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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 02-27-2014 APPROVED 5/8/2014 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS HILLSBOROUGH BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS JOINT MEETING February 27, 2014 7:00 p.m. The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a Joint Meeting with the Town of Hillsborough Commissioners on Thursday, February 27, 2014 at 7:00 p.m., in the Link Government Services Center, in Hillsborough, North Carolina. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Barry Jacobs and Commissioners Mark Dorosin, Alice Gordon, Earl McKee, Bernadette Pelissier, Renee Price and Penny Rich COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: James Bryan, Staff Attorney COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: Interim County Manager Michael Talbert and Assistant County Managers Clarence Grier and Cheryl Young, and Clerk to the Board Donna S. Baker (All other staff members will be identified appropriately below) HILLSBOROUGH COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Mayor Tom Stevens and Kathleen Ferguson, Commissioners Eric Hallman, Brian Lowen, Evelyn Lloyd, and Jenn Weaver HILLSBOROUGH COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: HILLSBOROUGH STAFF PRESENT: Maragret Hauth, Planning Director HILLSBOROUGH TOWN STAFF ABSENT: Town Manager Eric Peterson Chair Jacobs called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. Welcome and Opening Remarks Mayor Stevens said he is glad the Board and the town are able to get together, and it seems that interaction is good between the two groups of staff. He introduced Hillsborough's two newest Town Commissioners: Kathleen Ferguson and Jenn Weaver. Mayor Stevens noted that Town Manager Eric Peterson was unable to attend due to illness. He said the town is excited about the delivery of the bridges for Riverwalk, and the plan is to have the ribbon cutting in September. He also invited the Board to attend his State of the Town address on March 24th at the Orange County Public Library at 7:00 p.m. Chair Jacobs said he and the Mayor decided to forego formal titles and use first names at the meeting tonight. He said the Board enjoys having these annual meetings with Hillsborough, and the practice has spawned annual meetings with the other municipalities in Orange County. He said it seems that sitting down and talking with people gets more done in the long run, and it dispels misimpressions. 1. Transportation a) Sidewalk Maintenance Related to Implementation of Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Project Abigaile Pittman read through the following information from the abstract: On November 19, 2013 the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) held a public hearing on the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Action Plan, which includes recommendations for improvements in the area of Cameron Park Elementary School, Charles Stanford Middle School, and Grady Brown Elementary School. The Plan is scheduled to be reviewed by the Orange Unified Transportation Board (0UTBoard).Orange County School Board and the Town of Hillsborough Board of Commissioners, and returned to the BOCC on April 15, 2014 for adoption consideration. Abigaile Pittman said the provision and maintenance of sidewalks in the County's jurisdiction will be an issue for SRTS implementation. This issue was previously discussed by the BOCC on October 6, 2011 in the context of reviewing proposed subdivision development requirements. At that time the BOCC did not adopt an official sidewalk policy, but expressed the intent of revisiting the issue in the future. Orange County (as well as most, if not all, counties in North Carolina) does not maintain local streets or sidewalks. Public roadways are part of the State maintained system. The NC Department of Transportation (NCDOT) does not build nor maintain sidewalks. In municipalities, streets and sidewalks are generally maintained by a municipal public works staffs or by homeowners associations. Several years ago Orange County entered into a sidewalk maintenance agreement for a portion of Homestead Road adjacent to the Towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro. The agreement is multi-party including NCDOT, which allowed an encroachment agreement in its right-of-way. The Towns maintain the sidewalk. Commissioner McKee arrived at 7:12 PM. Chair Jacobs asked if staff is proposing some action. Abigaile Pittman said staff is proposing that the Board and town staff discuss the potential for having a policy for the maintenance of sidewalks in the County, related to Safe Routes to School implementation. Chair Jacobs asked if this was for sidewalks in the County that attach to sidewalks in the town and are part of the Safe Routes to School (SRTS). Abigaile Pittman said this is for sidewalks to Grady Brown School and other schools that are in the County's jurisdiction. She said the idea is for creation of a policy or agreement on how to maintain these. Chair Jacobs asked if that kind of agreement would indicate that Orange County would contribute and pay for this maintenance, and the Town would administer the funds. Abigaile Pittman said the precedent in the past was Homestead Road, where DOT was the party for encroachments, and the Towns maintained it, while the County paid for that maintenance. Mayor Stevens said the Town only has a public works staff of 7 people, and the sidewalk maintenance and needed repairs are contracted out. He said he does not see any reason for not having an agreement and finding a way of sharing resources. He said he wants to set the expectations that the Town does not do a whole lot of maintenance now. Eric Hallman said the Orange County SRTS plan aligns with the Town's sidewalk plan, which is driven by the schools as a nucleus. He said staff has been trying to get a pedestrian overpass along Orange Grove Road to connect to Grady Brown. Commissioner Rich said Orange County is not in the sidewalk business, and she asked if the County has ever found itself in a situation where someone has to be hired to fix a sidewalk. She asked if there are places in County jurisdiction where there are sidewalks, and she noted that there was something in the materials that referenced maintenance of a parking lot. Abigaile Pittman said there are sidewalks on private property, within a development. Michael Talbert said the County does not maintain sidewalks on private property; however the County does maintain the sidewalks in and around County buildings such as the library, the parking deck and West Campus. Commissioner Rich asked if this is contract work. Michael Talbert said this is generally specified work that is contracted out, and the County pays for it. Abigaile Pittman said many of the sidewalks in this project are not close to County buildings, but many are a path from schools to and from residential areas. Brian Lowen asked about sidewalks around schools that are not in the city limits. He asked how this is handled. Staff said that is what they are trying to figure out. Brian Lowen asked if the state would be willing to take over maintenance. Abigaile Pittman said the DOT will not maintain these. Craig Benedict said there was a similar situation on Homestead Road. He said this was Orange County's jurisdiction, and it was not within Chapel Hill and Carrboro's ETJ. He said this required a 4 party agreement. He said it is okay, within an agreement, for municipalities to maintain lands outside of their jurisdiction. Chair Jacobs said Orange County is considering doing a bond issue