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Approved 6 - 7 - 23
<br /> 439 community that I met through our mutual association through HYAA . It is a 100 % volunteer run organization . People
<br /> 440 volunteer to do things they enjoy doing and , in this case , they volunteer because they want to serve and mentor kids .
<br /> 441 Through that , these kids learn some valuable life lessons ; sportsmanship , teamwork , how to handle winning and losing ,
<br /> 442 you can ' t put a price on those kinds of things . HYAAers are also a valuable asset in this community just because of the
<br /> 443 number of kids it serves year- round , Spring , Summer, Fall , boys and girls , a wide range of ages . I think it is relevant to
<br /> 444 ask the question what would it cost the county or the town to try to provide that kind of recreational experience for that
<br /> 445 number of kids , year in and year out? I certainly don ' t know the answer, but I can guess that it' s a pretty big number. As
<br /> 446 a member of the board 20 years ago , I had conversations from time to time with officials of the town and county
<br /> 447 government, we knew at that point that Collins field days were numbered and that is so true today . I understand that
<br /> 448 there are design engineering plans underway at that site right now . When we had that conversation 20 years ago , it is a
<br /> 449 lot like it is today . We would say to the town and the county , We are not asking you to pay for it, not asking you to build it ,
<br /> 450 we are saying that we have got great support in this community from the business community , from parents , and from
<br /> 451 developers and time to time as the opportunity arises for us to secure a long -term location for our fields , we just need
<br /> 452 you to work with us . That' s the request here tonight . I won ' t dismiss some of the concerns that have been raised tonight,
<br /> 453 1 don ' t necessarily agree with them , but I do believe that wise and reasonable people are coming from a place of good
<br /> 454 faith in addressing these concerns and this could be a win -win for this community .
<br /> 455
<br /> 456 Mary Parker : I have been a resident of Orange County since 1981 , 1 was a public-school teacher for 35 years and I have
<br /> 457 seen the importance of athletics for all people . I am an avid tennis player and unfortunately when I want to play tennis , 1
<br /> 458 have to drive all the way to Durham to do so because we can not have the amount of fields that are needed to have
<br /> 459 USTA tennis and that is something that I thoroughly enjoy . I also love to go out to Orange Tennis and see all the young
<br /> 460 people who are taking the sport up . There are not many sports that you can still play and have a good time at my age .
<br /> 461 Tennis is one of those as well as pickleball . This is a great opportunity for us to have some good change and change
<br /> 462 does come . This is a great opportunity to advance everyone' s lives by having athletic endeavors to get together as a
<br /> 463 community and offer ways that are good health incentives . I hope that you will consider this and accept this as a great
<br /> 464 way to improve Orange County .
<br /> 465
<br /> 466 MOTION BY Lamar Proctor to allow anyone who signed up to speak on April 5th , and their name was not called , be
<br /> 467 allowed to speak if their name is on the list . Seconded by Statler Gilfillen
<br /> 468 MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
<br /> 469
<br /> 470 Matt McDermott : The home in which my wife and I have lived in for 24 years , borders Lawrence Road and is within
<br /> 471 1 , 000 feet of the proposed development . My comments tonight go to the subject of equity , specifically with respect to the
<br /> 472 well water demands necessary to support all facets of the proposed development . In other words , all recreational spaces
<br /> 473 but not the charter schools which as the applicant has proposed , will be serviced by public water and sewer. I have not
<br /> 474 seen , nor am I aware of any daily well water consumption projections . Why is this important you may ask? Because the
<br /> 475 daily lives of those of us neighboring the proposed development site , depends dearly on our wells remaining viable in
<br /> 476 terms of providing ongoing potable water. Further, no ' hydrogeological study has been conducted in an attempt to
<br /> 477 determine if there are any present or foreseeable concerns with respect to supporting the well water demands , not only
<br /> 478 at the proposed development site but our neighboring ones as well . My strong suspicion is that none of this has been
<br /> 479 investigated as any state statutes , ordinances or otherwise do not demand this of any conditional rezoning applicant .
<br /> 480 Here is where the equity issue makes itself abundantly apparent, we have no safety net . We currently have no access to
<br /> 481 publicly provided water unlike the applicant who ultimately will , and God forbid if any of our wells run dry as a result of a
<br /> 482 significant increase in well water demands , should this proposed development be accrued . Some of the older wells ,
<br /> 483 those which are shallow in nature , in the neighboring area are already encountering periodic flow and water quality
<br /> 484 problems/perc challenges . Arguably , we are being asked to simply accept the increased probability of a well failure as a
<br /> 485 part of this proposed development . For many in this area , who simply do not have the means , the cost of addressing a
<br /> 486 failed well would be financially catastrophic . That ask of us , patently , is unfair. It speaks to my initial equity comment . We
<br /> 487 have an online petition against the rezoning , can I provide that to you ?
<br /> 488
<br /> 489 Beth Bronson : We have an online public email address that you can send it to .
<br /> 490
<br /> 491 Drake Edwards : I have lived here for 10 years , I am a physician at Duke . I have a 2-year-old son , my wife and I drive on
<br /> 492 70A and stop at that 4 way stop at Lawrence Road . I wanted to talk about a story from 8 years ago . I was visiting my
<br /> 493 brother and sister- in - law up in DC , my sister- in - law is an Army doctor and was stationed at Walter Reed at the time . My
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