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community that support the trail have insisted that there be no access points <br /> in their community. <br /> - Third, what are the rules and expectations between the County and OWASA, <br /> given OWASA's recent comments that the Bingham routes be set before a <br /> trail is routed on land near the reservoir. <br /> We believe that once your board is updated, you will agree that work in Bingham <br /> and OWASA is premature and should be discontinued until the county has engaged <br /> impacted property holders. The trail should be invited into our neighborhood, not <br /> mandated upon our neighborhood because it fits the larger goal of an organization that <br /> does not even reside in Orange County. <br /> This issue is important to us — and without a real dialog, attitudes will degrade <br /> and community leaders will begin to solidify opposition to what should otherwise be a <br /> positive project. <br /> Please start a meaningful public discussion on the Mountains to Sea trail, and <br /> place the topic at the start of your agenda. <br /> Thank you." <br /> Chair Pelissier said that this item was put on an earlier agenda as a report even <br /> though there was a petition to put it on an agenda. The response has been that it is a <br /> report item and that it will not come up until the staff has come up with more definitive <br /> information. She said that this is not a project of the County per se, but it is a project of <br /> the Mountains to Sea Trail. <br /> b. Matters on the Printed Aqenda <br /> (These matters were considered when the Board addressed that item on the agenda <br /> below.) <br /> 3. Petitions by Board Members <br /> Commissioner McKee said that he would like a status report on the request to have <br /> more meetings on the MTST and Chair Pelissier said that Kate Dixon at the state MTST would <br /> be organizing a meeting in the near future. <br /> Commissioner Gordon petitioned the board to send a letter to Chancellor Thorp to <br /> thank him and the University of North Carolina for adding 107.6 acres of environmentally <br /> sensitive land to the Mason Farm Biological Reserve. This is a part of the Parker Property, a <br /> 126.5 acre tract conveyed to UNC at Chapel Hill by William and Athena Parker in 1976. She <br /> made reference to her handout. She said that the Parker family gave this land to the <br /> University with the hope that it would be preserved. The 107.6 acres will be administered and <br /> managed by the N.C. Botanical Garden as part of the Mason Farm Biological Reserve. The <br /> remaining 18.9 acres of the Parker property will be left undeveloped for the next 25 years. <br /> Commissioner Jacobs petitioned the Board to do more formal recognitions of <br /> community residents such as Chapel Hill Creamery that just won an award for its cheese, the <br /> anonymous Boy Scout that raised money for Department of Environment, Agriculture, Parks <br /> and Recreation (DEAPR), etc. He said that the County should honor these residents that are <br /> achieving in their realms. <br /> 4. Proclamations/ Resolutions/ Special Presentations <br />