Agenda - 03-18-2014 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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IN I In 1992, Orange County, Chapel Hill, Durham County and the City of Durham adopted the New 2 Hope Corridor Master Plan, which called for preservation of lands along the New Hope Creek 3 corridor, from central Orange County to Jordan Lake. The master plan envisioned a public trail 4 network with a number of "access areas" at strategic locations, including the Hollow Rock 5 Access Area at the intersection of Erwin Road and Pickett Road. 6 7 The planned Hollow Rock Access Area is a 75 -acre site comprised of multiple land parcels 8 owned separately by Orange County, Durham County, the Town of Chapel Hill and the Triangle 9 Land Conservancy. The site straddles the Orange- Durham county line and New Hope Creek 10 flows from north to south along the western boundary. 11 12 The site was acquired in a series of separate land transactions from 2001 through 2008. The 13 Triangle Land Conservancy (TLC) purchased the first two acres in 2002, and then advocated 14 for further acquisitions by local government partners. Orange County purchased four parcels 15 from different entities from 2005 through 2007 with the help of state grants made possible by 16 TLC. The purchase of a 43 -acre tract from Duke University by Durham and Orange counties 17 and the Town of Chapel Hill was completed in 2008 with funding assistance from City of 18 Durham, the State of North Carolina, and the Erwin Area Neighborhood Group (EANG). The 19 State grants require that portions of the site be protected with permanent conservation 20 easements. 21 22 In 2006, the four local governments signed an interlocal agreement for the acquisition, planning 23 and operation of the Hollow Rock Access Area, and also established a Hollow Rock Master 24 Plan Committee, co- chaired by Commissioner Barry Jacobs and including Commissioner Alice 25 Gordon. The Committee worked over an 18 -month period to develop a master plan that was 26 adopted by all four local government partners in 2009 -10. Orange County adopted the plan on 27 April 20, 2010. 28 29 The Triangle Land Conservancy (TLC) has been involved in the project since its inception, but it 30 is now ready to convey its portion of the property for an addition to the public recreation area. 31 TLC has offered to sell its 2.6 -acre parcel (686 Erwin Road) to the County for $66,013 plus 32 transaction costs. TLC purchased the property in 2001 for $132,000 with help from a grant from 33 the NC Clean Water Management Trust Fund. The current tax value is $211,915 ($144,846 34 land; $67,069 buildings). The proposed purchase price would be a "bargain sale ". 35 36 Rick Shaw said that grant funds were recently awarded by the state, to Durham County 37 for the development of the Hollow Rock site. He said a new inter -local agreement between 38 Orange and Durham Counties regarding development of the access area will come before the 39 Board in another month or two. 40 Rich Shaw said TLC has signed a contract with Orange County. He said if the Board 41 approves this purchase, the anticipated closing date will occur at the end of April 2014. 42 Chair Jacobs thanked Rich Shaw for the yellow handout and the summary. 43 44 PUBLIC COMMENT: 45 46 Chad Jemison, Executive Director of TLC, said he is new to this area, and he sees the 47 Triangle growing rapidly. He said one thing that attracted him to coming to the TLC is that the 48 organization recently adopted, in 2011, a strategy for moving forward. He said this is called the 49 public benefits model. He said the 4 public benefits of this are: safeguarding clean drinking 50 water; access to local food and protecting local farm communities; protecting important wildlife