Andrew Fox

Rivers are the lifeblood of the communities throughout eastern North Carolina. The communities that occupy the edges of waterways owe their location and existence to the abundant resources provided by their corresponding rivers, tributaries, and floodplains. These natural features have made lasting physical and cultural impressions that continue to shape and influence both local community and greater region. Recognizing that rivers and communities are inseparable, the processes and products outlined in the following proposal are guided by a process referred to as a ����������������floodprint��������������������������������� a landscape planning approach developed by the NC State University Coastal Dynamics Design Lab that addresses land/water relationships, including the powerful forces associated with flooding. The goal of each Community Floodprint is to help increase social and physical resilience within their respective focus area(s), specifically through recommending strategies that reduce flood risk, improve public safety, and enhance long-term environmental function within historically flood-prone areas. All aspects of the process aspire to co-create actionable plans used to attract resources that enable communities to forge ahead through the difficult tasks of rebuilding and preparing for future natural disasters.

The ncIMPACT Initiative at the UNC School of Government will coordinate a project team to provide these deliverables: ��������������� Design standards for local governments and training for local staff on these new design standards, ��������������� Training communities to better link local disaster planning (hazard mitigation) to historic resource resiliency planning, and ��������������� Disaster preparedness and response training for state agency personnel, local governments, and non-profit historic sites. The NC State University (NCSU) Coastal Dynamics Design Lab (CDDL) will take the lead in drafting information on best practices related to hazard mitigation and resiliency of historically significant built structures and landscapes. These activities may include articulation of non-structural, cultural- and heritage-based practices (i.e., historic sites, places of community memory, etc.). The CDDL will also take the lead on generating technical drawings, diagrams, maps, or other graphic illustrations identified by the team. Lastly, the CDDL will lead the design and assembly of the final document, with input and support from the team. The document will be formatted for distribution in digital and hardcopy formats.

North Carolina has developed an innovative and successful environmental enhancement program over the last two decades based on measures to improve water quality throughout the state. In addition to continued water quality issues, the state is increasingly beset with vast problems of flooding and excess water quantities during major storm events. This project will focus on assessing means to use the existing practices and projects that have been employed by the North Carolina Environmental Enhancement Grant Program (EEG) and other state and federal conservation agencies and grants organizations can be used to provide co-benefits of water quantity and flood reduction or amelioration. Lead Partners for this project include NC State University������������������s College of Natural Resources (CNR) and College of Design (CoD), Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), and the NC Foundation for Soil and Water Conservation (S&W). The Project Partners will assess green infrastructure and natural resource mitigation solutions to determine if they can provide valuable co-benefits of flood reduction and disaster resilience, and cooperate with government and nongovernment organizations, agricultural producers, and community stakeholders to design and implement ����������������FloodWise��������������� programs. FloodWise will help develop programs for farms and agricultural communities in Eastern North Carolina (ENC), including Farm Demonstrations of best management practices for water quality and flood mitigation.

Growing food insecurity and public demand for informational resources on gardening shows an increased need for high-quality, non-formal education that addresses everyday issues using plants. A scalable, replicable demonstration model available to residents is needed to inspire greater adoption within the community. The Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Association (EMGVA), despite having members who have helped maintain the demonstration gardens at the Arboretum since 1979, requires technical assistance to plan and design a state-of-the-art demonstration garden that addresses the critical ecological and community development challenges in vulnerable coastal communities.

���Seeding Resilience��� will convert vacant town-owned parcels to green infrastructure and community gardens. It will also employ local youth to build a recreational trail adjacent to a new farmers market in a park adjacent to the Tar River. This project is part of an ongoing, multi-faceted resilience engagement with and for the Town of Princeville, NC, the nation���s first town chartered by African Americans following emancipation. Princeville has been subject to repeated devastating floods. In this proposal, project partners build on their history of learning and cooperation with the residents of Princeville to implement a second round of community enhancements aimed at increasing resilience of property and people. The project incorporates lessons from initial collaborations that established overarching goals for the partnership: follow community-driven decision-making at every stage; move decisively from planning to implementation; build local knowledge and economic opportunity; and develop replicable strategies that address community environmental, economic, and social needs.

NC State University Coastal Dynamics Design Lab (CDDL) will complete grant administration and project management tasks as described in the awarded North Carolina Environmental Enhancement Grant (NC EEG) for the project titled: ����������������Pollocksville Floodprint: Construction of Publicly Accessible Wetlands at Riverfront Park.��������������� The CDDL will provide community technical assistance and administrative support to ensure that project reporting and fiscal oversight activities are executed in accordance with requirements set forth by the grantor. The CDDL will also assist the Town of Pollocksville in facilitating the following tasks listed in the approved NC EEG project timeline: draft and issue RFQ/RFPs; facilitate schematic design review(s); oversee compliance of permitting activities; conduct site visits; coordinate deliverables with selected vendors; create a maintenance plan; and assist with planning a community planting day.

The CDDL will provide the City of Lumberton technical assistance and capacity building support for the following activities: ��������������� Assist with the development and selection of third party project design consultants and contractors via a city-administered RFQ/RFP process ��������������� Advise on project-related design, engineering and permitting activities ��������������� Participate on internal project design reviews ��������������� Assist with the development of a management plan for the project area

The CDDL will provide community technical assistance and administrative support to ensure that project reporting and fiscal oversight activities are executed in accordance with requirements set forth by the grantor. This includes but is not limited to the completion of progress and final project reports; reimbursement requests and, as needed, the facilitation of payments made to vendors for professional services and project implementation activities per the approved budget. The CDDL will assist the Town of Pollocksville in completing the following tasks: draft and issue RFQ/RFPs; coordinate design reviews; oversee compliance of permitting activities; conduct site visits with selected vendors.

Too often, rural communities attempting to recover from or prepare for natural hazards lack the local economic and technical capacity to adequately respond to the systemic and emerging threats of climate change. As a result, many small towns in rural America are grouped en masse into planning strategies that remove people from direct environmental risks, but also from the places and social systems required for their full community health. This proposal highlights the need for in-situ adaptation to climate change as a viable and necessary alternative for community rebuilding and redevelopment, particularly in the rural context. This study will compare and contrast standardized, national disaster relief policies against constructs of rural ����������������buying power��������������� and geographic mobility patterns of disaster survivors to: i) illustrate the need for more inclusive, climate-responsive land planning solutions for rural communities; and ii) develop a transferable framework that describes actionable approaches landscape architects can take to support under-resourced rural communities achieve their recovery and resilience goals.

Per the NC State Coastal Dynamics Design Lab site visit conducted on January 21, 2020, it is the belief that the subject property located at: 3301 Terminal Drive in Raleigh, North Carolina contains features that would allow portions of the property to qualify for federally and/or state recognized conservation easements. Specifically, the purposes of: Outdoor Recreation (Treas. Reg. ���������1.170A-14) and Floodplain Protection (N.C. House Bill 905 ���������105-153.11) appear to be most pertinent given the presence of multi-acre floodplains along two USGS blue-line streams within the property boundaries, and the Capital Area Greenway recommendations to include greenways along these waterways that connect to Crabtree Creek. The following components are recommended to be completed for 3301 Terminal Drive as they relate to conservation purpose and public benefit.