in 2016. He said, given that the state is not going to provide any funding for sidewalks, he would like Orange County to have a discussion about asking voters to help promote walkability and alternative modes of transportations with our own money. He said this should be part of the conversation moving forward if the state is no longer supportive of alternative transportation. He suggested the Town and County staff should work together to approach the contractors used by the Town of Hillsborough to do the maintenance for these proposed sidewalks. Eric Hallman said the current agreement can be used as a boilerplate for this. The Boards agreed by consensus. b) Implementation of Downtown Hillsborough Access Study Improvements Margaret Hauth said staff is still moving forward with DOT and Orange County's support on the sidewalk in front of the courthouse. She said the project is closer to the start of construction. She said the Town Commissioners will be providing feedback this weekend, and some portions of the plan may be flip flopped in order to address the Bank of America Parking lot, which is leased by the town. She said this is to be reconfigured to function more normally and to provide a place for off street loading. She said there are still questionable issues with the DOT, but staff still feels this is a viable project. Commissioner Rich asked if the local money has changed. Margaret Hauth said the method DOT used to distribute funding to them is no longer available. She said DOT has committed to working within existing funds to find a way to qualify this project for those funds. She said this is considered a committed project and the DOT is very supportive. She said she is very sure they will get the funding from DOT. Chair Jacobs asked about a reference to parking on the eastside of Churton Street. Margaret Hauth said this is not about parking. She said the re-surfacing of Churton Street qualifies for assurance of handicap accessibility and ADA compliance with each and every crosswalk. She said the west side was being addressed, but the east side was not being touched; however the new rule is that everything must be ADA compliant. She said this triggers work on the east side of the street. Chair Jacobs asked if staff can re-visit the idea of having a crosswalk by Radius Restaurant. Margaret Hauth said staff has looked at this, and there is no situation in that area that meets DOT's regulations. Commissioner Price said the other issue is the bus stop in front of the police station. Margaret Hauth said there is a turn lane and too much going on there to put up a crosswalk. Access Management Planning in Economic Development Districts — 1-40 Interchange and Hampton Pointe Areas Craig Benedict said Orange County and Hillsborough have been working in the access management plan arena for a long time. He said when you vie for money at the MPO level or from DOT or environmental agencies, if you have an adopted access management plan, your potential to receive funding increases greatly. He said County staff has worked on several access management plans in the Eno Development District and in the Efland/Mebane area. He feels it would also be prudent to work with Hillsborough to look at interchanges around Interstate 85 and new Highway 86. He said there is a plan based on work done in the early 2000's. He said the more work done to find feasible locations for traffic devices and widening of roads, the greater the potential for funding. He suggested that staff begin a dialogue regarding an interchange at Waterstone. He said there are 4 quadrants, and only 1 of those is really being developed at this time (the northeast quadrant). He said this is setting the stage for continued development to the Northwest quadrant. He said staff should look south of the interchange as well. He said the connection from Waterstone going east to west between New 86 and Old 86 was picked up by a developer, and without that connection, development would have been a struggle. Craig Benedict said it is not as easy in North Carolina to show a roadway on a map and then tell a development to reserve and dedicate the roadway. He said this plan is not just for public sector work; it is to set a game plan for making separate developments fit together. Chair Jacobs asked if the direction to staff would be to engage in joint planning on how to plan these areas. Craig Benedict said yes. He said he will coordinate with planning staff, and the Department of Transportation (DOT) will be asked to look at the work. He said the half million dollar road that DOT is building for Morinaga was augmented by the access management plan that was approved 2 years ago. He said the land use change that was done in that 423 acre area, though it was basic and just included a dashed line, was helpful when going through environmental approvals for the roadway design. He said he is asking elected officials for approval so that staff can move forward. He said these basic access management plans should be brought forward in the next 4-6 months to set a game plan for development in and around these economic development areas. Commissioner Dorosin asked if there is a generalized plan on paper now. Craig Benedict said there is nothing on paper for the Hillsborough area; but there are dashed lines on a map for the Efland/Mebane area. He said this indicates to developers where the best locations are for signalized intersections. Eric Hallman said he thought the DOT had done some preliminary drawings on both the Old 86 and New 86 interchanges Craig Benedict said those were only for the entrance and exit points off the interchange. He said there is more work within the quadrants that needs to be addressed. Commissioner McKee asked if this will be done in concert with the Hillsborough Planning Board. Craig Benedict said yes. Chair Jacobs said he thought the planning group in the early 2000's for the Hillsborough Economic Development Districts also did roads across from Hampton Pointe to get Highway 10 to align better with 86. He asked if this was part of the plan. Craig Benedict said that is part of the plan, but this access management plan will take it to a higher level. He said that was the early study work, and there was a line drawn with an idea of that road continuing; but when development did not happen on that side, DOT put a light at Old NC 10. He said this is still not the best location. He said this access management plan is the type of plan needed to clearly ask a developer to move forward. Chair Jacobs referred to the Orange Grove Road access management plan and the development that straddles Eno Mountain Road. He thought the agreement was to line up Mayo Street and Eno Mountain Road. He asked if this is going to happen. Craig Benedict said there was a courtesy review of this, and comments were sent to DOT. He said staff is looking for a reservation to the northern side of this, meaning Eno Mountain would move a little. He said there have been no decisions made regarding who will build it. Margaret Hauth said there is no feasibility study from DOT, so no one knows where the alignment will be at this point. She said there is not enough information about where a road might go to require a reservation. Chair Jacobs asked if there would ever be a reservation if development moves ahead. Margaret Hauth said if it gets designed, it will have to move around any development that is built in its way. She said the town was inconsistent in its support for the alignment in years past, but it is back on the list now. Craig Benedict said there may need to be action to jumpstart DOT's feasibility plan. He said DOT