PRC meeting summary 04072021 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mile Creek (county owned). The State property office worked with the Eno River Association to purchase another section of property just west of Occoneechee Mountain, getting the trail closer to Dimmock's Mill Road. The DEAPR office is working with Eno River Association on a couple of additional promising possible connections that may occur in the next one to two years. The county received guaranteed grant funding from the State Land and Water Trust Fund for an acquisition that will expand the Seven Mile Creek Natural Area significantly. The county also received guaranteed grant funding through the same agency for a conservation easement directly adjacent to Seven Mile Creek Natural Area on the Moorefields property. This is a conservation easement and hopefully also allow for a trail easement. Alice Armstrong asked if the MST will go to Chapel Hill? Stancil replied that it will not, that the MST route runs from Saxapahaw in southern Alamance County to Hillsborough and thence to Durham through Eno River State Park. However, there is another idea out there for a multimodal trail that may connect Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough - but that is not part of the MST. In the Cane Creek Reservoir area Hirni reported that Christina Duprez, owner of the former Inn at Bingham School, donated a trail easement that will connect the future parking area and the trailhead on NC 54 to the intersection at Mebane Oaks Road. Additionally, an easement amendment has been recorded with a separate landowner further north who wishes to donate a trail easement to the county. Several landowners in the Cane Creek Reservoir area have easements that were drafted in the late-1990's to early-2000's. Those easements do not have specific language that allows or does not allow a trail, so the issue may arise again in the future. The Friends of MST and OWASA staff are working with County staff on a potential trail segment. Staff is reviewing the memorandum of approval and conditions with OWASA from 2018. Reyman asked if the State helped with the purchase of easements or if the county did it all. Stancil stated it is a mix with the state having funded over 50% so far. Tippin asked about the blue shaded areas on the map. Stancil reported these are OWASA owned lands. Tippin asked if Stancil is still hearing of opposition from landowners to the MST in that area. Stancil stated he has not in the last couple of years. He highlighted some changes to the Caterpillar Creek arm of the lake that had been a concern and a new alternate route. This alternate route will hopefully resolve the issue for residents in that area. Report of the Director: Stancil noted that he and Chair Haywood Rhodes will appear before the BOCC at their April 22nd meeting, where they will review the annual report and work plan. Stancil suggested that the May PRC meeting will likely include some local folks that are interested in more pickleball courts in the county. Stancil is meeting with two groups next week about their interest. He stated the County does not have a lot of resources for new courts and the budget is already being trimmed. There is approved funding to resurface the tennis courts at Fairview—which currently has a taped pickleball court on it as a pliot project. The County is not in a position to build any new courts in the next