Agenda - 12-01-2008 - 4a - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

~{ r 1 construction worker was reported to be in cardiac arrest. Two other workers were injured while 2 removing the subject from the live wires and began CPR. 3 4 Orange County 9-1-1, Orange County EMS, Hillsborough Police Department, and Orange Rural 5 Fire Department worked together as a team while responding and rendering care to the victims. 6 7 This event represents the teamwork that occurs daily throughout Orange County and illustrates 8 the dedication and hard work of our emergency response partners. 9 10 11 PUBLIC CHARGE 12 13 The Chair dispensed with the reading of the public charge. 14 15 2. Public Comments 16 a. Matters not on the Printed Agenda 17 Cliff Leath read a prepared statement: 18 "I am addressing the Commissioners this evening on behalf of Preserve Rural Orange 19 (PRO) to ask for your help and support on an issue that is very important to rural communities 20 throughout Orange County. 21 In April of 2002, UNC-Chapel Hill announced the closure of Horace Williams Airport so 22 that their plans to build Carolina North could be realized. Under pressure from UNC's Medical 23 School AHEC program and a national aircraft owners and pilots' association, the N. C. General 24 Assembly passed legislation in September 2002 requiring the University to keep the airport 25 open until January 2005. Further legislation passed in July 2004, mandated that the University 26 keep Horace Williams open until a replacement facility for AHEC's MedicalAir Operations was 27 found. 28 In 2002, UNC commissioned a feasibility study from Talbert and Bright, a prominent 29 aviation consulting firm, to find an alternative site for Horace Williams Airport. In May 2005, the 30 study identified RDU as the top ranked site to relocate UNC's AHEC MedAir Operations. The 31 Talbert & Bright study identified other lower ranked sites in the county. The second ranked site, 32 scoring 60 of a possible 68 points, is "Site H" located off Orange Chapel Clover Garden Church 33 Road in rural southwest Orange County. The third site, "Site 9", is located west of Orange 34 Grove Road and scored 53 points. 35 On May 26, 2005, Talbert & Bright presented the results of their study at a UNC Board 36 of Trustees meeting. In the same meeting, the Trustees unanimously endorsed and accepted 37 the study's conclusion that RDU met the University's criteria for AHEC MedAir flights. MedAir 38 flights represent less than 25% of the flights to and from Horace Williams. The Trustees' 39 decisions regarding the relocation of Horace Williams to RDU are included in the official record 40 of the Trustees' resolution in support of Carolina North. 41 http•//www unc edu/news/archives/may05/bot carolinanorth052605.html 42 Preserve Rural Orange deeply appreciates Chairman Jacobs' June 11, 2008 letter to 43 Speaker Hackney, Senator Kinnaird, and Representatives Faison and Insko in which he 44 questioned the bypassing of local authority regarding the use of eminent domain in House Bill 45 2725 and the bill's attempt to undermine Orange County's Land Use Plan. Commissioner 46 Jacobs' request to table HB 2725 pending a thorough discussion of the airport issue was 47 ignored by our elected officials. Senate Bill 1925, an appropriations bill for the University of 48 North Carolina System, was passed in the legislative short session. Buried in SB1925 is 49 Section 4. Section 4 granted the UNC Board of Governors the power to effectively create a 50 municipality out of thin air in the name of an "Airport Authority." The UNC Airport Authority is a