wants more specifics to see that this is achievable and to see what the impacts will be. He said a line on a map used to be better than nothing, but it is not that easy now. Mayor Stevens said he felt that this was a catch-22. He said there was enough information, and it was a small enough project to interest a developer; but there was not a lot that could be done, given the DOT road. Margaret Hauth said with so many roads controlled by the state and funding the way it is, it behooves a municipality to go ahead and spend local funding to do the analysis in order to move a project forward. Commissioner Price said the previous transportation administration had agreed to work on the alignment on Churton Street. Chair Jacobs said this could be brought up at their DOT quarterly meeting, and the Board could ask about a possible feasibility study being done for this area. d) Widening of Interstate 85, Especially Bridges Mayor Stevens said the area around 1-85 is very critical to Hillsborough's economic development. Eric Hallman said two years ago there was a discussion about how Hillsborough and the County had not prioritized this area for development. He said they are paying the price now for projects being pushed out. He requested that, as the prioritization process for the transportation improvement plan moves forward, everyone do what they can to encourage this project. Commissioner McKee asked how this project is ranked with DOT. Craig Benedict said the 1-85 widening was put out between two different TIP programs. He said it makes it more problematic that it was half in the end of one 10 year period and then in the start of another 10 year period. He said it was pushed back last year due to the amount of money that was available. He said this is about weighing priorities, and he thinks that after this first strategic transportation initiative funding formula, maybe staff can figure out how to move a project up. He said an interchange cannot be done without doing a full widening of I- 85. He said if you can keep it in a 10 year Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) you are better off than if it is pushed out 15-20 years. Chair Jacobs said he thinks that the new formula and the focus on regional projects indicates the interstates in Orange County may be addressed more quickly. Commissioner Gordon said her understanding is that the prioritization 3.0 scoring formula puts interstates in a higher tier and makes this project more likely to receive favorable consideration. Kathleen Ferguson asked what can be done to increase prioritization. Craig Benedict said each year Orange County and other jurisdictions put in their priority list. He said this is pulled together, and the priorities have to be co-mingled. He said the DOT then looks at the list and considers their regional priorities. He agrees that interstates could move up in importance. He said it is important to vie to keep it high in the MPO priority list. Margaret Hauth said staff has gone through the submission of local priorities and are now waiting on the DOT to score it. She said that the last step is for the County and Town to lobby for as many points as possible to be put on Interstate 85. Kathleen Ferguson asked if there was anything else. Margaret Hauth said that is the only step left to be done. Commissioner McKee said the more aligned the affected governmental entities are, the better the chance of getting the project approved. Commissioner Price said she thinks, based on the TARPO meetings, that because 1-85 connects the economic development areas, this will be prioritized at the state level. She asked about the status of the bridge. Craig Benedict said the bridge on new 86 would be widened as part of the project. He said the one on Churton Street would be a completely new bridge. Margaret Hauth said these will both be new bridges, in part because there are widening projects for both 86 and South Churton Street that are waiting for 1-85 to be widened in order to properly configure the interchanges. Craig Benedict said the points system is not just internal to the MPO. He said the projects rated in the MPO have to vie against other MPO's. He said there is competition for money to come to division 7. He said the re-negotiation will be an important step, and decisions may have to be made about where to put the chips in the MPO. 2. Transit a) Update on Orange County Bus and Rail Investment Plan (OCBRIP) Implementation Craig Benedict noted that Eric Langfried was in attendance from Triangle Transit. Craig Benedict said the Orange County Bus and Rail Investment Plan (OCBRIP) was approved by the BOCC in June 2012 and in November 2012 voters approved a one-half cent sales tax to implement the program. He said this plan addresses a variety of transportation modes including: the Amtrak station; the bus rapid transit along the Martin Luther King corridor; the light rail project; as well as the additional bus service hours, which is the focus tonight. He said the bus service hours will be available to three bus providers: Orange Public Transportation (OPT), Triangle Transit Authority (TTA), and Chapel Hill Transit. He said the monies are now becoming available from the half cent sales tax and the $7 vehicle tag fee. He said there will be another $3 regional tag fee by the first part of next year. He said the amount of hours available for new service over the next 4 years will be about 30,000 hours. He said Chapel Hill runs about 200,000 hours per year, and OPT runs about 20,000 hours per year, including the demand response service and the Hillsborough circulator. He said of those 30,000 hours; 64 percent of the funding goes to Chapel Hill; 24 percent goes to Triangle Transit; and 12% goes to OPT. He said staff has been working with TTA for the past year on the OPT and Triangle Transit routes that would service central and rural Orange County. b) Central and Rural Orange County 5-Year Bus Service Expansion Program, Including Update on Hillsborough Circulator Craig Benedict said staff is looking at some routes based on community outreach and will be providing a formal presentation with Triangle Transit to the Board of County Commissioners on April 1St Craig Benedict reviewed the routes while referring to a display map. He said the majority of the money in this new program will be put toward an East/West route in Mebane, Efland, Hillsborough and over to Durham. He said the important piece in this is stopping in northern Hillsborough and creating some sort of transit stop to hook up with the Hillsborough circulator route and the 420 route. Kathleen Ferguson asked if this would include the grocery stores and stops along 70. Craig Benedict said this would be more of a regional express route. He said the Hillsborough circulator might be able to branch out to go to the Food Lion, but this would be more of a local route. Kathleen Ferguson said it is critical that the 70 corridor have a route with stops for northern residents. She said this is vital, as it is the only transportation for many of those citizens. Craig Benedict said there are many different types of routes, and the task will be finding a combination of routes that serve the community best. He said conversations have been had with Hillsborough residents about this. He said there are limited hours available to add, and one full day route is 3,500 hours. Kathleen Ferguson said she understands this, but this is about people who have no other option. She said if that group of citizens is not being served she does not see the point. Commissioner Price agreed and said the majority of residents she has spoken with are looking