Orange County NC Website
older and would need a lot of upfitting. This could be an appropriate place for affordable <br /> housing and the daycare could be kept onsite. <br /> Purchasing and Central Services Building: This could be tied to the Whitted Human <br /> Services Center and what is done with that, and whether or not the Heritage Center is actually <br /> located. The Purchasing building is where there was original discussion about locating the <br /> Heritage Center. This is also a very marketable facility. <br /> Whitted Human Services Center: Staff can put together options for this facility and its <br /> disposal. <br /> Chair Jacobs asked if Orange County owned the body of water at Lake Orange and Pam <br /> Jones said yes. He asked if Orange County did anything to exercise ownership rights other <br /> than participate in the water system. <br /> Geof Gledhill said that it is a public water supply and is utilized by the Town of <br /> Hillsborough, Orange-Alamance Water System, Eno River, Piedmont Minerals, and Lake <br /> Michie. Orange County does not have a water utility, but it owns the property and the right to <br /> the water in the lake. There is an agreement between Orange County and those who use the <br /> water that is a use agreement and Orange County is the manager of that agreement and <br /> provides the water pursuant to that agreement. <br /> Chair Jacobs asked about the Water Conservation Ordinance. Geof Gledhill said that <br /> there is a difference between the Capacity Use Agreement and the Water Conservation <br /> Ordinance. One is that the Capacity Use Agreement resulted from the State threatening to put <br /> the Upper Eno River into a capacity use area, which would have the end result of the State <br /> controlling the water. The users of the water got together and put together the Capacity Use <br /> Agreement. <br /> Commissioner Nelson said that all of these facilities need pros and cons for use and <br /> divesting. He said that there should be a no-brainer category and a category with properties <br /> that need more discussion. He recommends that staff identify issues that the Board of County <br /> Commissioners needs to discuss and keep this conversation going forward. <br /> Commissioner Carey agreed and encouraged staff to discuss with Hillsborough the <br /> Whitted Building (and not as a gift). <br /> Commissioner Gordon agreed with Commissioner Nelson and said that the ones on <br /> North Churton and King Street should be sold and returned to the tax base. She thinks that the <br /> County should get full market value from these buildings. She said that the Northside Human <br /> Services Center requires more thought about what should be done. Regarding the EMS/911 <br /> center, she wants to explore the divesting of these facilities. She asked about the Government <br /> Services Center Annex and the Planning and Agricultural building. She is not sure exactly what <br /> is going to happen with these facilities. <br /> Commissioner Gordon said that, by buying the Wal-Mart shopping center, they are <br /> forming another County campus with a lot of additional space. Since the Whitted Center will <br /> then be almost vacant, she thinks that the County should divest itself of the Whitted Center and <br /> thereby obtain resources to pay for other capital projects. <br /> Chair Jacobs asked if there has been any discussion with the school system about using <br /> the Northside building as a school site. Pam Jones said that it was examined early on, and <br /> because of the property size it was not pursued. Chair Jacobs said to at least offer to land bank <br /> it as a school site. <br />