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County Landmark? A possible landmark designation could include the whole site or just <br />the central historic farmstead; members favored landmarking the farmstead and possibly <br />the old road, but not the entire 152 acres. This existing master plan dates from 2011 and <br />will eventually be updated. Staff reported on current repairs to the porch and the <br />installation of fence -type gates in the barn bay openings. There is funding still on hand for <br />restoring the exterior of the house, right now planned to retain its ca. 1920 -30 <br />appearance. Restoration would remove the aluminum siding, modern decks etc but <br />generally maintain the house in its present form. Family photos show some older <br />outbuildings now lost, like the potato house and outhouse. Staff will bring back a proposal <br />in the future outlining a restoration plan for HPC review and recommendations. The <br />current plan is to open the park for low- impact or "soft" use this spring. Golan raised the <br />question of the long -term preservation of the land around the farm, especially the <br />Strayhorn property at the main intersection as well as the parcel along 1 -40. Members <br />hoped the county would seek to protect those adjoining parcels to preserve the scenic <br />qualities of the site. <br />c. Planning for the "second reconstruction" of the Occaneechi Village at River Park near <br />the Farmer's Market (Attachment 3): <br />Members reviewed the package of photos and maps showing the village and the <br />archeological work at the original village site between the 1930s and the present. Staff <br />described the outcome of a recent meeting with John Jeffries, who represents the <br />Occaneechi tribe, regarding a possible project to rebuild the village that he first <br />reconstructed between about 1999 and 2003. Discussion followed about the importance <br />of accurately recreating the village size and layout. Mr. Jeffries worked closely with Steve <br />Davis and Trawick Ward with the UNC Research Laboratories of Archaeology. There is <br />some money in the upcoming county budget for River Park that could be used to help <br />undertake the village restoration. Members noted that the village in the early 2000s was <br />very popular. The material used to cover the huts should be reconsidered to give a more <br />accurate appearance. The tribe now owns land in Alamance County, where they would <br />like to develop an Occaneechi cultural center so it is not clear if there would much tribal <br />involvement other than Mr. Jeffries. Tourism grants were used for the first reconstruction. <br />Members expressed a lot of interest in volunteering to help make this happen. <br />ITEM #6: UPDATES AND INFORMATION ITEMS <br />a. Town HDC agrees to participate in publication project <br />Staff made a second presentation to the Town HDC in early January to review the project <br />again and seek their final vote of support. The HDC members were impressed with the <br />Chapel Hill book that was published in 2006. They voted to support the Town in a project <br />to do a joint publication and to have the town staff seek a CLG grant from the state this <br />year, with the town to be asked to allocate $10,000. This may or may not make it through <br />the Town budget process this year but is a strong show of support. Claudia Brown at the <br />State Historic Preservation Office says that their highest priority is to complete the survey <br />update or inventory of the Town outside of the existing National Register Historic District. <br />Her office says that town inventory will get priority in the Federal review ranking process <br />and would be ranked higher than our application. She indicated that we could still submit a <br />CLG application but if they give a grant to the town then our grant will be small. We still <br />have County matching funds showing up in the next year's budget, so that will allow us to <br />move forward even if we don't get much CLG grant funding. There are a lot of moving <br />parts and this all has to be worked out by the grant deadline of Feb. 27th, so staff will <br />report back on the outcome at our next meeting. Our consultants are getting underway <br />right now and can come to meet with us, probably in April. <br />2 <br />