for a local bus with local stops. She said maybe the percentages need to be reconsidered. She said there are more people moving in at Hampton Pointe and in the new development on Business 70, and these residents are going to need bus service. Craig Benedict said he does not disagree with the needs along 70; however it may require using a variety of routes and providers to make this work. He said there are limitations, and maybe these numbers can be reviewed at a subsequent meeting. He said these comments are being noted and will be kept in mind by his staff and TTA. He finished reviewing the display map. Craig Benedict said OPT received $88,000 the first year; it will receive $200,000 this year, $300,000 the following year, and $380,000 the last year. He said that is a reasonable amount of money; but there is about $800,000 now in OPT's budget, $400,000 of which is out of OPT's pocket, with the rest being leveraged by state and federal dollars. He said this runs 20,000 hours, so $300,000 doesn't stretch too far. He said Commissioner Gordon and Commissioner Price have stressed in past meetings, the importance of additional bus hours, and staff is examining this. Commissioner McKee said that the focus must be on the needs of the users, rather than the convenience of the service providers. Kathleen Ferguson said those with no options or few options should be served before those who have multiple options. Craig Benedict said staff has developed maps of transit dependent populations, and these are noted in northern Hillsborough the Efland Cheeks area. He said the senior citizen populations are being considered. He said there are more people over the age of 60 outside of Chapel Hill and Carrboro than there are in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. Commissioner Price said people want to age in place, and it is important to serve them. She said she has a problem with buses only going through 5:00. She said people need transportation to work, and to and from school, and the bus should provide this. Craig Benedict said one last thing that will be funded with the Bus and Rail Investment Plan monies is the continuation of the Hillsborough circulator route. He said there are currently monies earmarked with the plan for when the congestion management air quality grants dry up. He said there will be additional monies necessary to upgrade the service to include weekends. He said there is a three party agreement between MPO, TTA and Orange County that talks about funding that might not be completely explained in the plan or the implementation agreement. He said the three parties will have to sign off on the new funding arrangement in order to have sustainable funding for the circulator route. He said staff is trying to use money from the tag tax to fund it, as money from the sales tax is not supposed to be used for existing services. Jenn Weaver asked for clarification on the circulator route. She asked if there were any immediate plans to add a route going in the other direction. Craig Benedict said the plan is to keep the one route, and change locations as necessary. He said running a bus in the opposite direction doubles the cost. He said the circulator costs $90,000 - $110,000 per year, so funding another route in the other direction would mean finding another $100,000. He said OPT has not vied for urban monies from the MPO in the past, as it was a rural area, and the MPO didn't cover all the way to Efland. He said this is changing, and OPT is asking for their fair share based on population served in the urbanized area. Commissioner Pelissier said she would like to put the issue of various bus service needs in perspective. She noted that she is on the Board of Health and is the liaison for the Master Aging Plan. She said the Master Aging Plan talks a lot about the need for transportation for seniors, and then last night the Board of Health passed a resolution stating the need to make sure there is transportation for residents who need it for health reasons. She said there is a tremendous expressed need for transit. She said the sales tax is not going to solve all of the transit problems, and the reality is that projects are going have to be prioritized. Commissioner Gordon said the abstract says this will come back to the Commissioners in April or May for approval of financial assumptions. She said it sounds esoteric that that would be important. She said there is an inter-local agreement that says if the conditions materially change it has to come back to the Board. She said there are material changes. She questioned what will be done if sales tax revenue goes up, but some of the other state or local revenue sources go down. She said this will be an important conversation in May. She said the bus hours are critically important, and the Board wants to rectify this when extra money comes in. Commissioner Gordon said it is important to remember that 75 percent of the money goes to the light rail transit. She said the bus and rail plan passed by the voters is pretty specific, but there are some changes, and the question is what will be done in April. She said she is hearing the Board say that the bus service is the priority. Commissioner McKee congratulated Eric Langfried on the approval to move to development stage. He said this does not change his stand on the light rail, but it was evidently a well put together plan. He referenced a proposal put forth this summer regarding the possibility of an east/west route from Mebane to Durham down 1-85. He asked if this has been put away or if it is still on the table. Eric Langfried said he does not know the final recommendation on this. Commissioner McKee said he would like to see this taken off the table. He said he realizes that the half cent sales tax cannot address all of the needs, but without the light rail component, it would address the majority of them. Eric Hallman asked what happened to the funding for the circulator route. He said the plan voted on by the Town had the circulator route covered as new coverage, given the date it went into operation. He said this plan has since been manipulated so the circulator plan now can't be funded by the half cent sales tax. He said this is not the plan that was approved. Craig Benedict said, at first the plan described new service as something after July 2009. He said the Hillsborough circulator started out after that; so it was considered new. He said late in the implementation agreement process, the date for new service became the referendum date of November 2012. He said the circulator was running at that point, so it was considered an existing service, which could not be funded with the sales tax. He said staff stated its case on this issue. Craig Benedict said there is a way to fund the circulator using only tag tax revenue, which equals $788,000 in a the first full year; however the share for the circulator and OPT will be based on how much money is spent by the local government entities, you get a 92 percent - 8 percent split on the tag revenue. He said that 8 percent split is probably $40,000 or $50,000 per year. He said this does not completely pay for the Hillsborough circulator; but some money has been accrued, and it is sustainable for the first 4 or 5 years. He said the managers and TTA are working on determining whether the split is sustainable. He said the math shows that the 8 percent will get smaller as time goes on, because the Chapel Hill system will spend more than OPT spends. He said this will need to be resolved in the coming years. Eric Langfried said both TTA and the MPO were fine in understanding that some of the