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1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: June 4, 2024 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 8-f <br /> SUBJECT: Approval to Purchase Real Property — Kittrell-McAdoo Tract, and Grant of <br /> Conservation Easement to North Carolina Land and Water Fund <br /> DEPARTMENT: Environment, Agriculture, Parks <br /> and Recreation (DEAPR) <br /> ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> 1. Location Map David Stancil, 245-2510 <br /> 2. Site Map Christian Hirni, 245-2514 <br /> 3. Draft Conservation Easement <br /> PURPOSE: To approve 1)the County's purchase of the Kittrell-McAdoo Tract, and 2)the granting <br /> of a conservation easement to the North Carolina Land and Water Fund as a condition of that <br /> agency's grant toward the purchase. <br /> BACKGROUND: County and Eno River Association (ERA) staff discussed the desirability to <br /> acquire this property for a variety of conservation goals, including the Mountains to Sea Trail <br /> (MST). After authorization to proceed, ERA subsequently negotiated with the landowners on <br /> behalf of both parties. The landowners expressed interest in a fee-simple purchase of the 19.4- <br /> acre tract as opposed to a trail or conservation easement. The property is located at the southwest <br /> corner of the Dimmocks Mill Road overpass over 1-40/85, southwest of Hillsborough. The property <br /> contains a 1,600-linear foot section of Rocky Run (a tributary of the Eno River and within the <br /> Upper Eno watershed). <br /> The landowners have indicated interest to sell the property to the County via an Option to <br /> Purchase contract approved by the Board and signed in June 2023. The parcel would complete <br /> the last connection needed to extend the Mountains to Sea Trail from the County-owned Seven <br /> Mile Creek Natural Area to Dimmocks Mill Road. It is also adjacent to the historic Moorefields <br /> house and grounds, an Orange County Local Landmark. <br /> The tract is entirely wooded, and portions of the site have now been incorporated into the <br /> previously identified Seven Mile Creek Natural Heritage Area by the North Carolina Natural <br /> Heritage Program. This constitutes an addition to the existing 750-acre Seven Mile Creek State <br /> Natural Heritage Area. The State Natural Heritage Area site is highly ranked and contains the <br /> highest level of ranking for habitat "patches," shown as a vital wildlife corridor in the Eno-New <br /> Hope Wildlife Connectivity Study. These conservation values, in addition to the 1,600-foot stream <br />