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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 19990121APPROVED 8117/99 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS JOINT MEETING HILLSBOROUGH TOWN COMMISSIONERS January 21, 1999 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met with the Hillsborough Town Commissioners on January 21, 1999 at 6:00 p.m. in the meeting room of the Government Services Center, Hillsborough, North Carolina. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Alice M. Gordon and Commissioners Moses Carey, Jr., Stephen H. Halkiotis and Barry Jacobs COUNTY COMMISSIONER ABSENT: Margaret W. Brown HILLSBOROUGH TOWN COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Mayor Horace Johnson (arrived at 7:30) and Town Commissioners Evelyn Lloyd, Dancy, Catherine Martin, Simpson and Ken Chavious COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr., Assistant County Managers Rod Visser and Albert Kittrell and Clerk to the Board Beverly A. Blythe (All other staff members will be identified appropriately below) NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE. ALL RECORDINGS OF THE MEETING WILL BE KEPT FOR 5 YEARS. Introductions were made. 1. PARKING MATTERS Commissioner Jacobs said that downtown parking is an issue of mutual concern. He asked if the Town was interested in getting a group together to talk and come up with ideas for dealing with the parking issue. He said that citizens and merchants alike have indicated they have a hard time finding a place to park around County buildings and also downtown, especially at lunchtime. Also, this is an opportunity for the County to show leadership in reducing car usage. Commissioner Carey said that some jurisdictions have worked with local businesses and other establishments to provide alternatives for their employees to park. Commissioner Jacobs suggested that an arrangement could be made to contract with Wal-Mart or Fred Cates who owns the old shopping center at the corner of NC86 and NC70 and run a van from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. to the County buildings. Some incentives need to be created to encourage employees to park at these areas and vanpool to their workplace. This would set an example for the private sector. Commissioner Carey feels that resolving these parking issues is important. The County needs to work with the Town in this endeavor. Town Commissioner Catherine Martin agreed that parking is a problem and something that the Town needs to pursue solving. Commissioner Jacobs suggested that each elected board designate two people to work on a committee with two additional members from downtown businesses. It was decided that Commissioner Jacobs and Town Commissioners Martin and Chavious will serve on this parking committee. County staff John Link and Paul Thames will assist this committee. They will meet and bring back a proposal to their perspective boards. 2. FAIRVIEW COMMUNITY POLICING CENTER Town Manager Eric Peterson summarized the proposal and showed the conceptual floorplan. He said that in October, the Town Commissioners worked with a committee to formulate a plan for serving the residents in the Fairview area. The residents in this community would like for the County to consider using this facility to provide a place for an office for the Sheriff and also for health and social services. Eric Peterson said that the $189,500 cost estimate is very rudimentary and intended to be a "ballpark" cost for the project. The building would be 1900 square feet. The Town asked that the County consider donating the land for this facility which would be located on Rainey Avenue at the intersection of Riddle Avenue. In addition, some sort of contribution to the town for rent or utilities would be helpful. Commissioner Halkiotis said that he talked with the Sheriff this morning who indicated that he would not be able to staff the satellite office at the Efland community center fulltime. He feels that even if the Sheriff is not interested in using this facility, he would see a need for County office space. John Link said that he sees where it would be beneficial to have clinics for Health and DSS in this community from time to time. They probably could not provide full-time staff at this time. Eric Peterson said that they will only be able to staff this facility a couple of hours a day. This report was referred to the managers who will bring back a recommendation. Commissioner Jacobs asked how this would relate in developing a park there. He is concerned that if this land is used for a building, there will not be enough area available for recreational activities. Town Commissioner Catherine Martin said that this establishes a presence and provides a room to have different activities and services available like the services offered by the Literacy Council. Town Commissioner Ken Chavious said that the major interest was to take back the park. The park is taken over by the unemployed and their activities which are undesirable. There is just playground equipment there now. Moses Carey said that he commends their efforts to take back the park. He supports doing whatever we can. He was told by Eric Peterson that the budget is an annual budget. The building will be stick built. Commissioner Halkiotis said that he likes the idea. He feels this is a wonderful opportunity to have the presence of law enforcement to help make this a safer community. Commissioner Jacobs asked Recreational Director Bob Jones about the possibilities for recreation at this park. Bob Jones said that the building site is perfect and would not affect any of the activities for the park. They could also provide some activities in the facility if the meeting room is large enough. It was decided that the managers would look at the programs for the building and determine what functions could have a presence there and come back with a proposal. Commissioner Jacobs said that we may want to make this building larger and relocate some of our County staff to that facility. 