Agenda - 12-06-2004-5m - Laserfiche WebLink

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SCOPE OF WORK Cultural and Archaeological Survey Fairview Park Hillsborough, Orange County, NC Project Backaround Orange County and the Town of Hillsborough own two adjacent tracts (67 acres total) that have long been planned for use as Fairview Park, The site is located just outside Hillsborough town limits (but within the Town's extraterritorial jurisdiction) one-third mile north of the intersection of US 70 Bypass and NC 86 (Figure 1)., Orange County also owns another 26 acres containing the County's Public Works Facility on three adjacent tracts located east of the Town's property, The Town once owned the entire 67-acre property and used portions of it as a landfill, Aerial photos (1938, 1955, 1966, 1972 and 1983) indicate that the earliest use of the landfill was sometime between 1938 and 1955. The 1955 aerial shows what appears to be a small dumpsite accessed from the old McAdams Road (or "Yanceyville Road"), which parallels present-day NC 86, By 1966 it appears that the dumpsite was larger and was accessed from Torain Street, which currently separates the Town and County tracts, [This portion of McAdams Road was abandoned sometime between 1955 and 1966,] The landfill was closed in the early 1980s in conjunction with a community revitalization project for the Fairview area. In 1983, the County purchased the western portion of the property (42 acres) and began efforts to turn the property into a community park. A master site plan for the "Orange County Community Park" was completed by L.E, Wooten & Company in 1986, and the County built a playground and large parking area in 1989-90, Over the next 10 years, however, several storm events helped to delay further development of the park: 1992 tornado, 1996 Hiurricane Fran, May 2000 wind storm, and several ice storms up through the winter of 2002-03. Tree limbs and other wood debris were hauled to the County property (over the parking area) for temporary storage and handling, Some of the material was chipped and removed or buried on site. Beginning with Hurricane Fran (1996), the Town of Hillsborough started sending storm debris and yard waste for storage on the northern end of the Town tract. The County's section of the park property contains the vast majority of the former town landfill, Most of the landfill material was covered with dirt and remains open with grass and low shrubby vegetation. The alder landfill area (pre-1955) is located in the far northeastern part of the 42-acre tract and extends well into the Town's property. Expansion of the landfill occurred during the 1960s and 70s, The two open areas (covered landfill) are separated by a stream, which flows east across the property to the Town tract. Same of the landfill material is exposed (above ground), but hidden from view under dense trees and shrubs along the northern perimeter of the northern open area, A 2003 orthophoto of the property is provided as Figure 2,