Minutes-10-10-2023-Joint Meeting with Fire Departments and Work Session

Browse Search

19 Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked what happens if the other members of the MMC do not want to make the meetings public. Chair Bedford said that then the county would not participate. She said they will try to work together but what elected official is going to say they do not want the public to be involved. She said that public comment would not be invited but it would be open. Commissioner Fowler asked if the facilitator could do the minutes and use the recording to do that. Chair Bedford said those minutes were not like the minutes they prefer and that they were very general. Commissioner Greene said they were facilitator minutes and not minutes for the public record. Vice-Chair McKee said he did not think the county would want to do anything that wasn't completely transparent, and that the Greene Tract was enough for the MMC to handle without other topics. Bonnie Hammersley said that anything that involves the Greene Tract has to have agreement from all three parties. Chair Bedford said the benefit of the MMC is that work has happened. She said they have helped progress the Greene Tract along. She said there is a benefit to having elected officials together to talk about various topics. 6. Greene Tract Community Engagement Proposal The Board received a historical perspective on engagement activities related to the development of the Greene Tract and discussed a new community engagement proposal to inform the site design process. BACKGROUND: The Greene Tract is located east of the Rogers Road community within the Town of Chapel Hill's extra-territorial jurisdiction (ETJ). Of the 164-acre parcel, 104 acres is jointly owned by Orange County/Chapel Hill/Carrboro, and 60 acres is owned by Orange County (Headwaters Preserve). Over the last 20+ years, the three jurisdictions have invested significant resources to identify and support the goals for the Greene Tract as a resource for the Rogers Road community and the residents of the two towns and Orange County, all of which can be found on the County's dedicated Greene Tract project page and dynamic StoryMap, but featuring the following: - In 2006, the Town of Chapel Hill initiated and led a Rogers Road Small Area Plan Task Force with the Greene Tract partners, resulting in a final report in March 2009; - In 2012, the Historic Rogers Road Neighborhood Task Force led its own small area planning efforts, resulting in a final report in September 2013; - In July 2015, the Jackson Center co-led the Mapping Our Community's Future Report with the Historic Rogers Road Community, which was completed in May 2016; - In June 2016, Orange County purchased 60 acres for preservation from the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund ("Headwaters Preserve"); - At the 2016 Assembly of Governments (AOG) Meeting, a suggestion was raised to ask the elected officials of the three jurisdictions to participate in discussions on the Greene Tract; - In 2017, staff examined a potential reconfiguration of the jointly-owned tract and the County-owned tract for the purposes of environmental preservation, potential affordable housing development, and a possible school site;