Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
8 <br /> 1 Commissioner Price asked about socio-economic data on programs. <br /> 2 David Stancil said that information is available, but he does not have it with him tonight. <br /> 3 He said they do provide a lot of subsidies in their programs. <br /> 4 Commissioner Pelissier asked what the next steps would be. She said that on the one <br /> 5 hand, the Sportsplex and the Central Recreation Center are highly used, and then there is the <br /> 6 whole thread of people wanting hiking and nature trails. She said she is not sure what the <br /> 7 public really wants. She questioned whether the public is looking to the County for these <br /> 8 provisions because there are other trails like Duke Forest, Eno River, and Occoneechee, in <br /> 9 addition to county and town parks. She said it is hard to interpret some of the results. <br /> 10 David Stancil said there are a number of survey results that raise more questions than <br /> 11 answers. He said he does not see the county proposing to ad hoc build something that is <br /> 12 proposed in this. He said all of this information will need more analysis. He said as they finalize <br /> 13 some of the nature preserves, there may be opportunities to build a couple of miles of trails. <br /> 14 Commissioner Price asked about the information regarding the percentage of population <br /> 15 that makes up to the towns. <br /> 16 David Stancil said his recollection is that it is more than 39%, and the number listed is a <br /> 17 clerical error that will be fixed. <br /> 18 Commissioner Dorosin said he is skeptical of the high numbers of support for passive <br /> 19 recreation. He said he thought the survey generally skews towards adults. He wanted to know if <br /> 20 there had been any contact with the school systems and the programs that they offer. He asked <br /> 21 if staff has looked at the County's own recreational programs, with regard to the number of <br /> 22 people that are turned away or over capacity. He said he felt like that inconsistency is a real <br /> 23 one, and he thought that part of it is built into who takes part in these surveys. <br /> 24 Chair Jacobs said he has a different take on that issue, and he would not call it passive <br /> 25 recreation but low impact. He said one thing that is missing is how to determine the priorities. <br /> 26 Commissioner Rich said she wanted to add something to Commissioner Dorosin's <br /> 27 comment. She said they have an Intergovernmental Parks Work Group with elected officials <br /> 28 from the schools, towns, and members from OWASA. She said they often talk about different <br /> 29 programs, specifically sharing of facilities. She said she is not sure if some of the outreach is <br /> 30 coming from that committee as well. <br /> 31 David Stancil said that staff did make a presentation at one of the I work group <br /> 32 meetings. <br /> 33 Commissioner Rich said she appreciated the report, but that there is a lot of information <br /> 34 to digest, and she would like more time to review it. <br /> 35 <br /> 36 Commissioner Gordon agreed it is a great report, and she would like more time to review <br /> 37 it as well. She would like to have a time frame to comment and submit changes. <br /> 38 Commissioner Gordon said she did like the way the report was presented. She does not <br /> 39 think it is inconsistent for the public to like the Sportsplex, the Central Recreation Center and <br /> 40 also to say that they like hiking trails. She said she does not know how that translates into <br /> 41 priorities, but it seems to her that both are valid. <br /> 42 Commissioner Rich said she would like the proposed parks tour to be re-scheduled. <br /> 43 David Stancil said that they would do this. <br /> 44 Commissioner Jacobs said he missed the executive summary. He said one of the things <br /> 45 that Dave Stancil said was that some things are ready to move forward, but there are no plans. <br /> 46 He said there are plans for the Northeast Park and the Blackwood Park, but there is no direction <br /> 47 right now. <br /> 48 Chair Jacobs said he thought staff should hire the payment in lieu consultants as quickly <br /> 49 as possible. He said the whole issue is that this was mostly put into abeyance until the County <br /> 50 had an adopted park plan. He said this has been in abeyance almost as long as he has been a <br /> 51 Commissioner, so the direction he is proposing is to move forward with the Bingham Township <br />