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Home My WebLink AboutIPWG April 8 2026 Agenda Intergovernmental Parks Work Group Agenda April 8, 2026 / 5:30-7:00 p.m. Southern Human Services Center 2501 Homestead Road, Chapel Hill, NC 27516 (Board of County Commissioners Room) 5:30 1. Welcome / Call to Order Amy Fowler/Orange County Commissioner 5:35 2. Introductions / Review of Meeting Notes (Attached) Amy Fowler/Orange County Commissioner 5:40 3. Update / Chapel Hill Parks & Recreation Comprehensive Master Plan Atuya Cornwell and Marcia Purvis/Chapel Hill 6:55 4. Update / Chapel Hill Everywhere to Everywhere Plan Ben Berolzheimer/Chapel Hill 6:10 5. Update / J Branch Rail-to-Trail Feasibility Dave Stancil /Orange County 6:25 6. Department Updates/What's on the Horizon Segment (Includes Outside Agencies) (5 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 8. Adjournment — Next meeting October 14, 2026 Intergovernmental Parks Work Group Meeting Notes of April 09, 2025 1. Welcome / Call to Order/ Introductions Chair Jamezetta Bedford-Ca I led the meeting to order at 5:37 pm.Chair Bedford asked members to introduce themselves and share their favorite park. Members provided various parks in Orange County and some in North Carolina,Illinois,and New York.Favorite parks ranged from parks in Chapel Hill,such as Southern Community Park and Hargraves, Carrboro parks like Anderson Park, MLK Jr Park, Baldwin, and Hillsborough parks like Gold and Cates Creek/Riverwalk.Additional favorites were Little River Regional Park,Brumley,Blackwood Farm Park,Hank Anderson,and Battle Park. Jason Halsey—Director UNC Campus Recreation Anne Purcell—Chair,Orange County School Board Natalie Ziemba—Orange County Parks and Recreation Council Dave Stancil-Director of the Orange County Department of Environment,Agriculture,and Parks& Recreation Jessica Pearson—Gensler Consultant for Orange County Trails Plan Bo Howes—Director of Land Protection&Stewardship—TLC Ardra Webster—Business Officer II Orange County, Orange County Department of Environment, Agriculture, and Parks & Recreation Abby Mattingly—Administrative Support Orange County, Orange County Department of Environment, Agriculture, and Parks & Recreation Marcia Purvis—Principal Planner, Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation Robb English-Hillsborough Board of Commissioners Stephanie Trueblood-Public Space and Sustainability Manager for the Town of Hillsborough Nikiya"Nikki"Cherry—Assistant Director,Parks and Recreation,Chapel Hill. Charles Harrington—Recreation Administrator Carrboro Recreation, Parks, &Cultural Resources Tierney Sneeringer—Recreation, Parks&Culture Resources Advisory Board J.G.Ferguson-Director Carrboro Recreation, Parks, &Cultural Resources Aaron Davis-Recreation and Parks Director,City of Mebane Catherine Fray—Carrboro Town Council Tina Moon—Interim Planning Director; Planning&Transportation Administrator,Town of Carrboro Marabeth Carr—Landscape Architect, Orange County Department of Environment,Agriculture, and Parks & Recreation Indigo Roper-Edwards—Land Stewardship Manager,Town of Carrboro Kalani Allen-Communications Manager,Orange County Department of Environment,Agriculture, and Parks& Recreation Meredith Ballew—Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools Board of Education 2. Review of Meeting Notes Chair Bedford asked if anyone had any revisions or comments. (None were submitted before the meeting.) Robb English shared that he noticed an error in the Town of Chapel Hill update section. Change was noted. No other changes were brought forward. 3. Presentation - Orange County Trails Plan Project David Stancil—Orange County David Stancil introduced the Orange County Trails Plan and provided background on the plan. Consultants from Gensler,Jessica Pearson, discussed the community engagement roadmap, highlighted the May vision workshops,the trails corridors, and the criteria to evaluate these corridors. She explained the phases for the plan and the number of site visits Gensler has done.These 25 site visits included Mountain-to-Sea trail connections in the County,Anderson Park, and Little River Regional Parks for potential connections. In her presentation, Pearson summarized opportunities and some restraints in the earlier process. Pearson shared that Marabeth Carr connected her with Stephanie Trueblood and Moon. She also shared that the Orange County Parks and Recreation Council (PRC) is the steering committee for the plan. She ended by encouraging members to