Agenda - 04-09-2013 - 5a - Laserfiche WebLink

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13 1 including the neighborhood in one room to communicate information and discuss it before 2 commitments are made. 3 Chair Jacobs said the Board of County Commissioners agreed at their work session to 4 hold a public meeting with the Town, the Arts Community, and the residents around this area, 5 and ideally this could be done in concert with developing the CIP He said maybe something 6 could be scheduled in March/April 2013. 7 Frank Clifton said they have had design money set aside and it could be financed short 8 term. He said the meeting could potentially be held in the Whitted Building to give opportunity to 9 see the facility. 10 Mayor Stevens encouraged them all to move forward with this public meeting and said 11 the town is eager for the arts community to have a performing arts facility as well as publicly 12 accessible meeting space. 13 Town Commissioner Lowen concurred with Mayor Stevens. He questioned how 14 meeting space would be prioritized if the plan were to move forward with the cultural center. 15 Chair Jacobs said the County would have first choice on the meeting space. He said 16 that the entities can work out the schedules since the town and county set their meeting 17 schedules a year in advance and alternate meeting space. 18 Commissioner Gordon referred to page 8 and the parking lot pavement and creation of 19 25 additional spaces. She asked for clarification of where these would be located. 20 Jeff Thompson said that the grassy space in area 1 would be converted to asphalt 21 parking. 22 Commissioner Gordon said that there had been discussion about finding out the meeting 23 space needs of the different government entities. She noted that it may end up that only 24 weekend space was available, and that might not be good enough for the cultural center. She 25 said there was question about what the cultural center might need to do during the week and if it 26 would create noise. She said that the other big issues are parking, impact to the neighborhood, 27 and schedule conflicts. She said that not everyone, including herself, is confident that 28 scheduling problems won't arise. She said that a gentleman from the Orange County Cultural 29 Center said that even with only cultural groups in a facility, there can be scheduling conflicts. 30 Commissioner Gordon asked for additional explanation of the third plan. 31 Jeff Thompson said, referring to the third plan, that there would still be a permanent 32 meeting facility with 150 seats as well as a flexible meeting space. He noted that the interior 33 walls on this plan are different than the other plans and divide the space for office use. 34 Commissioner Gordon asked if Hillsborough was interested in partnering on this project 35 or being responsible for the lease as originally contemplated. 36 Town Commissioner Dancy said that the public and joint meetings on the use of this 37 facility still need to be discussed, as mentioned by Commissioner Gordon. She said the cultural 38 center would be responsible for setting its own schedule. She said that she believes the Town 39 of Hillsborough was interested in partnering but that the cultural center was the entity that 40 proposed the leasing agreement with the county. 41 Frank Clifton said that when the Board of Commissioners first started looking at plans to 42 modify the current meeting space the costs were fairly substantial and alternative sites were 43 looked at. The Whitted Building was considered because if the large open space that is easy to 44 remodel. He said it would not be everything the cultural group wanted but would offer a 45 location for them to gain a foundation and following that might lead to another facility in the 46 future. He said that concerts, lectures series, etc., could be done there when governmental 47 meetings were not going on, during the day, weekends, and summer. He said it will still be 48 more than the cultural group has now. If this does not work as a joint arrangement there are 49 other options. He said they have looked at expenses needed to make the building suitable as a 50 public facility for governmental function and any additional needs the cultural center has, they 51 will have to fund on their own.