We didn't have room in the print edition for everything on the County Commissioners' letter to the delegation about the airport authority bill. Here's the rest of it, and a link.
HILLSBOROUGH — Orange County commissioners want more discussion of a bill before a House committee that would give the University of North Carolina the power to create airport authorities.
House Bill 2725, which has been referred to the house appropriations committee, would allow the university Board of Governors to create entities that could build and operate airports. Under the bill, an airport authority would be able to acquire land by eminent domain.
At a work session Tuesday, Orange commissioners authorized their chairman to send a letter to the county’s House and Senate delegation asking that the bill be tabled for more discussion and input from the public.
The letter says granting university airport authorities such broad
powers would usurp local authority and undermine the county's land use
planning. "Orange County is further concerned that moving forward with
this bill constitutes a departure from the 'good faith' discussions
that we have had in the past with University representatives," it
reads.
The letter is addressed to the county's House and Senate delegation,
including House speaker Joe Hackney and Rep. Verla Insko, one of the
bill's primary sponsors.
UNC-Chapel Hill has announced plans to close Horace Williams Airport
in Chapel Hill in time to open the first building in its Carolina
North development.
