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HomeMy Public PortalAbout09-20-2016 Minutes PRB Regular MeetingPage 1 of 4 Minutes Parks & Recreation Board Tuesday, September 20, 2016 7:00 PM, Town Barn 101 E. Orange St. Present: Chairman Todd Stabley, Vice Chairman Ashley DeSena, Kate Albrecht, Robb English, Rebecca Swartz, Kim Woodell Absent: Chris Wehrman (PB rep), Annie Jarabek, Noah Mace, Nancy Taylor, Ex Officio – TB Rep. Brian Lowen Staff: Stephanie Trueblood Item 1: Call meeting to order, roll call, and confirm presence of a quorum Chairman Stabley called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. Ms. Trueblood called the roll and confirmed the presence of a quorum. Item 2: Consideration of changes or adjustments to the agenda Ms. Trueblood noted for Item 4, Mr. Mace and Ms. Jarabek were going to give reports and both could not be present this evening. Item 6 was an item with Ms. Jarabek as well. Chairman Stabley had earlier requested that Ms. Trueblood add to the agenda an informal discussion about Occoneechee Speedway. In light of Ms. Jarabek not being able to attend the meeting, Ms. Trueblood suggested making this the replacement Item 6. Chairman Stabley said he would also give a brief update on the most recent Mountains-to-Sea Trail meeting. Item 3: Approval of minutes from July 19 and August 16, 2016 Motion: Vice Chairman DeSena moved to approve both sets of minutes as presented. Second: Ms. Albrecht seconded. Vote: Unanimous Item 4: Continue Connectivity Plan Update: Receive and discuss park district inventory reports from PRB members: Park Districts 2 and 9: Noah Mace -- absent Park Districts 6 and 7: Annie Jarabek -- absent Park Districts 13 and 14: Robb English Ms. Trueblood indicated Parks Districts 13 on a map (Elizabeth Brady Road, Occoneechee Speedway, Fiori Hills, Forest Ridge). Mr. English noted the new developments and Eno River Academy K-8, formerly known as Orange Charter. He also added the proposed Sportsplex addition with a large indoor space. He noted to change the language to reflect that Riverwalk construction is complete. He suggested adding language to advocate for allowing people to walk their bikes on the pathway on Classical American Homes Trust property that connects to Riverwalk. He suggested adding something about supporting connectivity to new developments. He noted advocating for bike path over I-85 to connect Collins Ridge. He suggested adding a sidewalk along U.S. 70 Business from Elizabeth Brady to the Sportsplex. Chairman Stabley noted that drivers drive fast on Elizabeth Brady and suggested a crosswalk. Ms. Trueblood explained the dangers of midblock crosswalks and DOT’s reluctance to build them. At this particular location, it was determined that putting the burden to stop on the pedestrian is safest. It is a town road, but the town tries to follow NCDOT guidelines. Ms. Trueblood suggested considering striping Page 2 of 4 the road the next time it’s resurfaced. Chairman Stabley suggested emailing the businesses a message to ask them to make their employees aware of increased pedestrian traffic. Mr. English said for District 14, he would add Cedar Ridge High School as a public resource in hopes that the recreational areas may be open to the public someday. He noted Cornwallis Hills’s open area and the mobile park pool. When asked, Ms. Trueblood said the town is on schedule to have a traffic survey for a light at Lafayette Drive and Old NC 86. Mr. English expressed concern about children walking along Orange Grove Road and Oakdale Drive. He would suggest supporting expanding use of Cornwallis Hills’s recreation area and green space. Ms. Albrecht said she’d noticed parents running around the green space in Cornwallis Hills while their children played in the middle and suggested a Chapel Hill gravel path for parents to run on would be nice. There was acknowledgement that it’s owned by the HOA. Item 5: Continue Connectivity Plan Update: Review DRAFT map recommendations Ms. Trueblood reviewed recent and upcoming sidewalk improvements. She acknowledged the need for a crosswalk at King Street and Cameron Street near the Visitor’s Center. Also, on North Churton Street, there is a need for crosswalks on the north side of the intersections except at Corbin Street (south side there because of a hill). She acknowledged that re-configuring the intersection is a possibility by Sinclair Station. In West Hillsborough, she included the crosswalk at Turnip Patch Park to cross West King Street and the one part of CMAQ plan in front of Paws at the Corner (will be a three-way stop). There was question of provision to do maintenance on old brick sidewalks on the west side of Churton Street. Ms. Trueblood said the Connectivity Plan includes a repairs map and that staff had walked the district to update the list. Ms. Trueblood noted she doesn’t have crosswalks going north-south at the intersections but agreed to add these. She reviewed the updated Connectivity maps with the board, including what’s funded and what’s not yet funded. She