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115 <br />MEMORANDUM <br />TO: Board of Commissioners <br />John Link, County Manager <br />Geof Gledhill, County Attorney <br />FROM: David Stancil, E &RC Director <br />DATE: September 8, 2005 <br />RE: Durham County Proposed Interlocal Agreement re New Hope Preserve <br />The purpose of this memo is to summarize the main points of the Durham County <br />proposal for an inter'local agreement between the two counties, the Town of Chapel Hill <br />and the City of Durham regarding property distribution and master planning for lands <br />being acquired in the New Hope Creek area at the Orange- Durham County line, and to <br />highlight some issues for Board discussion and consideration if the initiative is pursued. <br />For purposes of simplicity, as there are multiple properties referenced or inferred in the <br />proposal, staff references the lands using the following terms in this memo: <br />1. The ".Joint Partners Tract" is the 43-acre parcel owned by Duke that is bisected by <br />the Orange - Durham County line (I I acres in Orange, 32 acres in Durham). This <br />has often been referred to as the "Erwin Trace" property and is the land that the <br />four partner jurisdictions have agreed to acquire from Duke for $1.5 million <br />(referenced in the proposed agreement as the "Property." <br />2. The "Hollow Rock Access Tract" is a 7 -acre parcel owned by Duke that is in <br />Orange County and located directly across Pickett Road from the Joint Partners <br />Tract. Orange County has approved the purchase of this property, which was <br />underway prior to the partnership on the above tract, and the closing of the <br />property is imminent. <br />3. The "Penny Tract" is actually two adjoining parcels of land bisected by the <br />county line that lie south of the .Joint Partners Tract and the Hollow Rock Access <br />Tract. Triangle Land Conservancy and Orange County are working together to <br />exercise an option to purchase 23 acres of the Penny tracts, located in Orange <br />County, along the New Hope corridor. <br />Summary of the Durham County Proposal <br />In late .June, correspondence dated .June 23"d was received from the County of Durham. <br />This correspondence included a letter' from Durham County Chair Ellen Reckhow to <br />BOCC Chair Moses Carey and Mayors Bill Bell and Kevin Foy, and included a copy of <br />the signed offer to purchase the 43 -acre Joint Partners Tract owned by Duke, as well as a <br />draft interlocal agreement prepared by Durham. The letter suggested that the first order of <br />business for the partners in the joint acquisition of the 4.3 -acre parcel would be "finalizing <br />