The annual Assembly of Governments meeting will be held Tuesday night to discuss several hot topics in the community. On the agenda is a continued discussion on the Greene Tract and an update on the 2020 Census awareness campaign.
As town council members from Carrboro and Chapel Hill and commissioners from Hillsborough and Orange County gather together Tuesday evening, the first item up for discussion will be the Greene Tract.
The Greene Tract was originally purchased by the Towns of Carrboro and Chapel Hill and Orange County in 1984. Since then, the three governments have continually debated the rights and usage of the 164 acres of land.
Last week Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Orange County passed legislation to prepare for an environmental assessment on the land. Now, Carrboro Town Council member Damon Seils said the three bodies will work on fine-tuning their MOU – short for the Memorandum of Understanding.
He said this document outlines how the three governments work together and what the process will look like when they agree and disagree.
“How are we as three partners, three co-owners of this property, going to play with each other in the sandbox,” said Seils. “Last year, we reached a little bit of an impasse when there was some disagreement on how to move forward. This is our next attempt to put some parameters around that and talk about how to move forward together.”
Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger said to 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck the current MOU between the three governments was last updated in 2002. According to her, this document lacks the clarity needed for successful collaboration.
“The one thing we haven’t codified in this MOU is shared goals and values,” Hemminger said. “We believe we share the same goals and values of affordable housing and protecting the most sensitive parts of our environment but we need to put those down.”
Hemminger said it is important to have these shared values documented as it is likely different representatives and officials will be working on this project down the line.
“We need to make sure that everyone remembers the why behind it all,” she said.
Second on the agenda will be a discussion on the 2020 Census and an update on the Assembly of Governments’ continued work to get an accurate count of the county’s population.
Orange County Commissioner Jamezetta Bedford said reaching the “hard-to-count communities” is important for North Carolina so the state can receive the proper funding.
“It’s critical that we get everyone to participate,” said Bedford. “They’re working with folks who might be less likely to fill it out. They might be undocumented and afraid or might not be able to speak English or read English.”
Bedford said an accurate count of these populations will ensure all available federal resources will be provided to support these communities. Plans to reach these parts of the population might include an increased budget for PR and providing safe spaces for people to fill out the form.
“Use the libraries. Use other places where if you don’t have internet, or you aren’t quite sure how to do it electronically, you have a safe place to come and get assistance,” Bedford said.
Other items on the agenda include an update on the county’s emergency response time and the strategic efforts that added EMS units to local fire stations.
You can read more about these discussion points and see the full agenda here.
Photo courtesy of the Town of Chapel Hill.
