Minutes 11-18-2010 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The Commissioners agreed that they wanted to seek professional services to produce a master plan of the campus and to do the other three tasks described in the staff recommendation, as shown in the PowerPoint Presentation. Commissioner Jacobs said that for a future meeting, he would like to know what the County was asking for the New Hope Church Road building and the process. Also, he said that he is inclined to allow the type of use at the Whitted Building that would allow the Hillsborough Arts Council to use the performance space. He talked to Carlo Robustelli at Durham Tech, and they would like to partner with the Hillsborough Arts Council possibly, because he is interested in starting a Creative Arts program. There may be multiple partners in this. He said that some people forget that the arts are economic development and he wants to encourage this. Commissioner Gordon made reference to 1914 New Hope Church Road and said that she is puzzled because it would divert the pay-as-you-go resources for the Orange County schools. She does not know why they want to buy this property. Frank Clifton said that this will be turned into operating offices and used on a much smaller scale. Commissioner Gordon said that this has to be considered in the context of the entire funding of the two school systems. Both systems have come to the County before with requests for administrative offices, and the County said that it wanted to emphasize classroom space, children, and teachers. The administrative offices are not a high priority. Pam Jones said that there is now an offer on this building and the standard procedure is to bring it back to the Board to consider. The school representatives will be present and can answer questions. She thinks that the school system was going to free up classroom space by having this building. Commissioner Gordon said that the Schools Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance dictates when the schools need more classroom space, and this system is not in need of any more space at this time. Regarding the Whitted Building, Commissioner Gordon said that this is an old building and there may be some structural issues. She thought there were limitations on how many people can be in this building. There are also parking issues. Commissioner Pelissier said that the first priority for the Whitted Building would be the schools because it is a public entity. She would like to have a conversation, because it would be great for the Hillsborough Arts Council to have an opportunity. Commissioner Jacobs said that Commissioner Pelissier made a good point about process, but staff was asking for authorization to continue the dialogue with the Town and formulating mutually acceptable terms of use for the Board's consideration. If there is a question of process, then it should be scheduled and the Board should decide if it is authorizing staff to continue conversations. He thinks that the Whitted Building is a unique space and should not be used for offices. It was built as a performance space and it had thousands of books in it, so it can hold some weight. Hillsborough is the entity that the County is dealing with, so it is the Town's parking problem and not the County's. He agrees that there should be a process. Frank Clifton said that he does not think that the business of the County should be to lease office space for non-profit groups. He hopes that the County can reach terms with the Town on the use of the facility and then allow the Town to have responsibility for how the facility is used. Commissioner Gordon said that she is concerned because two nights ago the Town of Hillsborough told the County that it did not have $30,000 a year for a park for Fairview. She does not understand how the Town would get the money for this if it does not have the money for Fairview Park.