Agenda - 12-11-2008 - 6b - Laserfiche WebLink

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~3 Council Member Kleinschmidt said in a political sense he believed Orange County elected officials were good at coming up with great ideas in all of these issues, noting they were so confident of the quality of their ideas because of their great evidence and experience to support them. But, he said, he worried about their often "bullying posture" with their neighbors, and that being an obstacle to success. So, he added, as they created this task force that was something to be conscious of. Alderman Broun stated communication was key, because they all knew as they moved five and ten yeazs into the future that there would be less resources that they could singulazly use as opposed as to those of the region. She said while this region in some places was economically strong and in some places was environmentally strong, no particulaz county, city or town was perfect.. Alderman Broun stated they could learn from Chatham and from Durham if they would only listen and not believe that they always had the right answer. She stated in this type or economic climate, that would require thinking about what was best for the entire region. Alderman Broun stated they would not succeed separate and apart. 8:59:02 PM Mayor Stevens stated that was nicely said, and there were many ideas on the table. He said he believed they all wanted full engagement and equitable membership and could agree on the topics they wanted to approach. Commissioner Gordon stated she believed that any group relevant to the topic should be brought into the discussion, adding she agreed the task force should prioritize the issues for discussion. She recommended doing that, but added she could not see how you could make progress on, for instance, transportation, without making progress on land use as well. Commissioner Gordon stated if the task force was targeted, then informed decisions could be made on issues such as transportation. She said she knew how Orange and Chatham wanted to work together, noting the proposed bus route betweeen Pittsboro and Chapel Hill as an example. Commissioner Gordon recommended putting the task force together with 12 individuals, with Chatham having two at- lazge members, and allowing that group to come up with the priorities and to make sure they were tazgeted. Commissioner Gordon stated another issue to be considered was if Chatham was given the Jordan Lake western intake, noting that would be a separate issues which was urgent and needed to be supported. She urged that the task force be formed with the twelve members, with the appropriate people brought in depending on the topic, and that the group agree on the prioritization of issues so that the group did not get too general. Mayor Chilton stated as well, the elected officials could identify issues of concern for that group. He pointed out it would be possible to structure the work group in such a way that they mapped out who would come from various entities and leave it to Chatham County to decide what its delegation would look like. Mayor Chilton did agree that they should focus on particulaz topics, but did notice that the water supply issue was not on the list. Commissioner Gordon said she believed that was because it was urgent and needed to be addressed soon.