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Mr. Thomas C. King, Jr. Page Two September 21, 1987 (1) To meet the postsecondary occupational education needs of Cabarrus and Rowan Counties without wasting public resources through unnecessary duplication of programs or facilities. (2) To support the efforts of Cabarrus leaders to establish a Cabarrus campus of the Technical College in the southern part of the service area and provide greater accessibility to appropriate educational programs without unnecessary duplication. The leadership of the Cabarrus Advisory Council was also instrumental in enabling Rowan Tech to lease unused school buildings in Cabarrus County and expand course offerings four years ago. Currently, campus extension centers in leased facilities exist in both Kannapolis and Concord. The County Commissioners have been funding the operation and maintenance of these centers for several years. These temporary leased facilities are not adequate to meet the educational needs of Cabar~us County, so Rowan Tech has worked with the Cabarrus Advisory Council to achieve a more adequate and permanent satellite campus in Cabarrus that Would complement the Rowan campus while avoiding unnecessary duplication and maximizing cost-effective resource allocation. The first task was to select an adequate site for the satellite campus. A task force, headed by Mr. Newton Fowler, General Manager of Philip Morris, involved businessmen and community leaders (Mr. Troy Day, Mr. Phil Smith, Mr. William McCrary) as well as the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Rowan Tech Board. This group assisted by the technical and engineering staff of Philip Morris developed quantitative criteria for selecting a site (accessibility, utilities, population density, terrain, size, visibility, and distance from the Salisbury campus). After reviewing several sites, the task force recommended the acquisition of 24 acres adjacent to Interstate 85 on Trinity Church Road at Highway 73 in the Kannapolis township of Cabarrus County. This site is a 15-minute drive along the i~terstate south of the Salisbury campus and provides excellent balance. The task force recommended this site to the Long Range Planning SubCommittee of the Cabarrus Advisory Council, chaired by Mr. Roy Davis, Chairman of the Board of S & D Coffee Company of Concord. (See enclosed letters of endorsement from the Long Range Planning Committee of the Cabarrus Advisory Council from Mr. Frank Liske, Mr. Branson Jones, bir. Roy Davis, and Mr. Newton Fowler.) The recommendation was then passed on to the Long Range Planning Committee of the Trustees of Rowan Technical College, chaired by Mr. Phil Smith (a Cabarrus resident and former head of the Concord/Cabarrus Chamber of Commerce). In an Executive Session of the Rowan Technical College Board of Trustees on May 26, 1987, the Long Range Planning Committee recommended that the site be acquired by the Trustees of Rowan Technical College. The Trustees then voted unanimously in open session to acquire the site. The transaction was completed on July 1, 1987 with the title passing to the Trustees of Rowan Technical College (see enclosed copy of the North Carolina General Warranty Deed). The Rowan Technical College Trustees had been allocated ).5 million by the State of North Carolina through the Department of Community Colleges, and $350,000 of these funds were used to acquire the property as well as pay $1,926 for the legal costs of the acquisition. (Rowan Technical~College has been assured by Department of Community College's staff that an additional $500,000 will be allocated for this satellite campus in the short session after architect plans have been drawn.)