Minutes 11-13-2012 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commissioners' meeting room needs to be near the east or west campus downtown. She said that the staff needs to be able to reach this facility easily and the Whitted site does not meet that criterion as well as a site downtown. She said that the parking deck is under-utilized, so there should be enough parking downtown. She thinks that the Whitted building could be a great arts facility but not a County Commissioners' meeting room. Commissioner Jacobs said that he would like to hear from the cultural arts people. Orange County Cultural Center Chair John Delconte said that the need for a large performance space has been around for a while and they have been petitioning to use this space for many years. The need is for a space for 300 people along with space for art classes and summer programs and possibly some studio and/or gallery space. Commissioner Gordon asked John Delconte about experience in sharing space in other places. He said that sharing space by different cultural arts groups can pose scheduling conflicts. Commissioner Gordon said that it seemed to her that if there is a need for a cultural center, then it should be just a cultural center and not a multi-purpose facility. She said that this group would need a permanent stage and permanent space. She applauds the effort to try and do all of these things in one facility, but as of now, there is not a permanent space they can control and this group needs that in the long term. She said that the Commissioners should also have their own meeting room. She said that this is why she cannot support this. Commissioner McKee said that he has questions about accommodation from the Town of Hillsborough, especially regarding parking. He is supportive of having a multi-use facility rather than a building strictly for a meeting room. Commissioner Yuhasz said that the Board of County Commissioners and the residents of Orange County deserve a permanent meeting room and too many uses would not fit that picture. He said that everyone that wants to use it will cause scheduling conflicts. He questioned what would happen to this facility if it is not used for one of these proposed uses. He would not want to delay for a few more years because of not doing this. He spoke in support of finding a permanent meeting room downtown that all governmental entities can share. Commissioner Jacobs said that the Board of County Commissioners needs a meeting room in Hillsborough that can be set up for easy access, but he is in favor of adaptive reuses. However, if a new facility is built, it will be low on the priority list, so he thinks that this is a good start to meet multiple needs. He would like to make a decision and move forward. The arts community has been looking for a long time for a usable place. He is in favor of moving ahead. Chair Pelissier agreed with Commissioner Jacobs. She said that this is not ideal, but it is workable. She does not see this as boxing the County in for the long-term. Commissioner Hemminger said that she is supportive of this proposal. Frank Clifton said that the next step will be to approach the Town of Hillsborough about the parking issue. This building is 75-80 years old and not the best meeting space but it is the largest facility that can be turned into a meeting space. He said that if the County does build a meeting space then this can be turned over to someone else or used for storage. Chair Pelissier said that though three of them are saying yes tonight, there are three new Board of County Commissioners coming on the Board of Commissioners and they will be involved in future discussions. Commissioner Gordon said that if it costs $300 per square foot to build a new meeting space, then it would cost $1.5 million to build a 5,000 square foot meeting room and it could be an addition to the Link Government Services Center. She said that the County Commissioners should look at their long-term space needs. She is supportive of a cultural center at the Whitted building, but not a meeting room.