Agenda - 04-17-2001-8l - Laserfiche WebLink

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~- ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: April 17, 2001 Action Agenda Item No. $- SUBJECT: Development of Soccer Field_at Mapleview Farm DEPARTMENT: Recreation and Parks PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No Economic Development ATTACHMENT(S): Maps showing location of proposed field INFORMATION CONTACT: Bob Jones, . ext 2661 Dianne Reid, ext 2325 TELEPHONE NUMBERS: Hillsborough 732-8181 Chapel Hill 968501 Durham G88-7331 Mebane 336-227-2031 PURPOSE: In response to the documented need for additional soccer practice fields in the county (as shown in the report of the Soccer Symposium Task Force), Bob Nutter of Mapleview Farm has agreed to lease a few acres of farmland to Orange County for the construction and operation of a soccer field. Representatives of three non-profit soccer organizations have been meeting regularly as a .subcommittee of the original task force and have developed a concept plan for development of this proposed field. The group seeks the support of the Board of County Commissioners for the concept as outlined below, which would become a model for future soccer field development in the county. BACKGROUND: As documented in the Soccer Symposium Task Force Report prepared for the Board of County Commissioners last fall, there is a severe shortage of fields available in the county. As of mid- summer 2000, there is only one full-size;field that is generally open to the public. As a follow-up to the report, Commissioners Brown and Jacobs agreed to meet with members of the task force to discuss how the existing soccer organizations could work together and to develop specific proposals for field development. A follow-up meeting was held on February 22 and Diana McDuffee agreed to meet with representatives from Rainbow Soccer, Triangle Futbol Club, Durham/Chapel Hill Strikers, the YMCA and the Latino community to begin developing a formal cooperative agreement between the existing and potential soccer groups, as per the adopted recommendations of the Soccer Symposium Task Force. This subcommittee has had three follow-up meetings. Meanwhile, Bob Nutter -- who had learned that a neighbor's child was traveling to Cedar Grove to participate in the county Recreation and Parks soccer program -approached the county with the offer of aten-year lease of land on his farm (at a nominal lease fee of $1 per year). As a result, the soccer subcommittee decided to look at this field as a model for future field