HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 02-09-2006-6aORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: February 9, 2006
Action Agenda
Item No. -Gi
SUBJECT: Resolution Honoring Allen Lloyd and Evelyn Lloyd
DEPARTMENT: Environment and Resource PUBLIC HEARING: (Y /N) No
Conservation
ATTACHMENT
Resolution
Location Map
INFORMATION CONTACT:
David Stancil, 245 -2590
Rich Shaw, 245 -2591
PURPOSE: To recognize Allen Lloyd and Evelyn Lloyd for their role in protecting a highly
important natural area on Occoneechee Mountain.
BACKGROUND: Occoneechee Mountain is one of the most important landmarks in Orange
County. With an elevation of 867 feet above sea level, the summit of Occoneechee
Mountain is the highest point in the Triangle Region. The summit is part of a high ridge that
rises over 350 feet above the Eno River and is visible from many locations around
Hillsborough.
Occoneechee Mountain's unusual assemblage of plants and animals also makes it one of
the most important natural areas in the Triangle Region, The NC Natural Heritage Program
recognizes this site as a natural area of state significance.
Efforts to protect Occoneechee Mountain began in the early 1960s when Allen Lloyd and his
wife Pauline Lloyd purchased 66 acres located adjacent to the summit. The Lloyds were
concerned that mining and forestry activities would cause irreparable damage to the
mountain. Their property included the site known locally as Panther's Den, which is one of
the more ecologically significant areas on the mountain.
The Lloyd's actions were followed by other efforts to protect critical sections of the mountain.
In 1987, Cone Mills donated 28 acres adjacent to the Eno River to the Town of Hillsborough.
From 1997 -99, the State of North Carolina, with assistance from The Nature Conservancy
and the Eno River Association, purchased 96 acres adjacent to the Town property. The
State established the Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area and developed facilities for
low- impact public use and enjoyment. In 1999, Hillsborough native Elizabeth Matheson
donated another 14 acres to the Eno River Association.
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For over 40 years, the Lloyds have owned and protected their part of Occoneechee
Mountain, and resisted a number of offers to sell their land so that it would remain
undeveloped.
In December 2005, Allen Lloyd and his daughter Evelyn Lloyd sold their 66 acres to the Eno
River Association for its eventual conveyance to the State of North Carolina as an addition to
Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area. (Fallowing the sale, the Lloyds donated a
substantial amount of the purchase price back to the Eno River Association, for use in further
land protection efforts.)
FINANCIAL IMPACT: None
RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board approve the attached
resolution commending Allen and Evelyn Lloyd for their role in protecting a highly important
natural area on Occoneechee Mountain.
Please Note: On Monday, January 30, subsequent to the preparation of this agenda
abstract, Mr. Allen A. Lloyd of Hillsborough passed away at the age of 91.
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
RESOLUTION HONORING ALLEN AND EVELYN LLOYD
For Their Protection of Occoneechee Mountain
WHEREAS, Occoneechee Mountain is one of the most important landmarks in Orange
County - with its summit rising 350 feet above Hillsborough and the Eno River, the 867 -foot
summit is the highest point in the Triangle Region; and
WHEREAS, Occoneechee Mountain has long been respected and enjoyed by generations of
Native Americans and more recent settlers and residents of Orange County; and
WHEREAS, Occoneechee Mountain's unusual assemblage of plants and animals makes it
one of the most important natural areas in the Triangle Region; and
WHEREAS, despite the proximity of a burgeoning population, a railroad, and an interstate
highway, most of Occoneechee Mountain has remained wild and undeveloped over the 250 -
year history of Orange County; and
WHEREAS, protection of Occoneechee Mountain began over 40 years ago through the far-
sighted efforts of Allen and Pauline Lloyd who, in the early 1960s, purchased 66 acres
located adjacent the Eno River and the mountain summit; and
WHEREAS, the Lloyd's actions led to the donation of 28 acres on Occoneechee Mountain by
Cone Mills to the Town of Hillsborough, the donation of 14 acres by Elizabeth Matheson to
the Eno River Association, and the sale of 96 acres to the State of North Carolina; and
WHEREAS, in 1999, the State of North Carolina, with assistance from The Nature
Conservancy and the Eno River Association, established the Occoneechee Mountain State
Natural Area for the long -term protection and public use of the site; and
WHEREAS, for over 40 years the Lloyds owned and protected one of more ecologically
significant sections of the mountain, including the fabled Panther's Den, and over that period,
the Lloyds resisted many offers to sell their land so that it would remain undeveloped; and
WHEREAS, this past December, Allen and Evelyn Lloyd sold their 66 acres to the Eno River
Association so that it would become permanently protected as part of the Occoneechee
Mountain State Natural Area;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Orange County Board of Commissioners
does hereby thank Allen Lloyd for his foresight and early leadership in the protection
Occoneechee Mountain, without which it is highly uncertain whether there would be an
Occoneechee Mountain natural area.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board recognizes and thanks Allen and Evelyn Lloyd
for the recent sale of their 66 acres to the Eno River Association for its eventual conveyance
to the State of North Carolina for an addition to Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area.
This the 9th day of February, 2006.
Barry Jacobs, Chair
Orange County Board of Commissioners
Donna Baker, Clerk to the Board