Cost trimming, additional funding bring LEC project within budget

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

The “core team” of Floyd County officials overseeing the new law enforcement center and courthouse update project has identified almost $1.2 million in potential cost savings and more than half a million dollars in additional funding sources to keep the project on track financially.

Core team members Supervisor Linda Tjaden and Auditor Gloria Carr presented an update at the Board of Supervisors meeting Monday morning, and received unofficial approval to go ahead with their latest recommendations — unofficial because it was a planning session, and official action could not be taken.

Tjaden said the core group, which also includes Sheriff Jeff Crooks, has started holding weekly meetings with project designer/architects Prochaska & Associates and with construction manager The Samuels Group.

The latest focus has been on ways to shave costs, made necessary because project estimates that The Samuels Group came up were significantly above the estimate when the bond referendum was presented.

Tjaden said she wanted to update the rest of the supervisors on priorities the core group had in mind and see if there was a consensus so the group could start working on construction designs for the project bidding.

She said the group looked at “things that we can maybe give up on, that become savings,” versus other items that the group thinks should remain a priority.

Tjaden said it’s important to look at the future of the courthouse and make decisions on things that maybe should have been done for years, and say “now is the time.”

The changes suggested Monday would potentially bring the project back within the $13.5 million in general obligation bonds voters approved last May 1.

The biggest change has been to the atrium that will connect the existing courthouse with the new law enforcement center (LEC).

The atrium has been scaled back from almost the height of the courthouse to about a floor and a half, and reduced in width. That change alone is estimated to save $590,000.

Other cost savings include relocating offices within the courthouse but making no or only minimal changes to those spaces for now.

The Recorder’s Office would move to where the Clerk of Court is now, the County Attorney’s Office would move to the fourth floor where the jail and Sheriff’s Office are now, and the County Assessor’s Office would move to the second flood where the Recorder’s Office is now.

Making those moves without any significant renovation to the offices would save an estimated $315,642.

Other savings would come from reducing the amount of high density shelving and evidence storage in the new LEC by half ($79,950 savings); relocating the supervisors’ board room to where the garage is now, but not expanding that space into the adjoining assembly room ($85,826 savings); and eliminating three small entry canopies ($35,729 savings); as well as several smaller savings changes.

In addition, other funding sources have been identified.

Auditor Carr said at least $200,000 will be earned in interest on bonds that have already been sold but have not been spent.

An expenditure of almost $120,000 to relocate the County Social Services office from its office on South Main Street to the courthouse could be saved if the mental health department picks up that cost.

Carr said CSS CEO Bob Lincoln said the agency had paid for other relocation and remodeling projects, some more expensive than this one.

Additional savings of about $45,000 a year in maintenance and insurance costs on the current building would also be saved, and the building could be sold for additional funds, but neither of those figures was included in the new cost estimates for the LEC and courthouse project, Carr said.

The projection plans on $50,000 from the County Communications Board and/or E911 Board to relocate the dispatch center from the Charles City Police Department at City Hall to the LEC, although that has not been approved by either board.

The new numbers also include $124,507 that would come from the county general fund.

That would cover items, Tjaden said, that the county should be doing whether or not it is building the new LEC and doing other courthouse updates, such as a handicapped-accessible ramp to the district courtroom from the jury room, room modifications for the new county IT (information technology) director and some other changes.

Supervisor Roy Schwickerath said he was glad the team had been able to keep new handicapped-accessible restrooms for each floor part of the project.

Supervisor Doug Kamm said again, as he has several times before, that any of these numbers are just guesses at this point, and the real costs won’t be known until the project is bid.

If those bids are lower than estimated, some parts of the project that have been cut or delayed can be added back in. If the bids are significantly more expensive, additional changes will likely have to be made.

The current timetable is for the project to be bid and construction started this summer, with a completion date in the spring of 2021.