AGENDA #4e
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Extension of Period for Resolution of Disposition of the Greene Tract
DATE: May 13, 2002
The attached resolution would extend the period for Orange County and the Towns of Carrboro and Chapel Hill to resolve the disposition of the remaining 109 acres of the Greene Tract for sixty days.
BACKGROUND
The solid waste management Interlocal Agreement signed by Orange County and the Towns in September 1999 and amended in March 2000 provides guidelines under which the Greene Tract owners will resolve the disposition of the 109 acres of the parcel that remain in joint ownership. The Agreement anticipated that the owners would reach agreement during a bargaining period that ended on April 17, 2002, the two year anniversary of the effective date upon which Orange County assumed overall responsibility for solid waste management.
The Town Council adopted a process for considering the disposition of the Greene Tract on August 27, 2001 (please see Attachment 1), and outlined its goals for the negotiation on September 10, 2001 (please see Attachment 2). A Greene Tract Work Group with representatives of all the parties to the Interlocal Agreement began meeting in October, 2001 concerning the disposition of the Greene Tract. Chapel Hill representatives are Mayor Kevin Foy and Council Member Bill Strom.
DISCUSSION
The Greene Tract Work Group has met six times and has made significant progress toward meeting the goal of achieving agreement. The Work Group held a public forum in November, 2001 on three proposed basic uses of affordable housing, open space, and recreation. The three governments subsequently adopted resolutions supporting these basic uses in concept, with some variations in emphasis.
The attached Work Group resolution of March 21, 2002 summarizes the points of agreement to date within the Work Group (please see Attachment 3). The map of the Greene Tract shows the potential locations of the three basic land uses under discussion (please see Attachment 4). The Work Group also considered a Table of Public Investments in the Greene Tract Area (please see Attachment 5).
At its March 21st meeting, the Work Group requested the Managers to commission a topographic survey to help determine whether the option of extending sewer through the Purefoy Road area to the Greene Tract is feasible. In addition, the Group will hold additional discussions on the land use designation for the 11 acre portion of the tract. The Work Group then decided to ask each governing board for a sixty day extension of the April 17, 2002 deadline in the Interlocal Agreement.
NEXT STEPS
The Work Group expects to have the topographic survey before its next meeting. We understand that the County hopes to schedule the next meeting of the Work Group in May, 2002.
We note that the process adopted by the Council on August 27, 2002 calls for the referral of the options to the Planning Board. We believe an appropriate time for this consideration would be after the Work Group concludes its work on the options. The Planning Board’s next meeting of June 4, 2002 could be a time for this consideration.
With a final Greene Tract Work Group recommendation, and a Planning Board recommendation, the Council could be in a position to consider a resolution concerning the disposition of the Greene Tract on June 10, 2002.
RECOMMENDATION
We recommend the Town Council adopt the attached resolution extending the bargaining period of the Interlocal Agreement for sixty days, to June 17, 2002.
ATTACHMENTS
A RESOLUTION APPROVING A 60 DAY EXTENSION OF THE BARGAINING PERIOD FOR DISPOSITION OF THE PORTION OF THE GREENE TRACT THAT REMAINS IN JOINT OWNERSHIP (2002-05-13/R-6)
WHEREAS, Orange County and the Towns of Carrboro and Chapel Hill acquired the property known as the Greene Tract in 1984 as an asset of the joint solid waste management system; and
WHEREAS, title to 60 acres of this property was deeded exclusively to Orange County in 2000 under provisions of the 1999 interlocal “Agreement for Solid Waste Management”; and
WHEREAS, under the same interlocal agreement the County and Towns agreed to bargain in good faith during the two year period following the effective date of the agreement to determine the ultimate use or disposition of the balance of the acreage on the Greene Tract; and
WHEREAS, the end date of the “bargaining period” as defined in the agreement is April 17, 2002, the second anniversary of the date upon which the County assumed overall responsibility for solid waste management in Orange County; and
WHEREAS, the governing boards of all three jurisdictions approved resolutions in November or December 2001 that outlined their interests for programming basic uses of the balance of the Greene Tract; and
WHEREAS, the Work Group was charged to develop a more detailed written and graphic concept plan for the use of the remaining109 acres for presentation to each board by March 2002; and
WHEREAS, the Work Group has transmitted a resolution to all three governing boards that provides a progress report and that indicates that they have reached substantial agreement on a concept plan as outlined on the accompanying map (Straw Proposal Concept Plan 4); and
WHEREAS, the Work Group resolution indicates that they have not yet reached agreement regarding what designation should be placed on the approximately 11 acres shown in blue on Concept Plan 4 and would like a 60 day extension of the bargaining period to try to reach consensus;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Council does hereby approve a 60 day extension of the bargaining period to permit further Work Group effort to finalize a recommended concept plan for subsequent approval by each governing board.
This the 13th day of May, 2002.