Agenda - 06-23-2005-5r - Laserfiche WebLink

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ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: June 23, 2005 Action Agenda Item No. J`- SUBJECT: Authorization to Exercise Lease Extension: Parks Operations Base DEPARTMENT: Purchasing and Central PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No Services, Recreation & Parks ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: Pam Jones, (919) 245-2652 Lori Taft, (919) 245-2660 TELEPHONE NUMBERS: Hillsborough 732-8181 Chapel Hill 968-4501 Durham 688-7331 PURPOSE: To consider authorizing the extension of the current lease for the Parks Operations base for a period not to exceed one year, pursuant to the lease agreement. BACKGROUND: In June 2004, the Board directed staff to pursue the design and development of a storage facility and parks operations base at the public works facility on Highway 86 North. The County retained Corley Reelfoot Zack (CRZ) to begin programming for the facility soon thereafter. Preliminary cast estimates for development by CRZ indicated that the approximately $600,000 budgeted for the entire project would allow the County to build approximately 7,000 square feet of space, 4,000 of which would be for the parks operations base and 3,000 dedicated to storage. In particular, the amount of square footage that would be available for storage would serve only the most critical needs for bulky storage items, such as voting equipment and EMS equipment, but would offer no storage opportunities for most other departments. Further, since that time the cost of steel and concrete, two primary building products that would be used in the construction, have surged even higher in cost, bringing into question whether even the original square footage estimate could be built within the budgeted amount. As the planning for this joint parks/storage facility was progressing, two separate opportunities emerged that may better address the storage and parks operations base needs. The space study presented to the Board in March 2005 recommends that the Recreation and Parks administrative offices, as well as the parks operations base, be relocated to the County-owned building on Valley Forge Road, previously occupied by Orange Enterprises. The County assisted Orange Enterprises in the recent acquisition of a building on Elizabeth Brady Road, Hillsborough to which its operations are to be moved. Acquisition of a facility that would address the long-term storage needs for the County is currently under negotiation.