reviewed sidewalk map indications of high-priority, low-priority, and Orange County recommendations. High-priority has to be built. Low-priority either has to be built or has to pay payment-in-lieu. Some highlights were: There was acknowledgment of a desire for a bike path along St. Mary’s near town, as it is a major route for cyclists. There is no sidewalk recommendation there. For Orange County, the Tuscarora Drive sidewalk along 70 is high priority. There was agreement to ask county for sidewalks along Oakdale Drive. The board decided to keep the sidewalk recommendation on Central Elementary school from the Latimer Street connection. There was brief discussion on whether or not there’s a need for sidewalks on Eno Street. The board reviewed greenways and acknowledged it preferred a connection to Kings Highway Park from Eno Street rather than King Street. Page 3 of 4 Item 6: Update on Parks and Recreation Joint Advisory Board topics: Annie Jarabek New Item 6a: Informal discussion regarding Occoneechee Speedway Oxbow Trail discussion --- Ms. Trueblood explained that all along everyone was in agreement that bicycles would not be allowed on Occoneechee Speedway, nor at Ayr Mount, nor Occoneechee Mountain. Ms. Trueblood explained that Bill Crowther is the caretaker of the Ayr Mount for Classical American Homes Preservation Trust and she has had several conversations with Mr. Crowther over several years in which he would say he isn’t going to allow bicycles on the trail because he doesn’t want bicycles going off the trail and damaging the property, but he would agree to allow cyclists to walk their bikes on the trail to get to the Riverwalk. Now he is not allowing cyclists to walk their bicycles on the trail. There was an incident where he turned back a father with an 8-year-old daughter who then had to ride their bikes, at dusk, along U.S. 70 Business to get home. Ms. Trueblood has tried talking with Mr. Crowther to come to some middle ground but recognizes that this is private property and the decision is up to the property owner. This board expressed concerns about the public safety of cyclists on 70. Ms. Trueblood explained that it’s her responsibility to advocate for bike and pedestrian access. There was acknowledgement that Riverwalk alignment planning and funding was tied to bicycle access as well as pedestrian – eliminating some car trips. Ms. Trueblood explained that she had talked to Mr. Crowther and agreed to refer any complaints to Mr. Crowther and he was willing to talk to people. She said he seems to be thinking at first to not allow bicycles at all and then eventually letting people walk them across the site. New Item 6b: MST update Chairman Stabley said he attended the recent meeting. OWASA has voted to allow discussions to continue. They’ve crafted conditions. This meeting was split into stations to address specific concerns of adjacent neighbors such as liability, whether or not there’s an increased risk of fire, etc. The meeting seemed helpful. Item 7: Reports and Updates- (Parks and Recreation related reports)  Town Board: Brian Lowen-- absent  Planning Board: Chris Wehrman--absent  Mountains to Sea Trail- MST: staff—just discussed  Orange County Parks and Recreation Council: Annie Jarabek--absent  Intergovernmental Parks Work Group- IPWG: staff—meets in October  Park Steward reports: 1. Gold Park: Annie Jarabek--absent, Dog Park: Nancy Taylor--absent 2. Cates Creek Park: Kate Albrecht—very clean bathrooms, seeing more and more families use it, rain pushed mulch around 3. Turnip Patch Park: Annie Jarabek—absent 4. Murray Street Park: Ashley DeSena—same as last month, tree missing, as reported next month, weeds need attention 5. Kings Highway Park: Todd Stabley—looks great. Ms. Trueblood said trash can will go in soon. 6. Hillsborough Heights Park: Kim Woodell—absent 7. Riverwalk: Robb English—heavily used Page 4 of 4 8. Downtown Sidewalks/Mayo Park: staff, CSAIP is going out for third advertisement  Staff Updates --CMAQ plans are sealed and submitted to DOT. Ms. Trueblood is hoping to go to bid in November. She doesn’t want to wait to advertise downtown sidewalks that late. If that works out, construction in late February/early March. --The town is hiring a new planner. Ms. Trueblood takes on her new responsibilities in October and will be training the new planner on HDC. --The playground equipment company in Gold Park will replace damaged equipment (under warranty) but won’t allow a swap for a different type. She is getting estimates on other types of equipment to replace the triple slide. She is getting pricing for shade structures that would at least shade the deck. --New grounds crew has started. --Garden Club will be selling plants this fall. --Library pavers are going in this year by the County. --Paperwork is in for state downtown revitalization money. --Mine-owned land adjacent to Occoneechee Mountain – state park is working on acquiring. Item 8: Adjourn Motion: Ms. Swartz moved to adjourn at 9:30 p.m. Second: Ms. DeSena seconded. Vote: Unanimous