Orange County

The Orange County Commissioners are apparently considering a proposal from the County Manager to reduce the number of citizen advisory boards and commissions. This may not be a bad idea since the county has over 70 such advisory groups.

Until last week I was a member of the Human Services Advisory Commission (HSAC) which I think is likely to be disappear - transferring its responsibilities to various existing boards, such as, the OPC mental health board, the DSS board, etc. I think eliminating HSAC will not have a detrimental effect because the advice of this group was not taken very seriously, anyway.

However, I do wonder if the elimination of some of the other boards and commissions might cause problems. 

If they put half as much effort into the design, safety and impact of this development as they have put into the legal battle, perhaps we would not be so opposed to it.  Article from the good folks at the Carrboro Citizen:

Northwest Property Group, which wants to build a shopping center at the intersection of Jones Ferry Road and Barnes Street, has won an appeal in its case against the Town of Carrboro.

In September 2007, the developer sued after the town approved its development but limited access to Barnes Street to emergency vehicles due to concerns about safety at the intersection. In a suit heard in April 2009, Northwest argued that the town’s condition, which effectively killed the project, was not backed up by a finding of fact on the traffic and safety concerns.

The board of aldermen had sided with residents on Barnes Street and the adjacent neighborhood who said the intersection was already unsafe and a store entrance and exit would make it even more so.