Agenda - 06-18-2013 - 5a - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

25 1 Commissioner McKee said he was opposed to putting the meeting room at Link 2 Government Services Center, but he feels different about this space. He said many of the 3 costs associated with this meeting room have already been expended on other infrastructure 4 and he is supportive of this meeting room. He is also supportive of other non- profits using the 5 space. 6 Commissioner Gordon said she has gone on record stating that a permanent meeting 7 facility should be in downtown Hillsborough, near county buildings on the county campus and 8 near the parking deck. She feels the Board needs a permanent meeting room. She supported 9 it being built on the county campus but she sensed that her peers were not enthusiastic about 10 this and the consensus is for the Whitted Building, so she is happy to be cooperative. She said 11 that one needs to be sure this is a good facility for meetings, not only for the Board of County 12 Commissioners, but for the public as well. Whether it needs to be in a residential area, she 13 does not know. She said the ideal would be to have a space study update to know the county's 14 office space needs before making decisions. 15 She said the key for her is to have a good meeting facility and work out how to share. 16 She said the question is to find out the details of how to work out issues with the OCCC and 17 other community groups. She said she would prefer a downtown location, but given that this is 18 not the will of the Board, the goal is to do the best possible thing for the Board. 19 Chair Jacobs said one of the highest functions of government is to partner and to share. 20 He said that to provide a facility that neighbors and partners can use is a good thing. He said 21 that when doing the land swap with Town of Hillsborough at Fairview, Hillsborough was willing 22 to forego building its own meeting space in a mature hardwood forest due to the possibility of a 23 joint meeting space. He feels this is the fulfillment of a commitment. 24 He said this is the most elegant public meeting space in this part of Orange County and 25 it should be used as it was originally intended, as a public meeting space. 26 He said the moving from meeting place to meeting place shows a lack of respect for the 27 public and for themselves. He said that the right thing to do is to designate a consistent place 28 with good technology and infrastructure for meetings. He said that if video streaming had been 29 done over the past 20 years, it would have saved half a million dollars by not moving around. It 30 allows all meetings to be streamed, making the Board more transparent and accessible to the 31 public. He acknowledged Commissioner Gordon's concerns but said the idea of a community 32 arts resource is attractive and the Board just needs to figure out how to make it work. 33 34 A motion was made by Commissioner Pelissier, seconded by Commissioner Rich to 35 1) Authorize staff to move forward with the project of converting the Whitted 2nd Floor"A" 36 building into a permanent meeting facility for use by Orange County. 37 38 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 39 40 A motion was made by Commissioner Pelissier, seconded by Commissioner Price to 41 2) Affirm that the meeting space is to be shared with the Town of Hillsborough and the Orange 42 County Schools Board; 43 44 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 45 46 A motion was made by Commissioner McKee, seconded by Commissioner Pelissier to 47 3) Authorize the Manager to sign an amendment to the existing Architectural Professional 48 Services Contract for Corley, Redfoot Architects totaling an amount of$110,500 for the design, 49 engineering, and construction administration of the permanent meeting facility. 50