BC 2008 08 04 Work Session - Laserfiche WebLink

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August 4, 2008 (Work Session) Page 915 The Board of Commissioners for the County of Cabarrus met for an Agenda Work Session in the Multipurpose Room at the Cabarrus County Governmental Center in Concord, North Carolina on Monday, August 9, 2008, at 3:30 p.m. Present - Chairman: H. Jay White, Sr. Vice Chairman: Joni D. Juba Commissioners: Robert W. Carruth Coy C. Privette Absent - Commissioner: Grace M. Mynatt Also present were John Day, County Manager; Richard M. Koch, County Attorney; Pam Dubois, Deputy County Manager; Kay Honeycutt, Clerk to the Board and Lyndsay Hayes, Deputy Clerk to the Board. Call to Order Chairman White called the meeting to order at 3:38 p.m. Closed Session UPON MOTION of Vice Chairman. Juba, seconded by Commissioner Carruth and unanimously carried, the Board moved to go into Closed Session to discuss threatened or pending litigation (Landvale Properties, LLC; Mardan IV, LLC; and Craft Development, LLC) and personnel matter(s) as authorized by NCGS 143-318.11(a)(3)(6). Further, the Board invited Special Council Nick Herman to attend the Closed Session. UPON MOTION of Commissioner Privette, seconded by Commissioner Carruth and unanimously carried, the Board moved to come out of Closed Session at 9:93 p.m. Old Bethel School Chairman White reported the Midland Town Council recently reviewed the County's proposal to sell the former school site for school capital needs or lease the site to Midland with the following five conditions: (1) $1 per year; (2) Term of 10 to 20 years with additional renewal options; (3) Annual fund raising benchmarks of $1 million per year. If the benchmarks are not achieved, then the site is offered for sale with proceeds used for school capital needs. (9) The town must secure the buildings and repair the roofs within 8 months. Renovations must begin within 18 months. Failure to meet these requirements will result in the site being offered for sale with proceeds used for school capital needs. (5) The county will provide a seed grant of. $250,000.00. He said a counter proposal was developed and asked Midland Town Council Members, Kathy Kitts and Mike Tallent, and Sarah Morrison, committee member, to present the proposal. Ms. Kitts reported -the concept of creating a nonprofit entity or working with an established nonprofit was previously discussed with Commissioners Carruth and Privette and approved by the Town Council in July. Commissioner Carruth commented on the question of whether, from the Board's perspective, there will be a need for a community center in the next 9 to 5 years or next 10 years; whether to move -forward with preserving the building; possibly marketing the property to private groups with an interest in historic preservation; or, finding a private developer to develop the property with agreement to preserve the oldest structure. When asked what the likelihood is that an existing nonprofit would take over fundraising activities, Ms. Kitts reported Warren Thompson had expressed interest in saving the building and is working towards establishing a nonprofit. John Day, County Manager, addressed the next question related to the amount of time needed to create a new nonprofit. To receive a 501-C-3 status from the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) under the best circumstances would take between three and six months; otherwise, he said it could be nine to 12 months. Knowing the Board's expected outcome could be helpful in determining what county services are provided, if any, and may make a difference in leasing the building or providing funding for renovations. He also addressed the issue of county staff being asked, "could you provide services if given the opportunity" vs. "would you prepare a proposal recommending the expenditure of additional public money to provide these services". He said