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HomeMy WebLinkAboutIPWG Agenda 10122022 Intergovernmental Parks Work Group Agenda October 12', 2022 5:30 p.m. Location - Zoom 5:30 1. Welcome / Call to Order 5:35 2. Introductions / Review of Meeting Notes (Attached) 5:45 3. Orange County Bicycle, Pedestrian and Trails Plan - Scope of Work/Collaboration Ideas 6:15 4. Blackwood Farm Park Phase II Construction Update 6:30 5. What's on the Horizon? / Park Plans and Local Updates (10 mins max) a. City of Mebane b. Town of Chapel Hill c. Town of Carrboro d. Town of Hillsborough e. Orange County f. Others 7:00 5. Adjournment - Next meeting April 12, 2023 Intergovernmental Parks Work Group Meeting Notes of April 13th, 2022 Commissioner Anna Richards: Called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone. She noted that this was her first Intergovernmental Parks Work Group meeting and was looking forward to hearing from everyone. She asked everyone to introduce themselves. Beth Young: Communications Manager for the Orange County Department of Environment, Agriculture and Parks & Recreation Robb English: Hillsborough Board of Commissioners. Myra Austin: Orange County Department on Aging. Kalani Allen: Admin Support for the Department of Environment,Agriculture and Parks & Recreation Kim Piracci: Orange County Commission for the Environment. Stephanie Trueblood: Public Space and Sustainability Manager for the town of Hillsborough Anita Jones-McNair: Recreation Parks and Cultural Resources Director for the town of Carrboro and also the Race and Equity Officer Phil Fleischmann -The Parks and Recreation Director for the town of Chapel Hill Adam Searing: Chapel Hill Town Council Trish McGuire: Director of Planning, Zoning and Inspections for the town of Carrboro Wendell Rogers: Facilities Administrator for the town of Carrboro Dave Stancil: Director of the Orange County Department of Environment,Agriculture and Parks& Recreation Kim Livingston: Director of Conservation and Stewardship at the Eno River Association Chris Colvin: Orange County Parks and Recreation Council Aaron Davis: Recreation and Parks Director, with the city of Mebane Ashley Ownbey: Planner for the City of Mebane Tyler Steelman: Chapel Hill Chair of the Parks, Greenway and Recreation Commission Atuya Cornwell:Town of Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation Marabeth Carr: Landscape Architect with the Orange County Department of Environment, Agriculture and Parks & Recreation Tina Moon: Carrboro Planning Department Jesse Mowles: Hillsborough Parks and Recreation Board. Commissioner Anna Richards-opened the meeting and asked if everyone had had a chance to review the meeting minutes from the last meeting and if anyone had anything that they wanted to add or subtract. After hearing none she accepted them. Dave Stancil stated that tonight's PowerPoint presentation was given at the January 25 Assembly of Governments meeting and noted that there was so much information he thought it would be useful to share again. • Each of the jurisdictions present spoke about what had been going on in their towns related to parks and trails especially focusing on collaboration efforts between the jurisdictions. Parks and Trails- Connectivity � Collaboration Anita Jones-McNair-Town of Carrboro Recreation,Parks and Cultural Resources Director/Race and Equity Officer Phil Fleixhmann-Town of Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation Director David stanch-Orange County Environment,Agriculture,Packs and Recreation Director Stephanie Trueblood-Town of Hillsborough Public Space and sustainability Manager Aaron Davis-Ci[y of Mebane Recreation and Parks Director Trish McGuire-Town of Carrboro Planning Director Ashley Ownbey-City of Mebane Planner • It was noted that one of the things that has been one of the biggest successes of the jurisdictions collectively and of the Intergovernmental Parks Work Group was the creation of the Interactive Parks Locator Map and the Interactive Trails and Greenways Map. • A description on how the map works was demonstrated. Orange County Interactive Parks, Trails and Greenway or Maps 11 3i 19 31 I S� � v b ti -norm n ecount nc. ov/TrailsAn ecount nc Status of Current or Planned Comprehensive Planning Efforts Plan—s adopted I to update or 0 -The ed January 6, November 18, space Ln recommendations Z I rian Trait Plan and u rvation _j and Plans for < Transportation route adopt- is, _j future pedestrian 1:10 Plan-JanI 'inll t. pLa vitt Link 0 update both Plans. assessment MIL le n undertaken in tin,plans of < 2022. an"other r cx� ictions to 0 -Pote rat for Traits is,parks, lhowing areas