Orange County NC Website
Request for two Parks Conservation Technicians {Little River Park and other parks). <br />Recreation and Parks Director Lori Taft said that the first position is an Orange County park <br />position and the other is the Little River park position, because of the 50% matching funding <br />received from Durham County. At this time, there is only one staff member that is able to <br />manage work outside in the parks that is required on a day-to-day basis. She said that she <br />finally filled the Parks Services Director position, which was vacant for some months. This <br />requested position would work with Efland-Cheeks Park, Fairview Park, and Northern Human <br />Services or Cedar Grove Park. There are also some safety issues, and it is her goal to address <br />these issues. <br />The second position is the Little River Park position, and she envisions this being the final <br />request for this park. They have completed the 15-mile trail network, although it is rough. They <br />have had a tremendous amount of volunteers working on these trails. She said that this <br />position would help in getting the park ready for opening in the fall. She envisions this position <br />teaming up with the current position and working to continuing to improve the trails and build <br />additional structures in the woods {picnic platforms, etc.). <br />Commissioner Brown is unclear as to how many positions there are now and the joint funding <br />with Durham. She also asked about the renovation of the house that is located on site. Lori <br />Taft said that they have one fulltime-funded position for this park. Durham County is not <br />assigned to the park. There could possibly be some temporary employees during peak <br />seasons. The caretaker residence is not ready yet. They are working on a caretaker resident <br />program where they will recruit someone who will provide some minor assistance {gate keeping, <br />overnight management of group campers, etc.}. Pete and Robin Hendricks, who have done <br />some deconstruction work in the County, have expressed interest in this. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis said that he hopes that Recreation and Parks will start to focus on <br />Fairview Park because they have been in limbo for 15-20 years. He said that in order to <br />convince the citizens of this community that they are sincere, there needs to be tangible efforts <br />made at this site. He made reference to the Efland Cheeks Park and said that he finds the <br />corrective measures interesting because some of the things go back to the original construction <br />of the facility. He said that it should have been improved a long time ago. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis said that he hopes he lives to see the development of a pottery and <br />ceramic studio at Northern Human Services Center. He said that he would like an update on <br />the Southern Human Services Center and what they plan to do with this, especially the little <br />house. <br />Commissioner Carey said that he shares Commissioner Halkiotis' views on some of the <br />commitments already made to people in the County. He asked about the rationale behind <br />starting one position in October and the other in July. Lori Taft said that the Little River position <br />was recommended far July because there was revenue associated with it. John Link said that <br />most positions will start October 1St because of cost savings and because recruitment usually <br />takes three months. <br />Commissioner Brown made reference to the Efland-Cheeks Park and soccer fields and said <br />that she has heard that this has not been very well used. Lori Taft said that it is used everyday <br />in the fall for soccer, with the exception of Sundays. It cannot be used simultaneously with <br />baseball because of the position of the field. It is primarily the Orange County league that uses <br />it. <br />