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

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5 1 1. To provide a comprehensive, County-wide system of service areas for future utility 2 development; 3 2. To complement growth management objectives, land use plans and annexation plans in 4 existing agreements; 5 3. To resolve in advance and preclude future conflicts about future service and annexation 6 areas; 7 4. To provide for predictable long-range water and sewer capital improvement planning and 8 financing; and 9 5. To provide for limitations on water and sewer service in certain (buffer) areas. 10 In order to counter the rapidly advancing environmental threats and increasing commercial 11 pressures from the neighboring town of Mebane, Orange County needs to act NOW— in 12 conjunction with Mebane - to protect the land and water resources it has — both for its citizens' 13 present well-being, and for future generations. Thank you. 14 15 John Dempsey read the following statement: 16 The North Carolina Natural Heritage Program recently compiled 2 lists of plants, insects and 17 animals living in the Sevenmile Creek watershed that they identify as Significantly Rare, of 18 Special Concern, Threatened or Endangered. One of the lists covers the Buckhorn Area Plan's 19 Growth Areas `C' and 'D' and identifies 10 species that meet this criteria. In addition to the 20 species cited there are also four Natural Communities identified as Rare. An example of a Rare 21 Natural Community is the Sevenmile Creek Sugar Maple Bottom. It consists of a large stand of 22 southern sugar maple, hackberry and swamp chestnut oak; and includes a variety of herbs 23 growing in its understory. 24 25 Their second list covers Growth Area 'E'. It names 16 species as Significantly Rare, of Special 26 Concern, Threatened or Endangered and identifies 8 Rare Natural Communities. The North 27 Carolina Natural Heritage Program's list is not definitive and they advise people to check with 28 other agencies, such as the US Fish and Wildlife Service, for species not included in their 29 survey that may also be considered threatened or endangered. In this case the Neuse River 30 Waterdog is not included on the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program's lists. However the 31 US Fish & Wildlife Service includes areas C, D and E within its range and has proposed to 32 Congress that it be classified as an Endangered Species. 33 34 It is also of note that the North Carolina Resources Commission published a conservation plan 35 for five rare aquatic species in the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico Rivers just this past December. It 36 calls for"Establishing and maintaining working relationships between governing bodies (federal, 37 state, and local), universities, private landowners, private companies, and conservation 38 organizations" in order to protect these species from extinction. 39 40 This is not the first time that a critical watershed has been crossed by an Interstate Highway. 41 When a highway does cross a watershed then you get a corridor that suddenly has increased 42 economic market value and market interest. Those market forces that determine value for 43 economic purposes do not factor for the environmental costs of development. That is the task of 44 local government with zoning jurisdiction. What is the value of Sevenmile Creek? What dollar 45 amount can be placed on a system as rich and as beneficial to Orange County as Sevenmile 46 Creek? It is the upper reach of our watershed, recently studied as a viable potential municipal 47 water reservoir. Considering the projected future growth in our part of Orange County and the 48 beneficial environmental resource that it is, then we should follow the North Carolina Resources 49 Commission's lead and protect Sevenmile Creek with appropriate zoning restrictions while 50 working towards long term protections for this priceless resource. Thank you 51