Tom Cherveny / West Central Tribune
GRANITE FALLS — Sticker daze is starring the Yellow Medicine County Board of Commissioners to look intimately astatine plans for replacing the county’s Highway Department bureau and, eventually, upgrading the adjoining store and instrumentality retention buildings.
Wold Architects and Engineers, of St. Paul, provided a $2.5 cardinal estimation for the archetypal signifier of the task to the commissioners connected Tuesday. The archetypal signifier includes operation of a caller bureau building, arsenic good arsenic “upsizing” the utilities astatine the Highway Department tract successful Granite Falls to accommodate aboriginal improvements to the adjoining store and retention buildings. The full includes architectural and inspection fees arsenic good arsenic afloat furnishing the bureau structure.
The caller gathering volition beryllium of metallic construction, slab connected grade, and joined to the existing gathering astatine the site.
“Inflation is tough,” said John McNamara, with Wold, aft proceeding the commissioners explicit concerns astir the costs.
Construction represents $1.95 cardinal of the full estimate. Construction costs are estimated astatine $295 per quadrate foot. That per-square-foot outgo was based connected operation costs reported connected akin projects successful this area, according to County Administrator Angie Steinbach.
The Highway Department bureau was constructed successful 1967 and determination person been precise fewer upgrades since its opening, according to the administrator. The heating, cooling and ventilation and electrical systems are a concern.
“We’re connected borrowed time,” Steinbach said.
During discussions, the commissioners noted that they had looked astatine the enactment of remodeling, and it did not look to beryllium feasible.
Commissioner John Berends said helium was not acceptable to o.k. the existent plan based connected his concerns implicit the higher-than-anticipated outgo estimate. He said he’d similar much clip earlier moving ahead, and expressed anticipation that the operation marketplace is softening.
During discussions, Commissioner Greg Renneke noted the value of the department’s facilities to the attraction and attraction of precise costly equipment. He besides cited the value of a bully enactment situation for retaining and attracting employees.
McNamara and Jacob Wallensak with Wold said the estimates are based connected an archetypal program of calling for bids this outpouring to let for the commencement of operation successful precocious summertime oregon aboriginal fall. They cautioned against delaying a determination excessively long. Costs would emergence importantly if the enactment is pushed excessively acold into the winter.
It was besides noted during discussions that wealth has not been acceptable speech for replacing the existing HVAC and electrical systems were they to fail.
The region whitethorn beryllium capable to instrumentality connected each oregon astir of the task costs by tapping reserves and different unappropriated funds, arsenic good arsenic the superior betterment funds that person been acceptable speech for the project, according to Dana Homan, concern director. She volition supply a study connected the fiscal options to the commissioners astatine their adjacent meeting.
Tom Cherveny is simply a determination and outdoors newsman for the West Central Tribune.
He has been a newsman with the West Central Tribune since 1993.
Cherveny tin beryllium reached via email astatine tcherveny@wctrib.com oregon by telephone astatine 320-214-4335.
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