Minutes 05-08-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Jeff Thompson said there is no shelter designated, but planning staff are talking about placing it near the south side door. He said there is adequate room for a park and ride at this site. Commissioner Dorosin asked if that is still true even if the loading dock is added. Jeff Thompson said the loading dock would project at the edge and would be on the western side. Chair Jacobs addressed some of the funding concerns. He said the roof could be done as part of the CIP and could be spread out over the next 2 to 5 years. He said one wing could also be done in the short term and the other in the longer term. He said mothballing seems counterintuitive at this point, and the cost of upgrading could be spread out. Jeff Thompson said there are some components, like the abatement of the window glazing, which would need to be taken out at one time. He said the face would also need to be cleaned up so that the exterior would match. He said other parts, like the roof, could be done in phases. Chair Jacobs said perhaps the number could be broken down into separate components to make it easier to swallow. He said, with PFAP, part of the goal was to promote startups to stay in Orange County. He said most of the startups from UNC have left over time, and some have grown into companies like Quintiles. He said the idea was to grow companies until they built facilities in Orange County. He said it would be good to create loyalty by accommodating the companies with the start up storage space. He said the charge does not have to be market rate, but should be enough to recover the costs of the investment. He suggested the creation of a structured fee to accomplish this over a relatively short period of time. A Brief power outage occurred at 8:59:23 PM. Chair Jacobs said this is consistent with the County's economic development policy. He is encouraged that this is feasible at a relatively low cost. Commissioner Pelissier said she hears the argument about incentivizing, however she has also heard that there is an issue with a lack of production facilities, so this is only a half way step. She does not feel that the provision of storage will be enough, unless there is a way to find the larger facilities that are also needed to keep the businesses from leaving. She feels more needs to be done. She suggested the possibility of only doing one wing and not the other. Commissioner Gordon said she also has some concerns regarding the fact that there is no long term comprehensive facilities plan. She feels that things are proceeding in an ad hoc fashion. She said that there is no comprehensive revenue stream. She said the higher budget number concerns her, and she knows there will be other increases in the county budget, such as those related to school needs. She said there are a lot of demands on the county budget, and this new request has a very high price tag. Commissioner McKee said he understands the concerns about the cost and the concerns about the lack of fully developed incentives. He said incentives in Orange County are still a work in process. He said this is a way to use this facility and prevent tearing it down. Commissioner Rich asked what the roof would cost. Jeff Thompson said it would be $200,000 to $275,000, and this would be part of the $600,000, along with HVAC, window deglazing, brick cleaning and landscaping. Commissioner Rich asked what it would cost to just use one wing for storage. Jeff Thompson said if it was just used for storage today, the entrances would have to be modified, and the truck dock would be most of the $100,000. He said if one wing were done with the mothballing concept, it would only cost half.