Holly Springs Town Council

Special Called Meeting

Regular Meeting Aug. 3, 2004

MINUTES

The Holly Springs Town Council met in a duly-called special session on Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2004, in the Holleman Meeting Hall of Holly Springs Town Hall, 128 S. Main Street. Mayor Sears presided, calling the meeting to order at 6:10 p.m. A quorum was established as the mayor and three council members were present as the meeting opened.

Council Members Present: Councilmen Parrish Womble, Chet VanFossen, and Hank Dickson and Mayor Sears. Councilman Peter Atwell arrived at 6:15 p.m.

Council Members Absent: Councilman Ernest Pearson.

Staff Members Present: Carl G. Dean, town manager; Chuck Simmons, assistant town manager; John Schifano, town attorney; Joni Powell, town clerk, (recording the minutes); Gina Bobber, director of planning and zoning; Stephanie Sudano, director of engineering; Kendra Stephenson, project engineer; Len Bradley, parks and recreation director; Tamara Ward, public information officer; and Drew Holland, finance director.

2. Cultural Center / Library Discussion - The purpose of the special meeting was to hold deliberations on the subject of a pending interlocal agreement between the Town of Holly Springs and Wake County for the development of the Wake County Library and the adjacent Town of Holly Springs cultural center.

The Town has offered to give Wake County approximately 7.5 acres on which to build a library. In an effort to take advantage of shared planning, design and construction costs, the Town wishes to build a cultural center adjacent to the library. Ownership of the property, then, becomes an issue.

Wake County proposes an agreement whereby the Town will provide the land (all 7.5 acres) and contribute to development of the site by providing funding for design, road improvements and utility extensions. The Town also would waiver any otherwise required development fees and permits. In this agreement, the county would own the land and the library building property, including, both buildings.

The Town Attorney advised the Town’s management team and Council that the verbiage of the proposed agreement should be changed to provide that the Town retain ownership of land and building on which the cultural center is constructed. In this way, he said, the Town would have ownership rights and not have to worry about the County’s changing the use of the cultural center building to suit any future county space needs.

Another questions for the evening regarded the size of the project.

Originally, an 8,000 square foot addition was considered to provide the Town with space for community art programs. In schematic design meetings, the project grew from 8,000 to 11,000 square feet, and the project grew to $2.3 million.

Mr. Dean said he wanted to open a discussion as to the ownership issue and the size of the center. Construction of the project is scheduled to begin in June 2005 for completion in June 2006.

Mayor Sears said he was sure Wake County has no interest in owning or controlling the operation of the cultural arts center.

That said, then, Mr. Schifano said the county should have no problem with a change in the interlocal agreement to set out specifically that the Town would own its building and the dirt beneath it. He did agree that a 99-year lease that has been suggested would be nearly the same as ownership.

The Town Attorney suggested that the Council give Wake County 6.5 acres instead of 7.5 acres and change the interlocal agreement accordingly. Short of that, he said he would suggest that the Town provide the 7.5 acres with a lease on the land, but retain ownership of the building.

The Council concurred with these suggestions.

Mr. Dean note that the Town should emphasize to Wake county that the Town of Holly Springs is committed to providing the land, infrastructure and design funding for the library, regardless of how the ownership issue for the cultural arts center is negotiated.

In the end, Council reached a consensus: that action on the interlocal agreement be deferred until wording can be changed – at the agreement of Wake County – to reserve the land on which the cultural arts center will stand or provisions are made for a ground lease.

On the issue of the size and cost of the center, the Council was inclined to keep the enlarged building concept with its additional classroom spaces and auditorium seating.

Staff had pointed out that a community survey had indicated a stronger need for a multi-purpose community center with a variety of recreational and leisure program spaces rather than a cultural arts type of facility with no athletic facilities. Staff had suggested that the future community center project might accommodate much of the classroom space that Council suggested be added to the cultural arts center

Omitting some of the classroom space would reduce the size of the building and its associated construction cost.

Council, however, maintained that the building should remain at 11,000 square feet while the Town had the opportunity to share design and construction costs with Wake County’s library project.

Consensus: Mr. Dean summarized the council’s direction: delay action on the interlocal agreement with Wake County until mutually-agreeable terms were provided for the Town to either retain ownership of the cultural center and the land underneath it or to own the building and lease the land; and to keep the project at 11,000 square feet as previously-approved.

3. Adjournment: There being no further business for the special meeting, the Aug. 3, 2004, special meeting session of the Holly Springs Town Council was adjourned following a motion by Councilman Dickson, a second by Councilman Womble and a unanimous vote.

Respectfully Submitted on Tuesday, September 7, 2004.

_________________________________

Joni Powell, CMC

Town Clerk

Addendum pages as referenced in these minutes follow and are a part of the official record.