County facilities master plan put on hold
By Steve Herring
Published in News on November 26, 2017 3:05 AM
Wayne County commissioners Tuesday tabled action on a proposed facilities master plan after questions were raised about some of the cost estimates.
Concerns were expressed as well that the full board had not been privy to the planning process.
"I am sorry," said Commission Joe Daughtery. "I have not seen these numbers before, these estimates. When did these numbers show up?"
Committee members had asked for the numbers, County Manager George Wood said.
"I understand," Daughtery said. "However, the numbers all of a sudden bring questions to mind. I would hope that we could just have another meeting of the facilities committee to discuss that. Here is my concern. One, I had no idea of $4.5 million for the social services building over there at the Wayne Center.
"I mean if we are going to spend $4.5 million for the building. I thought we were just going to simply occupy an existing building, the USDA building. I didn't know we were going to spend $4.5 million."
The county will have to add to the existing facility, which has been discussed, Wood said.
The county needs to look at what its other options are, said Daughtery who along with Commissioner Joe Gurley and Wayne Aycock make up the committee.
Gurley said he had asked for the dollars figures because he thought it imperative that commissioner know what they are facing.
"My problem with this is that the facilities committee meets, brings back a list of items for discussion -- you are not giving the other board members the opportunity to have a roundtable discussion before a decision is made," Commissioner John Bell said. "You just bring it back to us. We raise our hand and we don't know anything about what you are going to discuss until you bring it back to the table."
Commissioners need to return to how they handle such issues prior to 2012 and have a work session on the plan and discuss what kind of projects the county needs to get done.
Commissioners who have any questions ideas should contact any committee member, Gurley said.
The items in the plan have not been prioritized and are just a blueprint, he said.
Commissioner Ed Cromartie said he agreed with Bell and would have like for the entire board to have been involved in how the costs had been estimated.
Commissioners agreed to hold a work session on the proposed plan at their Dec. 19 session.
"As you recall, the Facilities Committee has been working on a county facilities master plan as a blueprint for dealing with our current and immediate future needs," Wood said.
"We have had (facilities director) Kendall Lee give us rough cost estimates based on square footages and renovation or new construction where we have not yet hired a professional designer to provide those. Those numbers should be viewed as an approximation of cost, not a detailed analysis."
Under the proposal the Wayne County Development Alliance offices should be relocated to Wayne Community College or a similar location.
It would be a more attractive introduction to the community for industrial prospects, and put them near the small business center as well, Wood said.
The estimated cost is $750,000.
That is based on $175 per square foot times 5,000 square feet.
Once the Wayne County Development Alliance is relocated it becomes a domino effect, he said.
"The Board of Elections can move into their existing offices," Wood said. "This is literally a move across the street, allowing the Board of Elections to continue to use the Administrative Office Building overflow parking lot during elections.
The Elections Board's executive director is in agreement with this move. The estimated renovation cost is $10,000. That is really ready to move in. We might do a little painting and some minor repairs."
Once the Board of Elections vacates the Administrative Office Building that building can be renovated for state probation offices, Wood said.
"We currently house adult and juvenile probation in the Will Sullivan Building, which is county owned, and the Purser Building, which is leased for $38,000 annually," he said
The Administrative Office Building can be renovated, and the Sullivan Building offices moved there, Wood said.
Once the Sullivan Building is vacated, it can be renovated and the offices in the Purser Building moved into it, he said.
At that point, the Purser Building lease can be canceled, Wood said.
"So those annual payments there would go away," he said.
Lee already has measured all the spaces and the required offices, and this should work, Wood said. If more space is ever needed, the Administrative Office Building can be expanded into the parking lot, he said.
The county owns two lots across Spruce Street from the Administrative Office Building that could be used for a parking lot as well.
Lee's estimate is $800,000 to renovate the Sullivan Building and $177,000 to renovate the Administrative Office Building.
"The AOB is in better shape," Wood said. "The Will Sullivan Building kind of needs to be gutted on the inside and redone. The electric system is old. The ductwork is bad. The HVAC is bad, so we are going to need to do more work on the Sullivan Building, and that is why the difference in cost."
While the Department of Social Services has moved into all six floors of the Borden Building, there are still some personnel housed jointly with the Public Health Department in the County Office Building, Wood said.
Lee is in the process of measuring the amount of space necessary to move those personnel out.
Once the Maxwell Center is completed in March 2018, the existing USDA offices next to the N.C. Cooperative Extension offices will be relocated to it.
The USDA building is in good repair, and could be renovated for DSS offices for about $64,000, Wood said.
Additional space will be needed, which could be built by demolishing the existing N.C. Cooperative Extension offices, the oldest of the three facilities there, and non-Americans-with-Disabilities-Act-compliant, and the Wayne Center, Wood said.
The parking lot, lighting and utilities are already on the site. That building would cost about $4.5 million.
"The county should look into moving the county manager, clerk's office, commissioners' chambers, finance office, and the public information office from the courthouse annex to provide needed court-related offices," Wood said. "This would be a new facility that should also house the staff attorney's office and the human resources department. Kendall's estimate for that facility is $2 million."