new monies would be spent to continue the Hillsborough circulator, but it is really just about finding the legal mechanism to do that. He said the notion that the circulator should continue to be funded is not in doubt. Eric Hallman said it is something his board should advocate for Commissioner Price said her understanding was that there would be a bus going in the opposite direction, because one of the major complaints about this route was the inconvenience of having only one bus going in one direction. She said there needs to be another bus so that more people would use it. She would be in favor of another circulator bus. Craig Benedict said staff will take roughly $400,000 and put price tags on a reverse route and on mid-day service on Highway 70. He said this will show how this money gets allocated. He said staff is also trying to put some senior citizen money in to bring people to the senior center. He said the current draft lists 5 things that staff believes can be funded in the first 5 years. He said he doesn't see funding for an extra $100,000 route for the circulator unless another $100,000 in associated hours is cut out. He said staff will try to list out the costs of these routes. Commissioner Price said she believes there should be a re-allocation of money. She does not see why the northern and central parts of the County should be short-changed. She said there are people up there that need service. Kathleen Ferguson said the County is not Chapel Hill/Carrboro; the County is the County. Commissioner Pelissier said she believes the Board wants to honor the original plan regarding the circulator route. She said, regarding the addition of a reverse direction of the circulator, she thinks it needs to be clear that this could be funded out of the half cents sales tax, as this will be a new service. Craig Benedict said this will still be limited by the overall $400,000. He said when this comes to the Commissioners on April 1St and May 8th, the financial plan will be included, and this will show the proposed growth rate of 4.4 percent to 2035. He said staff thinks the half cent sales tax will start at $6.2 million per year and grow at this rate moving forward. He said if you increase the growth rate at .8 percent, the revenue increase will equal $60 million through 2035. He said some of the decisions coming to the Board are going to involve allocation of money in the face of changing revenue sources and expenditures. Mayor Stevens said with the circulator route being as popular as it is now, the addition of another route will likely mean triple return rate. He said this will have a social equity impact, as well as an economic impact. He expressed appreciation for the widespread support. Chair Jacobs asked Eric Langfried if there have been any changes to the numbers. Eric Langfried said no. He said his staff has been working with the County on decisions about how the money can be spent. He said it is very important to have a good local network that feeds into a larger regional network. He said some of the connections and loop routes could be made with the east west routes and the extension of routes up to Cedar Grove, as well as more frequent service. He said there are a lot of new connections that can be made. He said it would be good to see how everything plays out before deciding on a change in priorities. Chair Jacobs said he thought Eric Langfried had said it wasn't necessarily that the existing circulator route could not be funded with new funds. Eric Langfried said the sales tax funds cannot be used, but the vehicle registration fee could be used for the increased cost of service. He said the other difficult alternative would be to change the implementation agreement and to change that date back to the retroactive play. He said it is important to find a common understanding of the best legal way to do this. Chair Jacobs asked Craig Benedict who made the decisions about how the money was applicable to new projects. Craig Benedict said this was Triangle Transit. Commissioner Pelissier said it was a legal issue. c) Amtrak Station Update Margaret Hauth said everyone is working hard to get this train station going. She said in December, the North Carolina Rail Road (NCRR), Norfolk Southern and Triangle Transit entered a contract to perform a capacity study on the rail corridor to help determine future needs (dual tracking, etc.) which could impact the station or its location. She said this study was identified last year as the critical next step, and it has begun and will be completed by September 2014. She said following the capacity study, the Town and Triangle Transit will pursue environmental documentation for the site to continue improving its feasibility for funding. She said the recent prioritization 3.0 process saw the potential cost of the station balloon to $30 million. This was due to the inclusion of additional track work along with the station for freight which has since been taken out. She said this included a large number of improvements to address moving freight, as well as passenger trains that may not even stop in Hillsborough. She said high speed rail is only meant to have 8 stops and would not stop in Hillsborough, but there would have to be more by-pass tracks to accommodate this. Margaret Hauth said NCDOT Rail staff recommends the scope be reduced to align with the $4 million previously proposed for site access, utilities, parking and a modular station. She said the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) has suggested that the $8 million permanent station be included in the Transit Plan and should be pursued since the transit tax supports this phase. Commissioner Gordon said there was a lot of money added to not to stop the train in Hillsborough. She said she would be interested in knowing what Hillsborough wants. She asked if the Town would rather have the $4 million project or the $8 million project. Margaret Hauth said the projects have all been submitted to DOT for scoring purposes, and the $8 million project was submitted. Commissioner Rich asked for clarification on what the cost is if the by-pass rails are not built. Margaret Hauth said the capacity study will give a lot more information. She said the by-pass won't be as elaborate for three trains. She said, because there is no funding for the passenger trains that will not stop in Hillsborough, there is no need to build the tracks for those trains. She said the extra by-pass rails were only needed if there were funded trains that would not stop in Hillsborough. She said all of the passenger trains funded today are scheduled to stop in Hillsborough. Margaret Hauth noted that freight does not run on as tight of a schedule as passenger trains. Commissioner Pelissier asked about the location of single tracks versus double tracks. Margaret Hauth said her understanding is that dual tracking is slowly being brought north out of Charlotte. Commissioner Dorosin asked for the substantive difference between the $4 million station and the $8 million station. Margaret Hauth said it is the difference between a modular train station building and a brick and mortar, 6000 square foot building. She said it also involves the parking. Commissioner Price said she thinks it would help economic development to do the brick and mortar building. Commissioner Dorosin asked why the modular was ever recommended. Margaret Hauth said this was suggested to get the station open earlier. Commissioner McKee noted that this was the last project added to the bus and rail investment plan. He is concerned that the last project in may be the first project out, and he feels it