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Approved 1-16-2008 1 MINUTES ORANGE UNIFIED TRANSPORTATION BOARD MEETING OCTOBER 17, 2007 MEMBERS PRESENT: Randy Marshall, Bingham Township Representative; Sam Lasris, Cedar Grove Township Representative; Pascale Mittendorf, Hillsborough Township Representative, Bryn Smith, Chapel Hill Township CFE Representative; Jan Grossman, Bicycle Transportation Advocate; Nancy Cole Baker, Pedestrian Access Advocate; Alice Gordon, Board of County Commissioners MEMBERS ABSENT: Robert Peterson, Chapel Hill Township Representative; James Ray, Eno Township Representative; Al Terry, Transportation Services Board Representative; Sandra Johnson Quinn, Eno Township, Planning Board Representative; Transit Advocate, Vacant; Cheeks Township, Vacant; Little River Township, Vacant STAFF PRESENT: Karen Lincoln, Transportation Planner; Donna Davenport, Administrative Assistant, II, Pat Strong, TJ COG; Rick Shaw I. Call to order and roll call II. Consideration of additions to the agenda Karen Lincoln: I was not able to attend the Comprehensive Plan update kickoff meeting for Phase II. Could someone that attended the meeting give an update. III. Board Comments Alice Gordon: I would like it noted that I had a conflict with the last meeting due to a BOCC meeting scheduled at the same time. Please add that to the minutes. IV. Approval of Minutes of September 19, 2007 meeting MOTION made by Randy Marshall to accept the minutes. Seconded by Jan Grossman. V. Presentation on Existing Programs for Obtaining Conservation Easements Rich Shaw: I have been invited to speak about our Land Legacy Program. It was established in 2000 by the Board of County Commissioners because they felt there was land protection done in the County but it didn’t happen fast enough. The program was created and given a budget. We acquire park land, stream buffers, prime farm land and we try to protect cultural historical sites. These lands are protected through voluntary means, land trusts, non-profit organizations, universities protecting land, etc. The public approved a farm referendum in 1997 and 2001 and some of those funds were for farmland and open space. There’s a master plan for parklands in the county and there are a lot of holes to fill. We have acquired a lot of land for parks and some are not open for the public yet. Conservation easements are where the County works with the landowner to put permanent restrictions on the use of their land to protect certain natural and cultural resources. In the last seven years, we have acquired 800 acres of land and 1,200 acres for parks. The current lands legacy action plan is displayed here (pointed to map). There is a ‘Mountains to the Sea Trail’ (currently not an adopted plan) being proposed to go from Jockey’s Ridge (Dare County) to Queenmans Dome (mountains). The idea is to have the trail to go through Durham County connecting along the Eno River to Downtown Hillsborough. Further west, the state’s preferred route is to connect Hillsborough by the Haw River toward Burlington. (Showed a mosaic of colored parcels throughout the county, the land the County has acquired is in orange.) We use GIS and maps to see where there are logical connections. The projects are in the Lands Legacy Action Plan and refer to other plans. Those plans are listed in your handout. In that plan there was a goal or objective to establish greenways to connect people in neighborhoods throughout the rural buffer. Most of