Agenda - 03-30-1995 - I - Laserfiche WebLink

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TLC Proposal to Orange County February 1995 Page 1 This proposal requests that Orange County appropriate $30,000 in the coming fiscal year and $50,000 annually thereafter for land purchase in the New Hope Creek corridor. This proposal is an addition to a TLC proposal submitted in November 1994 that requests $20,000 in the coming fiscal year for staff and expenses related to the landowner contact program that TLC is conducting on New Hope Creek. Having a ready source of funds has made land acquisition proceed much more quickly in Durham County. The Durham County Board of Commissioners has approved the use of $400,000 towards the purchase of up to 22 tracts totalling 480 acres. To date they have negotiated three options for 112 acres using approximately $200,000. In Orange County, TLC volunteers Audrey Booth, Bill Bracey, and Len Pardue have been contacting landowners all along New Hope Creek. These landowners have been acquainted with the goals of the master plan through letters, tapes, land materials, and one or more visits. The volunteers' efforts have paid off in the offer of three gift easements and two land donations. However, all but one of these offers of donated land have been in the upper portions of New Hope Creek above the officially designated New Hope Creek corridor. The area of the creek under the most immediate threat is the portion between the Hollow Rock store and the Durham County line. Landowners in that area have not been interested in donating their land, and many that own land bisected by the county line have been approached by Durham County about selling. TLC has become convinced that much of this land cannot be permanently protected unless it is purchased. In November, when TLC submitted its $20,000 proposal, we had not encountered any landowners who were interested in selling. In the last month that situation has changed, and two landowners have expressed willingness to sell. One of them, Max Isley, would like to sell immediately. His tract is on Mount Moriah Road and is shown in the New Hope master plan as a possible site for a trailhead into the wildlife protection area. Because of land values in this area, TLC does not have the financial resources to purchase this land without government funding. We understand, however, that it can be difficult for Orange County to appropriate the amount of money needed on short notice. This proposal therefore requests that the county establish a fund for land purchase that it would contribute to annually. TLC could negotiate reasonable sales price and payment schedules with landowners and apply