Orange County NC Website
Commissioner McKee asked if for some reason the County Commissioners decided not <br /> to move forward with this, if the $465,000 and $185,000 be transferred to another project such <br /> as the water and sewer in Buckhorn. Michael Talbert said that it would be the sole discretion <br /> of the Board. <br /> Frank Clifton said that the $185,000 came from sales of property and the County <br /> Commissioners set this aside for a library at some point in time. The issue on this one is <br /> recognizing that the process will probably take a couple of years. <br /> Commissioner Yuhasz asked if there would be any idea about any road improvements <br /> from Carrboro. Frank Clifton said that the staff is meeting tonight with the Carrboro Planning <br /> Board about this issue. The issue is that if the property is rezoned, it will probably end up <br /> being a conditional rezoning. <br /> Commissioner Jacobs said that 20,000 square feet is too much space and he does not <br /> think that he is alone in this thought. He said that Carrboro will assume that this is what <br /> Orange County is planning to provide, and he has no intention of providing a library the same <br /> size as the Central Library as a branch library, especially in a County where there is a <br /> University library and a Town of Chapel Hill Library. He does not want to set up this type of <br /> expectation. <br /> Geothermal Project: <br /> - Geothermal project— details on page 20. This idea was introduced when talking <br /> about the meeting room downstairs about a possibility of a community-wide <br /> geothermal that would serve all or most of the buildings within a 100-yard walk o the <br /> site. The first year of the funding is $618,000, which would take care of the Link <br /> Building. The bulk of the project would occur in the second year with $2.4 million <br /> and in the third year with an additional $600,000. This changeover has saved the <br /> Justice Facility about 30% in energy bills so far. There is also a $177,000 grant that <br /> can be used in the first phase. The money has to be spent before December 31St <br /> Commissioner McKee commended the staff for looking at geothermal systems. He <br /> asked if the existing HVAC systems were at the end of their working life. Pam Jones said that <br /> most of the buildings have the original HVAC and need to be replaced. <br /> Chair Pelissier asked about stimulus money and what this could be used for. <br /> Michael Talbert said that in the discussion of the Link Center, there were three or four <br /> projects that the funding was going to come from. He is proposing to go ahead and use those <br /> funds from the multiple small projects at this time. This would be $419,000 coming from those <br /> other projects combined with the $177,000 (grant funding), and then there would be $20,606 <br /> needed from the general fund. <br /> Michael Talbert said that the second phase of this project is the expansion of the lower <br /> level of the building for a meeting space for the Board of County Commissioners. This is <br /> pushed out to year five and the estimate is a little over$1 million. <br /> Frank Clifton said that a fire suppression system has been installed but it is not yet <br /> connected. The big issue is that the restroom facilities have to be modified to accommodate <br /> the public. <br /> Commissioner McKee asked about the projected life expectancy of the geothermal <br /> system and if the buildings would use the same well. Pam Jones said that there will be <br /> different wells for different buildings. Jeff Thompson said that there is a 50-year life <br /> expectancy. <br />