Tear down and build up

Supervisors opt to buy property, demolish and rebuild

The Yuma County Board of Supervisors directed staff to purchase the structure adjacent to the current Administrative Annex, demolish all structures, and construct a new, three-story building on the footprint of the combined site, at an estimated cost of $29 million.

The board went with Option 3, one of four presented by David Hylland, director of facilities management, and BWS Architects at the March 15 meeting. On Monday, the supervisors continued discussing options for replacing the annex facility at 197 S. Main St., an aging building has proved inadequate and costly to maintain since its 2013 purchase.

With Option 1, the south building at 197 S. Main St. would have been demolished and a new, four-story building would have been constructed, with the first three levels matching those of the existing three-story

north building. The estimated cost was $17.5 million.

Option 2 called for demolishing both the north and south buildings and constructing a new, four-story building at an estimated cost of $26.6 million.

With Option 4, the county would have developed a campus-style complex at 2725 S. Avenue B, the current site of Facilities Management and Information Technology, in conjunction with the existing Juvenile Justice, Public Health and Development Services facilities located adjacent to the site. The county would also have constructed a new, 100,000-square-foot administration building, multi-level parking structure, support facilities, site development and off-site improvements. The cost was estimated at $48 million.

The supervisors nixed Options 1 and 4, noting that it had too many obstacles and would cost too much. Staff previously mentioned traffic and environmental concerns with the site.

“Water table. Period,” Supervisor Lynne Pancrazi quipped.

As for Option 1, Reyes noted that keeping an old building would mean keeping the same problems. “Experience has got to teach us something,” he said.

Reyes noted that the three floors in Option 3 would provide adequate space. He asked staff present at the meeting which option they prefer. Most agreed they liked Option 3.

Supervisor Lines asked about the possibility of four stories instead of the three in Option 3. He said he wanted to ensure room for additional growth. However, Reyes noted that future expansion should be in the form of satellite offices in the southern and northern portions of the county, not downtown.

Reyes also noted that more people are conducting business online and working at home. “There are so many changes happening in the way business is being done right now that the physical buildings are not going to be as important as the digital buildings or digital sites you will have,” he said.

OPTION 3 CONSIDERATIONS

The finished area in Option 3, with a total of 80,100 square feet, would house the assessor, recorder, treasurer, elections services, supervisors auditorium and offices, communications studio and offices, school superintendent, county administration, finance, management and budget office, and human resources.

All components of county administration would be consolidated to one location, with sufficient space for the BOS auditorium, a studio, recorder/elections and treasurer all to be located on the ground floor, as had been requested by the supervisors.

The new building would also have flexible office space, a meeting and training room, and a multipurpose room. The existing building at 198 S. Main would be vacant and could be remodeled, repurposed or sold.

Information Technology Services, Facilities Management, Public Fiduciary and Public Works (fleet) shop would move to the county’s property at 2725 S. Avenue B.

Among the advantages of Option 3 is that it would keep most departments downtown and near other county facilities, including the courthouse, county attorney, public/legal defender, Sheriff’s Office, adult detention and adult probation.

It would also be in close proximity to other non-county offices and amenities located in the downtown area. Staff could use the existing city parking facilities.

No site development would be required. Underground and overhead infrastructure, such as water, sewer, telecom, fiber, electric, etc., is already in place. There would be no on-going site maintenance costs. The existing basement space could be used for storage.

However, the county would be required to purchase additional property and staff would have to temporarily move during construction. County Administrator Susan Thorpe said that the tentative cost of temporarily using currently vacant space in the Yuma City Hall and making it usable would cost “north of $700,000.”

The supervisors unanimously voted for Option 3.

Reyes also asked that staff to bring back detailed cost estimates for remodeling and/or building an addition to the Health Department. The supervisors had started to discuss the renovation or reconstruction of the Health Department before deciding to separately discuss the two projects.