attend the upcoming workshops and help advertise them to their community. Pearson asked if there were any questions or comments. Stephanie Trueblood asked what definition would be used for greenways. She also asked about the connectivity among the trails plan and bike ped plan as it relates to greenways. Would this plan be primary trails that are natural surface trails, and how would this be conveyed to the public. Stancil said that the plan is not trying to limit greenways and the connectivity for transportation. English mentioned the Mebane and Hillsborough connection.Trueblood recommended that consultants use already adopted plans for the trails plan.Jessica Pearson agreed but also shared about future connectivity. 4. Future Municipal Connectivity Projects (Includes outside Agencies) Municipalities discussed current and future connectivity projects. a. Town of Carrboro—Tina Moon - Two Adopted Greenway Master Plans: Bolin Creek and Morgan Creek - Jones Creek Greenway—Twin Creeks connection - -Fiscal Year'27 Bolin Creek Greenway—Council is exploring design options Morgan Creek Greenway Phase 1 &2—Connection to Chapel Hill - Next Project: Estes Drive Bike-Ped Improvements - Still seeking funding for bike lanes and sidewalks along Homestead Road - Discussions on Seawell School Road, NC 54 b. Town of Hillsborough—Stephanie Trueblood - Ridge Walk Greenway- Paved, Urban Greenway—This project is currently delayed. Next steps are engineering and funding. - Waterstone South Masterplan—The Community has its own agreement to create a greenway. This greenway has the potential to be close to Blackwood Farm Park. - Collins Ridge developers will submit designs. - Easy, accessible, bike-ped route to downtown Hillsborough - Orange Grove Road - Some projects delayed to 2033 and 2035. - Community Center at Fairview-Sidewalk connection from center to park.Trueblood mentioned that she has been working with Orange County DEPAR staff, David Stancil and Marabeth Carr. - Marcia Purvis asked if the developer would be responsible for the maintenance of the greenways.Trueblood said no.The town would be responsible. c. Town of Chapel Hill—Marcia Purvis - Comprehensive Parks & Recreation Master Plan.This plan is more tailored to amenities, maintenance, cost, and staff. - Project: Fordham Blvd-Willow Road & Cleveland—funding has been approved. - Project: Morgan Creek Greenway-Manning Drive through Merritt Pasture. On May 22nd,there will be an opportunity for community engagement. Bolin Creek Greenway Moon mentioned the Triangle Bikeped—54 East at Morgan Creek Blume talked about peds and the connection to Morgan Creek East. Purvis explained that this will be going to Manning Drive. d. City of Mebane—Aaron Davis - Vt Greenway Ribbon Cutting - Northern Connections - Greenways in neighborhoods connect to sidewalks. - Lake Michael is under construction. - Exploring connections growing towards Orange County e. Others Bo Howes - Project across from South Creek.TLC will own that preserve and create a natural trail system. Indigo Roper-Edwards - Blue Indigo—Connectivity to roads that include additional trails on the Confluence, natural surface trails. UNC Person - Four miles of usage trails. UNC—Country Club Rd, Botanical Gardens, and buildings within the campus. f. Orange County David Stancil-Orange County - Bike Skills Course at Little River Regional Park—TORCAgreement - Fairview Park—Homel Avenue and connectivity to the park - First Mini-Park—Perry Hills includes a loop trail. - MST—Seven Mile Natural Areas connection. - Chair Bedford asked if construction had started on the tennis court expansion at Fairview Park. 5. Topics of Future Conversations. a. Community Use of Schools Chair Bedford led the discussion on the community use of schools. She reviewed the policy with the group. Encourage the schools to talk to the Towns about opportunities to partner. Ferguson said that conversations have been happening with Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. Davis asked if there is an after-school use policy. Bedford said that it is left for the schools. b. Federal Funding Impacts Stancil opened the discussion on Federal Funding impacts. Carr shared that there have been some delays for building supplies, such as a picnic shelter for Perry Hills Minipark.Towns said there has not been any impact on their departments. Some have seen funding impacts on departments such as utilities and crisis social workers. Adjournment - Next meeting October 8th, 2025 The meeting was adjourned at 6:56