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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOUTBoard minutes 101707Approved 1-16-2008 1 MINUTES ORANGE UNIFIED TRANSPORTATION BOARD MEETING OCTOBER 17, 2007 MEMBERS PRESENT: Randy Marshall, Bingham Township Representative; Sam Lasris, Cedar Grove Township Representative; Pascale Mittendorf, Hillsborough Township Representative, Bryn Smith, Chapel Hill Township CFE Representative; Jan Grossman, Bicycle Transportation Advocate; Nancy Cole Baker, Pedestrian Access Advocate; Alice Gordon, Board of County Commissioners MEMBERS ABSENT: Robert Peterson, Chapel Hill Township Representative; James Ray, Eno Township Representative; Al Terry, Transportation Services Board Representative; Sandra Johnson Quinn, Eno Township, Planning Board Representative; Transit Advocate, Vacant; Cheeks Township, Vacant; Little River Township, Vacant STAFF PRESENT: Karen Lincoln, Transportation Planner; Donna Davenport, Administrative Assistant, II, Pat Strong, TJ COG; Rick Shaw I. Call to order and roll call II. Consideration of additions to the agenda Karen Lincoln: I was not able to attend the Comprehensive Plan update kickoff meeting for Phase II. Could someone that attended the meeting give an update. III. Board Comments Alice Gordon: I would like it noted that I had a conflict with the last meeting due to a BOCC meeting scheduled at the same time. Please add that to the minutes. IV. Approval of Minutes of September 19, 2007 meeting MOTION made by Randy Marshall to accept the minutes. Seconded by Jan Grossman. V. Presentation on Existing Programs for Obtaining Conservation Easements Rich Shaw: I have been invited to speak about our Land Legacy Program. It was established in 2000 by the Board of County Commissioners because they felt there was land protection done in the County but it didn’t happen fast enough. The program was created and given a budget. We acquire park land, stream buffers, prime farm land and we try to protect cultural historical sites. These lands are protected through voluntary means, land trusts, non-profit organizations, universities protecting land, etc. The public approved a farm referendum in 1997 and 2001 and some of those funds were for farmland and open space. There’s a master plan for parklands in the county and there are a lot of holes to fill. We have acquired a lot of land for parks and some are not open for the public yet. Conservation easements are where the County works with the landowner to put permanent restrictions on the use of their land to protect certain natural and cultural resources. In the last seven years, we have acquired 800 acres of land and 1,200 acres for parks. The current lands legacy action plan is displayed here (pointed to map). There is a ‘Mountains to the Sea Trail’ (currently not an adopted plan) being proposed to go from Jockey’s Ridge (Dare County) to Queenmans Dome (mountains). The idea is to have the trail to go through Durham County connecting along the Eno River to Downtown Hillsborough. Further west, the state’s preferred route is to connect Hillsborough by the Haw River toward Burlington. (Showed a mosaic of colored parcels throughout the county, the land the County has acquired is in orange.) We use GIS and maps to see where there are logical connections. The projects are in the Lands Legacy Action Plan and refer to other plans. Those plans are listed in your handout. In that plan there was a goal or objective to establish greenways to connect people in neighborhoods throughout the rural buffer. Most of Approved 1-16-2008 2 those proposed greenways are along stream corridors. A lot of this happened through the planning approval/development approval process. Through the Land’s Legacy program we have acquired land outright (we purchased the land for a trail) and in one case we acquired a conservation easement. Because there is a plan some things are happening. Randy Marshall: Are there any publications that list public trails and access points for Orange County? How does a citizen of Orange County discover where those points are? Rich Shaw: Duke Forest has large maps. Eno River State Park has a list on its website and Orange County has a brochure showing where all the parks are in the County. I don’t believe there are any trails listed on there. Randy Marshall: The public funds go into acquiring some of these easements or trails but the people who live in those neighborhoods would like the public not to know about them to keep them private. You would gain more support if you show the public where they are located. Rich Shaw: In short segments thru subdivisions there are no public funds used to acquire those, they are given to the County for future trails. We have a committee to design the Hollow Rock access area for public use and we did use public money for