INC NEWS - I need your help right now

[RW Pickle]

I need your help with an email right now. I am going to talk to the City
Council on Thursday and I want them to know I am not alone in my voice. I
want them to know there are thousands of citizens in Durham that support
this idea.

If you will, just copy the message below and paste it into an email and
send it to City Council at the address below. I left your neighborhood as
a blank in the email that you'll need to fill in.

Thanks for helping me out. If you need more justification to help me out,
just read on below the message I need for you to send. It'll further
explain why I need for you to help me out. Please pass this along to your
list server for your neighborhood.This is something we all can get behind.
Especially this electronic community we all are a part of. I know we can
make a difference.

Randy Pickle
Forest Hills


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council at ci.durham.nc.us

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I live in ______________.  I support the efforts of EANG in the quest
toward aquisition of the Duke University land so as to create a regional
park. Historic preservation does not stop at buildings. It extends to the
very land where Native Americans camped and on the roads that carried our
first settlers. This land is a piece of history that will be lost forever
if developed. Additionally it will aid in the preservation of the
watershed. Cleaner water should be a goal for everyone.

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Yesterday, it seemed like the City Council felt there wasn't a great deal
of support for the Erwin Area Neighborhood Groups' (EANG) effort to get a
park of their own (outside of the neighborhoods that were close by). We're
not close. And neither are the other neighborhoods like Duke Park, Trinity
Park, Rockwood Park, Morehead Hills Park, Oval Park, and so on, who I hope
will accept the Neighborhood Challenge I put forth relative to raising
$500 to support EANG in their goal to raise $100,000 for their park. Our
money is a small jesture (in the scope of things),but a big message to the
City that other neighborhoods do support this idea (and even with their
dollars).

As I understood it yesterday, City Council wasn't hearing from anyone. I
want to change that today. I need for you to send them an email telling
them you support the idea of the EANG in saving this Duke property from
development and creating a natural regional park with the land.

Not only has EANG raised more than $80,000 so far, they have more than
doubled the size of the land area to be protected for this park. Wade and
Carolyn Penny have said if this land can be purchased by the four
municipalities involved, they will put a few more acres than the 44 acres
of the Duke tract, into the park as well. So this really amounts to a
milion and a half dollar gift EANG will contribute by themselves; doubling
the size of the park. This to me is some kind of huge effort. They also
have located 2 grants that will fund $500,000 each toward the purchase. So
we're really only talking $100,000 (over three years; $33,333 a year) for
each government involved. EANG will be paying the remaining $100,000 plus
adding the additional land. But the 2 grants only will work if all 4
governments (Orange County, Durham County, Chapel Hill, and Durham)
participate. If Durham doesn't get on board, the whole thing collapses. So
your email may be very important.

Maybe this will send the message they say they are not hearing.