and adjacent Trish McGuire, Carrboro Planning • Carrboro has a new greenway project that is part of the Bolin Creek greenway system and will be a connection between the end of Lake Hogan Farms Road and Lake Hogan Farm. The existing trail that goes through Twin Creek Park and connects up to Morris Grove elementary. It's 90% complete and will provide a safe routes to schools for students and Lake Hogan Farms who attend Morris grove elementary as well as just general recreation. TopicsHot . of . • • Jones --k GreenwaV Project {p Morr6Grove Eubanks Road 1 Ekmentary • - :• - 2 • a 9 0 s Connects Lake Hogan Farm Rd to existing Orange County -- Pod I • • - - • ••• - • Future LHF • • Twin CreeksGrove Elementary School ParkD- e •0 •- •- •-review Lake Hogan Farms eighborhood Funded SId.-1k/G—n.., • Morgan Creek Greenway Project- Phase One of the design process was completed and went out to bid. The route is shown in gold on the slide below. It runs west from Smith level road you can see there's a green dotted line running to the East to Chapel Hill who will speak on this segment. • There are project phases to the to the west that will ultimately connect to University lake • Safety study that Chapel Hill Transit; Chapel Hill and Carrboro worked on together to evaluate the safety of this Hwy 54 corridor as a result three signalized pedestrian crossings are planned. (See red stars on map below) • Future sidewalk projects-South Greensboro (to connect near the 54 intersection up to Pittsboro Road) and Jones Ferry and Barnes Streets as ME '• -1 1 • -1 . 1 • � N g o c - 1 • W � l7 / N • _ 1 �a N�ywys4 /.�1 • • •••- - - - y � To Chapel Hill 1- 1 1 - 1 - -- • - To University Lake ,F •1 • 1-1 Exirting SidewalWGree V ------> FutureG—myConnet`" Funtletl SidewalWGreen_Y y Planned 5ignalimtl l Pedertrian Crossing Phil Fleischmann -Town of Chapel Hill: • East Section will extend the Morgan Creek Greenway eastward and connect several neighborhoods south of Fordham Blvd. • West section will extend from the existing trail 3,700 to the Carrboro town line at Smith Level Road connecting neighborhoods south of Highway 54. • Funding received is roughly 1.2 million and from a Trails and Greenway Bond. From the MPO they received funding towards the Fordham side path, which is a multimodal path. Updates from Chapel Hill include: • Completed the planning and design for the reconstruction of the six tennis courts of Cedar Falls Park • Resurfacing and improving the three tennis courts at Hargraves Park • Looking to execute a splash pad feasibility study On Earth Day they will be releasing, a new parkland an open space map which will complement the maps that David mentioned earlier in the presentation. s- New greenway pedestrian project The greenway will connect downtown Hillsborough to the train station,Collins Ridge,across 1-85 with a pedestrian bridge and to Cates Creek Park in Waterstone. mw.a nni.n«000n we.nmo n.romm.omno. Stephanie Trueblood—Town of Hillsborough • The slide shows the pedestrian recommendations from the Community connectivity plan and that plan is being incorporated into our comprehensive sustainability plan it is currently in a draft form and ready for public review and input this summer.The parks and recs board has participated in the development of that plan. • Last year the town board set transportation priorities to feed into the plan and directed staff of what projects were prioritize so that we could start looking for planning and design and construction funding through the MPO and federal sources. • The town board prioritized a greenway connection shown on the map below in light aqua, it runs north-south from downtown Hillsborough and Riverwalk to our future train station property and then on through Collins Ridge, which is very large development just behind the Daniel Boone Antique Mall the way to the Waterstone development and Cate Creek Park there will be a pedestrian bridge across it five into Beckett's Ridge and Waterstone which are both residential neighborhoods so this this greenway is a is a really important piece of the towns overall network. It's roughly a mile long it involves two pedestrian bridges and possibly one pedestrian tunnel. Parts of it will be looked at in Fiscal Year 23. • The town board has also prioritized several roadway projects that include pedestrian amenities, such as the 86 connector,which is a new road connecting old 86 to new past the train station property on South Churton street. • The town recently updated their Typical Standards for roadway sections to include a shared use path on one side, so in the past roadway projects, usually had sidewalks on both