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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 19940629,~. 1 MINUTES ASSEMBLY OF GOVERNMENTS MEETING JUNE 29, 1994 The Orange County Assembly of Governments meeting was held on Wednesday, June 29, 1994 at 7:30 p.m. at the Homestead Community Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. COONTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Moses Carey, Jr., and Commissioners Alice M. Gordon, Verla C. Insko, and Don Willhoit. COIINTY COMMISSIONER ABSENT: Stephen Halkiotis CARRBORO BOARD OF ALDERMEN PRESENT: Mayor Eleanor Kinnaird, and Aldermen Jay Bryan, Hank Anderson, Randy Marshall, Jacqueline Gist, Mike Nelson, and Frances Shetley. CHAPEL HILL TOWN COONCIL PRESENT: Mayor Ken Broun, and Council members Joe Capowski, Joyce Brown, Pat Evans, Jim Protzman and Rosemary Waldorf. HILLSBOROUGH BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Mayor Horace Johnson and Commissioner Evelyn Lloyd. INTRODIICTION: Chair Carey convened the meeting at 7:30 p.m. Opening remarks were given by Mayors Broun, Kinnaird and Johnson. They indicated that the sustainable community process is a long and difficult one but most important to Orange County's future. Alderman Jay Bryan stated that the Quality Growth Strategy and Community Building Steering Committee initially studied this issue and reported their findings to the elected officials. The need for a process to guide Orange County in the direction of quality growth needs to be developed and implemented. Council member Joyce Brown commented that Orange County will continue to grow. How that growth is managed is the issue. A critical component of that issue is planned "community building". It is important that all of the stakeholders be included in the planning process and that members of each identified community in Orange County be included in this process. Alderman Bryan reviewed the Quality Growth Strategy and Community Building Steering Committee's report. That report in its entirety is in the permanent agenda in the Clerk's office. In summary, he identified the following steps: 1. Create a Task Force, with the approval of the four governing bodies, which would be called the Task Force on Shaping Orange County's Future. 2. Organize a facilitated meeting of this Task Force to focus on team building skills. 3. The Task Force will set a schedule and process to begin _~ information gathering. 4. The Task Force will form committees to continue with the information gathering process to define a vision and make recommendations. 5. The Task Force and committees will analyze information and further define the nature of the issues. 6. The Task Force and committees will generate ideas on solving the issues defined. 7. The Task Force will report progress and agenda to elected officials f or review and comments . 8. The Task Force and committees will refine suggestions as to how to solve the issues. 9. The Task Force will put recommendations into a written report for presentation to each of the four governing bodies. 10. The four governing bodies will discuss the recommendations and make comments to the Task Force on the recommendations. 11. The Task Force will consider the governing bodies comments and further analyze its report. 12. The Task Force will hold a presentation for all existing committees and commissions in the county and the public on the recommendations of the Task Force and then refer the report to the four governing bodies. 13. The four governing bodies will refer the recommendations to their respective staff to determine how to incorporate the recommendations into both short and long-range working plans for incorporation into their comprehensive planning strategy. 14. Public Hearings will be held by each jurisdiction after which a facilitated meeting of the Assembly of Governments will be held to discuss the recommendations. 15. A final report from the Task Force will be prepared and submitted to each jurisdiction, for use as a policy base in revising local comprehensive plans. It was the conclusion of the steering committee that a structure for the maintenance of community building is critical to the success of this project. The issues will change but they will be resolved if a structure is in place. Commissioner Gordon commented that Orange County needs a comprehensive quality growth strategy which emphasizes being comprehensive and cooperative. In order for that to be accomplished there must be a community vision. The product of that vision would be principles upon which each unit of government could build. It is critical that all elected officials be involved in this project. Regular reports need to be given to each of the elected bodies. Equally important is the inclusion of all grass roots groups. This would eventuate in a shared sense of community. Land Use will be the main focus, however, many other issues will be involved. A discussion concerning how to best implement a comprehensive quality growth strategy followed. It was suggested that this plan needs to be implemented in phases, starting with land use planning. 3 David Brower, UNC Professor, Department of City and Regional Planning, stated that the outcome of this process would be that when an issue is identified, it would be dealt with separately from the rest of the plan because there would be consensus in place on each of the principles. Mayor Broun presented an alternative proposal for the Assembly's consideration. He stated that having basic principles for the county as a whole is important and now is the time to do it. He is in agreement that the process for doing this needs to be inclusive. He indicated that his concerns with the process were threefold. The first of those concerns was that although there is consultation with elected officials built into the process, it is a citizen group operating on its own. The elected officials are charged with responsibility for planning and he felt that elected officials need to be more involved in this process. Secondly, the individual tasks outlined are very broad. It has been suggested that some of the principles could be created within a year, however, it is more likely that the process would take longer to complete. Lastly, he pointed out that there seems to be a lack of reference to the existing Comprehensive Plan. That plan needs to be used as a starting point. It consists of an existing set of principles and would be an excellent place to begin this process. He proposed creating a framework to develop a coordinated comprehensive plan. This would begin with the formation of a steering committee consisting of elected officials, possibly the Mayors and Chair to the Commissioners. That group could then propose a slate of citizens for the committee. That steering committee would develop a charge and focus the work of the Task Force more narrowly so that it would be more like a small area planning process. Mayor Broun's proposal in its entirety is in the permanent agenda file in the Clerk's office. Mayor Broun's proposal was discussed. Questions about specifics were asked and several participants endorsed the plan as it was presented. Commissioner Gordon offered an alternative to Mayor Broun's proposal. She suggested that a Steering Committee consisting of elected officials, possiby the Mayors and Chair to the Commissioner, be appointed as suggested by Mayor Broun. That Steering Committee would lead a group as outlined in the April 4th Final Report of the Quality Growth Strategy and Community Building Steering Committee. After discussion and clarification several participants endorsed Commissioner Cordon's suggestion. Mayor Broun indicated that he felt that Commissioner Cordon's suggestion was workable. The original Quality Growth Committee could work with staff to create a document that would be presented to the elected boards for approval after the summer break. M 4~ 4 This amended proposal was agreed to by consensus of the participants. There were no further comments and the meeting was adjourned. Moses Carey, Jr. Chair Kathleen Baker, Deputy Clerk