Agenda - 10-03-2017 - 8-a - Minutes

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17 1 Segment 12 from Hillsborough to Durham County is almost exclusively contained within the 2 Town of Hillsborough's Riverwalk and Eno River State Park, such that the eventual trail location 3 is already identified. For that reason, Segment 12 was not addressed in this trail planning effort. 4 However, the actual route for Segment 11 in the statewide master plan was not identified, and 5 required refinement. Segment 11 presents challenges not present in most other segments of 6 the MST corridor in the state, in that it crosses from the Cape Fear basin to the Neuse River 7 basin, requiring a substantial section of trail route that does not have a natural feature to follow 8 and goes "up and over" the ridge between the two basins. 9 10 Recognizing the need to explore a refinement of the MST statewide master plan corridor 11 "swath", the Board asked staff in the winter/spring of 2016 to pursue a process of identifying a 12 route (or routes) for Segment 11 of the MST, including community meetings and information 13 gathering and sharing. Between April 2016 and March 2017, information was gathered and 14 presented for three community meetings about the MST on the planning for an identified route. 15 As a part of this, a significant amount of information was shared and requested, some of which 16 are provided as attachments to this agenda item. 17 18 Concurrent with the County's planning process, the Orange Water and Sewer Authority 19 (OWASA) considered the MST and conditions for use of OWASA land for the MST on two 20 occasions in 2016, and on August 25, 2016, adopted a set of conditions for use in allowing the 21 MST to traverse OWASA land near Cane Creek Reservoir. 22 23 At the March 9, 2017 community meeting, a draft map was unveiled based on the discussions 24 and planning that had occurred to date, showing a "Proposed Trail" location, two "Alternate 25 Trails", and a new concept, a "Multi-Modal Trail". Consistent with prior and current Capital 26 Investment Plans, a proposal to address the trail in sequential fashion was also shared, with the 27 portion that would extend Hillsborough's Riverwalk from Occoneechee Mountain to the Seven 28 Mile Creek Nature Park (Upper Eno Nature Preserve) as the first sub-segment to be 29 addressed. Seven Mile Creek is projected to have a "waystation" or trail node that would 30 provide for trail access, overnight camping for long-distance hikers and some level of 31 convenience services. This segment approach is also consistent with the desires of the State 32 Parks system, which prioritizes extension of existing segments (Riverwalk) over creating new 33 freestanding segments of the trail. Additionally, State Parks has recently notified the County 34 that the River Park portion of Riverwalk in Hillsborough has been formally accepted into the 35 MST. 36 37 In addition to community attendance and participation in meetings on Segment 11 planning, a 38 staff working group was formed to help identify important components of the planned route. 39 This group included representatives of the following departments and organizations: 40 • OWASA 41 • North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) 42 • NC State Parks 43 • NC Forest Service 44 • Orange County Emergency Services 45 • Orange County Sheriff's Office 46 • Orange County Planning Department 47 • Orange County Department of Environment, Agriculture, Parks and Recreation 48