sides, but now our new cross section for the town allows roadway projects to have a traditional sidewalk on one side and then a shared use path which, which is separate a little further from the road surface and is generally wider and provides that full multimodal access for bicycles and pedestrians outside of the vehicle travel wings.All of the priorities are being wrapped into the comprehensive sustainability plan.They are going to have a very strong effort for public input over the summer and hope to have a draft in front of the town board to look at in September. Hot Topics- • North Mebane Connections Me - Mebane Connects Corregidor St.to 3�St. ` _ m MebaneConstruction wiU begin once tast easement is N. North Map to right shows planned and proposed connections in North Mebane. Pro sed net rk would provide conk—tions from L.r.M Mwao to Cates Farm Pa an Downtown Network contingent upon—ing cases. or h _- Aaron Davis and Ashley Ownbey- City of Mebane • Trail connectors and a full update on Lake Michael. • The Lake Michael connector will connect the new subdivisions, going in around like Michael. They are trying to complete a full loop 3.1 miles around Lake Michael. A large project is the spillway at like Michael is going through some design work right now for a complete renovation of the spillway estimated cost is between the four and $6 million.The boathouse has been deemed unsafe due to the foundation block being in the water for so long and deteriorating. Hoping to lower the lake level for both repairs. As a result there won't be any boat rentals this summer. • Completed two miles of trails at Cates Farm Park and are finalizing design the of an inclusive playground an entry way and a parking shelter • A major goal Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission and The Recreation and Parks Advisor Commission is to have like Michael connected to Cates Farm Park, by way of multiuse paths and greenways. • The city has received for rezoning requests for most of the properties that you're seeing on the map. As part of their conditional rezoning they are required to construct multi use paths along Lebanon Road which will make a connection similar to the one that showed them the map. The black line indicates that network and there is some floodplain that would have to be crossed, and so there are proposed locations for bridges in boardwalks and crosswalks.This will be a very good way to connect people who are visiting Lake Michael Park to connect to either Cate's Farm Park or downtown Mebane. • There is also a greenway that is being considered in our budget process right now to be funded and the upcoming year in.This would connect Corregidor Street with Third Street. Currently waiting to secure one last easement. Hot Topics- Orange County Mountains to Sea Trail Blackwood Farm Park y �A Dave Stancil—Orange County: • Mountain-To-Sea Trail—The MST is part of the State Parks system that connects Clingmans Dome on the North Carolina/Tennessee border to Jockeys Ridge State Park on the Outer Banks. Some sections of the trail have been built in urban areas, in the Appalachian Mountains and along the coast, but a lot of the areas (especially in the eastern Piedmont between Greensboro and Durham/Raleigh) have not yet been built, and those are the areas of focus over the last decade.Around 2014 Orange County engaged in a multi-year effort to meet with the public and talk about how to connect the 17 mile section in Orange County that was identified connecting from Saxapahaw and the Alamance County line in the southwestern corner of Orange into Orange County and connecting to the Hillsborough Riverwalk.These towns have become "trailtowns," destination points along the MST route. But a challenge Orange has is the area between the two towns does not have a natural feature such as a river to follow—such as east of Raleigh where the trail follows the Neuse River. County staff are trying to utilizing the road network and the OWASA-owned lands around Cane Creek Reservoir, and Orange County's Seven Mile Creek Natural Area to forge a connection to Hillsborough and Riverwalk. It's this section in the middle,that requires going up and over the ridge between the Neuse River basin and the Cape Fear River basin that has no natural features to follow that was a challenge time in terms of identifying a route. However in January of 2018 a route was adopted as shown on the map in yellow. We are focusing on that section now. We are working closely with the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. • Blackwood Farm Park- Is a 152 acre park located midway between Chapel Hill and Hillsborough. It's also