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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: September 2, 2008 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No, ~_ <br />SUBJECT: Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools' Request to Use Northside Site for <br />Elementary #11 <br />DEPARTMENT: Purchasing and Central Srvcs. PUBLIC HEARING: (YIN) No <br />ATTACHMENT(S): <br />Letter of Request from Chapel Hill <br />Carrboro City Schools <br />INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />Pam Jones (919) 245-2652 <br />PURPOSE: To consider allowing the Northside Human Services Center (Northside) property <br />for use as the site for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools' (CHCCS) Elementary #11. <br />BACKGROUND: Over the past several months, with participation from stakeholders <br />representing multiple interests, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS) conducted an <br />analysis of its long-term facility needs. The location for an 11th elementary school was identified <br />as a critical and urgent issue for the District. After discussion and investigation of multiple sites, <br />on June 19, 2008, the CHCCS Board of Education endorsed the Northside site as the preferred <br />location for the school and is petitioning the Board of Commissioners for its use (see attached <br />letter for additional background). <br />In order for the school to be operational within an acceptable timeframe to meet enrollment <br />needs, planning and commencement of the regulatory approval process needs to begin quickly. <br />The Board of Education has approved an architect for the project and convening the planning <br />committee is underway. Commissioner Foushee was appointed as the BOCC's liaison for this <br />project during the August 19, 2008 meeting. <br />The Board may recall no future County programming needs were identified for the Northside <br />site, and it was cited during earlier discussions as a candidate for possible divestiture. For <br />many years, Northside was a primary service delivery location for Orange County human <br />services. However, the Department of Social Services was relocated to the Southern Orange <br />Human Services Center in 1998; the Department on Aging relocated all operations from <br />Northside in 2007 upon the completion of the Robert and Pearl Seymour Center; and the <br />divestiture of OPC Mental Health has left the buildings previously used by OPC vacant. <br />Operations that currently remain at the site include the Community School for People Under <br />Six, offices for Joint Orange-Chatham Community Action (JOCCA) and program space for <br />