Minutes - 20021210 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commissioner Carey asked about the 24,000 square feet to 27,000 square feet and if this included the 8,000 square feet underground parking. Pam Jones said that this has always been a part of the project, but the 24,000 or 27,000 square footage is heated, usable space. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the assumptions and said that parking is a limiting factor. He would like the documents to indicate that traffic is a key component and that we recognize that there is a finite amount of traffic capacity in this area. He thinks this should be part of the assumptions. He asked where the Chapel Hill court facility fits into this planning. Pam Jones said that in Phase I there is no correlation for Chapel Hill. Commissioner Jacobs said that it seems that there is some relation and he would like to know the vision for how these facilities would work together. John Link said that as they have had discussions about the flow of courts in Chapel Hill and Hillsborough, there is still a need for court to occur in Chapel Hill. To this point, as they have had their judicial representatives in the meetings, having the court continue at the old post office is the alternative that has been most discussed. It appears to be more convenient for those involved in Chapel Hill to be downtown. Commissioner Jacobs said that there is a demand in Chapel Hill and he would like to know how it would relate to the expansion in Hillsborough, so that it is a comprehensive look at our court facilities. He also asked about having a discontinuous frontage of buildings along East Margaret Lane. He asked if this should be indicated in the assumptions. Pam Jones said that the Board would have in-depth discussions with the architect about what the buildings should look like. Commissioner Carey asked Pam Jones to describe the 3 different committees, which she did (see above description}. Commissioner Gordon asked how the Sheriff's Department would function, especially bringing in prisoners. Pam Jones said that this is conceptual at this point, but under the secured parking, the prisoners would be brought in underground to the court facilities. Commissioner Gordon asked about the alternatives for the Sheriff's office. Pam Jones said that there are iwo alternatives. One is if the entire Sheriff's Department were in one building, then there would have to be an addition. The other alternative is to relocate part of the divisions that are directly related to the court functions to the courthouse. Commissioner Gordon asked how the Sheriff feels about this. Pam Janes said that the Sheriff said that they could put him anywhere as long as he has space. Commissioner Gordon said that it seems that before the committees start working, the County Commissioners need to work with mare than the assumptions. Before the architect is selected, there are more decisions to be made (for example, where the Sheriff's office will be}. Pam Jones said that this is part of the feedback that the staff needs from the Board. Pam Jones made reference to item number three in the recommendations, which is to reconvene the court officials. This would include the Sheriff. Commissioner Gordon would like to know budget implications. Commissioner Halkiotis asked how the prisoners would be brought from the jail to the courthouse so they will not be visible. He asked if there would be a tunnel. Pam Janes said that a tunnel could be built in phase 2. This is an outstanding issue. Commissioner Halkiotis said that the Sheriff's Department needs a facility where the employees have a place to take a shower and to exercise. The infrastructure is in the new jail addition, and it has been turned into a warehouse. He is tired of seeing this space being wasted as storage. He said that we need to build a warehouse near public works for storage and turn the basement back into a place for the employees. Also, upstairs in the Sheriff's Department, there is not enough roam. He does not think that 10,000 square feet will be quite enough. He does not understand why the Sheriff is being eliminated out of this first phase. He wants to do this right the first time and not have to revisit it in a couple of years. Pam Jones said that under no circumstances did she intend to indicate that we would look at allocating the space in the new building or continuing to use the existing Sheriff's Office without the Sheriff being at the table. He has always been part of it, and he would be part of it now. Regarding eliminating the Sheriff from phase one, she said that if we opted not to put the Sheriff in any form in the courthouse, it would require that we expand his existing building.