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15 <br /> 1 Jeff Thompson gave background in the interview and selection process. He said eleven firms <br /> 2 responded, five were interviewed, and MBAJ was chosen. He said the schedule is to move forward to have <br /> 3 a residential advisory board begin working on design of the facility with a goal of construction beginning <br /> 4 next summer. <br /> 5 <br /> 6 PUBLIC COMMENT: <br /> 7 <br /> 8 Sheila Van Hook McDonald said she speaks on behalf of descendants of Mary Benson, land owner <br /> 9 and originator of Cedar Grove Elementary School. She said their concerns center around the lack of <br /> 10 outreach to the community regarding the demolition and renovation of this property. She said that the text <br /> 11 of the mailing says that a citizen group will be involved in the planning process, but she questions whether <br /> 12 this group will involve members of the community who are passionately connected to the cause. <br /> 13 She would like this matter to be tabled until there has been communication with the community. <br /> 14 She understands that there is design indicating a reduction of the property from 37,000 square feet to <br /> 15 10,000 square feet. She said the community is concerned. <br /> 16 Hattie Van Hook lives within walking distance to the Northern Human Services Center. She <br /> 17 questions whether it is more cost effective to renovate and remodel rather than to demolish. <br /> 18 Camille White asked what work the Board of County Commissioners or designers will start on June <br /> 19 17tn <br /> 20 Jacqueline McConnell lives in Cedar Grove and she loved the Cedar Grove Library when it was <br /> 21 there. She said she is pleased that there is discussion of creating something else. She asked what will be <br /> 22 different now from the staffing, cost, and safety reasons that closed the library. She asked if these issues <br /> 23 have been addressed in the process of planning the new facility. She asked how the community service <br /> 24 center would differ from a library, and how it would be used. She said she is hopeful that the advisory <br /> 25 committee will work with the Commissioners to find a use for the facility, but it feels like a lot of money to <br /> 26 throw at something without a real plan. She asked what the design group is planning and what the vision is <br /> 27 for the facility's purpose. <br /> 28 Bonnie Hauser said she strongly supports another community center in Cedar Grove; however there <br /> 29 are fundamental questions that still need to be answered. She respectfully requests the Board put the <br /> 30 design on hold until there is a plan. She said there should be defined services before there is a design for <br /> 31 the building. She said there is nothing included in the plan regarding basic library, internet service, social <br /> 32 services or senior services that many residents expect to see. She said that it is unclear that this will be a <br /> 33 service at all. She said this building is triple the cost of the Rogers Road Community Center and the library <br /> 34 in Cedar Grove was just shut down due to lack of funding. She is especially concerned about the lack of <br /> 35 publicity for a project that is so large and important to the community. She said important stakeholders are <br /> 36 not involved. She asked that the design contract be put on hold and take the time to clarify a plan for a true <br /> 37 service center for this rural community. She said the Efland community should also be involved, as their <br /> 38 center has been de-funded and is underutilized. She asked for a clear picture of the hours of operation, <br /> 39 staffing and maintenance cost for the facility. She asked that the budget be limited to 2 million dollars. <br /> 40 Jeff Thompson said the work that starts on June 18, will be the design programming phase. He <br /> 41 said there was vision planning with the community in the spring and fall of 2012' and this brought the Board <br /> 42 to the decision point in November to work on the 10,000 square foot design. He said the programming <br /> 43 during those sessions included most of the services that have been discussed tonight- library, internet, <br /> 44 community meeting space, recreation space and kitchen space. He said the first phase of the design is to <br /> 45 take this information and meet with the resident advisory group, which includes members of the community <br /> 46 meetings. He said these programming meetings will be open to the public, frequent, and held in the <br /> 47 evenings. He said that all of that programming information happening over the summer months will then be <br /> 48 applied to the schematic designs presented in the fall. <br /> 49 Chair Jacobs said there has been discussion about the advisory group and the consensus was that <br /> 50 anyone who comes to the meetings can participate in the discussion. This is why there is no recommended <br /> 51 number; the current list contains the names of people who have already volunteered. <br /> 52 Commissioner McKee said some of the people that signed up to be on the informal design group <br /> 53 are here tonight. He said this group is also open to others who are interested. He confirmed with Jeff <br /> 54 Thompson that this resident design committee will be involved from the beginning of the process. <br />