is important to stay aware of what is going on. Eric Hallman said one of the ways he hopes to accelerate this process is through a public private partnership, given that the town owns the 20 acres for the building development. He said he would look to the County to help push this. Margaret Hauth said the town needs to develop the vision on paper to share with people. Mayor Stevens said the town is funding some of the impact study for this project, and there are efforts being made to keep this moving. Commissioner Pelissier said Triangle Transit is having a lot of different financial models run and is looking at options, including public private partnerships. She said she is attending conferences in reference to this, and there is a public private partnership conference on transit in Charlotte next week. She said the Board is going to look at all of the options on the table to make sure the plan that everyone agreed to is implemented. Commissioner Price asked if Amtrak is still a big player. Margaret Hauth said Amtrak is very supportive but they are not offering any financial assistance. Commissioner Price asked who owns the rail line. Margaret Hauth said NCRR owns the rail line, but there is an operating agreement with Norfolk Southern. She said this means Norfolk Southern also has to sign off on this, and they have signed off on the capacity study. 3. Town of Hillsborough/Orange County ETJ Adjustment Process Margaret Hauth referred to the blue handouts at the Commissioners' places. She said the town and the County have been working since 2006 to develop a strategic growth plan for the Hillsborough area and Central Orange County. She reviewed the following timeline and information from the handouts: In 2006, the town and county jointly crafted the Strategic Growth Plan with these 6 goals: • Preserve and enhance the Hillsborough core area • Preserve significant cultural and natural resources • Coordinate growth with water/sewer availability • Grow in a fiscally-responsible way • Keep existing businesses healthy • Assure continuity in public service provision In 2009, the town and county jointly adopted an Inter local Agreement to implement the plan. The term "development" in this agreement is not undefined and is not assumed to match the definition in the Courtesy Review Agreement. In 2010, the Water & Sewer Boundary Agreement was amended to reflect the Urban Services Boundary agreed to in the Strategic Growth Plan and Inter local Agreement. The USB represents the area that the town is planning to serve with utilities at some point in the future. In 2013, the Town of Hillsborough prepared and adopted a Future Land Use Plan (FLUP) that envisioned future uses throughout the Urban Services Boundary. This plan is a component of the town's comprehensive plan. To be consistent with a state law effective in 2006 (NCGS 160A.383), the town adopts a statement of consistency with each zoning map amendment and ordinance amendment. This helps insure the implementation of the town's FLUP on a case by case basis. Amendments that are not consistent with the town's FLUP must have an accompanying request to amend the FLUP or risk denial. Also in 2013, Orange County adopted the town's FLUP, but did not formally incorporate it into the County's comprehensive plan. Orange County intends to integrate the town's FLUP into its comprehensive plan following the implementation of the Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) amendments. What's Next: We are in the middle of the process of swapping ETJ areas — adding about 600 acres to the town's area and releasing about 400 acres back to Orange County. A public information meeting was well attended on January 9, primarily by residents scheduled to be added to the ETJ. They understandably raised concerns about adding a new layer of regulation without a clear path of representation. Most of the properties to be added to the ETJ are already developed. The Remaining Steps: 1) Following the ETJ swap, the county plans to integrate the Inter local Agreement and the town's FLUP into the County comprehensive plan. • This requires a robust out-reach and public notification process. Affected properties plus those within 500 feet of affected properties must receive written notification of any public hearing by certified mail ($6 per letter). 2) Implement the two types of urbanizing areas as defined by the Inter local Agreement. • This involves transitioning another 1,000 acres to the town's zoning jurisdiction through the Hillsborough Urbanizing designation. The notification requirements are similar and about one half of the affected owners are already developed areas. • If the town follows its FLUP and essentially "pre-zones" the undeveloped areas during the transition, it removes an important negotiating aspect of the development review process from the town's toolkit. Margaret Hauth noted that the ETJ has town zoning category, and this does not line up 100 percent with the County. She said AR in the town and AR in the County may not mean the same thing. She said the town has R-10 and R-40, and the County has R-1 and R- 2. She said this requires a formal re-zoning process. Margaret Hauth said before the move forward on this public process staff wanted to ask the boards is this something they want to do. She said it is important to note that if the town re-zones the properties coming into their ETJ consistent with the future land use map this will involve pre-zoning a fair amount of property and putting in districts that will subject it to fairly intense development. She said this takes away the town's tool of negotiating with property owners through the special use zoning process. She said the point of ETJ's is to prep areas for annexation to bring them more in line with municipal regulations. She said a lot of the areas being added are already developed. She noted that the Wildwood subdivision is actually developed at a smaller minimum lot size than the town currently has in its unified development ordinance. She said the lines of communication are open, and all projects of 5 acres or 20 dwelling units or more that come within the town's planning jurisdiction are shared with the County planning department for comments. She said when the County gets a request for a project that wants water and sewer service in the urban service but outside of the planning area, this is sent to the town for comments. Margaret Hauth reviewed the following from the handouts: Have we achieved what we wanted to achieve? • The lines of communication are open between the two planning department staffs during the development review process. • The amended Water and Sewer Boundary Agreement memorializes the Urban Services Boundary and documents the commitment to the boundary. • Unlike twenty or more years ago, the town rarely approves utility extension agreements without annexation due to the equity issues regarding paying for the town services used and to minimize customers that must pay higher out of town utility rates. • Due to local preferences and amendments to the state annexation laws, the town rarely annexes using the involuntary process (once in the last 22 years). Does the full implementation of the Inter local Agreement achieve substantially more? • ETJ is intended to ensure that new development in areas that are likely to be annexed is consistent with the development regulation of the annexing community. Recent changes to the annexation laws reduce the likelihood of the proposed ETJ areas being annexed, except in the case of major redevelopment. Moving developed neighborhoods into the ETJ after they are developed provides no