Agenda - 05-04-2021; 8-a - Minutes

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2 1 Chair Price dispensed with reading the public charge. 2 3 Public Charge: The Board of Commissioners pledges its respect to all present. The Board asks 4 those attending this meeting to conduct themselves in a respectful, courteous manner toward 5 each other, county staff and the commissioners. At any time should a member of the Board or 6 the public fail to observe this charge, the Chair will take steps to restore order and decorum. 7 Should it become impossible to restore order and continue the meeting, the Chair will recess 8 the meeting until such time that a genuine commitment to this public charge is observed. The 9 BOCC asks that all electronic devices such as cell phones, pagers, and computers should 10 please be turned off or set to silent/vibrate. Please be kind to everyone. 11 12 Arts Moment— No Arts Moment was available for this meeting. 13 14 2. Public Comments (Limited to One Hour) 15 16 a. Matters not on the Printed Agenda 17 Robb Levinsky said he wanted to speak on the land use planning process and Buckhorn 18 area plan. He said there has not been much public engagement, and this plan will effect the 19 County for generations to come. He said it would have significant impact on those who deserve 20 input. He said his concern goes beyond the scope of the plan, and residents live here because 21 they value the rural residential character of the County. He said rural buffers should be 22 developed between Mebane and Efland. He said industrial development projects are like a 23 cancer, ruining everything in their path. He said nothing in the plan sets appropriate limitations, 24 and Orange County does not want to be the next Newark, New Jersey. He urged the Board to 25 please choose wisely. 26 Catherine Matthews read the following statement: 27 Hello County Commissioners. I'm back. First let me thank you for your World Water Day 28 proclamation and then let me thank Commissioner Greene for attending our World Water Day 29 Celebration in Efland. I wish more of you could have attended this event to learn about our 30 efforts to preserve clean water and undisturbed land in Orange County. I'm here tonight to ask 31 you how you intend to respond to our President's climate agenda. 32 33 One of Biden's goals is to conserve nearly a third of US land and ocean waters by 2030. Biden's 34 proposal, known broadly as 30 by 30, is to preserve 30% of our lands and 30% of our ocean 35 waters by 2030 (9 short years away). Currently, only 12 percent of the country's land and 26 36 percent of its oceans are protected. 37 38 While Biden's goal is laudable, I think we need to look at our past in North Carolina to see how 39 this national goal might be enacted. Twenty years ago the General Assembly and Gov. Hunt 40 declared that North Carolina should add 1 million more acres of protected land as parks, 41 forests, natural areas, farmlands, etc. before the end of 2010. In 2020, 10 years later, North 42 Carolina finally attained that goal. 43 44 North Carolina's population continues to grow along with greater land development pressures 45 for conversion of private farmlands and forests to intensive development. With the kind of 46 demands on limited water supplies, consequences of a changing climate, diminished food 47 production, need for outdoor recreational opportunities, 11% is simply not enough! 48 The bottom-line, of course, is "what is enough?" What percentage would guarantee not only our 49 survival, but the biodiversity of planet Earth. E. O. Wilson, a preeminent biologist at Duke 50 University, said that we must conserve 50%. Wilson makes his argument clear in a 2016 book, 51 called Half-Earth.