Minutes 09-14-2021 Virtual Business Meeting

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40 of this information current. She said the group has 700-1000 volunteers who build and maintain trails across the state. She said these people are highly experienced, and one of the very best lives in Orange County: Bill Boyarsky. She said one last thing to share is about fundraising. She said the Friends of the MST are about to hold a fundraiser at Pluck Farm down at the Cane Creek Reservoir on October 8. She said they will be raising money to help build the trail and there is a lot of excitement about it. She said volunteers came up with event name: Blaze Orange. Chair Price thanked everyone for the update. Commissioner Fowler said it is nice to see the progress being made, and she appreciates the idea to receive ongoing updates. Chair Price said she and Commissioner Bedford have a regular meeting coming up with OWASA. She asked if David Stancil is looking for an answer from the BOCC about OWASA. David Stancil asked if the Board would consider sanctioning the DEAPR to send a letter to OWASA with an update. He said some logistical work is needed, like public safety, emergency access, things of that nature, but would like OWASA's concurrence on finalizing that route and moving forward to construction early next year. Commissioner Bedford said it will be great to have more frequent updates, and appreciated the history of the trail since she is one of the relatively newer commissioners. She said it seems time is more of an issue than money in terms of doing the work in phases. David Stancil said there are still a lot of due diligence pieces that still need to be done, even with donations. He said trail construction is the easy part. He said sometimes privacy fences or transportation solutions are necessary. He said a lot of the process takes place behind the scenes through many conversations that are not visible. Commissioner Bedford said she remembers in 2017 and 2018 when some homeowners came forward after the map was issued. David Stancil said there were 3 landowners at Cane Creek and a couple of landowners between Occoneechee Mountain and Seven Mile Creek. Commissioner Bedford referred to phase 3, and asked what happens if there is no land available to connect the trail. David Stancil said the question comes up a lot and he likes to analogize it with Eno River State Park. He said this park started in the 1970s, and staff is still not seeing pieces of that happen. He said he is not saying it will take 40 years to complete the MST, but some parts, especially where the trail has to go over land through private properties, will require some road route connecting sides for a number of years. He said he hopes that over time people will realize the MTS trail is safe and will become more comfortable with the idea of it, so alternate routes can get constructed. Commissioner Bedford asked him to work with Economic Development office because there is a lot of development upcoming in Buckhorn area and there could be some greenway built along a commercial development. She asked how Orange County connects with Alamance for the purposes of the trail. David Stancil said DEAPR has been in touch with Alamance Parks, which is handling working with the Friends of the MST for the Alamance section. He said the trail will likely exit Orange County off of Morrow Mill Road into Alamance. Commissioner Greene said she is happy to see the progress happening and appreciates what David Stancil said about flexibility and the need to keep holding on and persisting with the project, knowing there might have to be some alternatives before the ideal is reached. She also thanked the Friends of the MST for their work. Chair Price asked if there is any objection with staff proceeding with letter to OWASA. The Board agreed by consensus, and gave staff the go ahead.