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January 30, 2004 Page 355 The Board of Commissioners for the County of Cabarrus met in recessed session in the Community Board Room at Barber Scotia College, 145 Cabarrus Avenue, West, Concord, North Carolina, on Friday, January 30, 2004, at 4:30 p.m. Present - Chairman: Robert M. Freeman Vice Chairman: Richard D. Suggs Commissioners: Carolyn B. Carpenter Robert W. Carruth Coy C. Privette Also present were Mr. John D. Day, County Manager; Mr. Deputy County Manager for Operations; Mrs. Frankie F. Bonds, Board; and Ms. Aimee Hawkins, Public Information Officer. Mike Downs, Clerk to the Chairman Freeman called the meeting to order at 4:35 p.m. Chairman Suggs was absent for the beginning of the meeting. Vice Retreat Goals and Introduction of Facilitator Mr. Day introduced William J. McCoy, former Director of the Urban Institute at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, who served as facilitator for the retreat. He explained the Retreat would be a "visioning" process to look at the future of Cabarrus County. Also, Mr. Day stated staff would review the goals identified by the Board and present recommendations at a future work session as to how to implement those goals. Review of Retreat Agenda Mr. McCoy reviewed the retreat agenda, which included a presentation on the Charlotte region and discussion of Cabarrus County issues/goals from both 1954 and 2054 perspectives. He stated the Board would be asked to focus on short-term goals for the County on Saturday. Board members generally agreed to the process as outlined by Mr. McCoy. Commissioner Carpenter did question the 50-year period in planning for the future, stating that 30 years would be a more realistic time frame in looking at future needs. Presentation on the Charlotte Region Mr. McCoy presented a variety of slides about the Charlotte region and its counties, including a map of the region, population growth data, median household income, manufacturing employment, etc. He discussed a number of regional issues related to environment, transportation and urban sprawl. 1954 Perspective Mr. McCoy asked the Board members to put themselves in the role of County Commissioner in 1954 and to say what would surprise them the most about Cabarrus County today. Responses by the Board included the following: (1) Population boom; (2) Different types of diversity; (3) Cannon Mills out of business; (4) Cabarrus County as the site of the Number One tourist attraction (Concord Mills) in the State; (5) People would pay to watch cars run around in a circle; (6) Control of the Board of Commissioners by the Republican Party; (7) Diversity of jobs; (8) No new roads; (9) Low water supply during recent drought; (10) ~annapolis and Harrisburg as municipalities; (11) Size of NorthEast Medical Center/largest employer in the county; (12) Status of women, (13) Relocation of the Fair; and (14) Size of the airport. Mr. McCoy then asked the Board to identify things that County Commissioners should have done 50 years ago to improve today's quality of life. The Board listed the following items: (1) Diversify the economy; (2) Build a bigger reservoir sooner; (3) More and better regional cooperation; (4) Better infrastructure planning; (5) Better school planning: (6) Land use planning sooner; (7) East-side bypass; (8) Reserve fund for schools; and (9) More attention to the location of schools. Vice Chairman Suggs arrived and was present for the remainder of the meeting. 2054 Perspective Mr. McCoy presented the following population data for Cabarrus County: 1950 - 55,000 (estimate); 1970 - 74,629; 2000 131,063; 2010 - 183,987