Minutes - 20051003 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The Board decided to renew its request for participants to Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough, and Mebane. Commissioner Jacobs nominated James Carnahan in the place of Hunter Schofield. A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Foushee to appoint Cara Crisler, Renee Price, Ed Holland, and James Carnahan. VOTE: UNANIMOUS 10. Reports a. Durham County Proposal -New Hope Preserve Interlocal Agreement The Board considered possible participation in a proposal from Durham County to create an interlocal agreement regarding property that is being jointly acquired along the New Hope Creek corridor and to allow staffs from both counties to further define and make recommendations on which lands should be involved in a master plan for the New Hope Preserve; and allow Orange County staff to pursue pre-existing planned and pending park design projects such as Fairview. John Link said that Orange County and Durham County participated in acquiring parcels related to Erwin Trace last spring and they have recently received an interlocal agreement from Durham County. Dave Stancil made reference to page 27, which is a follow-up memo from Durham County with the idea of master planning for the Hollow Rock access area. The map that follows this item is on page 29. Page 30 has the most recent ideas related to this. The staff is interested in the opportunity to create a corridor of open space from Erwin Road to Jordan Lake. The County Attorney and staff have not had a chance to formally review this proposal. There are some other property acquisitions in this area that tie directly into the New Hope Corridor and it may be premature to engage in master planning for this area before the properties are acquired. There are also several park projects that are getting ready to kick off from the County's standpoint (i.e., Fairview Park, Northern Park, and New Hope Park at Blackwood Farm). He said that it would be difficult to do all of these things and engage in an intensive process for the New Hope Preserve this fall also. It might be possible to separate out the pieces that demand immediate attention from the interlocal agreement. The recommendation is to defer consideration of the proposed master plan and allow the staff an opportunity to talk with the City of Durham, Durham County, and the Town of Chapel Hill about what area would make sense from a master planning standpoint. Commissioner Gordon agrees with the Manager's recommendation in terms of master planning, but she would like to move forward. She made a motion to instruct the County Attorney and staff to create an interlocal agreement regarding Erwin Trace that would meet the terms of Orange County's agreement on the joint partners tract. Her motion also included the Manager's Recommendation, to defer discussion of the proposed master plan. Commissioner Jacobs asked what this would accomplish as opposed to the Manager's recommendation. Commissioner Gordon said that there are certain financial issues to address and the master plan is a separate thing. Geof Gledhill said that the agreement was that this Board would share the cost of the Erwin Trace property and also share responsibilities related to the managing of the property. Commissioner Jacobs said that they also agreed to discuss and execute at a future date an interlocal agreement governing the uses. It seems that the Board would just be reiterating what it had already done. He thinks the Manager's recommendation would be sufficient.