Agenda - 09-01-2015 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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10 1 New Hope Creek corridor from central Orange County to Jordan Lake. The master plan 2 envisioned a public trail network with a number of"access areas" at strategic locations, 3 including the "Hollow Rock Access Area" at the intersection of Erwin Road and Pickett Road. 4 The planned Hollow Rock Access Area is a 75-acre site comprised of multiple land parcels 5 owned separately by Orange County, Durham County, and the Town of Chapel Hill. The site 6 straddles the Orange-Durham county line and New Hope Creek forms the western boundary. 7 Portions of the site are protected with conservation easements held by the State of North 8 Carolina. The site was acquired in a series of separate land transactions from 2001-2014. 9 The Triangle Land Conservancy (TLC) purchased the first two acres in 2002, and then 10 advocated for further acquisitions. Orange County purchased four parcels from 2005-07 with 11 the help of state grants. A 43-acre tract was acquired by Durham and Orange counties and the 12 Town of Chapel Hill in 2008 with funding assistance from the City of Durham, the State, and the 13 Erwin Area Neighborhood Group. Orange County acquired the two-acre TLC property in May 14 2014. 15 In 2006 the four local governments signed an interlocal agreement for the acquisition 16 and planning of the planned Hollow Rock Access Area, and also established a Hollow Rock 17 Master Plan Committee, co-chaired by Commissioner Barry Jacobs and including then- 18 Commissioner Alice Gordon. The master plan was adopted by each of the four local 19 government partners in 2009-10. Orange County adopted the plan on April 20, 2010. 20 Construction of the initial public amenities for the Hollow Rock site will occur in the latter 21 half of 2015 with help from a $200,000 NC Recreational Trails Program grant awarded to 22 Durham County in collaboration with Orange County. Orange County's share of this Phase 1 a 23 construction is $50,000 from the adopted 2014-19 Capital Investment Plan (CIP). The CIP 24 identifies an additional $120,500 from Orange County for Phase 1 b construction in 2016-17. A 25 phasing plan for development of the site is provided as Attachment 4. 26 The Department of Environment, Agriculture, Parks and Recreation (DEAPR) worked 27 closely with the Durham County staff to develop a draft interlocal agreement for the 28 development and operation of the Hollow Rock portion of the larger New Hope Preserve. The 29 agreement describes the property ownership, existing encumbrances (conservation 30 easements), and allowed uses consistent with the adopted master plan. The agreement also 31 addresses how the parties would share in the cost of future improvements, the operation and 32 maintenance of the site, and development of a joint management plan. 33 An initial draft agreement was presented to the Board on March 3, and the Board 34 referred the draft agreement to the Durham-Chapel Hill-Orange County Work Group 35 (DCHOWG) for consideration on March 11. Since then DEAPR has worked closely with 36 Durham County staff to incorporate recommended edits from the DCHOWG as well as 37 separate technical edits received from Town of Chapel Hill, Durham County, and the Orange 38 County Attorney. 39 The only non-technical issue of note is that the consensus of the DCHOWG was to 40 change the name of this site from the "Hollow Rock Access Area", a placeholder name from the 41 1992 New Hope Creek Master Plan, to the "Hollow Rock Nature Park". The initial draft 42 agreement that the Board received on March 3 suggested the name change to "Hollow Rock 43 Park and Natural Area," but many reviewers of the document commented that name was too 44 long and cumbersome. 45 The revised interlocal agreement is ready to be reconsidered by the Board. The 46 agreement was approved by the Town of Chapel Hill on May 27 and is scheduled to be 47 considered for approval by Durham County on June 8. 48 49 FINANCIAL IMPACT: