By Monica Chen : The Herald-Sun
mchen@heraldsun.com

Apr 9, 2008

DURHAM -- Conservation efforts of more than three years concluded with applause and a four-foot-wide check for $1 million to Duke University on Tuesday.

The culmination was a 43-acre parcel of New Hope Preserve located on the border of Durham and Orange counties, the result of steadfast efforts of nearby residents and local officials to put it aside for public enjoyment.

County Commissioner Ellen Reckhow called the event a "celebration of the power of partnerships" as she addressed a crowd of 30 people representing different organizations and municipalities who worked together on the property.

Efforts to set aside land along New Hope Creek around Pickett and Erwin roads began in 2005, when nearby property owners Wade and Carolyn Penny offered to conserve their land if Durham and Orange counties would save 43 adjacent acres owned by Duke University.

The County Commissioners had only until April 2005 to decide to buy the property.

They agreed to do so for $1.5 million. An initial $500,000 was paid to Duke in April 2005 as a down payment, with the promise that within three years, the rest of the money would be paid.

On Tuesday, Reckhow handed the big check over to Michael Palmer, Duke's Director of Community Affairs. The money had been wired to Duke earlier in the day.

Luckily for local taxpayers, Durham and Orange counties paid the money with the help of a $1 million grant from the N.C. Clean Water Management Trust Fund.

"When you have partners, you attract grant money," said Orange County Board of Commissioners Chairman Barry Jacobs, "so the cost to taxpayers kept going down."

Of the rest, residents with the Erwin Area Neighborhood Group and Triangle Land Conservancy contributed $225,000. Durham County contributed $151,643. Orange County gave $73,257. And the city of Durham and Chapel Hill put out $64,100.

The total was a little more than exactly $1.5 million because of surveying and other costs.

Efforts are now under way on a master plan to build a trail, public education spaces and other amenities on the property.

Wendy Jacobs, who heads up the neighborhood group and is a member of the Durham Planning Commission, said they hope to have a completed plan by the end of this year.

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