SILER CITY — The town of Siler City agreed on Monday to take possession of two parcels on South Chatham Avenue near downtown.
Piedmont Conservation Council is under contract to purchase the properties from the heirs of the former owner. The town will assume ownership of the properties for $1 each from the Piedmont Conservation Council after the organization, in conjunction with the efforts of the Loves Creek Watershed Stewards, spends a year clearing and restoring them in an effort to enhance the natural environment along Loves Creek, an impaired waterway that flows through Siler City before making its way to the Rocky River.
The move is part of a greater project which include two adjoining properties on Cedar Avenue which are also going to be restored. The town agreed to take possession of those two parcels in 2017. The Piedmont Conservation Council purchased the properties using an Environmental Enhancement Grant that provides funding for purchase and ecological restoration of property along Loves Creek and its tributaries.
The South Chatham Avenue properties currently contains a house which is collapsing and unsafe. According to Catherine Deininger of Biocenosis, an organization that has been working with the town through the Loves Creek Watershed Stewards to restore the watershed, the first step to restore the property is to demolish the crumbling home and remove debris from the property. She notes that some of the debris is dangerous, including large discarded metal and equipment, farm rubbish, and construction and railroad discards. An underground storage tank has already been removed from the property.
The plan for the four parcels include removing all the kudzu, an invasive species of vine that is native to Asia. The plant was introduced to the U.S. in the 1930s in hopes of preventing erosion, but the plant quickly invaded the south. It kills plants by growing over them at an incredibly rapid rate. Its deep root systems make the plant a very difficult plant to eradicate, a challenge the Loves Creek Watershed Stewards will be undertaking.
The Cedar Avenue properties contain an old farm pond which will be restored and “naturalized.” There are also wetlands on the Cedar Avenue properties that will be restored. Once the floodplain is enhanced and the ecology restored, the town will take possession of the properties, likely in a year. Following that, Deininger and the Loves Creek Watershed Stewards are working with the town to find grants to turn the near six-acre property into an environmental park.
While no designs have been formalized, Deininger told the board on Monday that, the future, the space could include walking trails, natural play equipment and environmental education areas. Deininger also notes that once cleared, there will be access to Loves Creek where visitors and students could learn more about the watershed and the habitat.
The board voted unanimously to take possession of the property once the ecological restoration is complete.
Casey Mann can be reached at CaseyMann@Chathamnr.com.