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Home My Public Portal About01-18-2022 Minutes PRB Regular Meeting 101 E. Orange St., PO Box 429, Hillsborough, NC 27278 919-732-1270 | www.hillsboroughnc.gov | @HillsboroughGov PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD MINUTES | 1 of 4 Minutes PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD Remote regular meeting 7 p.m. Jan. 18, 2022 Virtual meeting via YouTube Live Town of Hillsborough YouTube channel Present: Chair Jesse Mowles-Aring, Carl Cuthbertson, Commissioner Robb English (ex officio), Chelsea Gailey, Cole Kenworthy, Andrew Landstrom, James Pattison and Richard von Furstenberg Absent: Alyse Polly Staff: Public Space and Sustainability Manager Stephanie Trueblood 1. Call to order and confirmation of quorum Chair Jesse Mowles-Aring called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. Public Space and Sustainability Manager Stephanie Trueblood called the roll and confirmed the presence of a quorum. 2. Agenda changes and approval Trueblood noted the board needed to elect a vice chair to serve until October. Motion: Member James Pattison moved to approve the agenda with the additional agenda item. Member Cole Kenworthy seconded. Trueblood called the roll for voting. Vote: 7-0. Ayes: Members Carl Cuthbertson, Chelsea Gailey, Kenworthy, Andrew Landstrom, Mowles- Aring, Pattison and Richard von Furstenberg. Nays: None. 3. Minutes review and approval Minutes from regular meeting on Sept. 21, 2021 It was noted that Cole was misspelled on the first page. Motion: Kenworthy moved approval of the Sept. 21, 2021, minutes with the correction. Pattison seconded. Trueblood called the roll for voting. Vote: 7-0. Ayes: Members Cuthbertson, Gailey, Kenworthy, Landstrom, Mowles-Aring, Pattison and von Furstenberg. Nays: None. 4. Action items A. Approve meeting schedule for 2022 Motion: Kenworthy moved to approve the 2022 Meeting Schedule. Pattison seconded. PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD MINUTES | 2 of 4 Trueblood called the roll for voting. Vote: 7-0. Ayes: Members Cuthbertson, Gailey, Kenworthy, Landstrom, Mowles-Aring, Pattison and von Furstenberg. Nays: None. B. Elect vice chair to serve until October 2022 Kenworthy said he would be willing to serve. Motion: Mowles-Aring moved to elect Kenworthy as vice chair. Landstrom seconded. Trueblood called the roll for voting. Vote: 7-0. Ayes: Members Cuthbertson, Gailey, Kenworthy, Landstrom, Mowles-Aring, Pattison and von Furstenberg. Nays: None. 5. Discussion items A. Comprehensive Sustainability Plan presentation by VHB (consultant) and discussion of connectivity updates Candice Andre, Lauren Blackburn, Don Bryson and Margaret Tartala from the consulting firm VHB joined the meeting. Andre, the project manager, presented an overview and reported 9% of the population responded to the survey conducted in the summer of 2021. She reviewed some of the findings. Blackburn gave a brief presentation that included common transportation planning terminology. Trueblood said transportation priorities include building: • A roundabout at Eno Mountain Road and Mayo Street • A connector between South Churton Street and N.C. 86 that would provide an alternative to U.S. 70A • A greenway connection from downtown Hillsborough to Cates Creek Park via the train station property and Collins Ridge Board members asked questions. Landstrom expressed a need for sidewalks near Cedar Ridge High School, which is outside the town limits. Pattison suggested getting the speed limit lowered in that area or adding more signs. It was noted that this area is outside the town limits. Mowles-Aring explained that there are no sidewalks in the western part of Hillsborough and yet drivers use the streets to cut through to larger roads, making walking and bike riding dangerous. Bruce Chinery, a resident of Corbinton Commons, addressed the board. Corbinton Commons is east of the Historic District and has a greenway owned and maintained by the neighborhood. He would like the connectivity plans to include a greenway through his neighborhood to Ayr Mount. Trueblood said there is no safe connection to Ayr Mount because St. Mary’s is a narrow state road outside of town limits. Trueblood said the trail wasn’t included as a recommendation in the past because the existing greenway isn’t owned by the town. She explained that the mulched trail from the neighborhood to Caine Street has a public easement on San Souci property. The paved greenway in the neighborhood does not have a public easement. Chinery noted that there is some controversy in the community about public access, and he added that it’s hard to talk about moving forward if it’s not in the Connectivity Plan. PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD MINUTES | 3 of 4 Trueblood explained Classical American Homes owns the land between the footbridge to the east of the greenway. NCDOT owns and maintains St. Mary’s Rd. The constraints do not appear to be physical or environmental but require coordination. She added the Connectivity Plan informs staff’s priorities. Trueblood added that residents in Fairview recently requested that the plan also include a sidewalk from Rainey Avenue to the Dorothy N. Johnson Community Center. B. Update from subcommittee and continued discussion of options for adding skate spots in town Trueblood noted she had requested money for Fiscal Year 2022-2023 for design of a 5,000-square-foot skate park or skate spot at Cates Creek Park. Design costs tend to be about 10% of the total project. The first year would be the design year with construction to follow in future years as funds were available. Trueblood encouraged the board to move to recommend the Cates Creek location as a first priority skate spot to formalize the conversation that has been happening over the past year. Mowles-Aring said he is supportive of the Cates Creek Park location as one location for a skate spot but he did not want to close out the possibility of adding skate spots in other locations. English said one possible site is at the future train station. Trueblood said the board can continue to explore other locations while developing a design for Cates Creek Park or they can choose to wait and explore all locations before proceeding. She explained that if they want to put in the CIP budget request for FY23 to move ahead with a design then the decision needs to be formalized. Otherwise, they will need to wait at least a year to submit. Motion: Landstrom moved to prioritize a skate spot in Cates Creek Park and submit a CIP request for FY23 and to investigate options for additional skate spots in central and northern areas of town. Kenworthy seconded. Trueblood called the roll for voting. Vote: 7-0. Ayes: Members Cuthbertson, Gailey, Kenworthy, Landstrom, Mowles-Aring, Pattison and von Furstenberg. Nays: None. 6. Parks and recreation-related reports A. Board of Commissioners English shared recent decisions and discussions on the board. Board of Commissioners meeting summaries are available in the News section of the town website, www.hillsboroughnc.gov. B. Planning Board Trueblood noted that Alyse Polly will be joining the Parks and Recreation Board as the designated member from the Planning Board but she had a conflict for this meeting. C. Intergovernmental Parks Work Group There was no report. 7. Park steward reports PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD MINUTES | 4 of 4 Board members reported on the conditions of the parks for which they serve as stewards. Trueblood noted any small repairs that needed attention and gave brief reports on small repairs that had been made since the previous meeting. 8. Staff updates There was no additional report. 9. Adjournment Motion: Kenworthy moved to adjourn at 9:18 p.m. von Furstenberg seconded. Trueblood called the roll for voting. Vote: 7-0. Ayes: Members Cuthbertson, Gailey, Kenworthy, Landstrom, Mowles-Aring, Pattison and Richard von Furstenberg. Nays: None. Respectfully submitted, Stephanie Trueblood Public Space and Sustainability Manager Staff support to the Parks and Recreation Board Approved: 2/15/2022