Agenda - 06-05-2012 - 5a - Laserfiche WebLink

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9 1 Commissioner Gordon asked if the market had approached the Town of Hillsborough. 2 Austin Genhe said that the Tourism Board helps the market with a grant, but this is not 3 guaranteed every year. 4 Commissioner McKee said that, considering the County's focus on encouraging and 5 helping small agricultural entities, he would support waiving the fees or making them minimal. 6 He would prefer waiving the fees. 7 Commissioner Jacobs said that he agreed with sentiment of Commissioner McKee. He 8 said that it is not encouraging to go from a subsidized rent program to off the cliff fees. He 9 suggested talking about setting fees during the budget process. 10 Commissioner Hemminger said that they all want to be supportive of the farmer's 11 market. She said that it would be difficult to waive fees for one group if there are other groups 12 coming in regularly. She is amenable to the suggestion of$500 annually. 13 Commissioner Yuhasz agreed that the full fee is excessive in this case. He asked how 14 many regular members participate each time it is open. He supported Commissioner Jacobs' 15 suggestion to investigate this more and discuss an appropriate fee. 16 Commissioner Gordon agreed that the Board needs to discuss what an appropriate fee 17 should be. She asked the staff to provide a basis for a decision based on principles. She said 18 that there is competition for this location. She would like the staff to look this over and see if 19 the fee should be less and what would be reasonable. 20 Chair Pelissier said that this license agreement will expire on April 1St. She asked what 21 would happen if they wait. She is concerned about staff time for doing an in-depth analysis. 22 Frank Clifton said that the Board adopted a Facilities Use Policy last year. The staff 23 studied this and came up with an analysis based on the committed use of this facility. There is 24 some competition for this facility. He said that he would follow the Board's direction. 25 Commissioner McKee said that the facility is used by the local farmers heavily. He said 26 that the $500 annual rent is reasonable and the agreement ends soon. He said that the Board 27 needs to make a decision. 28 Commissioner Foushee disagreed and she asked John Roberts about the agreement 29 and the terms of termination. She said that the agreement does not speak to an extension of 30 the current agreement. She has a problem with taking this decision out of context of the fee 31 structure and opening it up to other requests. She suggested extending the agreement until the 32 Board has had this discussion on fee structures during budget deliberations, such as July 1St 33 John Roberts said that Section 4 says that is can be extended for two years beyond the 34 three-year term. He agreed with Commissioner Foushee about making exceptions. He said 35 that there should be a structure in place for making exceptions so that the County is not 36 inundated with similar requests. 37 Commissioner Jacobs reminded the Board that the initial reason that there is only one 38 group using this facility is because there was a personality conflict that precluded a competing 39 group from being willing to use the facility. It is not that the County selected one over the other; 40 it is that one refused to participate. 41 42 A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner McKee to: 43 • Defer consideration until the Board's review of the County fee schedule during the 44 budget process; 45 • Regard this facility as a specialized use with a cost structure that reflects that 46 difference; and 47 • Adopt the $500 fee for the 2012-13 year(extending the current agreement for one 48 year) 49 50 VOTE: Ayes, 6; No, 1 (Commissioner Gordon)