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1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: November 7, 2024 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 8-f <br /> SUBJECT: Resolution of Approval — Donated Conservation Easement on Property of <br /> William Bruce and Phyllis Richmond <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. Survey Plat <br /> 5. Draft Conservation Easement <br /> PURPOSE: To adopt a resolution approving the acceptance by Orange County of a conservation <br /> easement for the William Bruce and Phyllis Richmond property. <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 2,973 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 year, DEAPR has worked with the Richmond family on a project to conserve <br /> approximately 36 acres of land located off Richmond Road in the Cheeks Township. <br /> The entirely forested property is in the in the Upper Eno (Falls Lake) Watershed in Cheeks <br /> Township. The property contains just under 5,000 linear feet of McGowan Creek, a primary <br /> tributary to the Eno River, and a valuable source of drinking water for the Town of Hillsborough. <br /> In addition, much of the site is listed as prime farmland and farmland of State significance via the <br /> US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resource Conservation Service database. The <br /> property is forested and creates a large buffer to McGowan Creek and its tributaries. The area <br /> being offered in easement is also listed in the Eno-New Hope Landscape Conservation Report as <br /> General Wet-Mesic Hardwood Forests Wildlife Corridor. These factors combined make <br /> conservation of this tract a high priority for the Lands Legacy Program. <br /> The Richmonds intend to donate a permanent conservation easement that will restrict future <br /> development to protect prime open space and streams, while allowing for limited agricultural or <br />