Chatham aid sought for Chapel Hill park

CHAPEL HILL -- Orange County Commissioners on Tuesday night asked their Chatham County counterparts to kick in money for a park planned near the county line.

Moses Carey, chairman of the Orange County Board of Commissioners, said Chapel Hill's Southern Community Park -- designed with soccer fields, basketball courts, picnic shelters and other amenities -- is expected to draw plenty of residents of Chatham County, and Orange would rather not have to keep them out.

"We're appealing to our Chatham County neighbors to work with us on this so we won't even be thinking about putting up any barriers," Carey said.

The park will be south of Southern Village along U.S. 15-501, roughly a mile from the Chatham County line.

Chapel Hill and Orange County are struggling to find money to fully fund the park. A 2002 report put construction estimates at a little less than $3.6 million, but construction costs have soared since then.

On Monday night, the Chapel Hill Town Council approved a $5 million bid for the project, but that doesn't include many of the amenities originally planned for the park, such as lighting for the fields and paths, a splash park, a fountain and a baseball diamond.

"Perhaps we could think of ways in which Chatham could participate," Orange Commissioner Barry Jacobs said. "Perhaps, with that, we could fully fund the park."

Carl Thompson, chairman of the Chatham County Board of Commissioners, said after the meeting that Chatham's board would consider contributing to the project.

"I think the idea is there's some sentiment to help, given that our folks will be using it," Thompson said. "To a certain extent, we feel a responsibility to do that."

At their first joint meeting in more than eight years, the commissioners also discussed Orange County's lands legacy program, protecting Jordan Lake, and public transit between the two counties.