AD
HOC COMMITTEE MEETING –APPROVED 3/5/07
February 27, 2007 at 7:30 AM
Room 304
Members Present: Dan Tagliente, John Steger, John Daniels, Carol Tytler, Larry Cornell, Mike McKee
Others Present: Marilyn Brown; Chairman of the Legislature, John Troy; Legislator, Richard VanDonsel; County Attorney, Dennis Whitt; County Auditor, Brian Parker; Director of Buildings and Grounds, Susan Morgan; Clerk of the Legislature, Chad Loomis & Ann Gebhard; Residents of Neighborhood, Corey Preston & Eric Mulvihill; Media.
Carol Tytler was unanimously elected and accepted the Chairmanship.
Ms. Tytler poled each member regarding the expectations of the Committee. They responded as follows:
Mr. Tagliente said square footage figures of the Health Department, Mental Health, Horizon House and DMV need to be compiled by Mr. Parker. With the talk that we were not above board on the project, we need to be look into the contracts and have someone from Cinquanti Real Estate answer how the purchase took place and then move ahead; as nothing can be accomplished until this is resolved.
Mr. Steger agreed with Mr. Tagliente and emphasized that it is necessary to move ahead to solve the problems.
Mr. McKee said we need to move forward and look into the background and clear the air on how the purchase took place.
Mr. Daniels said legislators failed to tell the public what the real needs were and why we need the space and the purpose of the consolidation. We need to gather all the information to make a recommendation to the legislature.
Mr. Cornell spoke of space studies that have been done in the past that need to be reviewed and keep the public informed within the confines of confidentiality issues necessary for property purchases.
Ms. Tytler said that she sees this condensed in three categories:
Chairman Brown announced that she has directed Dennis Whitt to combine the information the committee needs on the background that led to the issues today. Mr. Whitt said that information relates specifically to Building and Grounds minutes, Budget and Finance minutes and Legislative resolutions along with documents from Cinquanti Real Estate. He added that there was a feasibility study conducted in February of 2004 on Route 281 that cost $4,200 regarding the relocation of the Health facility. He suggested that the committee concentrate from that point and move forward.
Ms. Tytler said she felt that focus groups need to be established to aid the committee perspective and include the neighborhood, staff from departments affected by consolidation or move, other vested members and users of facilities.
Mr. Daniels said he was concerned with the short window of time to accomplish all of this, referring to the deadline for a report by March 22nd.
Mr. Tagliente said he felt that it can be done and a good start would be with the affected departments, then the neighborhood.
Mr. Daniels said his concern is that we all work and could loose focus on too much in such a short time.
Ms. Tytler agreed to do the focus groups in the evenings, gather the information and present it to the Committee. She said our ultimate decision will be to buy or not to buy the property. The neighborhood has strong feelings and if we buy we need to involve them.
Discussion followed to future meeting dates. All agreed that 7:30 AM is a good meeting time for all members. They established that Thursday and Monday will be scheduled for the next two meetings. The Committee directed Mr. Whitt to provide requested information prior to Thursday morning. Cinquanti Real Estate will be contacted to see if they can be present at that meeting also.
After Mr. Parker asked for direction in information he was to provide, the Committee directed Mr. Parker to provide appropriate feasibility studies along with square footage required to make a determination for use along with his suggestions and expertise. Mr. Parker stated that any decision to add more property needs to consider that for every additional 1500 square feet will require an extra Custodian into the cost of a project. There are handicap and confidentiality issues that need to be addressed along with citations issued within the individual departments. It was determined that Mr. Parker, Ms. Gailor and Mr. Kilmer report to the committee on Monday, March 5 at 7:30 AM, with information provided to the committee prior to that meeting.
Mr. Steger stated that the advice of legal counsel is necessary and the County Attorney needs to be involved to advise us of legal issues. Mr. VanDonsel said he plans on attending any and all meetings. He suggested that the focus groups could be recorded. Mr. Parker suggested that the next meetings be held in Chambers to make that possible.
Mr. Troy said that he felt the Committee is headed in the right direction and that the committee needs to move quickly to meet the deadline of March 22nd.
Ms. Tytler recognized Ms. Gebhard and Mr. Loomis and asked to speak to them after the meeting regarding their participation in the focus group.
Mr. Tagliente asked Ms. Gebhard for her comments. Ms. Gebhard commended what the committee is doing as it has been a long time coming but will clearly address the problems. She asked the committee to consider the cost to the neighborhood, the quality of life issues and the cost of taking properties off the tax roles in the City.
Mr. Loomis said it is unfortunate that this took so long and discouraging from his standpoint when we have to go back so many years to look at a space study when it was available at the time the County bought the property. He emphasized that the committee focus on the big picture and remove the bias after considering the costs. He said this impacted him as an engineer more than a resident so if it needs to go there then prove to me that it does. He further said he would help where he can in the process.
Meeting adjourned at 8:10AM
Prepared by Susan Morgan,
Clerk -Audio of meeting available upon request from the Clerk