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The third priority is for adequate provision of parkland and natural corridors, one of the most prominent needs identified is to preserve green corridors, whether in an urban or rural etking. This '~~ section of ~e repork addresses the potential for linking some existing and proposed greenway networks in shape! Hill, arrboro, and Hillsborough to future parks and regional open space, such as Eno River state Park and Duke Forest. In ~ ~~, a schematic plan for greenways extending from the chapel Hilllarrboro area into the Rural l~ufferwas developed as part of the ~loint Planning Aran Land use Plan. Wildlife corridors in the rural areas were introduced into bounty planning efforts through the 1 ~~ Inventory of Natural Areas and Wildlife Habitat and are important to the overall bounty and regional ecosyster~ as part of the "green infrastructure", However, as the bounty and Towns continue to grow, it will become important to link Town parks to regional corridors such as Eno River Mate Bark, nodes of '~ open space such as Duke Forest, and future bounty parks and open space. The identification of ' strategic corridors that might tie together these recreation facilities is suggested as a practical long-term goal. ~~ ~~ The fourth priority is coordinated land acquisition for parks. The ~ and 1 g7 reports point to the need for coordinated capital funding. The work group placed a strong emphasis on the '~ need to begin land acquisition now far long-term park needs. In 1gg, grange bounty has taken steps to create a mechanism to address this goal. Anew Department of Environmental and Resource conservation began operation on January 4, ~~gg, with a primary focus on acquisitionleasements of critical land resources. A Land Acquisition Program for grange bounty is currently being developed for discussion in the fall of ~ ggg. This program will develop andlor use inventories, criteria, and a management structure for the acquisition and stewardship of land resources deemed critical to the public ~,; interest, as well as working with other existing land trusts and entities. The bounty is hiring a Land Resources conservation Manager who will have expertise in site evaluation and land acquisition. Funding for long-term parkland acquisition would likely involve local bonds and allocations, and grants from programs such as sate Parks and Recreation Trust Fund, '" The fifth concern of the Work group was the payment-in~livu programs. All jurisdictions in '~; the bounty have provisions in their development ordinances addressing dedication or provision of recreation facilities. arrboro and grange bounty also have payment-in-lieu dedication programs, which allows for the payment of a fee based on the number of lots in lieu of providing recreation facilities. grange bounty has special legislation that would allow forthe use of impact fees for public uses, ~~. including recreation, but this proviso has not been utilised to date. As of 1 9, arrboro has collected 4~~,0~~.~~ through its payment-in-lieu program. grange bounty currently has 4~~,000 available. The bounty has also received land dedications totaling ~4 acres since ~ g~, although this land is in small pieces, exclusively in the Bingham and chapel Hill Townships. The Work group found that difficulties exist with the existing payment+in-lieu programs such that funds must be geographically '~~ earmarked and spent within the area collecked. They must also be supplemented with matching funds. ~~ considerable research was done to e~cplore programs in other jurisdictions, and a special meeting with ~~ Richard Drucker from the Institute of government was held to review payment-in-lieu possibilities. '~ Finally, the si~cth area of the report addressed the recor~mendations of the wank group. '~ ~a} r~a~e a darks ar-~ Resource Lar~~s aunor'I, whose possible duties might include; ~'~° ~1} developing and reviewing standards; ~~ Developing future parks bond proposals; ~~ Providing a coordinating mechanisr~ for parks plan updates; ~4} Making recommendations on allocations of future bond moneys; ~~ ~~} coordinating acquisitions through the bounty Land Resource Acquisition '~~ Rrogram. ~ A resolution asking the local board to create the Rarks and Resource Lands ounci) was presented, ~b~ rea~e InterTjurisdic#ional ~arrdar~; As previously noted, impediments exist to the creation of common standards for use countywide, But if coordinated funding is pursued, the need for same coordinated standard would be important. The Parks and Resource Lands council is recommended as a mechanism to accomplish this goal.