Minutes 02-09-2010 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Frank Clifton said that the significant difference on the lease versus owning is the Medicaid reimbursement (for DSS) of 55% of the rental costs. If the County purchases the property, the reimbursement would only be 3-5%. Commissioner Hemminger asked if the landlord was allowed to sell it to anyone else and Pam Jones said yes, after February 2012. Frank Clifton said that if the County chooses to purchase this, he would like to negotiate to purchase the one acre as well. Commissioner Jacobs pointed out that continuing to rent this facility keeps it on the tax rolls, meaning that the owner pays taxes to Orange County and to Hillsborough. He said that he is interested in having the agenda abstracts about this facility emailed to the County Commissioners. He would also like to see a revised chart of the County's debt capacity. Commissioner Gordon said that it sounds like there is a lot of agreement to continue with the lease. She said that now the issue is the long-term question about the Health Department space. Commissioner Nelson said that the lease is great and he is not opposed to having a conversation with the owner about the purchase price. He thinks that this would be a great economic development opportunity. He suggested bringing the Economic Development Director into the discussions. Frank Clifton said that at a minimum the County could negotiate an extension on the lease, since Orange County has only two years to decide about the purchase. It does not look like this is going to happen in the next two years. He said that the County could talk to the owner about extending the option to purchase date. Commissioner Jacobs suggested getting a copy of the student presentation about this property, because there was a redevelopment proposal. Frank Clifton said that he would suggest opening a discussion with the owner and letting him know that the County will be getting an appraisal. There was consensus to stay with the lease for the current term and open discussions with the owner about the purchase price, and to move forward with an appraisal only if the purchase price is going to be renegotiated. Commissioner Gordon said that the expansion at the Southern Human Services Center factors into this because the population centroid is close to the northern part of Chapel Hill and Carrboro and we need to consider the long-term needs. She thinks that the County should have a substantial presence for the delivery of services in the southern part of the County where 2/3 of the population is located. Commissioner Jacobs said that at one time, there was some discussion about renovations or reworking of Public Works and partnering with Hillsborough and asked if that was off the table. Frank Clifton said that he has had discussions with the Chapel Hill Manager about bus maintenance and possibly Chapel Hill providing maintenance service for the County's buses. Also, Triangle Transit has had some discussions with the Town of Hillsborough about doing a park-and-ride lot on the Town's property. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the square footage in the Skills Development Center and Pam Jones said 13,000. Commissioner Hemminger asked what services were there and Pam Jones said that Durham Tech offers classes, and Employment Security is there. Frank Clifton said that this property was very expensive for the County to own. He said that most of these services could be done elsewhere much less expensively. 2. Board Discussion of Dual Service Model As It Relates to Future Facility Needs