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John Link said that as long as there is an agreement between the County and the entity <br />would not matter who owns the land. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis said that these buildings and lands belong to all of the people of the <br />County. <br />Chair Jacobs said that Smith Middle School and the field are built on the University's land. <br />Commissioner Gordon asked about free and clear ownership and said that it might be good for <br />the entities to have this. Geof Gledhill said that it also limits the ability to use alternative <br />financing. <br />Chair Jacobs said that this will come back one mare time with bullet paints about what would be <br />in the agreement with an agency and then two different #2 scenarios. <br />Commissioner Gordon said that they agreed that this would be for the $2 million. <br />Chair Jacobs said that subsequent Board of Commissioners could have another bond issue, <br />general fund monies, or a new policy. <br />2. Consideration of Work Session an February 23. 2004 <br />Craig Benedict said that there are no items for the quarterly public hearing on the 23rd and they <br />are considering the discussion of two other items: <br />--agriculture business alternatives to diversify the farm economy <br />--Comprehensive Plan Land Use Element update <br />Regarding the comprehensive plan, the staff took it to a presentation advisory board and <br />received some feedback. This was a group of about 20 residents. The Planning Board has <br />also looked at the proposal to provide input. These are presentation issues only. <br />Next week they are having an outreach pre-run of what they expect from the upcoming township <br />meetings. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis asked about the recommended permitting process and if there is a <br />check and balance system to make sure that we are optimizing flexibility in doing these things <br />and helping people change their agricultural focus. For example, transitioning from tobacco to <br />something different. He said that there has to be a happy medium. He said that they have lost <br />a couple of businesses that felt that they could not expand in Orange County. He said that they <br />have been through the success story of the Maple View Farm process and it was a tortuous <br />process. He would like to help these people. He said that we need to bring in all the permitting <br />people and streamline this process to show people that the County wants to help them. He <br />made reference to an article put out by NaCo regarding eight big things that are facing counties <br />all over the country, and disconnect is one of them. He asked that this article be copied for the <br />next department head meeting. He wants to put together a permitting process for the residents <br />that they can understand and that will help them. <br />Chair Jacobs said that there was a brochure that was done that walked people through the <br />process and that ought to come with this. He said that they had a meeting with Mr. Nutter <br />{Maple View Farms) and Portia McKnight {cheese operation} and they made suggestions about <br />streamlining the process. He would like to share this thinking. <br />