Minutes 04-16-2013 - Laserfiche WebLink

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APPROVED 6/18/2013 MINUTES BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS WORK SESSION April 16, 2013 7:00 p.m. The Orange County Board of Commissioners met in a work session on Tuesday, April 16, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. at the Link Government Services Center in Hillsborough, N.C. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Barry Jacobs and Commissioners Alice M. Gordon, Earl McKee, Bernadette Pelissier Renee Price and Penny Rich COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Mark Dorosin COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: John Roberts COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Frank Clifton, Assistant County Managers Michael Talbert, Clarence Grier and Clerk to the Board Donna Baker (All other staff members will be identified appropriately below) NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE. 1. Northern Human Services Center Project Update Chair Jacobs said discussion of this first item was moved to Hillsborough to make it convenient for residents who live nearby to attend. He said this will continue to be done while this item is under discussion. He will ask staff to give a timeline for discussions and decisions on this issue; and the public will be notified when these meetings will occur and when there will be opportunities for public comment. He gave a reminder that there is no public comment during work sessions. He said the Board wants to insure that, during this process, people who have invested in this project are aware of and participating in what is happening. Commissioner McKee noted that the meeting room does not have good acoustics, and he asked everyone to speak loudly. Jeff Thompson said tonight will be an update on the Northern Human Services Center, and he referred to the November 8th abstract. He said that in November of 2012 the Board of County Commissioners authorized staff to move forward with option 2, which is an adapted re- use of 10,000 square feet of the facility. He said this facility has significant cultural, historical and social significance in the community, and there have been several meetings to gain feedback from the residents. Dave Stancil said he would give a brief history of discussions regarding the facility. He said this building has been looked at by a variety of different groups over the last twenty years. He said the building was rapidly becoming unoccupied and was very costly to heat and cool. As part of the CIP discussions, the board asked that the community be engaged to determine what the residents would like to see done to this facility. He said two meetings were held in 2012; during the first meeting all 10-12 potential uses of the building were listed out. He said that this list boiled down to community center type uses, reunion locations, wireless internet access, and catering and commercial kitchen access. He said that in September two options moved forward: 1) Start from scratch building a new facility; or 2) Keep the core rooms and then build and memorialize around those, keeping the history. He noted that the building has