Agenda - 05-19-1987 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Orange County Livestock/Horticulture Market ? and Rural Education Center Feasibility Study Committee Report The impending loss of the Hillsborough Livestock Market will represent a major financial blow to Orange County's already hard- pressed livestock producers. Its loss will also have a major economic impact on our local economy insofar as the several million dollars paid out for livestock at the market might be lost to this community. Economists agree that as money flows through the local economy, it turns over several times, and the loss of the livestock market would represent a much larger financial loss to the County's economy than the sums spent at the market. Drawing upon the historical precedent for Orange County's involvement in assuring a local livestock market and the County's obvious interest in the financial well-being of our County's farmers in particular and in our local economy in general, we propose that the Orange County Board of Commissioners take action to keep a livestock facility in the County. What began as a committee to study the feasibility of maintaining a livestock sale facility in Orange County eventually matured into a group which saw the financial necessity of providing a facility that would not be dependent only on one component for its existence. A livestock sale facility can't exist by itself, but it can be a viable component of a multifaceted facility which would provide a number of services to all citizens in Orange County. From this need to look at a multipurpose facility, there was born the "ORANGE COUNTY LIVESTOCK/HORTICULTURE MARKET/RURAL EDUCATION CENTER. " The attached documents support the following recommendations: I. A livestock sale facility can be an integral component of a multipurpose facility in Orange County. A livestock sale facility can't stand by itself. (See Attachment A, Standaert Report, and Attachment B, Responses to Survey. ) II. There is a strong interest in establishing a farmer's market in northern Orange County. (See Attachment B and Survey Sample, Attachment K. ) Survey results: 165 "yes", 5 "no", 3 "maybe". III. There is a need for a large meeting room that would be available to County government agencies which currently have to rent such facilities. This meeting room could also serve as a gallery and exhibition site for items related to the rich agricultural history heritage of Orange County. (See Attachment C, Report by Albert Kittrell of County Expenditures for Meeting Rooms. Mr. and Mrs. Quentin Patterson are most willing to help work on the gallery collection of agricultural items pertinent to the history of Orange County. )