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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPRC Agenda 10022024 AGENDA Orange County Parks and Recreation Council Natalie Ziemba, Chair; Andrea Zimmerman,Vice-Chair; Louise Flinn; Gregory Husketh; Allen Parker; Gina Reyman; Trevor Robinson; Xilong Zhao. October 2, 2024 6:30 p.m. Bonnie B. Davis Environment and Agricultural Center Board Room 1020 US 70 West Hillsborough, NC Time Item Title 6:30 I. Call to Order 6:30 II. Report of the Chair a. Chair Comments b. Board Vacancies and Potential Recommended Appointments c. Additions or Changes to the Agenda 6:40 III. New Business a. Mountains to Sea Trail (Chris Hirni, Land Conservation Manager) b. Approval of Meeting Summaries, September 4 (Attachment 1) c. Draft Letter to NCDOT re MST Crossing Signal 7:35 IV. Old Business a. Continued Discussion of Public Pool / Water Features 7:55 V. Report of the Director a. Updates 8:05 VI. Council and Committee Reports b. Items from the Council / Sharing of Volunteer Opportunities 8:15 VII. Adjournment Next Meeting: November 6, Chapel Hill Draft Meeting Summary— Parks and Recreation Council September 4, 2024 Bonnie B. Davis Center Board Room, Hillsborough Members Present: Natalie Ziemba (Chair), Andrea Zimmerman (Vice-Chair, remote), Allen Parker, Louise Flinn, Trevor Robinson, Gina Reyman, Gregory Husketh, Members Absent: Rod Jones, Xilong Zhao, Staff: David Stancil, Abby Mattingly Chair Natalie Ziemba called the meeting to order at 6:32pm. Report of the Chair: a. Chair Comments—Chair Natalie Ziemba had the group give brief introductions. b. Board Vacancies and Potential Recommended Appointments—Abby Mattingly gave an update on appointments. There is still an open Little River Township, Carrboro Town Limits, and Youth Delegate positions. Mattingly presented the applicant from Hillsborough Township. Gina Reyman moved to recommend the applicant to the Board of County Commissioners, Trevor Robinson seconded. The Council thought of new ways to advertise the open positions. Staff is following up. c. Changes to the agenda —Chris Colvin was incorrectly listed. David Stancil added to New Business a request from the Advisory Board on Aging. New Business: a. Approval of June 5 Summary- Robinson moved to adopt the June 5th meeting summary, Gregory Husketh seconded, all in favor none opposed, motion carried. b. Conservation 251"Anniversary Celebration/Great Trails State Day: Stancil presented an event the Department will be hosting October 191". The Board of County Commissioners was petitioned by Alice Gordon to recognize the 251" anniversary of the creation of the Environment and Resource Conservation Department (ERCD) and the Lands Legacy Program. Gordon was a longtime County Commissioner and was influential in the creation of the department and the BOCC agreed with her sentiment. Mattingly presented a timeline for the event. The Department will host a picnic at Blackwood Farm Park, including lawn games and a hike led by Peter Sandbeck, DEAPR's Cultural Resource Coordinator. The event will also be held on the Great Trails State Day. c. County Trails Plan- In the list of items the Council had developed to work on in 2024 is the need to work with a consultant to develop a County Wide Trails Plan. While this has been delayed, there has been a Request For Proposals (RFP) developed and bids will be solicited soon. In October, the BOCC will award a bid. The PRC is currently slated to be the steering committee for the project. d. Discussion of Public Pool Concept from 2014 Master Plan: The 2014 Parks and Recreation Master Plan survey identified the need for a public pool as a priority. Follow- up by the PRC on the concept was identified in the annual report to the BOCC. The survey from 2014 revealed a desire by the community for a pool, but the question was rather vague in what it revealed. Questions and clarification on the nature of what was meant by this (a pool, indoor or outdoor, etc.) need to be posed. Since the survey was conducted, SplashPads have rapidly grown in popularity. If the County were to construct a water feature of some type, several other issues would need to be addressed. Some of the County-run parks do have access to municipal water, however, in other regions lack access to water could inhibit construction without drilling of a well. Other questions have arisen, and Stancil informed that staff has considered sending out a new survey to gather more nuanced information regarding the desire from the community. However, funding is limited, and any survey might have to engage new, affordable tactics for dissemination. Stancil opened the floor up for discussion. Reyman discussed the potential of constructing a SplashPad at Fairview. The park is set to undergo a second phase of construction, and the master plan for the future section has not been finalized. She also addressed the fact that it is known that the community desires a water feature, and a SplashPad could be a cheaper and more immediate addition. Louise Flinn agreed and brought up how budget constraints could prevent large projects, such as a pool, from being adopted for quite some time. A pool would be a multi-million investment. The Council posed the question if conducting a survey would be worth the time and financial commitment. Robinson considered the current waitlists