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2 <br />construct the trail. Alamance County is constructing two miles of trail per year. Durham <br />County is working with Wake County and others to complete 46 miles of trail around Falls <br />Lake. The Town of Hillsborough has also endorsed the MST route through its jurisdiction. <br />While Orange County has discussed the trail corridor on a number of occasions, the <br />County has not yet endorsed the State's planned MST trail route. The Orange County <br />segment of the trail is one of the more complex links in the system. It includes one of the <br />few stretches of trail that must cross overland from one major river basin to another <br />without the benefit of natural features and publicly-owned land. <br />Staff has identified the following decision points for Board discussion and feedback: <br />1) Is the Board ready to endorse the general alignment of the planned MST corridor <br />through Orange County? (If so, staff would suggest several steps to validate this <br />action in existing plans and programs.) <br />2) How should the County coordinate with OWASA on the MST trail alignment? <br />3) Can Staff collaborate with the Town of Hillsborough to identify the MST trail <br />linkages to both ends of the Town's Riverwalk? <br />4) How aggressively should ERCD prioritize MST land acquisition through the <br />Lands Legacy program? <br />5) Does the Board agree with focusing initial efforts in the vicinity of the County's <br />Seven Mile Creek Preserve? <br />Background information for the Board to consider each of these decision points <br />is provided as Attachment 1. This includes information on the MST support <br />mechanisms, operation and maintenance of the trail, and follow-up items that <br />would be brought back for subsequent Board action. <br />FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no impact associated with this item. Several follow-up <br />actions, if pursued, would have financial implications. The approved FY 2009-2019 CIP <br />includes $1.26 million from FY 2013-2016 for Lands Legacy/MST. <br />If the planned NC Mountains-to-Sea Trail were constructed through Orange County, the <br />costs of developing and maintaining a trail would likely be shared among various public <br />and private landowners (including Orange County), along with volunteer assistance <br />coordinated by Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. Likely partners include the Town of <br />Hillsborough, Eno River State Park, Preservation North Carolina, Orange Water and <br />Sewer Authority, and others. State grant funds for land acquisition and trail construction is <br />designated a top priority for the NC Parks and Recreation Trust Fund (PARTF), with <br />additional funding from the State Recreational Trail Grant Program, and (only recently) the <br />NC Clean Water Management Trust Fund also possible. <br />RECOMMENDATION: The Manager recommends that the Board receive the staff report <br />and provide feedback and direction to staff for bringing action steps back to the Board at a <br />future meeting. No formal action is requested at this time. <br />