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t <br /> 1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 4—a <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT J <br /> Meeting Date: June 2, 1997 <br /> SUBJECT: Lease renewal; State of North Carolina Tower Site on Eno Mountain <br /> DEPARTMENT: PURCHASING AND Public Hearing: No <br /> CENTRAL SERVICES Budget Amendment Reqd? No <br /> ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> PAM JONES, ext. 2650 <br /> Lease <br /> Telephone Number- <br /> Hillsborough 732-8181 <br /> Chapel Hill 967-9251 <br /> Mebane 227-2031 <br /> Durham 688-7331 <br /> PURPOSE: To consider a lease renewal with the State of North Carolina for their <br /> communications tower site on Eno Mountain. <br /> BACKGROUND: Since 1947 the County has leased the property at the top of Eno <br /> Mountain to the State of North Carolina as the location for a communications tower as <br /> well as a forestry fire tower. The State has expressed a desire to renew the lease for <br /> forty (40) years for the communications tower site only, effective July 1, 1997. <br /> The State indicates that they no longer need the fire tower. In fact, in the current level <br /> of disrepair as an observation tower, it may constitute a safety hazard. As a condition of <br /> the proposed lease, the State proposes to see that the tower is removed. Adventurers <br /> attempting to climb the tower continue to be an ongoing problem at the Eno Mountain <br /> site. From the perspective of the Emergency Management officials for both the County <br /> and the State, the nature of the equipment and operations on the Eno Mountain site, <br /> make pedestrian traffic to the observation tower undesirable and they, therefore support <br /> the removal of the tower as well. <br /> Highlights of the proposed lease with the State are as follows: <br /> • Includes the use of approximately .26 acres; <br /> • Lease terminates June 30, 2037; <br /> • The State will remove the existing Fire Tower. Note: At some point in the future, the <br /> Board may be requested to consider a lease with the Norfolk-Southern Railroad for a <br /> tower site on Eno Mountain to support their high-speed rail service. Since this <br /> service is technically a State program and since the safety of Orange County <br /> citizens has a direct bearing on the trains being able to communicate while traveling <br /> through the County, the County was entertaining the idea of allowing the tower to be <br /> built on the Eno Mountain property. The Board received a communique on this <br />