Agenda - 04-20-2010 - 4e - Laserfiche WebLink

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ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: April 20, 2010 Action Agenda Item No. ~ - ~ SUBJECT: Resolution to Endorse Orange County Segment of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail DEPARTMENT: Department of Environment, Agriculture, Parks and Recreation (DEAPR) PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No ATTACHMENTS: 1. Resolution 2. Orange County MST Map 3. OWASA Letter of Support 4. Eastern Piedmont MST Corridor Map 5. Statewide MST Corridor Map INFORMATION CONTACTS: David Stancil, 245-2510 Rich Shaw, 245-2514 PURPOSE: To consider a resolution in support of the proposed corridor for the planned North Carolina Mountains-to-Sea Trail through Orange County. BACKGROUND: The North Carolina Mountains-to-Sea Trail (MST) is a planned 1,000 mile trail that will traverse the state from the Great Smoky Mountains in western North Carolina to the Outer Banks on the Atlantic coast (Attachment 5). In 2000 the North Carolina General Assembly authorized the MST as part of the North Carolina Parks System. From 2005-2007, the state Division of Parks and Recreation held stakeholder meetings to identify a preferred route through Alamance, Orange and Durham counties. The State's preferred trail route through the "Eastern Piedmont" was identified as a result of those stakeholder meetings (Attachment 4). In Orange County the planned MST corridor starts at the Haw River in the far southwest corner, follows Cane Creek northeast through the Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA) Reservoir lands, and runs overland through the Seven Mile Creek Preserve to Occoneechee Mountain, State Natural Area. From Occoneechee Mountain the trail follows the Eno River along Hillsborough's Riverwalk and through Eno River State Park into Durham County (Attachment 2). In October 2009 the Board discussed the MST and spoke favorably of the proposed trail corridor. Since that time staff has held meetings with OWASA staff and Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail to discuss running portions of the Trail through OWASA property. In December the OWASA Board of Directors directed OWASA staff to begin working with Orange County to identify a specific route through OWASA's Cane Creek Reservoir lands, conditioned upon the Orange County Board of Commissioners' approval of the initiative. A letter of support from the OWASA Board Chair Randy Kabrick is provided as Attachment 3.