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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPRC Agenda 08062025 AGENDA Orange County Parks and Recreation Council Natalie Ziemba, Chair; Louise Flinn, Co-Chair; Logan Cason, Gregory Husketh; Ben King; Alissa Martucci; Maggie Moriarty,Allen Parker; GiGi Rashdi, Chloe Reid (YD); Trevor Robinson; Navya Sharma (YD); Xilong Zhao, Robert Zurek. August 6, 2025 6:30 p.m. Solid Waste Management Meeting Room 1207 Eubanks Rd Chapel Hill, NC 27256 Time Item Title 6:30 I. Call to Order 6:30 II. Report of the Chair a. Chair Comments 6:40 III. New Business a. Additions or Changes to the Agenda b. Approval of Meeting Summary, May 2 (Attachment 1) c. The Nature of Orange Photo Contest 2025 7:10 IV. Old Business a. Parks and Recreation 2030 Master Plan - Mid-Plan Report (review of previously approved report, Attachment 2) b. Discussion of Items for Remainder of 2025 (Attachment 3) V. Report of the Director a. Project and Budget/CIP Updates 7:50 VI. Council and Committee Reports a. Intergovernmental Parks Work Group (October 8) b. Items from the Council / Sharing of Volunteer Opportunities c. Friends of Orange County Parks and Recreation 8:00 VII. Adjournment Next Meeting: September 3 (Bonnie B Davis Center Boardroom, Hillsborough) Meeting Summary— Parks and Recreation Council June 4, 2025 Bonnie B Davis Center, Hillsborough Members Present: Natalie Ziemba (Chair), Louise Flinn (Co-Chair), Logan Cason, Gregory Husketh, Trevor Robinson, Alissa Martucci, Maggie Moriarty, Allen Parker, GiGi Rashdi, Xilong Zhao, Chloe Reid (youth delegate), Navya Sharma (youth delegate) Members Absent: Ben King, Robert Zurek Staff: David Stancil, Abby Mattingly, Guest Jessica Pearson and Mikaela Hernandez Natalie Ziemba called the meeting to order at 6:30pm. Report of the Chair: a. Chair Comments—Chair Natalie Ziemba held brief introductions. New Business: a. Changes to the agenda—Ziemba added an item for the Friends of Orange County Parks and Recreation. Ziemba moved the Chair and Vice Chair elections to after the Trails Plan Update. b. Friends of Orange County Parks and Recreation - John Greeson introduced himself on behalf of the Orange County Parks and Recreation. The group is a non-profit founded in 2018 to help support Orange County Parks and Recreation. The Friends will be supporting the revitalization of the Hollow Rock General Store. c. "State of the Parks 2025"— Dan Derby, Orange County Parks Superintendent, provided a State of the Parks Update. He presented a general history of the Parks division. In the past twenty years, the division has grown from a small staff of four people managing two parks, to a staff of 13 managing 12 parks. He outlined some of the projects the division is working on. Little River Regional Park is developing the biking skills course. The Perry Hills Mini-Park is the newest park in the County. Derby talked about some of the parks and new events and programs. Allen Parker asked what are the most helpful partnerships. Derby referenced Trailheads and TORC that are active at Little River Regional Park. Logan Cason asked about what metric is used to determine demand for more parks. Derby informed that there are metrics, and that there are regions in the County with limited park access. Stancil added that the Parks and Recreation Master Plan lays out metrics and standards. d. Approval of Meeting Summary, April 2—Gregory Husketh motioned to approve, Trevor Robinson seconded. All in favor, none opposed, motion carried. Old Business a. Trails Plan— Public Outreach—Jessica Pearson gave an overview of the state of the Trails Plan. Much of the roadmap has been completed, and the Trails Plan will begin drafting soon. Mikalya Hernandez presented the public workshops. There were two workshops, one in Chapel Hill and one in Hillsborough. The workshops were open house style and allowed for individuals to come and participate as they were able. The workshops began with an introduction station to get people acquainted with the trails plan project. Following the introduction station, four main visioning stations were developed. Each station provided input on different aspects of the trails plan. Finally, participants filled out an exit feedback survey. Hernandez presented some of the data regarding participation. There were 28 total registrations and 48 total sign-ins during the workshops. It was noted that while there were 48 registrations, many people brought members from their household that did not sign in separately. Participants were asked to indicate where they live on a map, and it revealed that there were significant portions were no participants were represented. Maggie Moriarty commented that many individuals were unable to attend in person, but that an online feedback form could illicit feedback from a wider audience. Cason noted that a Qualtrix survey could be useful for rural engagement. Stancil would like to see more popup events to reflect input from unreached communities. Parker recommended advertising at the facilities frequently mentioned as gathering places, indicated by participants during the workshop. Xilong Zhao noted that the workshops were widely advertised, but engagement could be increased by utilizing more visual advertising, such as a video. Louise Flinn agreed that during the workshop, participants were largely drawn to the workshop that included photos. Peason informed that the next steps will be to develop the guiding principles. The principles will be created based on data sourced from the workshops. These will be the foundation of the plan. In the next four months, the plan will be drafted, then seek alignment and engagement. In October the consultants will present to the Board of County Commissioners. b. FY 2025-23 Capital Investment Plan —Stancil presented the Capital Investment Plan. The plan represents a general framework for spending over the course of 10 years, but only year one is operationalized. The CIP reflects intentions and priorities.The CAP has deferred many DEAPR projects, as a 300 million dollar school bond, and 100 million in additional funding has been allocated to the school system for renovations. Stancil outlined the proposed deferrals in the CIP, as they relate to DEAPR. While the Soccer.com expansion has been deferred, Orange County School System as has the County for rights to that land to build a new school. Flinn asked if the land previously intended for a Soccer.Com center was reallocated for school development, what would happen to the funds used to purchase it? Stancil informed that the land was purchased using funds from Lands Legacy and Soccer Super Funds and that no conversation has been held regarding that aspect.The County Commissioners will deliberate the vote on the final CIP. While several projects were deferred, several items are still in the framework to receive funding, including Central Recreation Center renovations, and the Mountains to Sea Trail. Report of the Director c. Project/Program Updates—The County has renewed a five year contract with SportsPlex. Council and Committee Reports a. Intergovernmental Parks Work Group—next meeting scheduled for April 9, 2025 b. Items for the Council/Sharing of Volunteer Opportunities—Ziemba informed that June 16th is pollinators week. c. Friends of Orange County Parks and Recreation— Adjournment: Ziemba adjourned the meeting at 8:15pm Next Meeting: August 6 (Chapel Hill)