Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: February 20, 2001 <br />Action Agenda? <br />Item No. 9 <br />SUBJECT: <br />, Smith Middle School Ground Lease Agreement with UNC <br />DEPARTMENT: County Attorney PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No <br />ATTACHMENT(S): <br />Proposed Ground Lease Agreement <br />INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />Geof Gledhill or Harmony Whalen <br />732-2196 <br />TELEPHONE NUMBERS: <br />Hillsborough 732-8181 <br />Chapel Hill 968-4501 <br />Durham 688-7331 <br />Mebane 336-227-2031 <br />PURPOSE: To consider approving an agreement between Orange County and the State of <br />North Carolina (on behalf of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) governing the lease <br />of, and improvements to, University property that will be used for the new Smith Middle School. <br />BACKGROUND: R.D. and Euzelle Smith Middle School is under construction and is <br />scheduled to open for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS) district for the 2001-2002 <br />academic year. The school building itself is situated on property owned by CHCCS, but much <br />of the grounds on which athletic fields and related improvements will be situated is on property <br />owned by the University. The attached grounds lease agreement provides the terms and <br />conditions under which Orange County (and its sub-tenant, CHCCS) will make, use, and <br />maintain improvements to that property, which totals about 16.6 acres immediately adjacent to <br />and to the west of CHCCS property on Seawell School Road. <br />The term of the agreement is for 30 years at an annual rent of $1. Although the Council of <br />State approved the agreement for only 30 years,. the agreement acknowledges the sizeable <br />capital investment that the County and CHCCS will be making to improve the property, and <br />suggests an openness to negotiation for further leases beyond 30 years. The University is also <br />entitled to use 2,000 square feet of space in the Smith Middle School building for use by UNC's <br />School of Education. <br />The attached proposed agreement has received preliminary review by the County Attorney's <br />office. Recommended changes to the version of the agreement approved by the Council of <br />State last fall have been noted in blacklined text. Attorneys for the County, CHCCS, and the <br />University are continuing to collaborate to develop acceptable language that will expedite the <br />approval of the agreement. CHCCS staff have indicated that timely approval of the agreement <br />is essential, so that contractors can begin using the UNC property as a source of soil for other <br />aspects of the Smith Middle School project.