OUTBoard minutes 121609 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Approved 1/20/10 3 County so she wanted him to tell the Board about the way things used to be and noted that she hopes someday to 110 get back to that place again. 111 112 Tom Magnuson advised the Board that his organization’s business is finding and mapping colonial landscapes and 113 the most obvious landscape remnants, the ones that are most constant are the old roads, trails, and paths. He noted 114 that because the topography is clay they hold the indentations. He told the Board that the reason they go out and 115 find them is not because they are valuable but because up until the mid 19th century nobody lived more than a couple 116 of feet from the road. It was the source of information. People would sit on porches and all traffic moved slowly 117 enough to have a conversation while passing and it was the way people stayed informed until rural mail delivery 118 started in the 19th century and people started having long driveways, etc. He noted that most people walked. 119 120 Speaker Tom Magnuson continued to educate the OUTBoard members on the history of walking and Orange 121 County. He discussed multiple land sites and their origins throughout the County. He noted that during his research 122 over the past summer they found five cemeteries, four taverns, and three schools that had not been recorded. His 123 presentation included a map and he discussed the original size of the County before it was split and became part of 124 the surrounding counties. Tom recommended that the planning process include some of the historical features of the 125 County in future projects. The Board discussed the possible use of some of the old roads in the pedestrian plan. He 126 suggested that there is value as tourist attractions to be had from some of the sites. He also noted that when some 127 other counties get sewer and water easements they also purchase the right of passage and recommends that 128 Orange County do the same for future trails. 129 130 Nancy Baker speculated that perhaps someday the Lands Legacy Program might encourage farmers to donate strips 131 of land, or the right to use the land. 132 133 Tom Magnuson also noted an instance where a county purchased the buffer along a river so the farmers wouldn’t 134 incur the burden of cleaning up trees, etc. along the river and in doing so they got some good hiking trails. He noted 135 there a lot of trails and paths in Orange County (many can be found on www.tradingpath.org ) and that his mission of 136 his organization is to find, map, and protect landscape artifacts and remnants from the colonial era. He noted that he 137 is also creating a group called the Historic Mapping Congress and they are going to have a website that the public 138 can go and say ‘there’s a road here…’ or ‘there’s an old tavern there….’ and they will be able to go to the map and 139 draw on the map and it will become a GIS layer. After that is done there will be a data form to fill out telling what it 140 represents. It will then be authenticated by each county. He informed the Board that when that happens there will be 141 a map and say ‘show me where all the taverns are between 1740 and 1760 in Orange County. Tom also let the 142 OUTBoard members know that his organization holds public hikes on the first Sunday of every month and those are 143 advertised on the website. 144 145 At the conclusion of the presentation, Nancy Baker informed the Board that the pedestrian plan had held six or seven 146 meetings and one of the things they have done is look for routes. She noted they are also putting together all the 147 lands that are going to be held by groups like Duke Forest that can be accessed by the public. The map they have 148 started also has destinations. Nancy reviewed the map with the group and explained some of the routes. 149 150 Amy Cole suggested that the Safe Routes to School project investigate whether or not there are any trading paths 151 near the schools that could be incorporated into the current Safe Routes to School project. They are going to be 152 proposing some options and if there is a possibility there are some historic paths for a pedestrian path to go through 153 it may be even safer for the children to walk than the side of the road. 154 155 Karen Lincoln noted that SRTS funds would not include money for purchasing right-of-way but sometimes there are 156 neighborhood paths that kids use. The Safe Routes to School projects are mostly to provide safe crossings, safe 157 routes for bicycles, etc. Karen did advise that once there is a plan, there are various grants for which the County 158 can apply to help with greenway trails. She agrees it would be good to find out if there are any historic landscapes. 159 160 Jeff Charles suggested that the bicycling community involved as many also spend a lot of time hiking. 161 162 Nancy Baker added that there is also the horseback community to consider. 163