Agenda - 09-12-2006-9b - Laserfiche WebLink

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Paae 4 Fairview Park Master Plan Map: On the map in the area known as the "southern pod" identified as the Hardwood Area (To be preserved). The Town Board requests that the reference to preserving the hardwood area be removed from the map. Paae 7 Master Plan Rationale (second (2"d) paragraph, second (2"d) sentence) The Town Board requests that the text "while preserving a block of the hardwoods" be removed from the paragraph. Attachment A The Town prefers that any reference to land configuration to be conveyed to the Town during the land swap be represented as shown on Attachment A, Fairview Campus Preliminary Concept Plan. The question of preserving a portion of the hardwood forest or increasing the future Town Public Works footprint is one that has come up on a number of occasions, bath at joint County/Town commissioners meetings and in the Master Plan Committee. The area in question is on the Town-owned portion of the combined 92-acre properties, which both Town and County have consented by Memorandum of Agreement (dated 11/16/04) to jointly plan. The County's position during the master plan has been that the hardwood area is the most significant area of mature forest on the site and that as much of it as possible should be retained for low-impact recreation (some portions already would be lost to the planned ballfields and other recreational amenities). The Town has expressed interest in having the area retained for future Town Public Works expansion. As previously noted, language to provide for this to some degree was added to the Master Plan before completion, but the Town feels that this is insufficient to meet their long-term needs. In terms of next steps for the project, once the master plan is agreed to by both boards, two additional activities would occur: 1, Finalization of the land swap between Town and County for Public Works, and 2, Discussion of a possible Memorandum of Agreement on operations and maintenance of the park (this could occur during the next phase of final design, bid and construction), The Orange County Recreation and Parks Advisory Council (RPAC) considered this topic at its meeting on August 23`d, and recommended that representatives from the Town and County meet to find amutually-acceptable solution, The idea of a larger buffer was suggested, and it was noted that perceived safety issues may impact the community interest in retaining the entire hardwood area (please see attached memo from RPAG), FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no direct financial impact associated with this possible change to the master plan. However, loss of additional portions of the hardwood forest area to Town Public Works future expansion would take some of the land away from the park, which could have indirect casts on park construction, RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board consider the proposed changes from the Town, and schedule a time to discuss the matter further with the Town Board (or appoint and charge a subset of the Board to meet with a similar contingent from the Town Board).