Office remodel raises eyebrows
City Manager David Frasher said Tuesday that he understood how the public could take a dim view of remodeling City Hall’s administrative suite at the same time the Hot Springs Board of Directors is considering water and sewer rate increases.
Frasher scheduled the remodel, which, according to purchase orders The Sentinel-Record obtained through a records request submitted Monday under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, includes $25,000 of office furniture, to coincide with his absence last week.
The board was scheduled to consider increases to water and sewer base rates Tuesday night that will service the $95 million of debt the city has said is needed
to bring its 23 million-gallon average day water allocation from Lake Ouachita on line.
The board, which was still meeting at presstime, approved a motion by District 6 City Director Randy Fale to table the sewer and water rate increases. Both of those ordinances were removed from Tuesday’s agenda.
The board also approved his motion to add an executive session to the agenda to discuss personnel matters at the end of the regular meeting.
“We really are trying to do the right thing,” Frasher said prior to the board meeting. “Utilities are completely different funds, but I understand the optics of it. They aren’t ideal. I admit my timing wasn’t great. If I could’ve done it differently, I certainly would have.”
Frasher took leave last week to attend a settlement conference in Portland, Ore., for the wage claim lawsuit he filed in April against the city of Oregon City, where he served as city manager from April 2010 to October 2015. The complaint he filed in U.S. District Court seeks more than $400,000 in termination pay.
Frasher said Tuesday the Oct. 10 building permit for $50,000 listed in Monday’s edition of The Sentinel-Record didn’t reflect the actual construction costs of the remodel, which, according to purchase orders obtained by the newspaper, totaled nearly $30,000.
A $25,000 permit was issued in July, but Frasher said city staff couldn’t locate it when it was time for the remodel to begin. A subsequent permit was issued last week for $50,000, an amount Frasher said the city listed to ensure that the work wouldn’t exceed the permitted amount.
According to information provided by the city, the remodel was paid for from four General Fund transfers approved by Frasher. Per city ordinance, the city manager can spend up to $60,000 on contract and equipment acquisitions without board approval and waive competing bidding on contracts and equipment costing less than
$60,000. The board adopted an ordinance soon after Frasher took over city administration in March 2016 that raised the cap from $40,000.
Money was moved from line items where the city had saved money, such as the generator for City Hall and the annex building and heating, ventilation, air conditioning and roof repairs for the information systems building.
Frasher said Tuesday that the board was aware he planned to remodel the administrative suite and purchase new furniture, noting that the office hadn’t been remodeled in 30 years.
“We want to try to do a little work on the building each year,” he said. “We’re trying to get a handle on it and get more miles out of this building.
Frasher approved transfers of $2,423 from the property maintenance fund’s buildings improvement line to the City Hall/annex fund’s buildings repairs line, $4,655 from the City Hall/annex fund’s buildings improvement line to its buildings repair line, $25,000 from the City Hall/annex fund’s buildings improvement line to the fund’s noncapital/furniture line and $14,659 from the Transportation Plaza fund’s buildings improvement line to the City Hall/ annex fund’s buildings repair line.
The latter transfer was money appropriated for roof repairs to Transportation Depot. The repairs were more than what had been budgeted and have been deferred to next year.
Purchase orders for construction work include $2,000 to Huntco Electric Inc., $647.15 to Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse for ceiling tiles, $526 to GTS Heating and Cooling,
$3,050 to Williams Custom Cabinets, Inc. for oak cabinets and a granite countertop, $1,794.52 to Irby Electrical Distributors for lighting, $6,458.17 to Valley Building Specialties for a three-eighths inch satin glass door, $1,790 to Big Ass Fans for Haiku ceiling fans,
$1,500 to Goslee Construction Corp. to remove and install ceiling tile and $12,117 to Peters Paint Co. for carpet and wall stone.
Frasher said the remodel was partly an outgrowth of his concern that the administrative suite might not comply with the city’s building code.
“We’re enforcing code on other properties when we may not necessarily being doing that on our own buildings,” he said. “We needed to fix the problems, and we had surplus money from other projects.”
Severe rot and mold were found behind the floor-mounted radiator that was removed from Frasher’s office, according to an internal city memo. A matching panel couldn’t be found, requiring two of the office walls to be repaneled. Air conditioning condensation leaks loosened ceiling tile, according the memo, and Frasher said the carpet is bunching up and creating trip hazards.
Frasher said new furniture is needed for additional storage, more seating for meetings and to give the office a more professional look. He said all of the items in the $25,393 purchase order the city sent LeHarpe’s Office Furniture in Little Rock last month were purchased under the state contract price list.
They include $3,270.16 for a bow-shaped double-pedestal desk, $2,393.52 for file cabinets, $1,202.16 for a wardrobe, $4,330.12 for four club chairs, $4,654.20 for six guest chairs and $1,697.67 for a conference table.
Frasher said chairs from other offices often have to be brought in during meetings. The current particleboard conference table is unsteady, he said, making it prone to falling over when it’s leaned on.
“We want to make the building look professional,” he said. “We tried not to spend excessively and just get basic materials.”
Frasher said all of the furniture that’s being replaced will be transferred to other city offices.