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
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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.
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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
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