that. Randy Marshall: There will be publicity for that? Rich Shaw: Yes. There will be a parking area for people to come as a destination. There are also public schools there to use the trails. It is located at the gravel part of Pickett Road across from Hollow Rock Racket Club. This will link to the Duke Forest trails. Pascale Mittendorf: You do acquire land, but who builds the trails? Rich Shaw: I do it along with volunteers and some staff from the Recreational and Parks Department. There is a group by the name of New Hope Creek Corridor Advisory Committee that helps. Jan Grossman: Will that trail go through the Town Operations Center, maybe through the animal shelter? Rich Shaw: Yes. Across Millhouse Road under 40. Sam Lasris: Is the Mountains to the Sea Trail Program a voluntary program? Rich Shaw: It is a concept the State of North Carolina has developed and it depends on what happens at the local level. There is some funding through the State. They are trying to find the best route. Sam Lasris: How is it funded? Rich Shaw: The State has a State Recreation Trails Program and they grant money to local governments to build trail and facilities along the trails. They don’t have enough money for land acquisition. Sam Lasris: Are there historic sites that you’ve got pinpointed to eventually link up to the sites identified? Rich Shaw: Yes but often one finds the other. The Eno Site Park is to protect the river but people are learning more about the historic uses of those properties. Bryn Smith: I remember hearing that the Mountains to the Sea would have a bicycle component also? Approved 1-16-2008 3 Rich Shaw: No, The basic idea is for pedestrians but because some of the trail follows roads it could be used for bicycle use as well. Bryn Smith: It will not be paved? Rich Shaw: No. Unless it’s going through an urban area. Randy Marshall: The Friends of Bolin Creek route when they were planning a trail along Bolin Creek is that the one that will run through Twin Creeks thru Carrboro? Rich Shaw: The Town of Carrboro has a greenway plan and one of our acquisitions thru the Lands Legacy was for the Adams track along Bolin Creek. Our main purpose was to protect this 27 acre greenway adjacent to Wilson Park. We have met with the Friends of Bolin Creek. We have put ideas on the table on how to do it thru these various areas.. Randy Marshall: You think their plan is a greenway along the length of Bolin Creek through the ETJ of Carrboro. Rich Shaw: That is my understanding. That park is not under construction yet but it is going thru the approval process. There is school being built adjacent to that park. It will have a greenway through that park. Bryn Smith: Is it the County or City? Rich Shaw: City. Pascale Mittendorf: Can we view these maps somewhere? Rich Shaw: We can scan this and add make it available on our website or make copes available. Eric Tillman: When people have restrictions on their land, are they financially compensated? Rich Shaw: There are two ways. Sometimes the County pays for the appraised value of the rights that they are giving up. Sometimes they will be paid a portion and they will donate a portion because of the tax benefits. Sometimes they will donate it outright for the tax benefits. Eric Tillman: Who is responsible for maintaining a greenway? Rich Shaw: If it is in the city limits, if the Town built it and they maintain it. Nancy Baker: What about the County? Rich Shaw: The County has the responsibility by either themselves or volunteers. The department of Recreation and Parks would also participate. It depends on where the trail is and what arrangements can be made. Jan Grossman: Can the landfill land be used as parkland or trail land? Rich Shaw: I wondered that myself. Bryn Smith: A lot of it is currently in Chapel Hill. The Rainbow Soccer fields are old landfills but there are issues with using them. Approved 1-16-2008 4 Rich Shaw: This is adjacent to the Blackwood division of Duke Forest. It would be interesting to see if a trail could be there. Bryn Smith: It will be interested to see what happens to Carolina North and the Horace Williams’ property. Pascale Mittendorf: What about the power lines? Rich Shaw: The power line corridors are usually private property and there is an arrangement between that the utility providers to have a utility easement. Sometimes the greenways in Chapel Hill are along utility corridors where there are sewer lines. The landowners and the utility providers have to agree to public access. Eric Tillman: What are some of the future parks in Northern Orange County and when will they be available? Rich Shaw: The two existing are Efland Cheeks Park and Little River Park. The County will break ground next month on an expansion to a small park up 86 at the old Northern Human Services Center. It will be named Northern Park or