Orange County NC Website
a. Proposed Master Plan for Little River Regional Park <br />The Board considered a proposed master plan for the Little River Regional Park and Natural <br />Area. <br />Land Conservation Manager Rich Shaw described the park and its location in Orange County. <br />Two-thirds of the property is in Durham County and one-third is in Orange County. This is a cooperative <br />project between the two counties, the Triangle Land Conservancy, and the Eno River Association. All <br />four partners contributed funds far the purchase, and all four applied jointly for State funds. <br />Commissioner Jacobs is the representative on the Little River Park Advisory Committee. The role of the <br />committee has been to make recommendations on the uses allowed at the park. The recommendations <br />include picnic shelters, restrooms, playground, group camping, and an elaborate trail system. Most of <br />the property is wooded. He described in detail the aspects of the park master plan. There would be a <br />caretaker residence (a house moved from Heritage Hills} to be used as an an-site presence for the park. <br />They received a $50,000 grant for the walking trails from the State. Also, DOT is going to advise a turn <br />lane for southbound Guess Road. The counties have asked far assistance from DOT to pay far this, and <br />DOT agreed to pay for this (approximately $85,000}. A portion of the caretaker residence is going to be <br />paid from the FEMA grant, and the Board previously allocated $45,000 to have the house relocated here, <br />and that includes a portion of the FEMA assistance. <br />The draft master plan was presented to the advisory committee on May 14t", and the <br />comments were favorable. It was suggested to add a bio-retention area to capture some of the rainwater <br />off the parking area. It has also been submitted to the Planning Department for an initial courtesy <br />review. Since the May 14t" meeting, they have received notice that as part of the condition of receiving <br />federal funds from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, they are required to use a portion of the <br />money far an archeological survey of the entire property. They learned a great deal from the survey. <br />Two weeks ago a discovery was made near the entranceway that may affect the alignment of some of <br />the features -notably the caretaker residence and the septic field system. Two pits will be dug to see if <br />there are any intact remains. There is evidence that there may have been structures underground. <br />There is an alternate plan for the residence and septic field if anything is found. Also, there was a <br />change in the designer, and the new designer proposed a smaller parking lot with the same number of <br />parking spaces. There would be 6°l0 less impervious cover, which would make mare of the meadow <br />available for public use. The advisory committee has not seen this change, since it was just received <br />today. He asked the Board to consider this change in the parking lat. <br />The cost estimates for the park based on the master plan is $625,000 for phase I. The grant <br />that was received in 2000 from the Land and Water Conservation Fund was $262,000. This grant will <br />expire September 30t" this year. The County will ask far an extension after both counties have signed <br />the interlocal agreement. After accounting for the $317,000 in available grant funds and previously <br />appropriated funds, this leaves $308,000 still needed to develop the park - $154,000 for each county. <br />Durham County has appropriated another $100,000 toward park construction and Orange County staff is <br />proposing that we match this amount by adding another $55,000 from the payment-in-lieu funds to the <br />$45,000 that the Board already allocated for the relocation of the caretaker residence. Far the remaining <br />amount of $76,000, the Board can consider delaying ar cutting facilities ar using a combination of <br />payment-in-lieu funds or borrowed funds from other park projects that are not yet underway. Durham <br />County intends to cover their overage with park bond funds. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis asked for a definition of "group camping". Rich Shaw said that a <br />group (bay scouts, girl scouts, church group) would register and there would be someone in charge of <br />the group. Both counties agreed on group camping and Durham County was not interested in allowing <br />individual camping in phase I. <br />Commissioner Carey asked if deferral would affect the grant extensions. Rich Shaw said that <br />if the boards can approve this plan before the break, then there should be enough time to ask for an <br />extension. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said that facilities for deferral were not proposed earlier. He said that <br />public roads are paved not graveled and this would be in conflict with haw the County operates. He is a <br />little uncomfortable with borrowing from other projects and would rather use payment-in-lieu monies. He <br />would like to give staff guidance about looking at the funding options and seeing about moving the <br />caretaker's house and approving it in concept. <br />l0 <br />