Minutes 11-19-2019 Business Meeting

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27 Bonnie Hammersley said one option is to look at other sites that the County owns. She said the Northern campus will be completed soon, leaving the vacant detention center and Revere Road sites. She said other sites may be available and considered, as well as looking further into this site. She said an answer is not needed tonight, but staff wanted to bring the BOCC up to date on the project. She said, as of Friday, all staff will be in new locations, and can continue to function. She said a long-range plan is now needed, and she wants to come back to the Board with something that will be functional for longer than 25 years. She said the Link Center will be closed as of Friday, November 22. Commissioner Price asked if the extent of the rusting in the structure could be identified. Angie Easterday said, at times, there is significant water, but the building is not structurally unsound. Commissioner McKee said when there is more information it would be helpful to know how this occurred. He said it is curious to him that there are 60-year old county buildings that have not had these problems, and he wonders how this occurred so quickly. He said he would also like to know if there is a way to reroof the building the avoid water infusion. He said he does not understand why it will take $8 million to fix the problem. He said if necessary, building new versus remediating old is a no-brainer, especially as there does not appear to be a significant cost difference. Bonnie Hammersley said staff can bring this information to the BOCC. She said there were a lot of elements happening at the same time; maintenance may not have been done with best practices, and there were flaws in the design. She said staff was not looking for the cause, but will look into this more thoroughly. Commissioner Bedford said this situation is a lot like Chapel Hill High School, and for a bit more money, it would be better to build new. She said the Link Center interior design is not functional, and lacks good meeting space, which a new design could incorporate. She said it would be great to work with the architects to see what government functions should be housed together. She said there are historical restrictions within the town limits, but it would be good to consider the opportunity of using these other sites in terms of affordable housing or economic development. She said there are other options for this land. Commissioner Bedford said a new building would be more ADA compliant, and this building cannot be made so without a full gutting. She said the bigger picture is that the BOCC is here to serve the residents, and has employees to consider. She said she would like to consider energy efficiency and solar options. She said the County is at debt capacity through 2021/2022, and there many projects going on, which may need to be deferred. She said the current site may be buildable, but it is not great. Commissioner Greene said as the saying goes, fool us once, shame on you; fool us twice, shame on us. She said this land is not a good option. Commissioner McKee said, due to the high cost of this project, he would like staff to come back with a prioritization of other projects that may need to be removed from the capital plan, in order to get this project completed. He said this project has some urgency. Commissioner Marcoplos said the Board of Elections building also needs to be considered, which is in a similar water situation, and is cinder block construction. He asked if this building can be incorporated as well, as it is a hard place to work, and is not energy efficient. Chair Rich said discussions about the Board of Elections building have been ongoing. She said it is disappointing that a 1992 building is in this condition, and that the Manager has inherited the problem. She said someone missed the boat back then, and the problems have just compounded. She said she agrees, after reviewing the root analysis, that building new is probably wiser, noting all the aforementioned comments related to energy efficiency and design. She asked if the BOCC is to receive the report, or provide a decision this evening.