ORD-2016-036 Ordinance approving Budget Amendment #2-A for Fiscal Year 2016-17

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2 At the Board's September 8, 2016 work session, the Board indicated agreement with moving ahead to take formal action to codify the plan for the County's 60 acres at an upcoming Board meeting. The attached resolution would take four actions consistent with Board discussion of September 8: • Formally announce the intention of the County's 60 acres to be used for open space and low-impact recreation. • Transfer and "enroll" the property into the County's Lands Legacy Program with the name of "Headwaters Nature Preserve," in keeping with the County's parks and open space naming categories from the adopted "Parks and Recreation Master Plan — 2030." • Authorize the reimbursement of the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund for the property, consistent with budget and Capital Investment Plan (CIP) approvals in June for FY 2016-17. • Direct staff to return with a plan for implementation and opening of the Nature Preserve (consistent with the planning for the adjoining Greene Tract). The name "Headwaters Nature Preserve" is suggested since the Headwaters of Old Field Creek is located on the 60-acre parcel. However, this name is also applicable to the 104-acre Greene Tract, since the headwaters of Bolin Creek and Booker Creek are on that property. If the ultimate plan for the 107-acre Greene Tract continues to have an open space component that is contiguous to the proposed 60-acre Headwaters Preserve, perhaps that designation could be extended onto the like sections of the Greene Tract — creating a larger contiguous "Headwaters Nature Preserve". As noted at the September 8th meeting, Orange County now has a Lands Legacy Program that is 16 years old with a long track record of conserving important natural and cultural resource lands. The action to enroll the land in the Lands Legacy Program would give the land a standing consistent with the other 1,043 acres of nature preserves and parks in the Lands Legacy Program. Funding for the reimbursement to the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund was approved as part of the budget and would be appropriated via this action. It is recommended that staff undertake an assessment of the 60 acres (see Attachment 3) to determine the status of the resources present, including the "volunteer" trails that have evolved by public usage over time. This will enable staff to identify needed improvements to make trails more accessible and address any erosion problems, review the status of any cultural or archaeological resources present, and look to answers for access and other related infrastructure needs. The County's 60 acres is landlocked, and any future access may have to come through the 107-acre Greene Tract, so linkage and consistency with the planning for the jointly-held property is of paramount consideration. An initial review of the plan recommendations and overview map indicate a vision for future land uses on the proposed Headwaters Nature Preserve that are consistent with the plan described above — the overview map shows "Conservation Priority" for these 60 acres. There are, however, a number of new proposals for adjoining lands.