Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 01-24-2000Approved April 17, 2000 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS AND MEBANE CITY COUNCIL JANUARY 24, 2000 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met with the Mebane City Council on Monday, January 24, 2000 at 7:00 p.m. at the Hupman Guest House, 726 South Fifth Street in Mebane, North Carolina. The Mebane City Council hosted this dinner meeting. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Moses Carey, Jr. and Commissioners Alice M. Gordon and Barry Jacobs COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Commissioners Margaret W. Brown and Stephen H. Halkiotis MEBANE CITY COUNCIL PRESENT: Mayor Glendel Stephenson and Council Members Alice Bordsen, Tim Bradley, Ed Hooks and Bob Hupman MEBANE CITY COUNCIL MEMBER ABSENT: Henry Johns COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr., Planning Director Craig Benedict and Clerk to the Board Beverly A. Blythe (all other staff members will be identified appropriately below) MEBANE STAFF PRESENT: City Manager Robert Wilson and Clerk to the Board Elaine Hicks 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. 1. CALL TO ORDER AND INTRODUCTION OF EVERYONE PRESENT Glendel Stephenson welcomed everyone to the meeting and said the blessing. Dinner was served. After dinner, Mayor Stephenson said that for some time the two boards have tried to set up a meeting to talk about items of mutual concern. He made reference to a letter the Town received last year about satellite annexations and indicated that the Town had responded to that letter. The Town received another letter about planning issues in which the Town indicated they would get back with the County about that letter. Chair Carey said that he hopes this meeting will lead to further discussions with Mebane. Part of Orange County is within Mebane and the County Commissioners want to be sure that the growth that occurs in this area can be orderly with the provision of services. Orange County has a Land Use Plan and there are people who want us to express their interest. We want to be sure that everyone is included in the dialog. One goal of this meeting is to develop a way that Orange County and the Town of Mebane can work together on issues of mutual concern. He asked others if they would like to share their views. Bob Hupman said that the Mebane Council feels that they represent a unique place here in Orange County. He knows the Alamance County Commissioners on a first name basis but not the Orange County Commissioners. Mebane does have tons of water. They have the key ingredient to attract industry. He feels this is a great first step. As Orange County and Mebane both grow, there will be natural friction that the governing boards will need to deal with. Mebane is a boom town as well as this end of Orange County. The Mebane Council wants to work with Orange County. Chair Carey said that Orange County is at the point of updating their Land Use Plan. He feels that Mebane will be interested in this plan and that it would be beneficial to have a dialog with Mebane as this plan is being updated. Tim Bradley said that when an industry is looking at development, Mebane needs to knave what is planned for the area of Orange County that is in Mebane's jurisdiction. We do not know what the specifics are in Orange County's Land Use Plan. Commissioner Jacobs said that he has always liked Mebane and thought that Orange County has done a goad jab of ignoring Mebane. He feels that Orange County has not communicated very much ar very well with Mebane over the years. The way the laws are written is that people who live in the rural area have no one to go to because they don't vote for members of the city council. We are at a goad place with Hillsborough to be partners. There are a lot of issues besides future development that the two governing bodies could work together on. Bob Hupman said that they want to be involved if something is done legislatively that affects Mebane. We want to be sure that we are aware of what is going to happen in the halls of the legislature. He does not know any of the Orange County delegation. Chair Carey said that if we know of issues related to Mebane, we will keep you informed but we do not know everything that is happening. Mayor Stephenson said that he and Robert Wilson have talked with their legislators. He remembers that Orange County put up the $400,000 to run water and sewer for General Electric. The agreement was not a good one to begin with but it was reworked which made it a good agreement. There has been a relationship with Orange County that has been good. Chair Carey asked about the possibility of working on some kind of a neutral joint planning agreement. He asked that Mebane indicate some time soon if they are interested. Bob Hupman mentioned that Mebane has not had an annexation that was not voluntary. Tim Bradley said that Mebane has not reached into the Extraterritorial Jurisdiction area far 12 years However this area from Hebron to Mebane Oaks Road and from Old Hillsborough Highway to Highway 70 will be a prime development area in the upcoming years. Ed Hooks said that a lot of the land is going to be self-determined. The problem is going to be where people are actively seeking to sell their property. The pressures are going to be upon us where an individual has some property that they want to do something with. Your LUP is very encouraging and Mebane's will be also. We can make them overlapping. He feels we need to come to a consensus. Commissioner Jacobs said that we do have what we call an Assembly of Governments where the Orange County Board of Commissioners, the Chapel Hill Town Council, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen and the Hillsborough Town Commissioners meet twice a year. Chair Carey said that what we want to do is to anticipate growth and ensure that it is orderly and meets the LUP and other regulations. We want to try to mitigate any anticipated problems. