Orange County NC Website
County Corn Meeting <br />12/15/98 <br />DL Costa — P &R Chair <br />What is there left to do? In 1999 the other park amenities currently approved by the <br />Council will come on line: <br />- In February -March the playground structure should be complete. The current <br />budget is $60,000 for playground equipment. Bids will be opened December <br />16, 1998 for the equipment and installation. Work should begin in January or <br />February. <br />- In April -May the skateboard park should be finished. At this time we have <br />completed the slab, fencing, and lights. The restroom/concession building is <br />almost finished. The skateboard committee has almost finished its work on <br />designing the ramps. Once a design has been completed we need to secure <br />insurance and then construct the ramps. <br />- In September two 300' softball fields and two full size soccer fields with <br />irrigation and lights should be ready for use. The approach to establishing <br />field turf has not been determined. The staff is still considering various <br />options such as sprigging, sodding and/or importation of additional soils. <br />- In October - November the batting cage complex should be complete. At its <br />September 28, 1998, meeting the Chapel Hill Town Council adopted the P &R <br />Commission's proposal for the allocation of $200,000 in Town park bonds <br />for development of batting cage project. Staff is currently working with the <br />architectural firm that designed the park to develop a conceptual plan for the <br />batting cage. The next step will be engineering drawings, which will be <br />followed by requests for construction bids. <br />Aquatic Facility /Community Center: <br />For several years citizens of the Town have requested expanded or new aquatic facilities <br />for public use. The 1996 bond of $5M was passed by the Town's citizens to provide for <br />the development of NCP, including the building of a community center and indoor pool. <br />The high bids on NCP, anticipated higher construction costs in the Triangle, and the need <br />to use some funds ($428 K) for the completion of Northside (Hargraves) Gym has left <br />insufficient funds from the bond to complete the pool and community center. <br />However, the Town Council and the P &R Commission are committed to fully develop <br />the NCP project. In fact, in an effort to get ahead of the process — having learned from the <br />Southern Village Gym proposal of 1996 - the P &R Commission has had initial <br />discussions with members of the CH- Carrboro School Committee and Superintendent <br />Neil Peterson to explore how we could better leverage P &R and school construction <br />funds to provide for mutual needs. Obvious areas of common interest are fields, and <br />facilities — notably, in our minds would be the aquatic facility. Without funding to <br />provide funds for pools at each high school, the teams are in need of practice pool- <br />time ... right now provided by P &R at the Estes Rd. CC. Perhaps, joint efforts in the future <br />can be productive for the schools and community at large. <br />For the moment... at its September 28, 1998, meeting the Town Council appropriated <br />$53,000 from FY98 -99 budget for a conceptual plan process for an aquatic <br />facility /community center. Staff anticipates developing a bid process for conceptual <br />t <br />