STUDY: $7.5M FOR BUILDING UPGRADES
A study Ferndale officials commissioned shows a minimum of $7.5 million is needed to cover repair, replacement and preventive maintenance costs for city facilities over the next five years.
City Manager Joseph Gacioch and the City Council set up a workshop session at 5:30 p.m., Thursday to review the study done by Bureau Veritas Technical Assessments.
Council members are not scheduled to take any immediate action, but will use the study as a guide in developing a longterm plan for Ferndale’s aging buildings and related facilities.
The study was done as a technical audit and energy study for all city facilities, which include 10 buildings, Gacioch said.
Officials will use the study to make strategic decisions on environmental, budget and equity factors in building upgrade expenses.
Equity issues cover such things as whether city buildings have facilities for both male and females.
“Most of our buildings are from 60 to 100 years old,” Gacioch said. “We’ll have shortterm decisions to make during our budget sessions in April, and hope long-term decisions can be made with residents’ input and the council to give us guidance, especially financially.”
The study names city facilities as the local government’s top source of carbon emissions.
Ferndale’s buildings include City Hall, the police station, two fire stations, Department of Public Works buildings, a small historical museum and the city’s Kulick Community Center. Other facilities include those at parks, such restrooms and pavilions, and storage yards with shipping and receiving.
“The City Council is committed to addressing climate change and reducing our carbon emissions,” Gacioch said. “Among the things we are doing is a climate action plan that got underway this year.”
Ferndale’s Kulick Community Center provides an example of challenges the city faces with older municipal buildings.
Though the center at 1201 Livernois was closed during the pandemic it was temporarily slated to reopen this fall. But a rain storm in July month caused a portion of the roof to collapse over the facility’s boiler room, which shuttered the 102-yearold center building indefinitely. Once some repairs are completed the Meals-on-Wheels program can again operate there.
“The center won’t be open to general activities without further investment,” Gacioch said. “We have to make these decisions now while making sure we remember a lot of people use the center, which also serves as an emergency warming and cooling center.”
Among other problems the study found is that the police station has galvanized water pipes and the DPW building, nearly 100 years old, has a sewer cleanout line running through it below ground level.
Gacioch said the budget drives everything, from addressing city operations to facility repairs and city services.
“We are sensitive to the cost of living for residents,” he said, “and we want to be sure we are making efficient use of taxpayer dollars. The bottom line is we have a lot of strategic goals, and limited financial resources and budget constraints.”