Agenda 03-05-2026; 8-a - Minutes for February 3, 2026 Business Meeting and February 10, 2026 Work Session

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2 1 the Intergovernmental Parks Work Group. She said members of the council also participate in 2 other community groups. She said they are working with the OUTBoard on overlapping 3 opportunities between the bike/ped plan and the trails master plan. She said the Perry Hills Mini 4 Park opened in June. She said they served as the steering committee for the trails master plan 5 and will have survey and public feedback results compiled in 2026 and will also wrap up work on 6 the trails master plan. She said they will continue to co-sponsor the Nature of Orange 7 photography contest and advise on opportunities for completing Mountains to Sea Trail. She said 8 they are looking forward to future developments at Blackwood Farm Park. She said they are also 9 looking forward to the construction of new county recreation center and that demand outpaces 10 the existing supply of recreational spaces and opportunities. She said they are interested in cross 11 cultural programming at parks with community groups and partnering with other groups to 12 maximize shared output by sharing limited resources. She said demand for pickleball courts and 13 soccer fields remains high. She said they hope that there will be opportunities for partnership and 14 collaboration with the schools so that all sites will benefit from future developments. 15 Commissioner Portie-Ascott thanked Natalie Ziemba for her presentation. She noted the 16 request to collaborate with schools on shared recreational facilities. She asked why the schools' 17 facilities cannot be used anymore and what caused the change. 18 Natalie Ziemba said she thought it ended before the pandemic. She said the logistics are 19 difficult to manage, but they would love to bring back a partnership. 20 Chair Hamilton said this might be a good topic for the school collaboration work group. 21 Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked if it is an issue with just one school district or both. 22 Natalie Ziemba said the council serves the county parks system, and the county's spaces 23 are limited. She said that Town of Chapel Hill and Carrboro have their own recreational facilities. 24 David Stancil, DEAPR Director, said it's mainly a need for collaboration with Orange 25 County Schools. He said there are preliminary conversations about shared recreational space 26 with the new elementary school. 27 Commissioner Carter said the need came up when discussing the land use plan as well, 28 and she thanked Natalie Ziemba for the presentation. 29 Commissioner Greene asked for more information about the Intergovernmental Parks 30 Work Group (IPWG). She asked if the schools are involved. 31 Natalie Ziemba said that county parks stakeholders gave updates at the last IPWG 32 meeting, and the council provided an update on the trails master plan. 33 David Stancil said the schools send representatives to the IPWG. 34 Commissioner Bedford gave some of the history of the use of shared recreational spaces 35 between the county and the schools. She said the schools have concerns about damage to the 36 courts without the financial resources to repair. She said the elementary schools used to have 37 locked playgrounds. She said that with the changes in school personnel, they were going to take 38 a new look at a partnership. She also noted the security challenges with sharing recreation space 39 at the schools. 40 Art Menius, of the Historic Preservation Commission, said the Strayhorn House application 41 was expected to be approved by the state the following Thursday and they expect it to be on the 42 National Register within 45 days. He said they will pursue National Register status for a Modernist 43 house north of Carrboro. He noted the many small, unmarked, and abandoned cemeteries in the 44 county and said they are trying to locate and protect them. He said they are working with the 45 Human Resources Commission to create markers remembering the enslaved people who lived 46 and worked at Blackwood Farm Park. He said Harvey's Chapel AME donated the cemetery to 47 the county and it will be connected to the trails at Seven Mile Creek. He said they will identify 48 what is likely more than 100 grave sites at the location. He said the owners of two black schools 49 are interested in working with the county to protect these sites from demolition. He said they 50 worked with the Lands Legacy Program to preserve the Henry Calvin Andrews house with a 51 historic preservation easement. He said that they are getting more sites into the landmark