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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 19960530APPROVED 815196 MINUTES ASSEMBLY OF GOVERNMENTS MEETING MAY 30, 1996 The Orange County Board of Commissioners, Hillsborough Town Board of Commissioners, Carrboro Board of Aldermen, and Chapel Hill Town Council met in joint session for the Assembly of Governments meeting on Thursday, May 30, 1996 at 7:30 p.m. at A.L. Stanback Middle School, New Highway 86, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Moses Carey, Jr., and members Alice Gordon, Bill Crowther, and Don Willhoit ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONER ABSENT: Stephen Halkiotis CARRBORO BOARD OF ALDERMEN PRESENT: Mayor Mike Nelson and Diana McDuffee. CARRBORO BOARD OF ALDERMEN ABSENT: Aldermen Jay Bryan, Alex Zaffron, Jakie Gist, Hilliard Caldwell and Hank Anderson. CHAPEL HILL TOWN COUNCIL PRESENT: Richard Franck, Joseph Capowski, Pat Evans, and Lee Pavao.- CHAPEL HILL TOWN COUNCIL ABSENT: Mayor Rosemary Waldorf, Julie Andressen, Joyce Brown, Mark Chilton, and Barbara Powell HILLSBOROUGH BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Mayor Horace Johnson and member Remus Smith HILLSBOROUGH BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Commissioners Ken Chavious, Richard Simpson, Catherine Martin and Evelyn Lloyd. The meeting was convened at 7:10 p.m. Chair Carey asked each of the elected officials and staff present to introduce themselves. PRESENTATION OF YOUTH FORUM FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: David Zipper, CHHS Student Body President, presented a history of this project. He mentioned that this report was a result of work done at both Youth Forums. Paula Compton and Catherine Miller, Orange High School, presented an overview of those Youth Forums. They explained how they were planned and organized, as well as how they decided upon the format. The Youth Task Force was initiated by the Orange County Government and the Public Private Partnership in the summer of 1995 to create a mechanism through which the youth in Orange County could come together, organize an agenda, and bring their concerns and needs to the community table. Members from the Orange County Government, Public Private Partnership, and the UNC School of Social Work began to initiate the process in late August, 1995. A steering committee of key community leaders, representatives from Orange County Government and from both the Orange High School and the Chapel Hill High School student governments were recruited. These youth representatives and key community leaders together planned a process by which the youth agenda prioritization could be developed. The youth on the committee decided on the name "Youth Voices of Orange County" for their project. They held two forums, on January 31 st and March 27th. The March 27 Forum culminated with list of 11 recommendations. Those eleven (11) recommendations were briefly presented to the Assembly of Governments participants by Terrill Thompson, OCH; Shyra Cooper, CHHS; Mike Allingham, CHHS; Joy Williams and Josh Skidmore, OHS; Eric Taylor, OHS; Rachel Maid, OHS; and Eric Martin, CHHS. Each of their reports, in its entirety, is in the permanent agenda file in the Clerk's office. The recommendations involved the following issues: 1) Cheaper places to go: youth center, clubs, etc. 2) Student representative on the School Boards 3) Control of smoking in schools 4) More forums involving all youth 5) Youth projects 6) Inter-school council 7) Newspaper (communication) 8) Job information/listing/search help 9) Equal opportunities for all schools 10) Youth Radio 11) Parent involvement Chair Carey thanked the students for their thorough and comprehensive study of these issues. He requested comments from the elected officials. Mayor Johnson thanked the students for their report. He suggested that they consider creating an ongoing teen organization with membership dues as a way to create a source of income for their group. He also suggested that they could become involved in tutoring at-risk classmates and/or visiting nursing homes. He commended the students for their leadership. He mentioned that they could not be members of a school board until they were 21 years old and would need to be elected to that position. David Zipper mentioned that the students were aware that they could not be full voting members of the school boards but they could act as unofficial, non-voting members. They felt that they could make a contribution to the schools in that way. There is a student at UNC who was on the school board in his community as a high school student and is willing to help with planning for that to occur in Orange County. He also commented that peer tutoring is being done at both of the high schools. Commissioner Crowther asked if the students felt that a school would be a possible meeting place. He pointed out that many of these school facilities are not being used during the evening hours. The students replied that they hoped to locate some facility which would be centrally located and conducive to hanging out and relaxing. A school would work for some activities but would not be their first choice. Council Member Capowski thanked the students for the professional quality of their report. He mentioned that the new cable franchise will be required to dedicate a channel for the school board's use. He felt that they could lobby the school board for time on that channel. The County is also negotiating a new contract with their cable company and could be requested to include a School Board channel. Mayor Nelson thanked the students for their report and asked them to comment on safety concerns. The students indicated that their major safety concerns were fighting and other related forms of violence, for which they felt the punishment should be expulsion. The Chapel Hill students felt that the security officers on campus had improved their sense of