Large new park within reach

“You feel like you’re in the mountains,” Assistant Town Engineer Holly Miller said last week about the 178 acres north of the Smith Creek Reservoir the town wants to purchase to protect the reservoir’s drinking water quality and to provide a new park.

Miller applied for and received $529,920 in a state Clean Water Management Trust Fund grant and has applied to Wake County’s Open Space grant fund program for $2.6 million to come close to the $3.6 million purchase price. The Ammons family owns the land and is willing to sell.

Along with protecting the reservoir water, Miller said in an email, the purchase will “provide a valuable asset to the town in regards to habitat, ecology and connection. In the future we will also look at a PARTF (North Carolina Parks and Recreation Trust Fund) grant to provide master planning including trail networks for hikers, bikers and equestrians. We will also look at parking, picnic areas and children’s education stations.”

In addition to the large tract for a future park, the town is in the process of purchasing a small tract along Smith Creek south of Rogers Road owned by Dr. William Hedrick. The cost is about $596,000, and last fall the town learned it would receive a $289,622 grant from the Clean Water Management Trust Fund.