Minutes - 04-25-2001 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commissioners for approval. Durham County supports bath campuses in Durham. The City of Durham does not support either campus. Commissioner Gordon asked if the staff had done any analysis of the cost of this satellite campus. John Link said that the startup costs were not alarming as a percentage of the budget. Should the Board see it as an important endeavor, the County would be able to absorb the costs. Commissioner Gordon asked if the cost would compete with the school budgets. John Link said that it would be set as a departmental budget. Commissioner Carey asked if it was safe to say that this projected budget is a budget for a mature campus or if it was mainly start-up costs. Barbara Baker said that this budget was pretty lean and pretty close to what is going to be needed on an annual basis. Barbara Baker said that they were looking at shared services. Some jobs would not need two positions. Commissioner Brown said that she would be delighted to have a community college in Orange County. She would like to understand what services that Durham Tech can provide. She is concerned about high school dropouts. Barbara Baker said that they da not usually take 16 year olds, but they consider those an a case by case basis. There is an adult high school program and they try to encourage high school students to stay in school. High school students may take classes far college credit and possibly high school credit. Commissioner Brown asked who would run the school and Barbara Baker said that there would be an administrator. Commissioner Brown asked how accessible the space would be to the general public. Barbara Baker said that Durham Tech lets the public use their space and encourages it when classes are not in session. A fee is charged for utilities and security when the public is using the space. Commissioner Brawn said that she was surprised that the proposed campus was on a development site proposal. She said that she would feel uncomfortable having the Durham Tech campus tied to the development. Barbara Baker said that Durham Tech would not select the location but that the task force would do it. Chair Carey answered that the task force referred the decision about the location to the Board of County Commissioners with a recommendation to develop a set of criteria far a site. Commissioner Brown expressed a concern that she does not want the location to be tied to an application for another development permit. Chair Halkiotis added that Durham Tech is innocent of any wrongdoing. He gave some information about how the discussion came about. He said that Durham Tech told Orange County that at least 20 acres were needed for a site. Commissioner Brown also expressed a concern about the recurring capital costs of this building. She does not feel the cost is accurate and does not want to spend public money like that. Commissioner Jacobs asked if there was a standard orientation package that could be put together for County Commissioners and Barbara Baker was not sure. Commissioner Jacobs said that he would be interested in looking at how other counties fund community colleges. Commissioner Jacobs said that there was some lack of clarity on what is going to be included in the college. He said that we are taking a leap of faith. He thinks that this campus would be a very important component for our community. Commissioner Brown said that she was still unclear about the specifics of location and design. She would like to add to the list of criteria to consider the values and the goals in Orange County, specifically co-location. She would like to be sure that the Board of County Commissioners is included in the process. Commissioner Carey asked the Board to refine the criteria for siting the campus to make a recommendation as to what our goal is. He said that if this Board decides to move forward, then