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ORD-2022-003 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: February 1, 2022 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 6-a <br /> SUBJECT: Resolution of Approval — Conservation Easement on Draper-Savage Memorial <br /> Foundation (Moorefields) and Approval of Budget Amendment #7-A <br /> DEPARTMENT: Environment, Agriculture, Parks <br /> and Recreation (DEAPR) <br /> ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> 1 . Resolution of Approval David Stancil, 245-2510 <br /> 2. Location Map Christian Hirni, 245-2514 <br /> 3. Site Map <br /> 4. Draft Conservation Easement(s)/Trail <br /> Easement <br /> PURPOSE: To consider a resolution to approve the purchase of and acceptance by Orange <br /> County of conservation easement(s) and trail easement for Draper Savage Memorial Foundation <br /> (Moorefields) property, and approve Budget Amendment #7-A. <br /> BACKGROUND: The acquisition of conservation easements to protect highly important natural <br /> and cultural resource lands in Orange County is a longstanding goal of the Board of <br /> Commissioners, and is a priority of the Lands Legacy Program. Since 2001, the County has <br /> partnered with landowners and other entities to protect 2,850 acres of significant natural areas <br /> and prime farmland with permanent conservation easements, leveraging well over $3 million in <br /> outside funding and grants toward these easements. <br /> Over the past several years, DEAPR has worked with Moorefields Foundation, the group deeded <br /> to manage and caretaker of the grounds, on a project to conserve approximately 72 acres of <br /> Draper-Savage Memorial Foundation lands located on Moorefields Road in the Cheeks Township. <br /> The farm property is located in the Upper Eno Critical Watershed, a priority watershed for <br /> acquiring agricultural easements in a dual effort to protect prime farmland and drinking water <br /> quality. The farm has over 1,900 linear feet of stream frontage on a tributary to and of Rocky Run, <br /> a major tributary of the Eno River, which supplies drinking water for the Town of Hillsborough and <br /> City of Raleigh. In addition, with the presence of Natural Heritage sites, the historic Moorefields <br /> property and other areas of high cultural/archaeological significance, and the property's adjacency <br /> to the County-owned Seven Mile Creek Natural Area, conservation of this tract is a high priority <br /> for the Lands Legacy Program. <br />