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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: December 1, 2003 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. ~- .~ <br />SUBJECT: Resolution for Purchase of Conservation Easement -Mark and Lori Volpe <br />DEPARTMENT: Environment and Resource <br />Conservation <br />PUBLIC HEARING: (YIN) No <br />ATTACHMENT <br />Draft Resolution <br />Location Map <br />Property Map <br />Draft Conservation Easement <br />Conservation Easements Capital Project <br />Ordinance <br />INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />David Stancil, 245-2590 <br />Rich Shaw, 245-2591 <br />TELEPHONE NUMBERS: <br />Hillsborough 732-8181 <br />Chapel Hill 968-4501 <br />Durham 688-7331 <br />Mebane 336-227-2031 <br />PURPOSE: To consider a resolution approving the purchase of a conservation easement in <br />land owned by Mark and Lori Volpe (cheeks Township) to provide an Eno River buffer and <br />other conservation values, <br />BACKGROUND: The Lands Legacy Program, adopted in April 2000, works with landowners <br />and other conservation partners to protect the County s most important natural and cultural <br />resources. Through this program, the County uses a variety of voluntary means to protect <br />lands, including fee-simple acquisition, acceptance of land donations, and purchase or <br />donation of conservation easements. The types of land protected include parkland, natural <br />areas and wildlife habitat, riparian buffers, prime farmland and historic and cultural sites. <br />Since inception, Lands Legacy has protected 860 acres of resource lands in Orange County. <br />The Volpe property is located north of Halls Mill Road at the confluence of the east and west <br />forks of the Eno River (Cheeks Township). The property includes 4,000 linear feet of river <br />frontage and associated floodplain, The 66-acre property is forested with mature hardwoods <br />except for an upland area recently cleared for the Volpe residence. <br />The Volpe property has many conservation values that will receive permanent protection with <br />the conservation easement. Those values include an important riparian wildlife corridor <br />recognized by the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program and riparian buffers that help to <br />protect drinking water in the Upper Eno watershed critical area. Finally, the protected <br />property will contribute to the rural character and open space prevalent in this section of <br />Cheeks Township. <br />