Agenda - 05-05-2016 - 5-a - Minutes

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7 1 Commissioner Rich said when she has spoken with Carrboro residents there is a desire 2 for an urban library. She asked if Carrboro owns the land, would any environmental issues be 3 Carrboro's responsibility to deal with. 4 Bonnie Hammersley said yes. 5 Commissioner Burroughs said it makes sense to move the item out to the 2017-18 6 budget and with relation to the size, she was not present when the topic was discussed in the 7 past. She said growth is a determining factor, as well as continually changing technology. She 8 said it will be important to compare needs to wants to affordability and to see how it all relates 9 to the Board's priorities. She advocated for a smaller library as well as conservative spending. 10 Commissioner Jacobs agreed with Commissioner Burroughs. He said the previous 11 manager was in favor of a large 20,000 square foot suburban library, but the Board never 12 approved this. He said there has been a great deal of discussion with the public surrounding 13 this topic, and agreed with the difficulty of ever changing technology. He noted that the Chapel 14 Hill library is less than three miles away 15 Commissioner Price said she has heard of the need of this library since her tenure on 16 this board. She said the possibility of a meeting space is a plus. 17 Bonnie Hammersley said the current operating costs for McDougle and Cybrary are 18 currently $216,068, and the $1.2 million includes $700,000 in debt to borrow to build the library 19 over a 15-year period. 20 Commissioner Dorosin said he also said he has heard of this project as a priority to 21 Carrboro residents. 22 Chair McKee said it is not unusual for the BOCC to delay a project for a variety of 23 reasons. 24 Commissioner Dorosin said reasoning can be offered but all the public will hear is that 25 the Board of County Commissioners is delaying this again. 26 Chair McKee asked if a parking deck would be part of the building, or if Carrboro would 27 manage it and the County lease it. He also asked how it would be paid for. 28 Jeff Thompson said if a standalone library was being built, there would need to be 50 29 parking spaces. He said any additional parking would be negotiated with Carrboro. 30 Chair McKee asked if the parking lot costs are included in the $5.6 million construction 31 costs. 32 Jeff Thompson said yes. 33 Chair McKee referred to the last line of the schedule and asked if the building is going to 34 be leased before it is built. 35 Jeff Thompson said off site parking can be allowed, per Carrboro's discussion about 36 parking. 37 Bonnie Hammersley said the chart before the Board was created by Carrboro and may 38 include some items that do not involve Orange County. 39 Commissioner Jacobs said there are examples of urban buildings where parking is not 40 present. He said sometimes parking has to be sacrificed. He said if parking must be a part of 41 this project, the County should have some flexibility in negotiations regarding its financial 42 responsibilities. 43 Bonnie Hammersley said these discussions have yet to occur, but as the process moves 44 forward such topics will certainly be raised. She said Carrboro has been open to discussion. 45 Commissioner Burroughs applauded staff's efforts in maintaining open communication 46 with Carrboro given past miscommunications. 47 Commissioner Rich asked if there is a plan for communicating updates with the general 48 public.