Chatham County explores park options

Posted Monday, May 7, 2007

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Pittsboro, NC - The Chatham County Parks & Recreation department made a presentation about county park options before the county board of commissioners on May 7th. Below is a summary of the presentation.

Existing County Parks

Southwest District Park: Bear Creek, 25 acres: walking trail, sand volleyball, playground, multi-use field (baseball, softball, soccer, etc.), shelter (with kitchen, concession area and restrooms)
Current operating costs $41,200 per year; estimated at $47,763 by 2012

Earl Thompson Recreation Park, Bynum
Ballfield and small playground, concession and restroom

Other Joint Facilities

American Tobacco Trail (joint project with Cary and DOT)—No current operating costs but estimated at $70,000 per year starting in 2012

Haw River Canoe Trail (regional)

Deep River Canoe Trail (new project may involve canoeing and walking trails)

Pittsboro Tennis & Basketball (county contributed funds for these facilities

New Park Options

Northeast District Park: Big Woods Rd, 65 acres

Camp Marantha Springs: Woody Store Road, Silk Hope area, 118 acres

Bells Landing/Jordan Lake: Seaforth Road, 475 acres

Proposed Northeast District Park

BACKGROUND: Have searched for 18+ months for appropriate parcel with willing seller. Only two potential options surfaced.

Farrington Road: Parcel had major soil problems, is not centrally located and significant hunting in area

Big Woods Road: First parcel that could readily be developed as park with mix of active and passive recreation

Big Woods Road Property

65 acres, of which about 40 can be used for various types of facilities

NE District is one of four identified park sites in the 1999 Recreation Master Plan and is in the current County CIP

Master Plan calls for developing 100 acres of district park space within 10 years

Helps meet deficit of facilities for ballfields, soccer fields, football field, tennis courts & small community center with gym

HANDOUT: Rough drawing of potential facilities

Soil survey shows moderately good soils and fairly level terrain, especially for this part of the county

Centrally located for the district population

Close to North Chatham School & potential new high school site

No known natural heritage areas or endangered species

Is in Critical Area of Watershed for Jordan Lake, which will require setbacks of 150 to 200 feet around the Corps land boundary

Limited hunting during certain periods of the year, which may mean getting with the gamelands officials to identify where fencing and visible signage is required, which will be a budget issue

However, we could have hunting on other park parcels that are not adjacent to gamelands

Appraisal of property: $20,000 per acre

Purchase price: $1,405,950 (including realtor commission)

Another buyer (residential developer) is interested and seller wants to close soon

$1,746,033 in fees collected for Eastern District

Can get state PARTF funds to help build facilities with county land purchase as match

Operating costs: Estimated at $152,536, starting in 2009; increasing to $166,680 by 2001

Recreation Advisory Board Comments

Need to secure the property as options are so limited in this part of the county

Centrally located and demand is there

Board members walked the property and determined it would be appropriate for a park

Camp Maranatha Springs

BACKGROUND: While searching for NE District Park, heard that former camp facilities was going to be for sale

Camp Maranatha Springs is 118 acres

Has been used as a church and privately-run camp for many years. Has several facilities: gym, pool, dining hall, ballfield and various other buildings, but some are not usable.

Has large pond with gazebo and has been used for paddleboats

Excellent terrain with cleared areas and roads already graded

However, some buildings would need to be closed down, removed or renovated

Has three wells, commercial pumps and waterlines

The sale is result of family estate settlement and eager to sell

Was willing in November to sell the land for $1.45 million over five years, with one-third paid at closing

Another buyer is now interested and in negotiation

This area is generally identified in the 1999 Master Plan as potential site for district park, but is not in county CIP and do not have estimated operational costs

The Plan identified the need for at least 70 acres for parkland in this area

However, we do not have funds accumulated in this district to buy the land or build its facilities

However, the camp is a pre-developed parcel with many good features for a park

Recreation Advisory Board has walked the property and supports the purchase

Is large enough to meet many types of needs

Potential for more rental/user fees at this facility due to dining/meeting hall, pond and other facilities

Bells Landing at Jordan Lake

475 acres that would be leased from the State Parks & Recreation Division for $1 per year

Located near intersection of US 64 and Seaforth Road

Would provide passive recreation, such as nature center, nature trails, picnic and amphitheater

Is identified in the county’s 1999 Master Plan as special use facility and is in the current CIP

Gives county access to lakefront property

Potential site for water system intake

Includes stand of rare white pines that would be preserved

Centrally located, easy access

State’s lease of the land from Army Corps expires in less than 25 years, which will limit our lease period; this means we may not qualify for state PARTF funds to build the park unless state rules are changed

State has expressed concerns about this site since it is not suited for water sports—would prefer us to have a site that does

Could potentially be impacted by new state regulations protecting Jordan Lake, based on park ranger information

No guarantees about water intake site based on letter dated April 2006

State expressed concern that we have not built in enough staffing to support the park in its operational management plan

Currently have a total of $2,195,560 in CIP, but higher than expected purchase & construction of NE District Park would reduce funds available for Bell’s Landing

Annual operating costs estimated at $165,000 starting in 2011 may not be enough; state agency officials have stated that staffing levels need to be increased

Can recoup some expenses through admission/parking fee, which would be set at a level similar to State Parks on Jordan Lake

HANDOUT: Summary of potential deficit in recreation fee funds by 2010

Recreation Advisory Board

Supports development of all three parks

All would meet different needs for recreational facilities

Summary

The Recreation Advisory Boards recommends all three facilities

However, we recognize that the county currently does not have sufficient funds to purchase and develop all three

If the Board of Commissioners wants to purchase/develop all three, additional revenues will have to be identified

Action Request

We seek your approval today to purchase the Big Woods Road property for NE District Park before another buyer secures the property

We also seek your guidance on the other two proposed park facilities