Minutes 05-09-2013 - Laserfiche WebLink

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opportunity for Orange County to realize a significant savings. He is content to leave the $50,000 for next year, but he does not see building a stand-alone station next year because it defeats the purpose of the co-location. He suggested removing the $875,000 for next year. Chair Jacobs asked about the costs of the substations and said these numbers seem too high. He asked staff to come back with a realistic system for the following budget years. The consultant recommended something way out of the range of the County's budget. Commissioner Price asked for numbers for co-location for next year. Commissioner McKee said the Emergency Services Work Group did not recommend standalone stations at this time. Commissioner Gordon suggested taking this item out. Frank Clifton suggested bringing back a couple of options to the Board. Commissioner McKee said the Board needs to give a clear signal that co-location is the preferred option. Blackwood Farm Park: There are large amounts in year 3 for the Agriculture, Environment and Parks Center and year 4 would be for park construction. Frank Clifton said one of the thoughts was the possibility of a county fair. Blackwood Farm would be a logical site for this. There is public water and sewer on this site. Commissioner McKee questioned the expense of this. Frank Clifton said the County has purchased lots of land and has not built facilities yet. Dave Stancil said the master plan was adopted by the Board several years ago. The master plan in 2005 included a footprint for a parks and recreation office. The idea here is to have this facility as an Ag Center. Chair Jacobs said the adopted Master Plan should be shared with the Board of County Commissioners before making decisions on this site, especially for the new members. When this was discussed in the past, there was some discussion about how this project in the CIP went from future years to being built right away. Commissioner Gordon said the way she remembers it is that this would have the park, operations base, and environmental education center. She does not remember the Ag Center being a part of it. Chair Jacobs said if the Revere Road building is not adequate anymore, then the proposal is that the functions in there that are agriculture related would be moved to this facility, which is why the Ag Center is now on this plan. Dave Stancil agreed. Commissioner Price said she is concerned about changing the plan. She said she remembers nothing about making this a government complex when she was on the work group. Commissioner McKee said this would represent decentralization from Hillsborough. He said this de facto makes a decision to close down the Revere Road facility. This concerns him. Chair Jacobs said it is clear that more analysis is needed on this item. The space needs study will be done in two weeks and more information will be available at that time. He suggested just focusing on the $100,000 for this year and deferring the rest until more discussion has occurred. Commissioner Gordon said she does not want office space at Blackwood Farm. The County Commissioners agreed that more discussion needs to take place. Chair Jacobs suggested discussing the remaining three huge ticket items and leaving the rest to later. Commissioner McKee noted that the Eurosport Soccer Center has also rapidly escalated in scope and cost.