Morrisville Town Center Plan - 2007

Appendix 1

Town Center Planning Process Meeting #1: Historic Resources And Town Center Themes January 25, 2006, 7:00 – 9:00 PM Town Center Planning Process Meeting #1: Historic Resources And Town Center Themes January 25, 2006, 7:00 – 9:00 PM

Town Mayor Jan Faulkner began the meeting by welcoming all those in attendance. She announced how pleased she was to see the number that had turned out to show their interest. Mayor Faulkner continued by saying that town leaders acknowledged there was no “downtown” in Morrisville and wished to build one. The purpose of these meetings would be to define the needs and wants of the citizens to provide for social activity. She then gave a brief explanation of the work already accomplished by the Planning & Zoning Board and introduced the chairman, Mr. Peter Prichard. She finished by thanking everyone for taking the time to attend. Planning & Zoning Board Chairman Peter Prichard then addressed the audience, also thanking those who were in attendance. He explained that his personal observation was that Morrisville’s greatest changes had resulted from the rapid growth; however, there were unseen changes happening as well - such as the attitude toward the change, concern about the Town’s self-image, and efforts to be selective with the new developments proposed. He stated that this first session would take the efforts out of reactive mode so that proactive guidelines could be created. He then gave a PowerPoint presentation explaining the timeline of this project thus far: 2004 – Desire for a downtown expressed and the efforts to receive input began 2005 – Identified the “core area” and received official authorization from the Board of Commissioners to proceed with the plan. The Town expressed some interest in buying land in that core area IF the owner was interested in that option and accepted an offer from the Town. Morrisville officials were not interested in using eminent domain unless it was a very unusual circumstance involving infrastructure issues. He continued by reassuring the audience that public input from citizens was very key to the development of a quality plan and that staff was providing several opportunities to give input (comment sheet, email address, website) and encouraged everyone to participate and give their input on this plan. Mr. Prichard then introduced local historian and former director of the Orange County Historical Museum, Mr. Ernest Dollar, for a presentation of Morrisville’s history. Mr. Dollar began his presentation by clarifying he wasn’t an employee of the Town of Morrisville, nor a citizen, but he loved the history of the town and felt it extremely important to preserve the past history of the community. He presented a detailed PowerPoint presentation that included highlights of key characters in Morrisville’s past and the influence of the Civil War within the community and the way of life during that time. He also identified with pictures, the historical buildings that still exist within the community. Town Mayor Jan Faulkner began the meeting by welcoming all those in attendance. She announced how pleased she was to see the number that had turned out to show their interest. Mayor Faulkner continued by saying that town leaders acknowledged there was no “downtown” in Morrisville and wished to build one. The purpose of these meetings would be to define the needs and wants of the citizens to provide for social activity. She then gave a brief explanation of the work already accomplished by the Planning & Zoning Board and introduced the chairman, Mr. Peter Prichard. She finished by thanking everyone for taking the time to attend. Planning & Zoning Board Chairman Peter Prichard then addressed the audience, also thanking those who were in attendance. He explained that his personal observation was that Morrisville’s greatest changes had resulted from the rapid growth; however, there were unseen changes happening as well - such as the attitude toward the change, concern about the Town’s self-image, and efforts to be selective with the new developments proposed. He stated that this first session would take the efforts out of reactive mode so that proactive guidelines could be created. He then gave a PowerPoint presentation explaining the timeline of this project thus far: 2004 – Desire for a downtown expressed and the efforts to receive input began 2005 – Identified the “core area” and received official authorization from the Board of Commissio ers to proceed with the plan. The Town expressed s me interest in buying land in that core area IF he wn r as int rested in that option and accepted an offer from the Town. Morrisville officials were not inter sted in using em nent omain unless it was a very unusual circum tance involving infrastructure issues. He continued by reassuring the audience that public input from citizens was very key to the devel pment of a quality plan and that staff was providing several opportunities to give input (comment sheet, email address, website) and encouraged everyone to participate and give their input on this plan. Mr. Prichard then introduced local historian and former director of the Orange County Historical Museum, Mr. Ernest Dollar, for a presentation of Morrisville’s history. Mr. Dollar began his presentation by clarifying he wasn’t an employee of the Town of Morrisville, nor a citizen, but he loved the history of the town and felt it extremely important to preserve the past history of the community. He presented a detailed PowerPoint presentation that included highlights of key characters in Morrisville’s past and the influence of the Civil War within the community and the way of life during that time. He also identified with pictures, the historical buildings that still exist within the community.

45 │ Town Center Plan

January 2007