Agenda - 02-12-2013 - 2 - Laserfiche WebLink

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E:N ATTACHMENT G February 7, 2013 Dear orange County Commissioners: We appreciate all that county government and the county commissioners do to support agriculture in Orange County. Orange County is fortunate to have dedicated and experienced employees in their agricultural agencies and commissioners who have stood behind them over the years. It has come to our attention that there are discussions underway to sell the county owned Environmental and Agricultural building at 306 Revere Road in Hillsborough and move the agricultural agencies to much smaller space downtown. Apparently one of the proposals would give the agencies only about 50% of their current office space as well as less meeting space. The agencies that currently are located in this building include Orange Soil and water Conservation, Farm Service Agency, NRCS (Natural Resource and Conservation Service), NC Cooperative Extension Service, orange County DEAPR (Dept. of Environment, Agriculture, Parks & Recreation), all agencies that are very important for farmers, landowners, homeowners, 4 -H youth as well as many other Grange County citizens. We as farmers, clients and advisers of these agencies have significant concerns about this potential move and a lack of input from the agricultural community. Some of our concerns are below: - The proposed move to the "Annex" Building would give the agencies only 50% of current office space which would severely limit the ability of the ,agencies to serve their clients. - The move would mean that there is an even smaller meeting room for educational programs when the current space is already inadequate. - Parking may be much more of an issue in this downtown location, particularly for farmers and landscapers who stop at these offices with trucks and trailers. Court days would be especially difficult. - The agencies currently in the Revere Road building provide many services to landowners and farmers that dovetail with one another. They absolutely should be located in the same building. - The cost of moving the computer systems for the different agencies would be very significant. Some agencies are not only on the county systems, but for example, Cooperative Extension is on the NCSU system and Farm Service Agency is on the USDA (Federal) system. - There has been talk for many years about a new Agricultural/Environmental Building in Orange County. This current proposed possible piecemeal moving of agencies without proper