Orange County NC Website
'5$)7 <br /> <br />OUTBoard Action:Review selected standards and recommend to the BOCC that  <br />planning staff review/revise and develop amendments. <br /> <br />OUTBoard Action:Receive information and provide input. <br /> <br />RichShaw: My position is Land Conservation Manager. I work with private land owners and other conservation  <br />partners to identify important sites worthy of being set aside for a park or nature preserve. I also work with people to  <br />conservetheir own private land. DEAPR completedthis Parks and Recreations Master Planin houserather than  <br />hiring a contractor.Reviewed PowerPoint presentation.This draft master plan went to the BOCC in June and they  <br />asked us to share it with advisory boards, solicit input, and take the plan back to the BOCC this fall.DEAPR was  <br />also asked to consider the issue of emergency access to trails in the County parks and nature preserves and has  <br />developed some initial goals and objectives to address that issue. <br /> <br />Jeff Charles. I was on the American Tobacco Trail and there was a bad bike accident and we had trouble getting  <br />EMS to this person in trouble.  <br /> <br />Alex Castro: It would seem there would be coordination among the various entities. You have facilities and the  <br />operations are independent of other. There should be one standard with one protocol. <br /> <br />RichShaw: There is an Intergovernmental Parks Work Group that meets four times of year to discuss these types of  <br />issues. I am not sure this issue has been brought up. It is chaired by Alice Gordon. <br /> <br />Alex Castro: I have a copy of the Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation Department Summer Program Guide. Why can’t  <br />we have one guide? In the back of that was what was going on in road construction. Why can’t wehave one guide  <br />for all ofOrange County? We have too many silos so we need to get together and do it jointly. <br /> <br />Paul Guthrie: I want to congratulate you for doing what you have done in the short amount of time. The real  <br />challenge is managing what you have and building a consistent program from the future which will cost money and  <br />will be difficult. It is difficult to create new trails because of land owner concerns so I would encourage you to see if  <br />the landowners are interest to see if the public is interested. The other issue is that on some of those trails, they  <br />might go near settlement centers so you try to have a rest stop area for picnics or water area that becomes a safety  <br />item and that builds confidence in trails. That will be viable especially on the Mountains to Sea Trail. I would caution  <br />you on going too far on physical facilities because that is a cash eater if you have to do the high financing on it. I  <br />think the report you want to study make a lot of sense. One of the problems in your survey is that people responded  <br />to things they had done, not what they wanted to do. I certainly would encourage getting closer to the water.  <br /> <br />Abigaile Pittman: I would like to provide DEAPRstaff and a message to the BOCC as to whether or not the  <br />OUTBoard supports the overarching goal and objectives about emergency access to trail systems that DEAPRstaff  <br />and planning have worked together to develop. <br /> <br />Paul Guthrie: Obviouslythere needs to be a good coordinated emergency plan but I am not convinced thatyou have  <br />to make it motor vehicle friendly to do that. On the other hand, you can have smaller vehicles that can run down  <br />trails with the ability to haul a stretcher. There is no reason a rescue squad can’t carry a bolt cutter to open a gate for  <br />a trail.  <br /> <br />RichShaw: We have a number of trails that have not built yet. Having some objectives that have been drafted at the  <br />front end will be helpful. <br /> <br />Jeff Charles: With the new trails, you need to think about traffic control because bicyclist want to go 15 to 20 miles  <br />an hour which is totally inconsistent with pedestrians so you have to have some thought about posted speed limits.  <br />You need to think about safety issues, certainly when you come to intersections and streets. <br /> <br />Alex Castro: This is already been done at the American Tobacco Trails. Some states actually post speed limits for  <br />the bikes. <br /> <br />4