Minutes 11-14-2013 - Laserfiche WebLink

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d) Transportation Improvement Plans Craig Benedict said one of his staff members, Abigaile Pittman, works closely with the Burlington Graham MPO and has mentioned Orange County's projects to them. He said there has been a focus on discussing the Mattress Factory Road interchange, and there are attempts being made to get high rankings in that area. He said he hopes the Burlington Graham MPO will need to look further east as they fund projects toward Orange County. He agreed with Chair Jacob's opinion that it is better to have impact in a smaller MPO in terms of representative weight. Ed Hooks said the impact of their voting weight should be an advantage with projects like the Mattress Factory Road project. Chris Rollins said the Highway 119 project is supposed to stay on schedule and start construction in 2015. He said this will become the main entrance to the Mebane industrial park. Craig Benedict noted that Orange County and Mebane are both in NCDOT division 7, which is nestled with the Triad division 9. He said this requires them to look west when considering monies. 4. Parks and Recreation Master Plans Department of Environment, Agriculture and Parks and Recreation Director Dave Stancil said both Orange County and Mebane are doing master plans for parks and recreation. He said the County's plan is designed to look to the year 2030, which coincides with the comprehensive plan adopted in 2008. He referenced page 18 of the abstract, which contains a copy of the hand out given to attendees at the most recent public input session. He handed out copies of a map of the County parks. He said Orange County is nearly done, after 15 months of work to try and produce a vision for the future. He said much of the hand out contains the possible findings of the assessment, such as collaboration between the County and towns, and the idea of school parks. He said staff is finishing up their recommendations and service areas. He said the western part of Orange County is pretty well served. He also noted that the survey showed that people want more trails. Dean Ray, Director of Parks and Recreation for the City of Mebane, said the town is developing its very first master plan. He said a phone survey was recently completed, and citizens expressed a desire for open spaces; walking and biking trails; indoor facilities; picnic shelters and playgrounds. He noted that Lake Michael is a regional park in the master plan. He referenced the map handout and noted the red line that goes around Lake Michael Park. He said this goes 3.94 miles around the park, and the plan for phase two was to complete this trail. He would like to talk with Orange County staff about assistance with completing this trail on one side of the lake. Commissioner Rich asked about the layout of the trail on the lower part of the lake. Dean Ray said this side of the lake is on a hillside. Chair Jacobs said that the County survey showed that people want to connect County trails and greenways with town trails and greenways. He asked about the proximity of Orange County trails to Mebane and Lake Michael. Craig Benedict said the McGowan Creek corridor was part of the Efland Cheeks master plan, and there were two parts that included the McGowan Creek Preserve and the Efland Community Park. He said if this could be continued upstream, the headwaters of Lake Michael and McGowan Creek almost touch, so that would be the game plan. He said part of the other Mountains to Sea Trail (MTST) plan would have connected this.