protection to the residents of the neighborhood and adds permitting steps to any project current residents take on (zoning permit from the town followed by building permit from Orange County—2 locations, 2 fees). • If the intent of adding areas to the town's ETJ is to ease annexation for neighborhoods already being served by town utilities (and lowing their utility bills), this will not be effective. The changes in the state's annexation laws are a much bigger obstacle than the ETJ location. The town has historically not pursued annexation of neighborhoods under the involuntary process. The town remains willing to discuss annexation with any neighborhood or group of property owners interested. The town has also studied the impact of annexation and water rates on houses of various price points to help neighborhoods determine what is in their best interest. • The town is willing to release the 400 acres of ETJ to the County without receiving additional acreage in return. These areas are difficult to serve with utilities and are unlikely to be considered for annexation, so releasing them from the ETJ manages expectations more clearly. This process does involve notice and public hearings by both entities. Commissioner Dorosin said an ETJ is an unusual situation where residents are subject to the control of a governing body that they have no power to elect. He feels that when this was first adopted by the legislature, the trade-off was that cities got the control beyond their borders, because the areas ultimately become annexed and become part of the city. He said, given the changes in annexation laws, this is not going to happen, and much of the areas here are already developed. He said he does not see any rational justification for subjecting these residents to the additional level of oversight by a board to which they have no political voice. Margaret Hauth said she has struggled to find an upside for the residents, other than to say that in North Carolina it's nice to have ETJ's around city limits. Commissioner Dorosin said this is also not a situation where you have two cities butting up against each other with the ETJ as a buffer. He said this gives him a tremendous amount of reluctance. He said any of these areas, in the ETJ or not, could be voluntarily annexed. He asked about the demographics for the areas being let out. Margaret Hauth said most of this area is Duke Forest, and the others are very low density areas. She said there are only about 22 property owners. Commissioner Dorosin said given all of that, he feels that this change merits a much closer review. Commissioner Gordon asked if the proposal, as referenced it the "What's Next" section of the handout, is proposing that this just stop. Margaret Hauth said the boards could just stop, but the town is still willing to give the 400 acres back to Orange County, as it is unreasonable to have this in the town's ETJ to begin with. This would be a release, instead of a swap. Margaret Hauth said there is no benefit to fully implementing the interlocal agreement if this is done. She said, after this step, the agreement just calls for even more areas to be treated as quasi ETJ. Commissioner Gordon said this is sounding like an argument not to do this. She summarized that what the board would like to do is: not change the interlocal agreement; release the 400 acres to Orange County; and not expand the ETJ. Margaret Hauth said it would be best, since there is a sunset provision, to have both boards pass a joint resolution after these two things are done, that this will not continue. Chair Jacobs said part of the original purpose of the interlocal agreement was to set boundaries for growth and to memorialize a joint vision of how Hillsborough and its surroundings would grow or not grow. He said if the boards think it is sufficient to stop now, he wants to make sure that there is preservation of the fact that there is an agreement that envisions certain elements as to what the surroundings of Hillsborough will be. He said there was essentially an agreement that there would be a collar of lower density for the benefit of both parties. He does not want this to be lost, and it is consistent with this to take the 400 acres and put it into a lower density use. He said it may be the best decision to stop, but he wants to make sure both parties agree that this is stopping at a place that is consistent with the vision that was articulated. Margaret Hauth said the only other task that might need to go forward would be bringing the town's future land use plan into the County's comprehensive plan. She said this could happen without changing the homeowners' lives, and it would further memorialize the effort. Commissioner McKee said he is sensing a change of direction since the informational meeting held in January, and he is glad for this. He said he spent a lot of time addressing citizen concerns about this, and the feels the idea being proposed, of moving the land back to the County, and setting a hold on the area in the south, is the best idea. Commissioner Price agreed with Commissioner McKee. She noted that there were some people in Wildwood who may have wanted to be annexed since they wanted urban services. She said it might be good to check in with these people before this is taken entirely off the board. Chair Jacobs said it may be good to have a forum for these particular residents in order to close the loop. Margaret Hauth said there has never been a formal request from Wildwood to be annexed. She said there have been individual inquiries on a regular basis. She said she has created a spreadsheet that can be filled out to tell people whether it is in their interest to be annexed. She said it appears that there might be a provision in the Wildwood covenants that requires an extraordinary majority of residents to even petition the town for annexation. Commissioner Rich asked what happens to the 400 acres being released back to the County. Craig Benedict said this area would have an agricultural/residential land use and zoning. He said it is in a critical watershed area for Hillsborough's water source, and some of it is Duke Forest. He said there is not much development potential there at all, and nothing would really change for that land. Brian Lowen said he has thought that Wildwood would be a perfect candidate for annexation, as it already has city water and sewer, and so many residents are paying high city rates. He said he initiated a meeting with the officers of the home owner's association and this was cancelled at the very last minute, because so many residents did not want to be in the city limits. Commissioner Pelissier said she did not understand Margaret Hauth's suggestion of incorporating the town's land use plan into our comprehensive plan. She asked what the advantage would be. Tom Altieri said Orange County has a jointly adopted land use plan that covers all of the land area within the town's urban services area. He said this plan has been adopted, but it has not been fully implemented with comprehensive plan amendments referencing the document. He said that would need to be done. Mayor Stevens said the general attitude of the town board is that they are open to voluntary annexation, but the amount of energy it takes to do that is enormous, and it is not conceivable at this point. Craig Benedict said there is an additional step that would be helpful to both jurisdictions. He said the town has moved from a blurry line to a more specific urban service boundary line. He suggested the creation of a water and sewer agreement between Orange County and Hillsborough. He said this would