Cedar Grove Park with new facilities coming in and this park should be up and running in 2008. Twin Creeks Park, Phase I is about 90 acres. The West Ten Soccer Fields will have four soccer fields will be done in 2008. There will be two more fields the following year. There will be tennis courts. We have acquired land off of Millhouse Road park property adjacent to Duke Forest. Blackwood Farm has a master plan that has been developed by a committee and will go to the Board of County Commissioners for consideration. That will be 152 acres at the corner of New Hope Church Road and 86. Alice Gordon: There is not enough funding for that. Rich Shaw: This bond money that I spoke that was approved some of it was acquire new park sites and some used to build parks. Eric Tillman: Was Fairview built on a dump? Rich Shaw: Yes. The facilities that are approved are outside the dump. Eric Tillman: The levels are low aren’t they? Rich Shaw: There have been a lot tests done and a variety of suggestions. Our master plan is that we will not put any facilities on it until further evaluation can be done. Alice Gordon: The River Park in Hillsborough was built on County land and had an easement along Stillhouse Creek. Rich Shaw: That will be a gem and a new Farmer’s Market structure that will open in March. Surrounding that market structure there will be new trails all built in a section of the river walk and all the way under Churton Street. That’s one of those yet to be discovered parks that are there. Eric Tillman: On the master plan for Fairview, it will be the premier park for Hillsborough? Rich Shaw: Yes,Fairview and then Waterstone development is setting aside 12 acres for another park for the south side of Hillsborough and there is also Gold Park along the Eno. Nancy Baker: Hillsborough is looking at all the park destinations and trying to connect them. Alice Gordon: The Intergovernmental Parks workgroup sponsors park plans that show all the parks and all the jurisdictions. This should be available from ERCD and Parks and Recreation. Approved 1-16-2008 5 Rich Shaw: The Comprehensive Plan is in process of being updated and one of the parts of that plan is the Recreation and Parks Element. The current master plan was developed in 1988. This may be an avenue to get something into the plan concerning connectivity. Jan Grossman: It might be interesting to have the bicycle overlay on this to help with connectivity. Rich Shaw: When you overlap, you can see multiple objectives that can be met. Nancy Baker: We have been discussing how we can deal with subdivisions and really have input. Pascale Mittendorf: You need maps to see the difference. Karen Lincoln: We can get maps as we go forward. Nancy Baker: Going into the Phase II of the Comprehensive Plan, we are going over objectives. We would like to have a plan of connectivity through the County. Is that an objective? Karen Lincoln: That is one of your goals to be multi-modal. Under your objectives, if you looked at all the ideas that ended up on the floor from all the things the Advisory Board had thrown out for goals, you would probably have your objectives. So you look at some of those things you were trying to achieve in establishing that broader goal and those are your objectives. We have a liaison for some of the other boards and we need to make sure we know who those people are so that we are all coordinated with plans that work together. Nancy Baker: The next step is to flush out the objectives. As far as the Mountains to the Sea initiative, is there anything we can do to push it forward? Alice Gordon: We don’t have control of that process. The state controls the process. I don’t know what happened to it. Dave Stancil would know what is happening with it. Pat Strong: There is a bike component to it that corresponds with it but I haven’ heard anything about it recently. Alice Gordon: When you think about the infrastructure of the county, this could be a lot of symbiotic relationships. You need to look at the whole picture. Trying to get an idea of where these parks, trails, etc. are going, is a good idea. All these things coming together in the Comprehensive Plan should help with connectivity. Questions come up at many of these committee meetings about these same things. Nancy Baker: Rich, if you are getting funded for land, does it help to have transportation potential to get grants? Rich Shaw: When the Board of County Commissioners adopts the action plan, the projects that rise to the top are the ones that meet multiple objectives. When we purchase park areas, we try to have natural areas associated with it. So the answer is yes. It’s another reason for the public for it but it is another potential funding source to make that happen. With one park we got three different grants to make that happen so the county ended up paying