security at school. Commissioner Gordon suggested the possibility of using existing facilities for one time, or recurring, youth events while continuing to work on getting a facility dedicated to their exclusive use. Chair Carey said that the Assembly of Governments do not normally take formal action. However, he reworded the last paragraph of the proposed Resolution so that it could be approved by this body. A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Council Member Pavao, to approve the following resolution. VOTE: UNANIMOUS RESOLUTION YOUTH VOICES OF ORANGE COUNTY WHEREAS, In fall 1995, representatives from Orange County, the Towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro the Public-Private Partnership (PPP), UNC School of Social Work, students and teachers from Orange High School and Chapel Hill High School, and agencies working with youth, formed a steering committee entitled "Youth Voices of Orange County"; and WHEREAS, The steering committee convened two forums with over 100 high school students to discuss the needs of area youth; and WHEREAS, These meetings mark the first time youth from both Northern and Southern Orange County have been together for such a purpose; and WHEREAS, From these discussions, the youth realized that they share similar agendas and issues of concern regardless of their location in the county; and WHEREAS, The youths developed a list of (11) recommendations which they consider to be priorities in addressing their needs; and WHEREAS, The youths want to develop a formal mechanism to ensure continued communications between students in the two school systems, and address these recommendations; and WHEREAS, The youth recommended the formation of a Youth Council for Orange County high school aged youths for the purposes of providing leadership and service to the community; and WHEREAS, In order to establish an effective youth council for Orange County, the youth will require staff support from each governmental agency, as well as assistance from members of the private and non-profit community. NOW, THEREFORE, We, the members of the Orange County Assembly of Governments, do hereby endorse the concept of establishing a Youth Council, and agree to appoint staff representatives to review the feasibility and make recommendations on next steps. This, the 30th day of May, 1996. Moses Carey, Jr.,, Chair Michael R. Nelson, Mayor Orange County Board of Commissioners Town of Carrboro Rosemary Waldorf, Mayor Town of Chapel Hill Horace Johnson, Mayor Town of Hillsborough JOINT PLANNING AGREEMENT - HISTORICAL UPDATE: Gene Bell, Orange County Planner, presented a history of joint planning in Orange County. He mentioned that in the 1950s and 1960s North Carolina State Legislature granted Chapel Hill and Carrboro the right to enact zoning ordinances and regulations for certain designated areas surrounding the Towns. These designated areas are known as extraterritorial planning jurisdictions (ETJ). During the late 1970s and early 1980s urban growth began to occur outside of Chapel Hill's and Carrboro's corporate limits and extraterritorial planning jurisdictions. In particular, growth began to occur north of Chapel Hill's extraterritorial planning jurisdiction (ETJ) boundary; and Orange County had begun to approve developments outside of Chapel Hill's planning jurisdiction that would eventually be annexed into the Town's corporate limits. A philosophy for joint planning emerged as an opportunity to provide Chapel Hill and Carrboro with some planning and zoning control over future growth areas outside of each Town's extraterritorial planning jurisdiction. Joint planning also provided the opportunity for the County to retain some zoning control over these growth areas while also setting a limit for urban sprawl and providing a transition for an urban to a rural environment (the rural buffer). In 1984, the Town of Chapel Hill and Orange County entered into a Joint Planning Agreement that called for the development of a Land Use Plan for the areas immediately surrounding Chapel Hill and Carrboro, but located outside of the extraterritorial planning jurisdictions of the two towns. The Town of Carrboro joined Chapel Hill and Orange County in adopting a new Joint Planning Agreement on November 2, 1987. A copy of Gene Bell's report, in its entirety, is in the permanent agenda file in the Clerk's office. Council Member Evans asked for an update on the Northwest Area Plan. Chris Berndt, Chapel Hill Planning Department, reported that the October, 1995 Assembly of Governments meeting received a report on the Northwest Area Plan and referred the plan to the L.Q.G. The consensus at that time was that the possible uses for the Greene Tract needed to be determined before planning for the Northwest area could proceed. Commissioner Willhoit reported that the L.O.G. did not discuss either the uses for the Greene Tract or the Northwest Area Plan. Council Member Evans felt that this needed to be decided and not postponed indefinitely. Commissioner Willhoit felt that it would be possible to move forward after the Public Hearing on June 19. He mentioned the possibility of an employment campus as a buffer between the residential areas and the landfill. He also mentioned possible rail access to the landfill and employment campus. Commissioner Gordon felt that the main issue is that the siting of the landfill impacts land use planning. Chair Carey felt that the landfill issue needs to be resolved prior to moving ahead with other land use planning issues. Council Member Capowski questioned why Chapel Hill is involved in the western part of the rural buffer. Chris Berndt mentioned that there are issues in common for all local units of government, such as watershed protection. Mayor Nelson mentioned that Carrboro would like to have a joint public hearing in October of 1996. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. Moses Carey, Jr., Chair Kathy Baker, Deputy Clerk