THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT  
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Wednesday, December 21, 1994           TAG: 9412210233
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: MANTEO                             LENGTH: Medium:   56 lines

FINDING A SITE FOR COUNTY COMPLEX IS COMPLEX INDEED THE COUNTY HAS RECEIVED PROPOSALS, RUMORS, COMPLAINTS.

Long before the first spade of dirt has been turned on a proposed Dare County government complex, a controversy has sprouted over the site-selection process for the building.

The county has chosen two possible locations for the new facility - one in downtown Manteo and one on U.S. 64 near the Dare campus of the College of the Albemarle.

County officials say, however, that no site has been chosen for the complex. In fact, the county's Capital Improvements Committee is still reviewing the feasibility of a new office building.

The county has received 21 proposals from architecture firms in Virginia and North Carolina.

``Nothing is etched in stone,'' said Dare County Public Information Officer Charles Hartig. ``We haven't spent any money other than the advertising costs of the request for proposals. This complex continues to be one of the top priorities. But at this point, the county is moving to determine if the complex is feasible. That's something that will have to be determined by the Board of Commissioners.''

At Monday's meeting of the commission, Commissioner Shirley Hassell read a letter from a constituent alleging that a site costing between $1.2 and $1.5 million had already been selected for the county complex.

Hassell expressed concern about the openness of the site-selection process.

``The people should be privy to this,'' she said. ``It's their facility, and it's their money. They should have a say in it.''

However, Commission Vice Chairman Clarence Skinner said no final selection has been made.

``We had several different locations that we considered,'' Skinner said Monday. ``We used several different criteria and were able to narrow it to two. We have not made a decision, and won't make a decision until an architect is selected.''

Hassell said the committee's meetings may constitute a violation of North Carolina's open-meetings law.

``There are at least two commissioners on the committee,'' she said. ``According to the open meetings law, those meetings are supposed to be open to the public,'' she said.

``If they are open, why aren't any notices being published in the paper? The public deserves to be informed on this.''

Hartig said the public will have ``several opportunities'' to express its views on the project. Also, meetings on the new facility are open to the public. Hartig said another meeting of the committee is not scheduled until after the first of the new year. by CNB