Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
REVISED 313111-ABSTRACT ONLY <br /> SEE BOLD IN TABLES-PAGES 2&3 1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: March 3, 2011 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. + - e, <br /> SUBJECT: Public Trail Easement and Triangle Land Conservancy Funding Request for the <br /> Brumley Forest Nature Preserve; and Approval of Budget Amendment#7-C <br /> DEPARTMENT: Environment, Agriculture, PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No <br /> Parks and Recreation <br /> (DEAPR) <br /> ATTACHMENTS: INFORMATION CONTACTS: <br /> Letter from TLC President David Stancil, 245-2510 <br /> Map of Property Rich Shaw, 245-2514 <br /> Draft Public Trail Easement <br /> PURPOSE: To consider the acceptance of a public trail easement through the Triangle Land <br /> Conservancy's Brumley Forest Nature Preserve and a request from Triangle Land Conservancy <br /> for funding assistance for its "Brumley Forest" acquisition in May 2010. <br /> BACKGROUND: In May 2010, Triangle Land Conservancy (TLC) completed a multi-year <br /> negotiation with the Zeist Foundation in Atlanta to acquire 613 acres of land along New Hope <br /> Church Road and Old NC 10 in Chapel Hill and Eno townships. <br /> The property had been owned by George and Julia Brumley, who died tragically in a 2003 <br /> airplane crash. Title to the land transferred to the family's private foundation in Atlanta. The <br /> landholding was one of the largest privately-held properties in Orange County. Stony Creek, a <br /> major tributary of the Eno River, runs through the property and is one of several conservation <br /> values (including identified prime forest) present on the site. <br /> TLC purchased the property with over $4 million accumulated from state grant funds, private <br /> donors, and the City of Raleigh's Upper Neuse Clean Water Initiative. The property, now known <br /> as "Brumley Forest," was purchased as a bargain sale, with the Zeist Foundation donating <br /> about half of the appraised market value. <br /> As is standard practice, TLC will apply for property tax exemption. However, because the sale <br /> took place in mid-year of 2010, a property tax bill for 2010 was generated including rollback <br /> taxes from the use value tax status. A total of $216,000 in rollback taxes were paid by the <br /> buyers and sellers at the closing. As a result, TLC was left with a prorated share of property tax <br /> of $50,000. TLC as a non-profit entity does not qualify for use value taxation, and it is this <br /> amount that has been requested from the Lands Legacy Program by the TLC President. <br /> The County considered participating in the purchase of the Brumley Forest property in 2008, but <br /> opted against becoming a funding partner due to the anticipated high cost of the proposed <br />