RLUAC MINUTES
SPRING LAKE BRANCH LIBRARY
february 16, 2017                            


Voting Members Present: Travis Allen (Proxy for Bob Davis, Scotland County; Patsy Carson, Erwin; Tad Davis, Spring Lake; Robert Farrell (Proxy for Harry Southerland), Hoke County; Pam Graham (Proxy for Paul Sabiston), Aberdeen; Roland Hall, Sampson County; Tracy Jackson (Proxy for Charles Evans), Cumberland County; Chris Kennedy, Southern Pines; Mark Locklear, Harnett County (Secretary); Mike Mandville, Laurinburg; Robert McLaughlin, Wagram (Chairman); David Nash (Proxy for Ted Mohn), Fayetteville. Kim Nazarzik, Eastover; Jeff Sanborn, Pinehurst; and Theresa Thompson (Proxy for Debra Ensminger), Moore County.

Voting Members Absent: Tony Buzzard, Lillington; Kris Kosem, Vass; Dixon Ivey, Jr, Robeson County; John K. McNeill, Raeford (Vice Chairman); Tracy Parris, Richmond County

Additional Board of Directors Present: Greg Bean, At Large; Will Best, NC Department of Commerce; Jim Caldwell, Mid Carolina COG; Mike Lynch, At Large; Susan Miller, USF&WS; & Glen Prillaman, At Large.

Non-Voting Members Present: Snow Bowden, Erwin; Jim Dougherty, Executive Director RLUAC; Pete Edmonds, Fort Bragg; Neely Mahoney, NC Dept. of Military and Veterans Affairs; Justin Mitchell, Fort Bragg; Andy Spendlove, Fort Bragg

Guests Present: Doug Allen, Marstel-Day; Henry Boyd, Southern Pines; Drew Brooks, Fayetteville Observer; Jim Caldwell, Mid-Carolina COG; Will Deaton, Fayetteville; Jason Epley, Benchmark Planning; Gabriela Garrison, NC Wildlife Resources Commission; Rick Gibbs, Marstell-Day; Josh Grandliewald, FAMPO; Vagn Hansen, Benchmark Planning; Richard Hicks, Erwin; Phil Huber, Marstel-Day; Barry Hull, Fort Bragg; Tami Lovell, Mid-Carolina COG; Jeff Marcus, TNC; Alba Polonkey, Sustainable Sandhills; Linda Pfau, Fort Bragg; Tyson Smith, White & Smith LLC; Barbara & Elton Turner, Pinehurst; Johnathan Sutton, Fort Bragg & Eric Vitale, FAMPO.

I.      CALL TO ORDER – Chairman Robert McLaughlin called the meeting to order at 11:55 am. He recognized Tad Davis, Spring Lake Town Manager, to say a few words of welcome and to lead the Commission in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag.  McLaughlin then asked the attendees to introduce themselves.

II.     INVOCATION –   Roland Hall offered the invocation for the meeting.

III. PRESENTATION – “Fort Bragg Joint Land Use Study Updates” – Jason Epley, Benchmark Planning, Inc. – Jason began by introducing the JLUS Consulting Team members and their areas of responsibility for the project. He explained that the JLUS presentation would focus on progress made on the conduct of the a. kick-off presentations, b. the stakeholder interviews, and the c. the background research and analysis.

a. Kick-Off Meetings - Seven kick-off meetings were planned and to date four have been conducted (Harnett County, Scotland County, Hoke County, and Moore County Board of Commissioners). Meetings are scheduled with Cumberland County on March 6th and Richmond County on March 7th. A presentation for the City of Fayetteville remains to be scheduled.

