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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 09-02-2008 - 6aORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: September 2, 2008 Action Agenda Item No, ~_ SUBJECT: Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools' Request to Use Northside Site for Elementary #11 DEPARTMENT: Purchasing and Central Srvcs. PUBLIC HEARING: (YIN) No ATTACHMENT(S): Letter of Request from Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools INFORMATION CONTACT: Pam Jones (919) 245-2652 PURPOSE: To consider allowing the Northside Human Services Center (Northside) property for use as the site for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools' (CHCCS) Elementary #11. BACKGROUND: Over the past several months, with participation from stakeholders representing multiple interests, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS) conducted an analysis of its long-term facility needs. The location for an 11th elementary school was identified as a critical and urgent issue for the District. After discussion and investigation of multiple sites, on June 19, 2008, the CHCCS Board of Education endorsed the Northside site as the preferred location for the school and is petitioning the Board of Commissioners for its use (see attached letter for additional background). In order for the school to be operational within an acceptable timeframe to meet enrollment needs, planning and commencement of the regulatory approval process needs to begin quickly. The Board of Education has approved an architect for the project and convening the planning committee is underway. Commissioner Foushee was appointed as the BOCC's liaison for this project during the August 19, 2008 meeting. The Board may recall no future County programming needs were identified for the Northside site, and it was cited during earlier discussions as a candidate for possible divestiture. For many years, Northside was a primary service delivery location for Orange County human services. However, the Department of Social Services was relocated to the Southern Orange Human Services Center in 1998; the Department on Aging relocated all operations from Northside in 2007 upon the completion of the Robert and Pearl Seymour Center; and the divestiture of OPC Mental Health has left the buildings previously used by OPC vacant. Operations that currently remain at the site include the Community School for People Under Six, offices for Joint Orange-Chatham Community Action (JOCCA) and program space for 2 KidsCope, which previously operated through OPC Mental Health. Last year, the Work First Program was relocated to this site from the Northern Human Services Center. However, it will be relocated to the space recently leased by the County for Department of Social Services operations at Hillsborough Commons upon its completion. County and School representatives have recently met with the Board and administrators of the Community School for People Under Six to discuss alternatives that might be available to the Center should the site be designated for use by CHCCS. The day care has served the Northside community for over 35 years, which prompts careful and thoughtful consideration about the impacts of relocation. The day care board of directors and staff are considering alternatives and will provide information to the County and School Boards for future discussion. As indicated, possible divestiture of the Northside site has previously been discussed with the Board. That said, collateralization of the project may be leveraged favorably if the County maintains ownership of the property until the debt on the construction of the school is retired, so while the Board could decide now to allow the property to be used for the school, change in ownership of the property may not be effected for several years. Should the Board authorize the use of Northside by CHCCS, staff will incorporate a recommendation for ownership of the property into the recommended funding plan when it is brought forward for consideration. As a separate, but related note, the full slate of County buildings recommended for divestiture is scheduled for discussion during the CIP deliberations in October 2008. FINANCIAL IMPACT: The buildings at Northside are of an age where maintenance issues are plentiful and expensive. Building B, which housed OPC offices, was closed last year due to mold and mildew issues exacerbated by foundation leaks and an aging and inefficient HVAC system. Allowing use of the site for the elementary school would eliminate the need for future significant County capital expenditures, as well as the on-going operating expenses for such things as cleaning, utilities and routine maintenance. No revenue is derived from the day care, JOCCA or KidsCope. The total cost of the school is $33,177,923. As the Board will .recall, a funding plan was approved on May 20, 2008 that designated lottery funds be used for $974,000, with the remaining $32,203,923 needed for the construction of the facility to be alternatively financed by Spring 2009. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends the Board approve the request of the Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools Board of Education for use of Northside as a site for Elementary #11; and request the Board of Education, as well as School and County staff, continue to work with the current occupants in their relocation efforts. June 20, 2008 Barry Jacobs, Chair Board of County Commissioners PO Box 8181 Hillsborough, NC 27278 RECE JUN 7 8 2008 Dear.Commissioner Jacobs, ~~ Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools continues to face increased student enrollment and the need for additional schools. Moms Grove Elementary School will open in August 2008; however, current SAPFO student enrollment projections indicate the need for the district's 11°t elemer~ary school to open soon thereafter. During the past nine months, potential school sites for Elementary School #11~ were analyzed. The process involved school staff, representatives from the Towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, and Orange County, and the district's Long Range Facility Committee. In April, the committee narrowed the selection to two sites; Northside and the Greene Tract Design professionals provided additional analysis of the sites and Northside was recommended. A major factor in selecting Northside was that it represented the best site to meet the schedule of opening the school in 2011-12. On June 5, 2008, the School Board held public comment and discussion regarding a site for Elementary School #11: Community representatives spoke highly of the Northside site for the new school. On June 19 the School Board accepted the recommendation and selected Northside as the site for Elementary School #11. Your policy requires that once the Board is interested in acquiring a site for a school, it is to notify you. In addition, it requires that the Board of County Commissioners appoint~a member to serve as a liaison as the site is acquired and the school is designed. We ask that you make such an appointment as soon as possible. . Since this site is owned by the County and has County facilities on it, we ask for direction as to how to proceed with acquisition if you concur that this is a suitable school site. As you know, we are on a very tight timeline for the opening of Elementary No. 11. We have had informal conversations with County Commissioners about this site and have received nothing but positive comments. We, therefore, are anticipating that the Commissioners will support the use of this site for our next school. We have selected an architect whom we would like to begin design work immediately. Knowing that the Commissioners have only one more meeting scheduled before your summer break, we ask your advice on how to proceed in a timely fashion. Finally, we both received a letter dated June 17, 2008 from the Executive Director of the Community School for People Under Six requesting a meeting regarding the impact of this decision on their pre- school. We agree that such discussions should begin as soon as possible and ask that your office contact mine to begin to identify possible dates. The community response has been overwhelmingly positive for the construction of a school on the old Orange County Training School site. As was stated last night by a community member, the opening of a new school in the historically African-American section of Chapel Hill is an "historic event" We look forward to partnering with you and the community on this project _ _; Sincerely, Pamela S. Hemminger C: Laura Blackmon County Commissioners School Board Members Bill Mullin Neil Pedersen Lincoln Center, 750 S. Merritt Mill Road • Chapel Hill, NC 27516-2878 • (919) 967-8211 • www.Chccs.kl2.nc.us