Agenda 12-10-19 Item 8-a - Minutes

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28 1 does not understand why it will take $8 million to fix the problem. He said if necessary, building 2 new versus remediating old is a no-brainer, especially as there does not appear to be a 3 significant cost difference. 4 Bonnie Hammersley said staff can bring this information to the BOCC. She said there 5 were a lot of elements happening at the same time; maintenance may not have been done with 6 best practices, and there were flaws in the design. She said staff was not looking for the cause, 7 but will look into this more thoroughly. 8 Commissioner Bedford said this situation is a lot like Chapel Hill High School, and for a 9 bit more money, it would be better to build new. She said the Link Center interior design is not 10 functional, and lacks good meeting space, which a new design could incorporate. She said it 11 would be great to work with the architects to see what government functions should be housed 12 together. She said there are historical restrictions within the town limits, but it would be good to 13 consider the opportunity of using these other sites in terms of affordable housing or economic 14 development. She said there are other options for this land. 15 Commissioner Bedford said a new building would be more ADA compliant, and this 16 building cannot be made so without a full gutting. She said the bigger picture is that the BOCC 17 is here to serve the residents, and has employees to consider. She said she would like to 18 consider energy efficiency and solar options. She said the County is at debt capacity through 19 2021/2022, and there many projects going on, which may need to be deferred. She said the 20 current site may be buildable, but it is not great. 21 Commissioner Greene said as the saying goes, fool us once, shame on you; fool us 22 twice, shame on us. She said this land is not a good option. 23 Commissioner McKee said, due to the high cost of this project, he would like staff to 24 come back with a prioritization of other projects that may need to be removed from the capital 25 plan, in order to get this project completed. He said this project has some urgency. 26 Commissioner Marcoplos said the Board of Elections building also needs to be 27 considered, which is in a similar water situation, and is cinder block construction. He asked if 28 this building can be incorporated as well, as it is a hard place to work, and is not energy 29 efficient. 30 Chair Rich said discussions about the Board of Elections building have been ongoing. 31 She said it is disappointing that a 1992 building is in this condition, and that the Manager has 32 inherited the problem. She said someone missed the boat back then, and the problems have 33 just compounded. She said she agrees, after reviewing the root analysis, that building new is 34 probably wiser, noting all the aforementioned comments related to energy efficiency and 35 design. She asked if the BOCC is to receive the report, or provide a decision this evening. 36 37 Travis Myren said extensive research has already been done, and the roof on the 38 current building is not the primary problem, but rather the exterior wall. He said he is hearing 39 interest from the BOCC to engage in a facility-planning project. He said there will be two sites 40 available in the not-too-distant future, and the BOCC could consider building on those sites. He 41 said tonight, staff is asking the Board to consider a budget amendment to get a rough estimate 42 of what the costs will be. He said all occupants will be out of the Link Building this week, and 43 the building will be vacant for some period of time. He said expectations are that the building 44 will be vacant for years, not months. He said staff have negotiated leases, and envision the 45 Whitted facility as a longer-term solution for the Manager's office and BOCC office. 46 Chair Rich asked if the number of staff moving out of the Link Building could be 47 identified. 48 Travis Myren said about 30 remain, and all are moving this week. He said Human 49 Resources and the County Attorney have already moved, and the grand total is about 60