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the Town of Hillsborough and the proposed Corbin Downs development where the County Commissioners met with the Town Commissioners and then the Town Commissioners made their own decision an whether to approve ar deny the development. We brought up concerns that they did not think of. That is the kind of things we would like to do with Mebane. We may have a different set of standards than you, but we do have resources for gathering additional information. Certainly if we have our staffs communicate with each other it might make us more consistent with what we require of people. Tim Bradley said that he does not feel that that would meet with any resistance. Having more information would be met with gratitude. He would welcome any additional information or help. Mayor Stephensan said that Mebane has given Orange County an agreement on satellite annexations and we will send you any request we get before we respond to a request far annexation. He asked how the two boards get to the place where we want to be and if we should have the two staffs work together on this. Chair Carey said that he hopes that we can get to know each other and the next step would be to have our managers get together and create the next steps. He would be willing to meet with the Mayor and Managers if they feel that would be beneficial. Ed Hooks said that Mebane has spent a lot of time and money updating their LUP and ordinance. We have asked our Planning Director to look at other LUPs. He would like to see some joint efforts on things such as landscaping, etc. Bob Hupman feels that the two Boards can be a lot stronger politically if they work together. Roads is a big issue for Mebane. They want more roads because they need them to handle the growth in the area. Chair Carey said that transportation is very important to Orange County. They are trying to get people out of cars because of the congestion. He would like to know about Mebane's plans for a bypass. Ed Hooks said that he is Mebane's representative on the Transportation Board and they are in the Highpoint, Greensboro MPO. Commissioner Gordon made reference to next steps. She said that Orange County has sent Mebane a resolution about joint planning and she thinks that resolution would be appropriate to pass. She said it wauld be helpful if Mebane gave Orange County a response. Bob Hupman said that he would like his staff to work with the Orange County staff to resolve the issues Mebane had with that resolution and then to present it to their respective boards for approval. Chair Carey said that the managers can meet and talk together. Mayor Stephenson said that Mebane has agreed to work with Orange County. It was the consensus that the two Managers will meet and bring back same recommended steps. Commissioner Gordon said that what we have with Carrboro and Chapel Hill is a Joint Planning Agreement. All we are talking about tonight is a farm of a resolution. What we have with Chapel Hill and Carrboro is an actual agreement. Bob Hupman agreed with letting the staff work and bring back the next steps to the elected officials. Tim Bradley said that the first step is to see how we can work together. Robert Wilson said that the board did instruct their staff to meet with Orange County staff to work on issues they had with the resolution. He has met with John Link several times and asked staff to come up with a set of priorities. John Link said that the staff can articulate in real tangible ways haw the twa Boards can wark together. We can share information with each other on several topics. We need to know what each other is doing. Commissioner Gordon said that Orange County would notify Mebane about the Assembly of Governments meetings. Robert Wilson said that some of the issues in the resolution of intent had to do with concerns about water and sewer in the Buckhorn area. Several people who have water and sewer issues in that area have contacted Mebane. Bob Hupman said that water and sewer issues are natural issues for us to work together on. Glendel Stephenson said that they will take the written statements in the resolution and let that be a basis to begin to address the concerns they have with the resolution. At this point of the meeting, it was announced that it was snowing outside and the meeting was adjourned at 8:40 p.m. The next regular meeting for the Orange County Board of Commissioners will take place on January 31, 2000 at 7:30 p.m. in the meeting room of the Government Services Center in Hillsborough, North Carolina. Moses Carey, Jr., Chair Beverly A. Blythe, Clerk