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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 19730821lilo MINUTES OF THE ORANGE COIIr]TY 30ARD 0~~ CCMI~IISSIOti'EF?5 AUGIIST 21, 1973 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, August 21, 1973, at ~ o'clock p,m, in the District Courtroom at the Courthouse 3n Fillsborcu,~h, N,.C, Pdembers present: Chairman Norran T;Tallier, Commissioners Mora Carratt, Henry S, r,ral~~er and Richard E, 4dhitted, Members absent: None Dr, Arthur Cooper, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Natural and Economic Resources, was present, Dr. Cooper stated that the Agreement that had been drawn by the State concerned the use of the lsnds along the Eno River from Lawrence Road to the ~ convergence of the Eno River and the Plat River in Durham County, mile stretch of land did have considerablenotential as a St This twenty one (21) it had attracted the attention of the Department of NaturalaandpEconomDceResourcesfandor that the State is committed for the acquisition of a large tract of land that is located in_Crange County, This land is to be designated as a ''wilderness" area and that the plans were to connect the lands along the Eno River to a proposed recreation area on the Neuse River in the eastern part of Durham County, Dr, Cooper stated that his Depart- ment was attempting to change the concept of the Neuse River Froject that was being proposed by the Federal Government for the impoundment of water to a regional concept; and that if this could be done then the City of Durham could utilize the water from the Neuse River Project and, thus, eliminate the proposed Er_o River Reservoir. Dr, Cooper explained the eight basic points that were contained in the Agreement, They were: 1. To develop the twenty mile stretch of land slon;, the portion of the Eno that is located in Oran,r~e County into a park, 2. That the City of Durham should be responsible for the purchase of land in DurhF.m County and that the State should acquire the necessary land in Orange County, 3• That all parties to the ggreement will participate in the developing and management plans for the area, ~I-- That the City of Durham has for some time been purchasing land for a reservoir site in this area, 5. That the City of Durham is also looking for other raw water sources. 6. That if the proper agreements can be reached then the City of Durham will use the 'galls of the Neuse for its raw water supply and will not construct a reservoir.on the Eno River, 7. That the City of Durham is interested in the ?'ells of the Neuse sa a raw water source. 8. That if the circumstances decree the City of Durham must use the Eno River as a water source then the State does intend to make this water supply available to the City of Durham. Discussion ensued on the eight points that had bean presented by Dr, Cooper. Tha Board agreed that the main points that were set cut in the proposed Agreement must be thoroughly considered prior to the Hosrd reaching any decision on the matter. Chairman i9&lker stated that the Board ha.d taken no action on the minutes of their July meetings, He stated that ha had wanted to discuss several points that had been recorded in the minutes, however, in the absent of the Clerk it was decided to defer this matter until a later meeting, Chairman h~alker presented sn outline of services that were offered by the Depart- ment of Social Services, the Health Department, the Mental Health Agency, and the A,B,C, Board, He stated that he felt these governmental agencies provided a wide unbrella of services to the citizens of the County; and, therefore, he was of the opinion that the requested appropriation of the Community Action Agency would only foster the duplication of the services that were already availa.be, $e stated that he was willing, however, to set this item aside until a fifth member of the Board was appointed and to proceed tonight to:,act upon the proposed County Budget. Coi,~nissioner Richard E, h"hitted stated that he felt that the people who were served.by all the governmental agencies were cau~t up in the poverty cycle, P[e sta ed that he felt they should be involved in the decision making processes that were under- taken to combat the poverty cycle and that this was the basic principal of the North Carolina Viand and the same princip3~ had been later employed by the O,E,O, Programs, He pointed out that under the present governmental structure it was very unlikely that the recipients of these services would ever become involved in the decisien makir_g processes that were unertaken to implement these programs, If the Community Center Agency was funded then it would involve the citizens in the poverty cycle and those just above the cycle with the opporurity of making the decisions on how to combat the problems that caused their condition to exist, L'ommissioner Mora Garrett pointed out that none of the Agencies that were cur- rently established to combat poverty are oriented towards the wide variety of Federal Programs that were available to the citizens to help then combat the proverty cycle. August 21, 1973 BGGK $r„GE ~QQ She cited in particular the Nian Power Frograms that are being offered to train the unskilled worker. She stated that Orange County has not taken effective advantage of these programs; and that if the County would fund the Co:rmrunity Centers Program that one of their major efforts would be to become effective in the securing of Federal Nan Fower Fro gram money. P:s. Dorothy Gamble stated that the Community Center Program would in no way duplicate efforts of existing governmental agencies as the Community Centers would not do the satre tape of thin;;s that the current goverranental agencies were doing. She stated further that the centers not only served the poor citizens of the area but that it invclved citizens that were just above the poverty level that were not being reached by the conventional programs of the oounty.or the state. Ps.Ga~nble stated that she was of the opinon that the Community Centers help to complement the other social service agences. Pis. Josephine Lewis, who works with the VISTA volunteers in the Community Centers, stated that the Community Centers provided a place for the citizens of the area to work together for the solving of their particular problems; and that some of the other service agencies often came to the Community Center volunteers to inquire as to how to gain input into the community, Discussion ensued as to the organization structure of the Community Action Agency. Chairman '~!slker wanted to be advised as to the names of the Ora.nbe Coant„~ citizens who were on the Toint Chatham-Orange Community Action Board. Discussion ensued as to the organizational structure and the persona who comprised the Orange County 5oard o1 the Community Action Soard. Chairman tih'alker filed a petition that has been signed by ninetp-five (95) citizens. Said petition was in opposition to the funding of the L'otrununity Action Program. Upon motion of Comm, Flora Garrett, seconded by Commissioner Richard E. T•ltlitted, it was moved that the 1973-1571} County Budget that would include the ~20,D00.00 requested appropriation of the Community Action Frogram be approved. Chairman ','alker called for a vote on the motion. Commissioner Flora Garrett and Commissioner Richard E. 4lhitted voted aye. Coiruaissioner.. Henry S. 1•?alker and Commissioner ATOrman Y;aiker voted nay. The County Administrator requested the 3oard to adopt an Interim Budget Appropriation Resolution that would authorize the county to spend up to thirty per cent (30 a) of the proposed 1573-1571} Ceunty Budget. H® advised the Board that it was not his intent that the X20,000.00 requested appropriation of the Community Action Agency be included as a part of the Interim Budget Resolution. - IIpon motion of Commissioner Henr~° S. Z~?alker, seconded by Commissioner Flora Garrett, it was moved and adopted that the County Administrator be authorized to expend thirty per cant (30~) of the proposed 1973-1974 County Budget.