very close to interstate 40 and fronts on NC 86.There is currently a $3 million construction project underway for Phase 2 of the park, expected to be complete late summer. It will have an amphitheater; a large picnic shelter a park office and renovations to the historic farmhouse. Eventually the park will also have a disc golf course trails and agricultural demonstration areas. During the pandemic,the park saw triple the number of visitors, so it is expected to become quite a destination. With the amphitheater and a picnic shelter that can also double as a stage the County is expecting that there will be future many concert pp Current and Future Collaboration • Collaboration with the different jurisdictions is paramount. • Providing countywide park information to the public via the locator maps. • Forming partnerships for joint ventures of parks projects, not only with the towns in the county but also with our nonprofit partners, many of whom are here tonight. ► COVID-19 Operations and Long Term Recovery - Significant increase in communication and sharing of information I Projects: Community Egg Hunt, joint park projects I Communication: Intergovernmental Parks Work Group (Next Meeting Date April 13, 2022), Partnerships with towns. County and non-profit partners Connectivity - Morgan Creek and Bolin Creek Trails, MST, Hollow Rock/New Hope Preserve, Bikeways and sidewalks Visit the following websites for more information. Orange County Department of Environment,Agriculture,Parks and Recreation-hops://www.co.oran4e.nc.us/459/Dept-of-Environment- Aericul[ure-Parks-Re Town of Carrboro Recreation,Parks and Cultural Resources-httu:i%carrbororec.or4/275/Recrea[ion-Parks-Cultural-Resources Town of Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation-https://www.townofchapelhill.or4/4overnmen[/departmenu-services/parks-and-recreation Town of Hillsborough Public Space and Sustainability-h[t s://www.hillsborou hnc. ov/overnment/divisions-and-offices/ ublic-s ace-and sustainability/ Town of Carrboro Planning Department-iittps://www.townofcarrboro.or4/133/Plannin4-Zonin4-Inspections City of Mebane Recreation and Parks-ht[ps://citvofinebanenc.4ov/departments/recreation-Darks/ City of Mebane Planning and Zoning-ht[ps://ci[vofinebanenc.4ov/departments/plannin4-and-zonin4/ Commissioner Anna Richards-asked if anyone have any other comments or questions about the presentation, hearing none the next item on the agenda is to brainstorm a bit about ideas for future agendas. • Dave Stancil -At the request of our County Manager Bonnie Hammersley;the County would like the IPWG to consider and discuss developing a comprehensive countywide bicycle, pedestrian and trails plan. The scope of work could be discussed at future meetings, and there are several different forms this idea could take. It could be a fully integrated effort, or since the some of the towns have already done a lot of work it could be something where the County takes on the initiative and we just incorporate the work of the towns. Stancil noted that it's a big topic to introduce, but this seemed to a logical place for the topic to be tossed out there for consideration. Anna Richards asked for comments.Adam Searing stated he thought it was a great idea; as well as Stephanie Trueblood; she asked if staff would be coordinating. Stancil said in terms of developing the scope of planning for the plan,yes, but the ultimate plan would be to hire a consultant in fiscal year 23-24 to develop the plan.There was agreement in incorporate some transportation planners and sustainability folks. • Deon Temne—Would like to add revisiting the MOU on Community Use of Schools. He's on the Chapel Hill School Board and sees an issue with security and the challenge to provide the proper security for the schools and the shared spaces; specifically playground equipment. Stancil mentioned that this topic actually came up through this group about 12-14 years ago and an MOU that was created was eventually sent forward and adopted by all the jurisdictions and both school boards. Stancil noted that he would forward a copy of the MOU. Phil Fleischmann said the Town of Chapel Hill has had staff level conversations about the joint use agreement between the school district, and the town and are looking at ways that we can collaborate to increase access.They are looking to update that agreement. He thought they could bring security into our discussion. Carrie Doyle with the Orange County School Board was unaware of a similar situation at the Orange County Schools. Stephanie Trueblood said she thought that outside groups often contacted the principal directly. David Stancil