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HomeMy Public PortalAbout10-18-2016 Minutes PRB Regular MeetingPage 1 of 3 Minutes Parks & Recreation Board Tuesday, October 18, 2016 7:00 PM, Town Barn 101 E. Orange St. Present: Chairman Todd Stabley, Robb English, Annie Jarabek, Noah Mace, Rebecca Swartz, Nancy Taylor, Ex Officio – TB Rep. Brian Lowen Absent: Chris Wehrman (PB rep), Kim Woodell, Vice Chairman Ashley DeSena, Kate Albrecht, 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 There were no changes or adjustments. Item 3: Approval of minutes from September 20, 2016 Motion: Ms. Swartz moved to approve the minutes as submitted. Second: Ms. Taylor 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 Mr. Mace noted there are still no sidewalks along Orange High School Road and no safe way for pedestrians to cross U.S. 70. He didn’t think the larger side streets warranted sidewalks as the houses are set back. He noted there’s more pedestrian traffic in the newer subdivisions in that area. Ms. Trueblood reviewed that the town does not build sidewalks in the extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ). She suggested being very targeted about suggesting where the county might consider building a sidewalk because, in general, the county doesn’t build sidewalks, either. The Safe Roads to School Plan recommends sidewalks here to get kids to school, for extracurricular activities, and for the use of surrounding neighbors. She suggested focusing on the important areas. There is potential to create a safe way for students who live in the Fairview area to walk to school by adding a gate in the fence on school property (CW Stanford Middle and Orange High School). Ms. Trueblood noted changes for the recommendations and she’ll bring them back next month. Regarding District 9, it would be good to connect River Road to Occoneechee Speedway for the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. Ms. Trueblood explained there are long-term plans for the state to purchase land to continue the trail to Eno River State Park in that area. Park Districts 6 and 7: Annie Jarabek Page 2 of 3 Regarding District 6, Ms. Jarabek asked for more thoughts on getting a sidewalk underneath the railroad trestle. Ms. Trueblood said this area is designated as high priority for a sidewalk. Ms. Trueblood noted some recommendations. Regarding District 7, Ms. Jarabek was wondering about traffic calming on Occoneechee Street. Ms. Trueblood noted that enlarging stop signs and painting stop bars on the street have made a difference on West Margaret Lane. Ms. Jarabek noted a place on West King Street where it would be a great to have a sidewalk but there’s a blue house in the right of way or almost in the right of way. Ms. Jarabek expressed concern about how fast cars drive behind the Parks and Recreation Center. Sidewalks on Corbin Street was also a recommendation, which is already a high priority on the plan. Few drivers are stopping at the three-way stop on Hassel Street. Ms. Trueblood is hoping to email out a link in two or three weeks so that board members can read the draft plan before the next meeting. Item 5: Continue Connectivity Plan Update: Review DRAFT map recommendations- Bicycle Plans Ms. Trueblood reviewed the map and looked at what other roads should be added to Orange County’s recommendations for roads where the shoulders should be made a little wider to accommodate bicycles. Dark blue lines on the map indicate bike lanes that would be marked with a symbol, have a six- inch line and would be cleaned and swept when the roads are. These wider shoulders are something different. The town’s recommendation is to put bike lanes in high-traffic areas where you wouldn’t feel safe riding your bicycle without them such as Waterstone Drive, both old and new N.C. 86, U.S. 70 A and U.S. 70 Bypass, and a little section from Town Hall to U.S. 70. The light blue lines indicate bike routes, which do not require widening the road. Streets marked with light blue for wide shoulders, bike routes include: Margaret Lane, Cameron Street, St. Mary’s Road, Miller Road, Orange Grove Road, Dimmocks Mill Road, Nash Street, and Oakdale Drive. These would be places that as resurfacing comes up, we would be looking to see whether we could fit a little bit of extra asphalt and maybe a line on the side but probably not a full bike lane. Ms. Trueblood explained bike blocks, which are now in some areas in the United States and assist cyclists safely navigate intersections with stoplights where there’s the danger of cars turning into them. They work in Arlington, Virginia. There were suggestions of adding N.C. 86 North to Coleman Loop and Grady Brown. Item 6: Update on Parks and Recreation Joint Advisory Board topics: Annie Jarabek Ms. Jarabek said they are looking for people to lead and to identify action items. Ms. Trueblood asked if there’s a staff person leading it. If there isn’t she doesn’t think it will have much traction to go anywhere. Item 7: Reports and Updates- (Parks and Recreation related reports)  Town Board: Brian Lowen—Waterstone development team attended meeting to request a left-in on Waterstone Drive for retail, which was granted.  Planning Board: Chris Wehrman -- absent  Mountains to Sea Trail- MST: staff – Ms. Jarabek suggested a sign to direct people to MST. Ms. Trueblood said there are signs all along the Riverwalk. MST people can go to the Visitor’s Center to get that information included at that location. Ms. Page 3 of 3 Jarabek said the town’s Website doesn’t say MST. The town promotes Riverwalk but not MST at this time because the trail doesn’t go anywhere. Ms. Trueblood suggested MST send information for consideration for the town Website.  Orange County Parks and Recreation Council: Annie Jarabek  Intergovernmental Parks Work Group- IPWG: staff—now need to start talking about the design of GIS map to make it user friendly.  Park Steward reports: 1. Gold Park: Annie Jarabek, Dog Park: Nancy Taylor—Ms. Trueblood shared it will be re-mulched. 2. Cates Creek Park: Kate Albrecht 3. Turnip Patch Park: Annie Jarabek—Ms. Trueblood said the fence will be repaired but it may be in the next fiscal year. 4. Murray Street Park: Ashley DeSena--absent 5. Kings Highway Park: Todd Stabley – looking really nice 6. Hillsborough Heights Park: Kim Woodell -- absent 7. Riverwalk: Robb English – not present, but Ms. Trueblood added on phase 3 lost a boardwalk but can do a budget amendment to cover fixing it. 8. Downtown Sidewalks/Mayo Park: staff  Staff Updates Ms. Trueblood shared the new planning person would not likely start for another month. Item 8: Adjourn Motion: Commissioner Lowen moved to adjourn at 9:02 p.m. Second: Ms. Jarabek seconded. Vote: Unanimous \