3. ORANGE COUNTY/HILLSBOROUGH COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS Town Commissioner Ken Chavious said that the soccer field they made reference to last year is still a viable project. They need to do an evaluation to determine the gases from the old landfill. Bob Jones said that he contacted Dr. Bob Rubin at North Carolina State and they walked the site. Rubin felt that we would have no problem with methane gas but we do have wetlands on that area. Rubin plans to consult with other experts and present a proposal of what can be done in that area. He indicated that he does not think the area suitable for a soccer complex but it may be feasible to put a few softball fields at this area. Town Commissioner Ken Chavious said that they still expect this to be a private/public partnership. Eurosport is still interested in helping to finance soccer fields. John Link feels that it would be important to have boring tests in this area before allocating money to this project. It was agreed that Bob Jones would contact Dr. Bob Rubin to do some soil testing and work with Eric Peterson, John Link and Commissioner Jacobs and bring back a report. 4. PENDING HILLSBOROUGH DEVELOPMENT REQUESTS Town Planning Director Margaret Hauth identified pending development requests. She showed on a map the locations of these development projects. Churton Grove, formerly Scotswood, will be served by waterlines going in along US70. Lawrence Park, which is under County review at this time, would also be served with city water. Another development which has proposed 218 lots is adjacent to Wildwood subdivision. They will know more about these developments in a couple of months and will keep the County informed. John Link made reference to the School and Land Use Councils and noted that when Hillsborough has a large project, it would be helpful to have that information to plan for schools. Margaret Hauth noted that they have not received enough information on these developments yet to provide that information. John Link emphasized the importance of keeping each other informed on large projects. Commissioner Halkiotis said that Margaret Hauth does a great job in keeping Orange County schools informed about impending projects. They need another elementary school now and as the growth continues, they anticipate they will need one school every three years. Commissioner Jacobs expressed concern about the large project south of town and the traffic impact from that project. Margaret Hauth said that she has informed the developers that they would have to design it in accordance with the Economic Development District design standards. Mayor Horace Johnson said that they will share information as they receive it. He said that they worked in the past with the County to get a grant for the Fairview Park as well as on the Efland sewer project and will continue to cooperate with the County. 5. RIVER PARK STATUS REPORT John Link summarized this report which outlined what has happened so far on this project. He said that the process began 3-1/2 years ago. The old pond has been filled. The Occaneechi Tribe began their efforts to build their Palisade near the river in the spring of 1997 and in the last few months there has been a major effort on studying the creek and its impact. The issue is where do we go from here and the associated costs. Water and Soil Conservationist Gail Hughes explained the restoration of the creek. They have completed the survey and their engineers have been in the process of coming up with a design and cost estimates for stabilizing the creek. The creek area begins at King Street and ends at the Eno River. If something is not done, the corner of the Government Services Center will fall into the river. Commissioner Halkiotis said that he hopes we put money in our budget to help make sure that the building does not drop off into the stream. John Link said that the managers will meet and bring back a report. They will address the stabilization of the creek and determine what they can do financially in terms of the County's park plan. CP&L UPDATE Chair Gordon gave a brief update on what is happening with Shearon Harris. She said that the County was surprised when CP&L filed for a permit to build two more pools to store spent fuel rods. The County decided to find out through a scientific approach what the situation is and has appropriated up to $18,000 for this information. County Engineer Paul Thames said that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) process does not provide a good opportunity for input or public comment. To make comment you have to go through a technical review and then file comments. The County is trying to go through a process directly with CP&L on what they plan to do, the risk, etc. and provide this information to the public through a separate venue. If we don't go through the process, we will have lost our opportunity to appeal. The County Commissioners have been invited to attend a meeting with CP&L this next Monday. Elected officials have been invited to go on a tour next Tuesday and Wednesday. The County has sent letters out to the governing boards in the impact area asking them to participate with Orange County in this process. Commissioner Halkiotis said that he heard late this afternoon that CP&L may not allow folks on this tour who are not elected officials. He hopes this is not true. He voiced his disappointment noting that this is not in the spirit of what we are trying to do. He feels that there are citizens who have raised concerns who would like to go on this tour. He encouraged Chair Gordon to impress this upon whoever is setting up this tour at CP&L. Chair Gordon said that the County is trying to get some technical expertise in an effort to try to understand what CP&L is requesting. She hopes that the tour will provide some information. Town Commissioner Catherine Martin said that citizens are concerned that CP&L will be accepting spent nuclear rods from other states and are wondering why they are doing this. ADJOURNMENT With no further items to consider, Chair Gordon adjourned the meeting. The next meeting on the meeting calendar is scheduled for February 2 at 7:30 p.m. at the F. Gordon Battle courtroom in Hillsborough, North Carolina. Alice M. Gordon, Chair Beverly A. Blythe, Clerk