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I . Executive Summary The Orange County Assembly of Governments discussed equity and efficiency issues related to the delivery of local government services and focused on the area of recreation and park services . The consensus of this group was . . . "That the local government staffs make recommendations to their governing bodies about opportunities for joint planning for and use of capital improvements for recreation and park services . And, that both school systems be involved in any cooperative venture . " A Recreation and Park Work Group was formed with representatives from the local governments of Carrboro , Chapel Hill, and Orange County and both the Chapel Hill-Carrboro and Orange County School Boards . The Town of Hillsborough administration chose to not actively participate at this time . This report entails the issues considered by all parties and assigned to the Recreation and Park Work Group . To succeed in mutual planning for recreation zrid. :parks� p1_ann .g.. r..ecuires needs assessment �. and developing uniform standards across the jurisdictions . In setting standards for recreation and park needs in the coming years , it is necessary to recognize the unique impact of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on this process . This is because the .institution accounts for a large part of the population of Orange County, while at the same time offering a range of facilities and services to its students and employees . There are , for example , about 8 , 000 students living in dorms and another '3 , 000 living in fraternities and sororities whose recreation and park needs are largely met by the University . A related factor to consider is that the portion of the projected growth in population for Orange County that * comes from the University will continue to decrease steadily. Put differently , a growing proportion of the population in Orange County will come from in- migrants whose jobs are located throughout the Triangle Area and this group of residents will look to the three governmental jurisdictions to meet their needs for recreation and parks . Another factor to consider is that the population growth that is projected for Orange County will come primarily from the towns of Carrboro and Chapel Hill . At the same time, the unincorporated areas of the county are becoming * 0more urbanized with the additional subdivisions that are being approved . This means that the demand for recreation and parks will increase as the population becomes more urbanized across Orange County . With our population growing, land is becoming more scarce and recreation demands are increasing. Taken together, these factors point to the need to expand recreation and park facilities and services at an accelerating rate over the coming years . The Recreation and Park Work Group ' s initial goals focused specifically on the tasks assigned and agreed upon by the governmental jurisdictions convening as the Orange County Page 1