Orange County NC Website
1 <br />2 <br />3 <br />4 <br />5 <br />6 <br />7 <br />8 <br />9 <br />10 <br />11 <br />12 <br />13 <br />14 <br />15 <br />16 <br />17 <br />18 <br />19 <br />20 <br />21 <br />22 <br />23 <br />24 <br />25 <br />26 <br />27 <br />28 <br />29 <br />30 <br />31 <br />32 <br />33 <br />34 <br />35 <br />Council Member Ward said skills development activities should be arm in arm with an <br />innovation center, and there is a synergy that can be achieved. He said working as a <br />partnership can be more complicated, but involving UNC, Durham Tech, the Town and the <br />County together leads to a higher investment in the outcome. <br />Commissioner Price said the location of the Skills Development Center is good in some <br />ways but is inconvenient for parking. She said Durham Tech would be happy to move if able to <br />stay in the same general area. She said the current satellite offices of Durham Tech need to be <br />consolidated into a campus in Orange County at Waterstone, in addition to Durham and RTP <br />campuses. <br />Chair McKee said these two properties have possibilities. <br />b) Joint Parks and Recreational Opportunities <br />David Stancil noted the lateness of the hour and said he is happy to answer any <br />questions. <br />Council Member Ward asked if there was access to summary information on artificial <br />turf and its success. <br />Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation Director Jim Orr said with the joint partnership <br />between Orange County and Chapel Hill, an artificial turf complex was opened at Cedar Falls in <br />December 2013. He said in the first year there was an increase of 67,200 participants using <br />that field compared to the prior year when condition was subpar. He said the participants <br />rented the field, and it was opened to the public as well on Fridays and Sunday afternoons. He <br />said approximately 7500 people used the fields during that time. He said the fields offered <br />greater use due to the artificial turf and it brought in $80,000 in revenue compared to $2,000 of <br />maintenance cost. He said every two to three years the field is lightly top dressed at an <br />expense of approximately $10,000. He said the fields are not booked to capacity, and additional <br />users for the field are being explored. He concluded that the partnership between Orange <br />County and Chapel Hill regarding the artificial turf seemed to be beneficial and should continue. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said he hoped staff could continue to talk about doing fields <br />across from the Town's Operation Center. <br />Council Member Ward said this is a piece of land that the County owns, and he asked <br />that staffs be instructed to move forward with a plan for this site and how it may play to the <br />bond issue. <br />David Stancil said the Millhouse Road Park is in both of their master plans. <br />36 3. Update on Rogers Road Project <br />37 Mary Darr from Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA) said they have been <br />38 working with the Towns and the County on sewer projects. She said engineers went out in the <br />39 field to verify the table top plans previously created for the project in 2012. She said that a <br />40 consulting engineer, the Jackson Center, as well as the stakeholders in the Rogers Road area <br />41 have been consulted. She reported that this preliminary engineering report showed no <br />42 surprises. Some items from the table top report have been improved. She said the estimated <br />43 cost is $5.7 million for 3.5 miles of sewer. She said this does not include private plumbing costs, <br />44 easement acquisitions, and connection fees. She said the anticipated timeline is at least two <br />45 years, starting with engineering plans with design and permitting in FY 2016 at a cost of <br />46 $370,000. She said this would be followed by construction bids and the construction itself in FY <br />47 2017 -2018. <br />48 Commissioner Dorosin asked if there is any possibility of moving this forward <br />49 expeditiously. <br />