Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
<br />COUNTY of ORANGE <br />ENVIRONMENT AND RESOURCE CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT <br />MEMORANDUM <br />To: Board of Commissioners <br />John Link, County Manager <br />From: David Stancil, Environment and Resource Conservation Director <br />Date:. May 15, 2001 <br />Re: Request for Easement Donation -Stillhouse Creek/RiverPark <br />At the Board's March 29th worksession, Sail Conservationist Gail Hughes <br />mentioned stream restoration work related to the RiverPark planned for County- <br />owned lands behind the Courthouse and Government Services Center in <br />Hillsborough. <br />Stillhouse Creek flows south into the Eno River, directly behind the Government <br />Services Center. Over the last 20 years, significant erasion has occurred along <br />the banks of this stream due to increased runoff. <br />To address this issue concurrently with the RiverPark planning, County <br />Recreation and Parks staff and Town of Hillsborough staff engaged the Soil and <br />Water District in 1999. The primary restoration work needed along the stream is <br />"bioengineering", ar the planting of new vegetation.along the stream corridor <br />and the placement of rack or log weirs in the stream channel to stabilize the area <br />and improve water flow. The USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service and <br />the local Soil and Water District recommend these actions to repair the stream. <br />Soil and Water staff identified this as a potential project for the NC Division of <br />Water Quality's Wetlands Restoration Program. DWQ staff have discussed the <br />project with Soil and Water District staff and determined that they would fund <br />the entire restoration project. To obtain State funding for a wetlands restoration <br />project, the landowner (in this case, the County) must grant a conservation <br />easement along the stream corridor to ensure long-term streamside conservation <br />and water quality protection. The natural character of the creek would be <br />maintained as much as possible, and the project would be coordinated with the <br />nearby Occoneechee Village. Although the existing Government Services <br />Center is within the easement corridor, the building would be excluded <br />from the easement. <br />Environment and Resource Conservation <br />PO Box 8181 / 306-A Revere Raad <br />Hiiisbarough, NC 27278 <br />(919) 245-2597 <br />