about $600 an acre. Alice Gordon: One of the reasons that we have an advantage is because we have a plan. Rich Shaw: Most of the things we are doing are geared toward land protection. Pascale Mittendorf: Do you also buy land to keep or trade? Approved 1-16-2008 6 Rich Shaw: Some lands we’ve acquired are not for active parks but for preserves. In some places there will be parts of the land that is an important natural area and we won’t take the trail that way. When we are using public funds we have to show that there is a public reason to do it. You have to justify everything you do. Alice Gordon: There are areas of historical significance. Randy Marshall: The Indian Trading path has been researched by area schools. Rich Shaw: There are some old road networks associated with that land. Every time we acquire land, before a master plan is developed, we hire archaeologist to do a cultural and archeological survey and evaluation. Nancy Cole Baker: Rich, thank you for your presentation. Jan Grossman: Can you put this map on PDF? Rich Shaw: Yes. We update this map every couple of months. Jan Grossman: There could be a smaller map that we could print on transparency and we could overlay them ourselves. Nancy Baker: We may want to have a collection of maps. Alice Gordon: We should always bring the maps; the road map, the bicycle map, the transit map, etc. Randy Marshall: Do you have a copy of the smaller versions of the maps. Where is your office located? Rich Shaw: My office is located in the same building as Karen. I could give them to Karen for your next meeting and put them on the website. Sam Lasris: The Historic Preservation Commission may want to know about this also. Nancy Baker: Sam, would you like to take over now? Sam Lasris: Item number 6 the Annual Retreat. Karen Lincoln: In your packet I put what we had presented for the last retreat. But as you recall, last time Commissioner Gordon stated that we if we really have objectives that we would like to get in the budget, this would be your chance to do this. This is a preliminary for discussion purposes. Nancy Baker: If we want to get someone to help make a plan, would that take extra money or would that need to be budgeted? Alice Gordon: Yes. It would need to be budgeted. Karen Lincoln: If you want a consultant to help we would need to look into this further. Pat Strong: We have the framework already. Karen Lincoln: The MPO has indicated they will be doing their Comprehensive Transportation Plan with their 2035 long range transportation plan. My thoughts are they are only concerned with the part of Orange County that is within the MPO boundaries. From an RPO standpoint NCDOT is doing the Rural Comprehensive Plan. Pat and I have Approved 1-16-2008 7 been working together to see if we can get all of orange County done at one time along with the MPO. This group would adopt a set of maps that could feed into those other plans. We thought we would go ahead and do it. But it might be helpful to have a consultant. Alice Gordon: It does take resources - are those resources available? There are existing bicycle plans for example that the state uses to plan bicycle routes. You need resources but the questions is - are they budgeted? Karen Lincoln: Another piece is the legislation that was recently enacted that would give full authority to counties to contribute, build and maintain state roads. Alice Gordon: I guess the other thing is that the long range and comprehensive transportation plan are both part of transportation planning. The Special Transit Advisory Board is meeting and coming up with plans. There are routes in Orange County that are already listed and what they come up with will impact your work. Nancy Baker: Speaking of transit element, the Amtrak question, is that something we should be discussing? Karen Lincoln: That is part of the transit plan. Alice Gordon: There are changing conditions here. There’s the Waterstone development, the Collins property coming forward with new development that will change and it will be a worthwhile stop. Karen Lincoln: It depends on potential ridership. Pat Strong: The high speed rail program currently provides for stage two development which includes property acquisition and design development from Washington to Raleigh and the extension to Charlotte. This established a phase one status and at some later date congress could authorize a updated rating of that to a phase two. At one time there was talk to extend to Atlanta but that does preclude the high speed rail concept coming thru Orange County in route to Charlotte. Karen Lincoln: Phase one was approved and as I understand for stage two, they could have to reroute. But you’re telling me that it hasn’t been approved yet. Pat Strong: Not to level two. This is not a priority right now but at some point you could have someone