Minutes 02-21-2013 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

Metadata

Thumbnails

Annotations

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