mean if a development proposal comes forward in this area, there will be a discussion by both entities. He said this could be a staff project, and this would give some clarity on the clarity to help anticipate water and sewer potential for economic development projects. He said this will be similar to the Mebane/Orange County agreement. Chair Jacobs asked if this was an amenable concept. Mayor Stevens said this is interesting on the surface, and the town is interested in economic development. He said the town has to pay close attention to capacity. He said there is capacity now, but there are some defined limits. He said he understands having some kind of general agreements, and it is worth a discussion. Eric Hallman said the water and sewer agreement is used to leverage annexation. He said this is worth a discussion by our board. Commissioner Dorosin said there is a line being drawn where water and sewer are and are not available. He does not understand this additional level of negotiation. He said if the development is slated to be within the boundary, they are eligible to have water and sewer, and if they are outside there is no eligibility. He asked if there is some level of subjectivity being reinserted here. Craig Benedict said this is more about what parts that will likely never have water and sewer and which parts could have it. Commissioner Dorosin confirmed that when you are outside the line, the possibility is off. Craig Benedict said just being within the boundary is not a guarantee. He said in the case of Morinaga there needed to be a formal agreement that Mebane, if it extended utilities, would maintain them afterward. He understands that no one wants to earmark water and sewer capacity, but a little more specificity would be good to help keep parties interested and start the negotiation process. Margaret Hauth asked if this agreement would not necessarily apply to the entire urban services boundary, but would focus at the EDD. Craig Benedict said yes. He said this would focus on the new growth areas. He said economic development prospects want to know their likelihood of water and sewer. He said there is an understanding that there are limitations and projects with large usage have been turned down. He said this would just give more specificity and allow for working within the constraints. He said the County is working on the Jordan Lake allocation and wants to know that Hillsborough has water to service the areas within their city limits and ETJ. He said the County will be asking for Jordan Lake allocations and Hillsborough may also be asking for allocations. He said the coordinated planning is very helpful in this. Discussion ensued about colors on the display map for delivery of water and sewer services. Chair Jacobs summarized the following discussion points: • Need to articulate where the boards are stopping and the ramifications of the 400 acres • Decision on whether to Incorporate in to Orange County's comprehensive plan • To have a discussion of possible guidelines for water and sewer for economic development purposes Craig Benedict said staff will discuss this. He said, in the CIP for Orange County, some of the quarter cent sales tax monies are being used to augment the economic development zones. He said money is earmarked in the later years for the Hillsborough economic development zone. He said staff would like to know that if dollars are spent in the Hillsborough EDD, such as running sewer under the interstate, there is likelihood this investment would be used. Mayor Stevens said if there are infrastructure investments then there is more to talk about in terms of outlining expectations. Commissioner Rich asked who is responsible for telling residents that the ETJ is not going to happen Margaret Hauth said she would send update letters to those who received a letter about the open house. Chair Jacobs said nothing can be guaranteed until the two boards vote; but residents can be made aware of where things stand. Commissioner McKee asked what the time frame would be for this process. Margaret Hauth said the town would have to develop a calendar. She said there has to be a public hearing to release those 400 acres, and the County has an obligation to take a few steps. She said notices could be sent now, noting that the Board appears to not be moving forward, and specific dates could be provided for the final decision. She said this would allow time for comments. Craig Benedict said it would take 4-6 months to release the present ETJ back to Orange County and assign the new land uses and zoning. Chair Jacobs thanked the Town of Hillsborough for their collaborative spirit. 4. Update on Memorandum of Agreement to Protect Archaeological Resources on Town and County Properties Margaret Hauth said there is no map associated, per the state's preference that the location of known resources not be overly publicized. She said there is a draft agreement in the packet that lays out a few points on sharing information among staffs. She said County staff was more than happy to house and update the database. She said this agreement will be brought back to both boards in the near future. Commissioner Gordon asked about the definition section. She said the cultural and ecological resources sections refer to "man-made" modifications. She suggested "human- made" as gender neutral language here. Commissioner Gordon asked about the significance of the red line on the next page. Margaret Hauth said this is just from left over track changes that did not get deleted. Commissioner Price said she has an issue with the difference between cultural and archaeological being the introduction of European culture. She said this is not in any federal definition and should be changed. Chair Jacobs agreed and said he feels the words cultural and archeological could be taken out. Margaret Hauth said the point was to distinguish between two different types of resources. She said within the population of experts there is a difference between archeology and cultural. She said archaeology is much older. Commissioner Price said archeology indicates an age of 100 years or more. Margaret Hauth said there are people who want things preserved from the 40's, 50's, and 60's, and these are cultural resources. Commissioner Price said this will need to come back to the Board, and the rest of it is fine. She said the Board could work with Peter Sandbeck. Commissioner Gordon suggested the use of a time period. Chair Jacobs suggested that it might be good to consult the Historic Preservation Commission and the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough when some of the amenities are identified. Mayor Stevens said that might not actually be part of their overview. Margaret Hauth asked if the Board is directing staff to consult with these two entities. Kathleen Ferguson said if the area is are not in the Hillsborough historic district then that would not be relevant. Chair Jacobs said it would be relevant for the Historic Preservation Commission. Mayor Stevens said the wording might state the need to consult with appropriate entities. Commissioner Gordon suggested this be referred to staff for investigation and brought back to the Board with recommendations on language. 5. INFORMATION ITEMS (Not for Specific Discussion) a) Update on Whitted Human Services Center b) Update on Solid Waste/Recycling c) Update on Riverwalk d) Update on Consideration of County Fair A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Price to adjourn the meeting at 9:51 p.m. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Barry Jacobs, Chair Donna Baker Clerk to the Board