Agenda - 10-20-2009 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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5 Services Task Force included the following recommendation: [#5 of 9} "Establish an Orange County Heritage Center of historical and archival material. There is about $120,000 in an endowment fund set aside for this purpose." Awareness by BOCC members of the Heritage Center proposals was documented in minutes from two BOCC meetings. At a BOCC work session on October 25, 2004, the new main library facility and the Heritage Center were part of the report on capital needs of the County, but were not specifically discussed. Minutes from a joint session with the Hillsborough Town Board on February 17, 2005 indicate Commissioner Jacobs said "they talked in the legislative goals committee about seeking some monies from beyond the borders of Orange County for the Heritage Center, so that wherever there is an expanded library facility, there can be one central location for all the records and artifacts." At an April 14, 2005 work session a discussion of needed capital funding included the need for a new library facility, but a Heritage Center was not mentioned. On September 13, 2005 the BOCC held a work session at which a Capital Investment Plan worksheet listed the Heritage Center as separate from the library and $112,000 available from the Rebecca Wall Fund. In response to the November 2, 2006 announcement that the County Campus in Hillsborough would include a 23,450 square feet library facility, Cathleen Turner, then the Executive Director of the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough, appeared before the BOCC during public comments stating "as this new library will be only 24,000 sq ft, rather than the 34,000 sq ft recommended, a Heritage Center must be provided. This sort of facility is no longer an optional amenity to be tucked into a corner somewhere, but an essential requirement with the added benefit that it draws throngs of people to the area every year." According to the minutes of the meeting, Commissioner Gordon responded by saying "it is important to have a comprehensive library services plan. She said that the task force [to be discussed] later on in the agenda could do this. She thinks that the group needs to get back to the Board on the comprehensive plan so that the Board could act on it before it acts further on the debt issuance schedule:' On January 23, 2007 the BOCC established the 2007 Library Services Task Force. This group reported to the BOCC in December 2007 and May 2008. Listed as "immediate next steps" recommended by the 2007 Library Services Task Force was "1) Establishments of the Heritage Center." On June 16, 2009 the Board of County Commissioners approved the following charge for the 2009 Heritage Center Work Group: In order to provide the BOCC with a clear snapshot of the financial and operational support needed to support the needs and expectations of such a facility, the Work Group would evaluate and provide recommendations on the following: • Scope-The physical breadth and design concept, featuring square footage, collection size and storage of materials • Organization -The structure and detail regarding partners and their responsibilities, staffing considerations, business planning, and likely, the formation of a 501(c)3, • Financing -The identification of funding sources, including projections of revenue and operational expenses, start up and continuing • Administration-A recommended plan of board governance, fiscal controls, and executive leadership • Collection Development -The future growth of the collection and ongoing financial stewardship requirements • Public / Private Support for the Center-The necessity of private capital to develop and sustain a viable and quality operation 2