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8 <br /> Andrea Riley read the following statement: <br /> The Orange County Board of County Commissioners has just had the opportunity to decide <br /> whether protecting Seven Mile Creek, the Eno River, and the water supply for Hillsborough, <br /> Raleigh and communities further downstream was more important than the tax dollars or jobs <br /> that might have arisen from the development of a gas station on land that feeds those <br /> waterways. For your sensitivity to the need for water protection, we thank you. Now you are <br /> faced with the same dilemma again. <br /> The push for industrial development in the Buckhorn Area Plan requires the rezoning of <br /> agricultural and residential land, the extension of sewer and water to that land, and the <br /> annexation of that land by the city of Mebane. Industrial development in this area will threaten <br /> the same water supply that you wanted to protect by vastly increasing the amount of impervious <br /> land in the Buckhorn Area and by creating ground water runoff which will carry immense <br /> amounts of sediment into Seven Mile Creek, eventually polluting the Eno River and the water <br /> supplies of communities downstream. Annexing by Mebane will create a way around the <br /> existing water and sewer agreement signed by Orange County, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, <br /> Hillsborough, and OWASA in 2001, the Water and Sewer Management, Planning, and <br /> Boundary Agreement. This plan was created in order to share water and sewer obligations and <br /> to protect the rural buffers of all of the communities in Orange County. The limits to the <br /> extension of water and sewer provisions for these communities, and the protection of Orange <br /> County's rural buffers agreed to in this plan need to be upheld. <br /> Residents of Efland and northern Orange County have been promised water and sewer service <br /> for a long time. The decision about whom to serve, however, has been decided by County <br /> Planning in favor of industrial development and tax dollars instead of equitable service to all of <br /> the residents of this county. Orange County residents need to be involved in the process of <br /> deciding what kind of development should be undertaken in Orange County, where it needs to <br /> be located, and who should benefit. <br /> We hope that the Commissioners will take the time to learn about all of the issues involved with <br /> the Buckhorn Area Plan. The protection of clean water, agricultural and rural buffer zones, and <br /> residential zones; equitable access to water and sewer service for all Orange County citizens; <br /> freedom from air, light, and noise pollution and from traffic congestion for nearby residents- all <br /> of these issues should be considered and debated by citizens of Orange County and the Board <br /> of County Commissioners. <br /> We hope the BOCC will insist upon public input regarding the plan, will uphold the already <br /> agreed upon Comprehensive Land Use Plan, Efland/Mebane Small Area Plan, Unified <br /> Development Ordinance regulations, and Orange County Water and Sewer Management, <br /> Planning, and Boundary Agreement, and will enter into a binding agreement joint-area plan with <br /> Mebane so that both parties will be required to agree to any rezoning. The decisions made now <br /> about development in Orange County will impact the environment and citizens of Orange <br /> County for generations to come. We look forward to being able to engage with you on this <br /> important area plan. Thank you. <br /> Tim Spruill read the following statement: <br /> Hello. I am Tim Spruill and a resident of Efland in Orange County. I am here today to bring your <br /> attention to the Buckhorn Area Plan which this Board will focus on at the upcoming March 9th <br />