Minutes 06-04-2013 - Laserfiche WebLink

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