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c /o <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date : December 11 , 2001 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No . <br /> SUBJECT : Approval of Contract to Purchase Real Property — David Blackwood ( Trustee ) , <br /> Mary Blackwood and Nannie Blackwood <br /> DEPARTMENT : Environment and Resource PUBLIC HEARING : (Y/ N ) No <br /> Conservation <br /> ATTACHMENT INFORMATION CONTACT . <br /> 1 ) Contract to Purchase David Stancil , 245 - 2590 <br /> 2 ) Capital Project Ordinance Rich Shaw , 245 - 2591 <br /> TELEPHONE NUMBERS . <br /> Hillsborough 732 = 8181 <br /> Chapel Hill 968 =4501 <br /> Durham 688 -7331 <br /> Mebane 336 -227 -2031 <br /> PURPOSE : To approve a contract to purchase 151 . 66 acres from David Blackwood <br /> (Trustee ) , Mary Blackwood and Nannie Blackwood , and a capital project ordinance for <br /> funding of the purchase . <br /> BACKGROUND : In January of this year , ERC Director David Stancil was contacted <br /> regarding a potential sale of land owned by the Blackwood family , in the New Hope <br /> community between Hillsborough and Chapel Hill (further referenced as PIN numbers 9872 - <br /> 55 - 7302 and 9872 - 63 - 3300 ) . The property had been previously evaluated by ERCD staff in <br /> the Fall of 2000 as one of the candidate site for the Chapel Hill Township Park . It was noted <br /> that the provision of a park site in this area is also consistent with the need for a park in the <br /> New Hope / University Station area , as identified in the adopted 1988 Parks and Recreation <br /> Element of the Comprehensive Plan . <br /> The historic Blackwood farmstead , which has been in the family' s ownership since 1906 , is a <br /> former dairy farm located near the intersection of New Hope Church Road and NC 86 . The <br /> site contains a number of unique components , including the historic homesite ( portions of <br /> which date to 1827 ) , farm fields , farm outbuildings , and a portion of the old Hillsborough - <br /> Chapel Hill " stagecoach road " roadbed . The property also contains a portion of an identified <br /> County Natural Area site , a 3 - acre pond and an old cemetery which may be a 19th - Century <br /> slave burial ground . With this vast combination of historic , agricultural , natural and rural <br /> character attributes in mind , the Board of Commissioners authorized staff to enter into <br />