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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: February 14, 2000 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. 10-a <br />SUBJECT: Re ort on Fairview Park Ball Field O tions <br />DEPARTMENT: County Manager PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No <br />ATTACHMENT(S): <br />Memo -- Paul Thames -- 2/8/00 <br />Memo -- Bob Jones - 2/9/OQ <br />Memo -- Bob Jones - 2/8/00 <br />INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />Greg Wilder, ext 2314 <br />Paul Thames, ext 2303 <br />Bob Jones, ext 2661 <br />TELEPHONE NUMBERS: <br />Hillsborough 732-8181 <br />Chapel Hill 9fi8~501 <br />Durham fi88-7331 <br />Mebane 33fi-227-2Q31 <br />PURPOSE: To give a report to the BOCC on options to provide a ball field for use by the <br />Fairview community during CY 2000. <br />BACKGROUND: Orange County currently owns a 40 acre tract, known as Fairview Park, which <br />contains approximately twenty acres of abandoned landfill area once owned and operated by <br />the Town of Hillsborough. Within the last year, some residents of the Fairview Park community <br />constructed a "sand-lot" type baseball field in the northwestern end of the park, in an area <br />thought to have been used for landfill activities. Due to the potential presence of environmental <br />hazards associated with landfill activities, use of the ball field has been discontinued. <br />Adjacent to Fairview Park on the east side, the Town of Hillsborough currently owns a 26 acre <br />tract. This tract is and has been primarily undeveloped and unused with the exception of <br />approximately 6 acres which has been used for a yard waste storage, grinding and mulching <br />operation. <br />The Town of Hillsborough and Qrange County agreed last year in principle to evaluate the joint <br />use of the Town and County properties for development of athletic fields and other associated <br />public purposes. However, much of the land in question has been historically used for <br />landfilling activities and little is known about the structural bearing capacity of the landfilled <br />areas or the presence of environmental contaminants. Accordingly, the Town and the County <br />agreed that it was desirable and necessary to investigate the geo-technical and environmental <br />characteristics of the property to determine if it had reasonable utility for recreational <br />development and if it represented a potential threat to public health and the environment. <br />Together the Town and the County budgeted a total of $30,000 ($ 11,40Q from the Town and <br />