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STATEMENT TO BOARD OF ORANGE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS <br /> OCTOBER 16, 2012 <br /> Good evening, my name is John Silva, a resident of Cane Creek in Bingham Township. <br /> I would like to thank the Orange County Board of County Commissioners (OC BOCC) <br /> for the opportunity to address ongoing concerns regarding the proposed segment of the <br /> Mountain to Sea Trail (MST) in the Cane Creek (CC) watershed and the surrounding CC <br /> community. <br /> I would like to have the written statement I am about to read recorded in tonight's <br /> minutes. <br /> Cane Creek residents have communicated with the OC BOCC, OWASA, Orange <br /> County Land Management, OC Administrators, the NC State Trails Manager, and <br /> representatives of the Friends of the Mountain to Sea Trail regarding the fatal flaws in the CC <br /> segment of the MST. <br /> It is important to reinforce that the CC segment of the MST runs within yards of rural <br /> residences, presents unacceptable and unnecessary risks to Cane Creek residents, <br /> compromises the security of the Cane Creek Reservoir, and threatens to compromise the <br /> water quality of a main water supply for Chapel Hill and Carrboro. <br /> The Orange Grove Fire Chief has provided a written memo of concern to OWASA, <br /> Orange County, and FMST. He has publically stated that bulldozers would be needed to fight a <br /> fire in the CC segment of the proposed trail. What would that do to the water quality of the <br /> Cane Creek Reservoir? <br /> The Orange County Sheriff has publically stated that special vehicles would be needed <br /> to access the trail in an emergency. There will be slow response time to any incident on this <br /> remote section of trail with no access points. <br /> The CC segment is an unnecessary embellishment of the MST project given that the <br /> MST already spans the entire state as noted in public statements by FMST and as noted in <br /> Raleigh-Durham TV news coverage this spring (2012) of a woman who ran the entire MST. <br /> OWASA has protected the CC watershed since the planning stages of the reservoir. <br /> It is concerning that OWASA would consider opening up the Cane Creek reservoir for <br /> unrestricted access. Once maps of this trail segment are publicized in the social media <br /> unrestricted access will come from vehicles using our rural roads which are only a couple of <br /> minutes off the proposed trail. <br /> OWASA can save the county taxpayers money and the county commissioner's <br /> valuable time by withdrawing the use a small remote segment of their land for the MST. <br />