Orange County NC Website
APPROVED 2/5/2002 <br />MINUTES <br />ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />WORK SESSION <br />November 13, 2001 <br />The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a work session at 7:30 p.m. on <br />November 13, 2001 at the Government Services Center in Hillsborough, North Carolina. <br />COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Stephen H. Halkiotis and Commissioners <br />Margaret W. Brawn, Moses Carey, Jr., (arrived at 8:00) Alice M. Gordan and Barry Jacobs <br />COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill <br />COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr., Assistant County Manager <br />Rod Visser and Clerk to the Board Beverly A. Blythe (All other staff members will be identified <br />appropriately below} <br />NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT <br />AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE. <br />1. Confirmation of Allowed Uses at Little River Regional Park <br />Rich Shaw ,Land Conservation Manager, said that this item is a followup to confirm the <br />actions taken by the County Commissioners on October 22 with regard to appropriate uses for the <br />Little River Regional Park and Natural Area. On October 22, the County Commissioners decided on <br />what should be and should not be allowed in the park. This agenda document has the draft action <br />plan with regards to the future development of this parkland. He painted out that he has received 20 <br />to 25 calls from citizens who have interest in this issue. The vast number of comments was in support <br />of horseback riding in the park. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said that he wanted to be sure that the people in the audience <br />understood what was in item #4a of the draft actions as stated below: <br />Ask that Durham Gounty BOCC be apprised that a} Orange Gounty BOCC has serious <br />reservations about constructing facilities for horseback riding {but agrees that <br />horseback riding on a designated trail is an allowable use). <br />Rich Shaw said that on October 22 the Orange County Board of Commissioners agreed to <br />discuss with Durham County the issues of group camping and individual camping, conditioned on <br />there being an on-site caretaker. <br />Commissioner Brown said that she wants to be sure that everyone understands what <br />was discussed on October 22. She said that it seems like the feeling is that the Board of County <br />Commissioners have prohibited horseback riding and that is not the case. <br />Commissioner Gordan said that the critical thing to note is that we have talked about <br />two different issues, namely, the cost of construction of the facilities and the use of the facilities. <br />Chair Halkiotis suggested that we consider a refinement of how we go about approving <br />how we are going to use this property and work together. What happened was that staff brought to <br />the County Commissioners what had been approved in Durham. He suggested that the staffs of both <br />counties meet and decide on items before bringing it to the two governing boards for their input. <br />Bob Phillips said that he represents the Little River Land Company and represents the <br />horse people. The Little River Land Company purchased the 170 acres adjacent to the land <br />purchased by the County for Little River Park. A lot of the people in this room have been riding the <br />trails for 15-20 years. As a representative of the Little River Land Company, they have allowed <br />people to ride on this land which has on it some old logging trails. They are not asking the County <br />Commissioners to go in and build trails or construct an area to park trailers. There are already some <br />