for private pools, and that there are individuals in the community willing to pay for pool access. He also asked if partnering with Hillsborough would be an option to develop it. Allen Parker inquired about funding partners in relation to climate resiliency goals. Managing heat stress in the community is an aspect of climate resiliency and constructing a pool could be framed within this narrative. He echoed Robinson's point on private pools, and asked if there was potential to form private-public partnerships in future development plans. Robinson agreed that a SplashPad should be prioritized, with leaving the door open to future plans for pool construction. Parker pointed to the natural water features that Orange County has, and the potential for expanding access to those. Ziemba asked about the survey, and how formally does it need to be distributed. Zimmerman asked how the original survey was conducted and how much these surveys cost. Stancil informed that there was a scientific random sample survey conducted by UNC Greensboro where over 4000 written paper surveys were mailed to households in Orange County, as well as an online version. The two surveys were kept separate, but both were considered in the original 2030 Plan. In 2012, the survey cost $18,000 to administer and analyze. Parker inquired about other agencies that might have data in regard to this pursuit, including, the economic development department, Visitor's Bureau, and even local realtors, and the potential to look into Google search data. Ziemba summarized the conversation, that data gathering of some kind is of interest, but the need to identify what that would look like could be discussed further. e. Request from Advisory Board on Aging: Stancil presented a letter that the Council received from the Advisory Board on Aging, requesting that the board implement a policy dedicating a spot to an older adult, aged 55+. To include this in the official code of ordinances, this would need to formally be sent through the Board of County Commissioners. Robinson asked if there was ever a time where the Council was lacking representation from that demographic. Stancil informed that he could not recall a time where the Council did not have representation from the 55+ demographic. Reyman asked if it would be appropriate to endorse the sentiment of the letter, without changing the code of ordinances and if staff could write a letter back, reflecting on sentiments to increase diversity on the Council. The Council agreed that staff should write a letter back, agreeing that they will consider it moving forward. Old Business a. Priority Agenda Items: Stancil discussed some of the items that the Council had included in the annual workplan, as items to be addressed this year. Some of the items have been completed or are in progress and he offered an update on those. Parker referenced the Mountains to Sea Trail, and asked how the Council could support the completion of it. Stancil offered to provide more updates, but as of right now, the completion of the trail is hinging on continued land acquisition. Stancil did suggest one area of need - to send a letter to NCDOT to request pedestrian signage and flashing lights on the Dimmock's Mill bridge crossing over 1-85/40. The bridge is rather narrow, and pedestrians will need to cross. NCDOT can install flashing lights and an activated button to indicate a passing pedestrian on the bridge to increase caution. Other organizations, such as the Friends of the MST, can be engaged. Ziemba sought more information on the Bike/Ped Plan. Stancil offered to invite Nish Trivedi, County Transportation Director, to speak to the Council in December on this. b. Final Budget and CIP Approval —Stancil presented an update on the finalized budget and update on the Capital Investment Plan (CIP). In June, Stancil indicated to the Council that the Department was faced with a reduction in the budget, as well as a hiring freeze. The department had a 6% budget reduction, which mostly impacted funding for travel and training, as well as capital requests. The budget was approved in June. The Department is still operating at the same level of programming. In regard to the CIP, many of the projects have been pushed back, but funding for nutrient reduction in the Falls Lake Basin, as well as Parks and Recreation Facility Renovations have been funded. The Millhouse Road soccer center project is scheduled for design in 2025/2026, with construction in 2027, but complications in securing funding partners might require revisiting this. There is also a project farther out to expand the Soccer.com Center. Report of the Director a. Project/Program Updates—Stancil informed that construction on Perry Hills Mini-Park has begun. A bid for the Fairview tennis courts is going back out. A design for the disc golf course at Blackwood Farm Park is being finalized, as well as a design for the bike skills course at Little River Regional Park. There is going to be a bench dedication ceremony for John Blackfeather Jeffries at the Occoneechi Village replica at River Park. Council and Committee Reports a. Intergovernmental Parks Work Group —next meeting: October 9 b. Items for the Council/Sharing of Volunteer Opportunities — none Adjournment: Ziemba adjourned the meeting at 8:04pm Next Meeting: October 2nd (Hillsborough, Bonnie B Davis EAC)