Minutes 12-12-2017 - Laserfiche WebLink

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16 • Jordan Lake Headwaters Nature Preserve • Wildlife and Natural Connection Corridors between New Hope Creek and the Eno River • Local Historic Landmarks (aka easements) Orange County Lands Legacy Action Plan 2018-20 (map) Commissioner Marcoplos referred to the funding options for these projects and said social media is reporting that the Board of County Commissioners is blowing $5 million on parks, which is not true since they are from past bonds. David Stancil said about $2.4 million of the funds track back to the 2001 Parks and Open Space bond. Commissioner Marcoplos said there are also Payment in Lieu (PIL) funds, which are generated by development as a fair way to generate parkland and recreational opportunities. He said it would be illegal for the BOCC to use these funds for any other purpose. David Stancil said PIL funds can only be used for park and open space land acquisition or construction. He said the bond funds were converted to alternative financing, and the original prohibition from the 2001 bond may no longer be in place. He said the public approved the funds for park and recreational use. Commissioner Marcoplos said using them for alternate projects may not be illegal, but would be highly inappropriate. He said this information should be clearly explained to the public. Commissioner Jacobs said he appreciated Commissioner Marcoplos’ comments, and having the money left could be a sign of frugality and caution of spending bond money. Commissioner Jacobs suggested gathering visitation numbers from the parks and facilities, and to adding them as an appendix to the plan. Commissioner Jacobs reported when he attended the food meeting with Wake and Durham counties, he thanked the City of Raleigh for the money spent to protect its watershed in northern Orange County. He said he spoke with representatives from Durham, and reminded them that Durham has taken no similar action. He said further discussion can be had about municipalities contributing to the protection of water supplies. Commissioner Rich said Wake County’s contribution to protecting the watersheds was also mentioned at the TJCOG meeting last week. She said the meeting notes may be helpful in composing any potential letter on this issue. Commissioner Rich referred to the idea of gathering data on park usage, and said Hollow Rock Park has proved far more popular than expected. She said numbers on parks would be easy to gather. Chair Dorosin said this program is very successful, but he has concerns that acquisition is exceeding the usage of these parklands. He said it is discouraging to the public to see land acquired and not developed as envisioned. He said he would like to review and re-prioritize needs, which may be better done through a work session discussion. Commissioner Burroughs said she views this differently, and considers parkland as land banking, available to future generations. She said she does not think the public is clamoring for park development, and she looks forward to a longer conversation on this topic. Chair Dorosin asked if this Board wanted to prioritize developing parks, is it permitted to use these land legacy monies. David Stancil said the Board could do so, and steps were taken last year in the CIP. He said land banking was done consciously for the future time when the land was needed. He said some parks have taken much longer than expected, but construction costs are different than acquisition costs.