Agenda - 05-24-2004-D.1 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

190 are going to get and the longer we wring our hands over facilities, the less likely we are to get a good location. He thinks that there is some urgency to address the proposal. He is a parent of three children in the CHCCS. He has no objections to shifting the bond money. He thinks that the school should be funded at the level requested. He said that he is disappointed that the Rock Haven site does not have the land capacity for the facilities that should be attached to a high school, but he thinks we should move forward in a cooperative manner. He said that he is concerned as this goes forward that the Board of County Commissioners and the school board work in a partnership. He hopes that this does not become a merger issue, He thinks the issue at hand is the immediate need to plan for short-term spaces and high school spaces for' the CHCCS. Cynthia Wheaton lives in southern Orange County and has two children in the fourth and sixth grade. She has been following this issue for about a year and a half. She fully supports the school board's recommendation fora 1,000-student capacity high school on Rock Haven Road., She made reference to the budget comparisons that the staff showed earlier, She made reference to the "total estimated cost" and she is concerned that on the "land" line on the Eubanks Road site there is a zero. She understands that this land has been purchased, but she thinks that to put a zero there causes confusion in comparing the overall cost. She said that this is a personal issue for her because of the extra mileage if her children went to Chapel Hill Nigh School, She said that she also represents people that could not be at the meeting tonight, She said that these families are going to benefit from a site on Rock Haven Road because their children will get to spend more time at home. She supports moving the money from Elementary School #10 to High School #3. Terence Long spoke in support of locating the third high school in the southern part of the district. He concentrated on the issue of safety and teenage driving. He quoted the statistic that every year there ar'e approximately two million driving accidents involving teenagers resulting in 6,000 deaths. Drivers between the ages of 16-19 years old have the highest crash rate relative to all other age groups, including the elderly.. He quoted several other statistics about teenage driving., He said that placing a high school away from where the students are located would add to the number' of miles that inexperienced drivers would drive. Jim Ross made reference to the zero line item for the acquisition costs for the Eubanks Road site.. He said that if the high school is built on Rock Haven then the County could sell the Eubanks Road site or use it for' some other purpose. He asked that this be accounted for in the cost structure as a real cost for the Eubanks Road site. He said that there are amortization costs -bus costs, insurance, gas, and asked if this has been figured into the bar graph. He said that the existing contract has been dropped on Rock Haven Road, but it was going to be a 264 multi-family unit building with 850 parking spaces and 500,000 square feet of impervious surface. He said that he would never pick the Eubanks Road site for a high school because it is in the wrong place. He said that the County only wants to use it because it owns the land. Karen Kingsholver asked if the elected officials were aware how many of the citizens in the south end of town feel strongly about having a high school located in this area.. They know that the Rock Haven Road site is their last resort. She urged the County Commissioners to consider this site. Deborah Love said that she supports the Rock Haven Road site.. She said that her' child would be out of school by the time this will be built. She has to drive 45 minutes round trip