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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: September 7, 2005 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. R - b <br />SUBJECT: Land Acquisition and Project Development: Animal Shelter <br />DEPARTMENT: Purchasing and Central PUBLIC HEARING: (YIN) No <br />Services, County Attorney <br />ATTACHMENT(S): <br />Offer to Purchase and Contract <br />Map <br />INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />Pam Jones (919) 245-2652 <br />Geof Gledhill (919) 732-2190 <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 a contract for the purchase of 5.5 acre parcel on Eubanks <br />Road, Chapel Hill for $167,000 to be used as the future site of the Orange County Animal <br />Shelter; and to authorize staff to move forward with a process to select a project architect. <br />BACKGROUND: In February 2004, the Board authorized staff to enter into negotiations with <br />the owner of a 5.5-acre parcel of land on Eubanks Road, Chapel Hill as a potential site for the <br />Animal Shelter. The owner has agreed to sell the property to the County for $30,500 per acre <br />($167,000 total) per the terms and conditions cited on the attached purchase agreement. This <br />amount is within the negotiation parameters that the Board established in 2004. <br />The site is situated on the south side of Eubanks Road at Millhouse Road and adjacent to the <br />east border of the Landfill. A map of the site is attached. As the Board will recall, the site was <br />considered in part because of its proximity and easy access to Orange County residents as well <br />as the Animal Control staffs of the County and municipalities. It is located in an area with few <br />residences, none in immediate proximity to the property. An additional benefit is the ready <br />access to water and sewer for the site, which is not located in the rural buffer. In a recent site <br />tour, Animal Services Director Bob Marotto agreed that the site has a number of positive <br />attributes necessary for a successful shelter location. <br />The current shelter, located off Airport Road, is on property leased by the Town of Chapel Hill <br />from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and part of the future Carolina North <br />campus development. The University has expressed a desire to allow the County continued <br />use of the current Animal Shelter site for a period past the December 31, 2006 expiration of the <br />existing lease in order for the County to acquire property and construct the new Shelter in a <br />rational, but time-conscious manner.