mentioned that at Gravely Hill Middle School and the Soccer Center that there was a separate agreement between the county and the schools for that site. Myra Austin with the Orange County Department on Aging mentioned that Efland Cheeks School has had a long standing agreement with Orange County parks. What's on the Horizon Chapel Hill - Phil Fleischmann • They are looking to host to join advisory board meeting that would involve the town of Chapel Hill and the parks and recreation advisory boards from Carrboro, Hillsborough, Orange County and Chapel Hill. We're planning that collaboratively and we're looking at a date in the fall and topics. Carrboro-Anita Jones-McNair • Recreation -all of our activities and programs have reopened • freight train blue series • Replaced the fence at the Community Garden at Dr. Martin Luther King JR Park and we also reconfigured it from where it was previously so that the gardeners could have more usable space for gardening.Also looking at improving our storm water treatment with our public works department. • Resurfacing two tennis courts at Wilson Park • The new Orange County Southern Branch Library went out for bid.The facility will also provide a permanent home for the Orange County Skills Development Center; Carrboro Recreation, Parks and Cultural Resources Department; WCOM Radio,the Virtual Justice Center; and performance/multipurpose uses. • Working a Comprehensive Plan called Carrboro Connects Eno River Association-Kim Livingston • Facilitating the sale of the classical American homes preservation trust land on mostly on the south side of the Eno River in Hillsborough. 206 of the total 226 acres are proposed to go to Eno River State Park and then there's a 20 acre in what's known as the Oxbow Bend that will hopefully be going to the archaeological conservancy. It is not a done deal.They are currently fund raising and working on a federal grant they have privately raised $100,000 of the needed $2 million. • Confluence Natural Area has expanded by 70 acres; for a total of 270 acres. • Next year they are opening Panthers Branch Natural Area which is on the end of Lebanon Road it is 56 and will have three miles of trails.The opening will be in 2023. Hillsborough -Stephanie Trueblood • They have installed a floating wetland called a Bio Dock in Kings Highway Park along with a kayak launch. • Adding wildflower and native seed mixes in parks to increasing wildlife and pollinator habitat • Sustainability initiatives in general, including prioritization of projects such as electrical electric vehicle infrastructure plans • Working on an Accessibility Plan;that will include inclusive play • Reclaimed wood sculpture project in River Park; worked jointly with the County;the Arts Council and the Arts Commission • REC board has been working primarily on the connectivity updates and possibly developing a skate park • The Handmade Puppet Parade will be held on April 301h • On April 23rd there will be dedication ceremony for the Occoneechee village replica.The reproduction is based off the archaeological evidence of the original site. It took volunteers five to recreate. Orange County- David Stancil • Spoke about coming out for the Occoneechee Village replica ceremony, and that the Occoneechee tribal council would be in attendance. • Earth Evening will be held on April 29t" along with the town of Hillsborough's Last Friday Event. • Staff is working on a floating wetlands project that can become part of park and nature preserve water quality protection and environmental education. • The Orange County Board of Commissioners declared this month as native plant month. Staff is working to make sure that parka are being designed and maintained to be pollinator friendly. • Summer camps plans are in the works, although scaled back because of the pandemic. • Movies in the Park are also returning • Doing some upgrades to playground and basketball surfaces at Efland Cheeks and Cedar Grove Parks. • Fairview Park is getting resurfaced and will include pickle ball lines. Mebane-Aaron Davis: • Accepting bids for our Recommend Parks Master Plan and Bike and Pedestrian Plan on April 18tn. • Started a Movies in the Park series at our Farmers Market. • Now have five summer sports camps. • Just finished our Extravaganza Program downtown this past Saturday • Will be partnering with some local Churches for Juneteenth event • Dogwood festival will be April 22 and 23rd • June 18,we will have our Sports Hall of Fame • Construction on their first public outdoor basketball court will start soon Commissioner Anna Richards:Thanks everyone for attending and adjourned the meeting at 7pm.