b. Stakeholder Interviews - Over the period January 17th - 18th and February 15th - 16th stakeholder interviews were conducted with eighty people. The interviewees represented Local Governments (Cumberland, Harnett, Hoke, Moore, Richmond, and Scotland Counties and municipal representatives from Aberdeen, Eastover, Fayetteville, Hope Mills, Laurinburg, Pinehurst, Raeford, Spring Lake and Southern Pines); Regional Environmental Groups (Sustainable Sandhills, US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Sandhills Area Land Trust, the NC Cooperative Extension, Greenfields Sandhills, The Nature Conservancy, the NC Wildlife Resources Commission, and the US Environmental Protection Agency); Transportation Organizations (NC Department of Transportation, the Fayetteville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, and the Fayetteville Area System of Transportation); Public Utilities (Fayetteville Public Works Commission, Harnett County Utilities and the Fayetteville Area System of Transportation); and Fort Bragg (Garrison Public Affairs; Directorate of Public Works –Environmental, Master Planning, Energy & Utilities; Plans & Integration Office; Staff Judge Advocate; Corvias Private Housing; Range Control; NEC Frequency Control; Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security; Air Traffic Control; Range Aerospace; USA JFK SWCS; USASOC; JSOC; 43rd AMOG; 82nd ABN).

c. Background Research – To date, sixteen comprehensive plans have been collected from local governments surrounding Fort Bragg, as well as twenty-three zoning ordinances/subdivision regulations or Unified Development Ordinances, and twelve other plans. Review and analysis of these documents – as well as demographic information, development trends/patterns, environmental constraints, climate change, GIS data collection/mapping – is currently underway. The existing conditions summary portion of the JLUS is anticipated to be completed in time for the May 18th RLUAC quarterly meeting.

d. Environmental Research – Research, analysis, and updates are also currently underway for the Red Cockaded Woodpecker foraging areas, location of current telecom towers, climate change adaptation opportunities, impacts of solar farms on military aircraft flight training, threats to public water supply in the region, actions needed to protect airspace training needs, and assessment of existing flight corridors. The information gathered from the stakeholder interviews will be supplemented through web based surveys that are underway.

f. Land Use Compatibility Analysis – The land use compatibility analysis is currently underway. Interim findings for this effort are due in the September/October timeframe.

ACTION: Information

 

IV. FORT BRAGG UPDATES – Justin Mitchell, Deputy Garrison Commander – Justin reported that the Army’s Gray Eagle UAV will not become operational at Camp Mackall now until sometime this coming August. He said that recent reports of a decline in population at Fort Bragg are premature. He explained that the troop strength should remain steady over the next several years due to the addition of a two year medical residency program being initiated at Womack Army Medical Center that will include 225 interns. He announced that the Fort Bragg Marathon is scheduled for March 26th and over 4,000 participants are anticipated this year.   Finally, he said that Fort Bragg will be celebrating its 100th Anniversary in September of 2018. He encouraged RLUAC to start planning now to participate in the event.

ACTION: Information

                                

V.     BUSINESS ITEMS     

  •  Minutes – Greg Bean made a motion to approve the minutes for the Quarterly meeting held on November 17, 2016 and Patsy Carson seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

ACTION: Approved

  • Financial Report – McLaughlin reported that RLUAC had a negative cash balance of $ 2,906.65       on December 31, 2016. Receipts for January included $ 11,093.32 from the OEA JLUS grant. Expenditures for the month totaled   $ 4,974.49. That left a cash balance of $ 3,212.18 on January 31st. Roland Hall made a motion to approve the financial report and Kim Nazarzik seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

ACTION: Approved

 

  • Special Presentation – Jim Dougherty recognized Glen Prillaman (who recently retired as Fort Bragg’s Chief Planner) for his 25 years of service to RLUAC. He presented him with a RLUAC Distinguished Service Certificate and paperweight.

 

VI.       ADJOURN - There being no further business, McLaughlin adjourned the meeting at 12:31 PM.

                     

Upcoming Events

RLUAC Quarterly Meeting
 

Date: Thursday February 15, 2024

Time: 1:30 pm

Location: Village of Pinehurst Cannon Park Community Center  (210 Rattlesnake Trail, Pinehurst, NC 28374)