from the rail division to come out and do a presentation and answer questions. The last meeting I attended it included some possibility for the operation between Raleigh and Washington include what’s called express service and if that concept holds then the possibility could be that there would be a stop service in Orange County. Someone from the rail division could come present. Nancy Cole Baker: Is DOT managing the rail service? Pat Strong: Yes. Karen Lincoln: Craig received an email from DOT rail division and they would like to come talk with the board. And he referred them to me to schedule a time if the board would like a presentation. Should I get this on the boards agenda? Randy Marshall: Yes, as a future agenda item. Sam Lasris: When do we need to have our presentation ready for the Annual Retreat? Approved 1-16-2008 8 Karen Lincoln: I haven’t gotten any information on that. But I thought we would discuss this at the November meeting. We could meet after the joint meeting to take care of any business on our agenda. Bryn Smith: I would like to propose that Karen Lincoln and Robert write and we can approve it next time. Sam Lasris: Robert sent an email that he must bow out of the board. Bryn Smith: I would like to revise the motion that Karen put this together with map overlays. Karen Lincoln: I will put something together. Alice Gordon: On the work session tomorrow, we will be discussing the revised budget schedule. Next year the retreat is proposed to be planned for October. So for this year it will be some time in January. We have had a mini retreat already. Karen Lincoln: As soon as something is sent to staff stating that they need information from the board, I will send the information to you. Alice Gordon: My suggestion is that this board allows Karen to go ahead and write up something. We could use something that you accept or whatever you would like. Karen Lincoln: We can use the forms we used last year. MOTION made by Pascale Mittendorf made a motion to postpone this until the November meeting. Seconded by Randy Marshall seconded. Randy Marshall: Do you anticipate those meetings with the Element Lead Boards being long discussions? How much time do we allocate? Sam Lasris: Some have a start time and set end time and some do not. Randy Marshall: Does the Planning Board have an expectation of timing? Sam Lasris: The consultant along with planning staff has set the time. Karen Lincoln: We can get an update from those of you who attended last nights meeting. Bryn Smith: It was mostly logistical type. The Planning Board and the consultant along with the lead advisory boards will come together on this schedule on November 14, 2007. I don’t’ remember seeing times on the slides but they will send out packets ahead of time. Sam Lasris: They are set to accommodate their regular meeting schedule. Randy Marshall: May I suggest the first 30 minutes with the Planning Board to discuss the Comprehensive Plan and the next 15 minutes for the BOCC Annual Retreat discussion. Then the Road Improvement list next and this be our agenda for the next meeting. We could adjust this based on how much time is needed by the Planning Board. Eric Tillman: Do you have a meeting following the Planning Board meeting? Sam Lasris: We have a meeting after the meeting with the OUTBoard. Approved 1-16-2008 9 Randy Marshall: You are our acting chair. If you want to meet after we adjourn that’s always available to the Planning Board. Sam Lasris: We have eight of these meetings. Randy Marshall: I move my suggestions for the next agenda and move that we adjourn. Bryn Smith: Do we need to add to the agenda the discussion of Chair and membership? Randy Marshall: We need an update on where the people the Board of County Commissioners are. Sam Lasris: When are the Chair/Vice-Chair supposed to be voted on? Karen Lincoln: The bylaws say every June. But we thought we would wait till the next go around. Randy Marshall: We reviewed several names and forwarded them to the Board of County Commissioners to potently being voted on to the board, what happened to those? Alice Gordon: I asked for it to be held one meeting. Karen Lincoln: I have talked to two people for Cheeks Township and one from Eno. Randy Marshall: The first were from Chapel Hill. Alice Gordon: I can check with Donna Baker. And also there was a reappointment. Karen Lincoln: I turned it in on time. There was a problem with having staff on an advisory board. Alice Gordon: Let me find out how many vacancies there are and what we need to do. Randy Marshall: I think we have people we have already discussed. Karen Lincoln: Two were from Chapel Hill. MOTION made by Randy Marshall to adjourn. Seconded by Nancy Baker. VI. BOCC Annual Planning Retreat VII. Road Improvement List VIII. Future Agenda Items IX. Adjournment Tina L. Owen, Minutes Preparer