramifications of their decisions <br /> yet to be made. <br /> Thank you for your time. I look forward to the public hearing on September 15t" <br /> Joan Kalnitsky thanked the BOCC for taking the time to hear from the public. She said <br /> she is opposed to the research triangle park redistrict. She said she has written to the BOCC <br /> and will do so again prior to the September 15 meeting. She said Davis Road was not built to <br /> hand the RTLP, as there are no shoulders and no sidewalks. She said the County allowed <br /> Davis Road to be developed as a quiet neighborhood road. She said it is really difficult to wrap <br /> her head around the proposed building capacity of 950,000 square feet on an immediate access <br /> to Interstate 40. She said the project is not significant enough to provide a strong benefit to <br />