Agenda - 09-15-2009 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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iu~imumn~ EXHIBIT A SUMMARY: BASELINE DOCUMENTATION REPORT for the CONFLUENCE PROPERTY Landowner: Eno River Association, 4404 Guess Road, Durham, NC 27712 Property/Easement Area: One single parcel totaling 110.42 acres Township/County: Cheeks and Cedar Grove/Orange PIN #: 9856-36-2947 Plat: Book 103 Pages 16-17 Deed: Book 4426 Page 510 Current Land Uses: The primary land use of the property is as open space. In addition, several agricultural fields are under production for hay. Limited hunting is allowed on the property. Property Summary: The Confluence properly (the former Stollings tract) is one single parcel (110.42 acres) located west of Highland Farm Road in northwest Orange County, NC (Cheeks and Cedar Grove Townships), downstream from Lake Orange and the Hillsborough West Fork Reservoir. There will be two conservation easements on the property. The Clean Water Management Trust Fund (CWMTF) will be granted an easement on the 300-foot-wide river buffer of the property and Orange County will be granted an easement on the entirety of the property. The topography of the properly slopes from the cen~al interior upland areas towazds the property boundaries located along the East Fork Eno River and West Fork Eno River. Gentle slopes (0 to 5 %) characterize the wide flood plain along the river frontage. Steeper slopes (15 to 50%) are found above the floodplain, leading to the more moderate slopes of the upland interior. The properly is a mix of forestland and agricultural fields. The forest covers the majority of the floodplain and slopes portion of the property. The overstory consists of sycamore (Platanus occidentalis), yellow poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua), American beech (Fagus grandifolia), and swamp chestnut oak (Quercus michaw~z~, with eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana), Virginia pine (Pines virginiana), and shortleaf pine (Pines echinata) found further up the slopes. The entire forest buffer was selectively logged in 2004-05. Slash piles and logging roads are present along the eastern edge of the lazge southern agricultural field. The majority of the upland is currently maintained as agricultural fields for hay production, with many of these fields having been farmed since the property was settled in the 1800s. Two of the fields, ane located just south of the property entrance and the other on the northwestern property line along West Fork Eno River, were recently abandoned. Aside from the agricultural fields and logging history of the area, there i$ significant evidence of human disturbance throughout the property. Located on the uplan~,~,~st west of Highland Farm Road is an old home site consisting of three buildings with the rema.ms of a large barn situated just south of the homesite. In the northwest corner of the property are another old homesite,. a shazecropper's home, as well as the remains of an old mill site located along the West Fork of 51 Page 17 of 20