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<br />County has tried to work with the Alamance County Commissioners for a number of years to try <br />and get it settled. Dale Simmons said that he believes this information should be helpful. <br />Cameron Tew is President of the Triangle United Soccer Association, which is a group <br />of 2,500 youth. About half of the kids come from Orange County and the other half come from <br />Durham County. He spoke about the planned soccer fields at West Ten Soccer Complex. He <br />said that each year they do a customer satisfaction survey of the parents of the organization, <br />and one of the overwhelming things is having fields in close proximity to school and home. He <br />said that he would like for the Board to consider this in reference to the West Ten soccer fields, <br />and whether some of the money could be used to re-sod the existing fields and build fields in <br />other places. He said that the parents are concerned about the soccer fields being too far away <br />from Chapel Hill. <br />Melissa Suarez said that she represents the competitive adult soccer community in <br />Chapel Hill and Carrboro, and there is a need for soccer fields. She said that they often have to <br />play under extreme conditions since the youth primarily use the soccer fields. She said that a <br />lot of the members are farmer professional soccer players. She would like to have soccer fields <br />close to their area and not in the West Ten Soccer Complex. She said that they would like to <br />see more funding geared toward fields closer to Chapel Hill and Carrboro. She also painted out <br />that the fields are overused because there are so many participants. She thanked the County <br />Commissioners for generating the fields in both areas. <br />Robert Smith is President of the Board of Directors for Rainbow Soccer. He also is a <br />volunteer coach far teams and plays on a team. He said that far the new season, Rainbow <br />Soccer has a waiting list. He said that Rainbow is good at providing the support staff for the <br />league, etc., but they need help with practice field space. He said that all different types of <br />sports are vying for the same fields. He asked for consideration to develop soccer fields in the <br />southern part of the County. <br />Chair Carey asked the Manager to update the public on the number of fields the County <br />has supported to come on line very soon. <br />Laura Blackmon said that this summer the County will break ground for six fields at the <br />West Ten Soccer Complex. The County will also break ground with three fields at Southern <br />Community Park. In 2010, there will be four fields at Twin Creeks. She said that these fields <br />are more for league play and not for practice fields. She said that the County will be addressing <br />this as the staff works on a Recreation and Parks Master Plan. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said that there are seven fields coming an line in the southern <br />part of the County shortly. Also, the County purchased the Blackwood Farm in part so that <br />there could be more soccer fields in the southern part of the County. There will also be a multi- <br />purpose field at Northern Park. He said that he and the Manager were at a meeting last night at <br />Meadowmont, and it took him under 25 minutes to get from Meadowmant to the West Ten <br />Soccer Complex during rush hour. He does not understand why people think it is sa far from <br />Chapel Hill. He said that they want to make the fields as accessible as possible. He said that <br />at the Board of County Commissioners' retreat, they did discuss getting more soccer fields as <br />one of the unfinished matters of business that the staff will begin working on in a more <br />concerted fashion. <br />Chair Carey said that when the County Commissioners talk about working with others on <br />a master plan, this includes the towns. He said that the County Commissioners are responsible <br />far the entire County, including the areas north of Hillsborough, not just in the municipal areas. <br />Commissioner Gordon said that in terms of the timelines, with Twin Creeks, there are <br />two fields scheduled fo construction within the next couple of years. The other two fields do not <br />have identified funding. Regarding the three fields at Southern Park, the Town of Chapel Hill is <br />bidding this now, so we do not know how many fields will be built there in the near future. <br />Mike Strand serves on the Rainbow Soccer Board of Directors. He is also Executive <br />Director of Triangle United Soccer and an adult soccer player. He is aware that there have <br />