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County Schools (OCS) district and to adopt the attached Orange County Schools Middle School <br />#3 Capital Project Ordinance. <br />John Link said that this middle school is funded through the bond referendum of <br />November 2001 in the amount of $18.5 million. The Board appointed Commissioner Carey to <br />serve as liaison for this with the Orange County School Board. The OCS Superintendent and <br />several school board members were in attendance to answer questions. <br />Planning Director Craig Benedict gave clarifications of the roads on the map. <br />Commissioner Carey said that a lot of work has been done to identify sites for <br />this school. This step tonight is the first step in many steps to make this school passible within <br />the time frame that it needs to be online. The action tonight is to approve the funds required to <br />secure this property. Time is of the essence. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis made reference to an essay by Commissioner Jacobs on <br />rethinking the process of siting schools. He reminded the Board about the presentation by <br />Craig Benedict about three years ago of the I-8511-40 corridor in Efland that is very attractive to <br />people and it would be an appropriate place to site a school, rather than clustering them close <br />together. This process has involved a lot of departments and this is the way it needs to be <br />done. <br />Chair Brown said that this is a much better process than what Chapel Hill- <br />Carrboro City Schools has decided to use. She feels very comfortable with this. <br />Commissioner Gordon said that this use is not allowed in this area because it is a <br />primary EDD development area. The intent in this district is to create an industrial park setting. <br />Her concern would be that if it is put in this area then later the public might not want a heavy <br />industrial center here with a school there. Also, it might not be in an appropriate place far <br />children to go to school. <br />Commissioner Carey said that they would be addressing this issue in a public <br />hearing in August. Tonight, as a first step, the Board needs to approve the funds for the option. <br />The Board needs to take the steps one at a time on the suitability of this site for a middle <br />school. <br />Commissioner Gordon said that she would prefer to see this changed to a <br />secondary development area. She asked for someone from the school board to comment. <br />Chair Brown suggested that we have the legal advertisement on the agenda and <br />expand the item for consideration to include looking at all of the permitted uses in this district. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis asked Craig Benedict to define some examples of <br />schools near industrial parks. He remembers seeing a school in Forsyth County adjacent to a <br />light industrial area. He said that there would not be smokestack industries in this area. <br />Commissioner Jacobs thanked the school board for working with the Board in <br />this manner. In response to Commissioner Gordon, he said that they are working to update the <br />comprehensive land use plan. Part of the update will include this area. He thinks we should be <br />careful about the wording. He feels confident that the Board will get to it in an appropriate <br />manner. <br />Chair Brown said that the uses are not good for a school district and they need to <br />be updated. <br />A motion was made by Commissioner Carey, seconded by Commissioner <br />Jacobs to 1}approve the option purchase price of $38,505 for option to purchase agreements to <br />be executed between the Orange County Schools and the respective property owners for the <br />parcels comprising the proposed site of the third OCS middle school; and 2) adopt the attached <br />OCS Middle School #3 Capital Project Ordinance. <br />VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br />c. Schools Adequate Public Facilities Memorandum of Understanding and <br />Ordinance <br />