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Joint Meeting with the Hillsborough Board of Commissioners

Orange County · Board of County Commissioners
Monday, February 17, 2025

Regular meeting Intergovernmental agreementsComprehensive planEnvironment and sustainabilityWater and sewerHealth and human servicesLand conversion and large developmentPolice and public safetyPublic facilitiesSchools and educationSolid waste and recyclingStormwater and floodingSubdivision and site plansTransit

Agenda document Minutes Watch Meeting recap

What's on this agenda

Orange County commissioners and the Hillsborough Board of Commissioners met jointly on 17 February 2025 on six subjects: the interlocal planning agreements between them, contracted services, town water and sewer capacity, the closed Fairview landfill and the park above it, the Hillsborough Station rail project, and the crisis diversion facility.

Summarized from the published agenda. Read the agenda itself before acting on it.

Meeting recap

What happened, drawn from the records published after the meeting. Minutes

The Fairview landfill is the hardest of these. The town ran it from the early 1940s to about 1975, unlined and unregulated, across roughly 21 acres in the Fairview Park neighbourhood north of Torain Street and west of NC 86. About 17.7 acres of the waste area sits on county land and 3.3 acres on town land. Nothing was recorded about what went in; studies have found white goods, glass, metal, tyres, construction debris and automotive parts. The county has been working with the state pre-regulatory landfill programme since 2017 on a remedial investigation, fully reimbursable by the state, and staff said the summary report is close but they cannot say what it means until the state report lands. Asked whether the contamination is worse than expected, staff said the same.

A Hillsborough commissioner said Fairview residents do not feel they have been included in plans for the park above it, and that pickleball courts are in demand generally but not among Fairview residents. County staff answered that Fairview is a community park serving an area larger than the neighbourhood, and that a master plan for a second phase would have to be created.

Hillsborough's 2023 sustainability plan proposes shrinking the town's urban service boundary, raising density in the core and preventing sprawl. Doing that requires changes to the water and sewer boundary agreement with the county and to the Central Orange Coordinated Area land use plan, at the same time as the county's own 2050 plan is being written for adoption in the first half of 2026.

On Hillsborough Station, the town owns about 19.6 acres between Gold Hill Way and the railroad near the Collins Ridge entrance, and has zoning and site plan approval for an 8,000 square foot net-zero-ready passenger station with town offices and meeting space, needing about 4.7 acres. It is working toward a preliminary engineering agreement with the railroad.

How the votes went

The only recorded vote was to adjourn. This was a joint discussion meeting.

From the published minutes.

Speaking at this meeting

Orange County's own rules for public comment — check them before you rely on anything here.

Agenda items (6)

Presentation · 5Staff or committee report · 1
  1. 1 Interlocal Planning Agreements - History and Background
    Presentation Comprehensive planIntergovernmental agreementsSchools and educationStormwater and floodingWater and sewer
    The agreements in force between the county and Hillsborough include the Central Orange Coordinated Area, the courtesy review agreement, a utility services agreement for the economic development district south of I-40, the 1988 Eno River capacity use agreement, the 2001 water and sewer boundary agreement and the schools adequate public facilities memorandum. Two more were up for discussion, on building permit administration and on stormwater and erosion control.
  2. 2 History and Status of Contracted Services
    Presentation Intergovernmental agreementsPolice and public safety
    Permitting, the fire marshal and tax collection, all provided under contract between the county and the town.
  3. 3 Updates on Town Water & Sewer Capacity and Land Use Planning
    Presentation Comprehensive planEnvironment and sustainabilityIntergovernmental agreementsWater and sewer
    The town's 2023 sustainability plan would shrink its urban service boundary, raise density in the core and prevent sprawl, which requires changes to the water and sewer boundary agreement and the Central Orange Coordinated Area plan. The county's own 2050 plan is due for adoption in the first half of 2026.
  4. 4 Plans for Fairview Park - Landfill and Project Planning
    Presentation Environment and sustainabilitySolid waste and recycling
    The closed pre-regulatory landfill covers about 21 acres in the Fairview Park neighbourhood, 17.7 of them on county land, and took waste from the early 1940s to about 1975 with no records kept. A state-reimbursed remedial investigation running since 2017 is nearing completion. A town commissioner said Fairview residents do not feel included in plans for the park.
  5. 5 Train Station Update and Hillsborough Station Transit Oriented Development
    Presentation Land conversion and large developmentSubdivision and site plansTransit
    The town owns about 19.6 acres between Gold Hill Way and the railroad near the Collins Ridge entrance. An 8,000 square foot net-zero-ready station with town offices and meeting space has zoning and site plan approval and needs about 4.7 acres. The town is working toward a preliminary engineering agreement with the railroad.
  6. 6 Update on Crisis Diversion Facility
    Staff or committee report Health and human servicesPublic facilities

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