Agenda - 10-03-2005-10a - Laserfiche WebLink

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Over the past few years, the County has worked in conjunction with Triangle Land Conservancy to acquire identified lands along the New Hope Corridor between Erwin Road and the Durham County line to protect the stream corridor and provide for a future trail connection. This has been a component of the Lands Legacy Action Plan 2004 -06 (adopted in 2004). In addition to the 7 -acre Hollow Rock Access Area purchase from Duke mentioned above, two other properties along the corridor have been acquired to date — a conservation easement on 1.8 acres owned by Jeff Fisher, and a fee - simple purchase of 1.1 acres at the Durham County line from Hope Creek Ltd. A conservation easement with TLC and Trinity School was approved in 2003 but not executed, and new discussions among the three parties are underway regarding this portion of the corridor. On June 23, Durham County conveyed to the Chair, County Attorney and County Manager a proposal to create an interlocal agreement. This draft interlocal agreement would address not only the 43 -acre "Erwin Trace" property as originally set out, but would also propose to create a mechanism to develop a plan for the entirety of the New Hope corridor in Orange County and (presumably) Durham County. The scope of the Memorandum of Agreement is considerably larger than the expected proposal to address ownership and disposition of the 43 -acre Erwin Trace property. The Durham County proposal appears to propose that the other properties being purchased by Orange County and TLC also be subject to planning by this new committee.. The proposed committee would include 4 representatives from Durham County, 4 representatives from Orange County (the June 23 draft had 3 Orange County slots), 2 from the Town of Chapel Hill and 1 from the city of Durham. The proposal further stipulates that Orange County's appointments should include one member from the Commission for the Environment or Recreation and Parks Advisory Council, one member of TLC, and one undesignated member. A July 13th letter from the Chair to the Durham Chair indicated that Orange County would discuss and consider the proposal at a meeting following the summer break. At this point, the County Attorney and staff have not engaged in formal study of the proposal, pending the Board's discussion of whether to participate. An attached staff memo summarizes the Durham proposal and highlights some areas for future discussion, if this process for a new master plan of the corridor is pursued. A subsequent staff memo from Durham was received and is attached regarding the rationale for a master planning process in the proposed agreement. Additional thoughts from County staff regarding the proposal and timing issues are attached. FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated with the proposed MOA. The creation of a new committee will impact staff resources in an as yet undetermined degree. If the agreement as written is pursued, the County may have new management costs for the part of the joint partnership property in Orange County, with costs unknown at this time. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board consider the proposal and staff memos, and defer discussion of the proposed master plan for the New Hope Preserve at this time to provide an opportunity to : 1) Allow staffs from both counties to further define and make recommendations on which lands should be involved in a master plan for the New Hope Preserve; and 2) Allow Orange County staff to pursue pre- existing planned and pending park design projects such as Fairview.