County building may need infusion of relief money

A review of the details of the county’s new justice center netted some savings, but the project may still have to rely on $1.6 million in federal pandemic relief funds to cover unexpected costs.

A second round of bids of portions of the $43 million project left it still over budget, causing county officials to reallocate to the building project money originally set aside for renovations in the existing courthouse. At last Wednesday’s property committee meeting, members agreed to building plan revisions that carved about $823,000 from the project. The committee is expected to act in March on about $300,000 of additional revisions, some required by the Department of Corrections, that could add to or reduce those savings.

Kurt Berner of the county’s construction advisor Samuels Group said that the savings identified by the committee are not enough to reduce the building’s cost to the $43 million the county borrowed for the work. He said the project will also need a possible $369,000 grant Sheriff Brett Semingson said is possible to fund laundry and food services. Berner suggested using between $1.5 million to $2 million from the county’s American Rescue Plan Act money for a contingency fund and pay for furniture.

Despite the costs increase, Berner said the city began the work “right on the edge of an explosion of prices” and so might have been saved even greater cost overruns. 

“Prices are now going crazy,” Berner said. “There’s so much uncertainty that some contractors are even reluctant to give estimated budgets.”

Among the revisions that property committee considered was the elimination of decorative rock slated to partially cover a wall in the new building’s foyer. Committee members decided to keep some version of stone in the plans at a cost of about $60,000.

“I remember (Supervisor George) Brandt saying to the committee, don’t build a pole shed,” said Supervisor Tim Zeglin. “This stone is classy. A big empty wall would look cheap.”

Committee members noted too that requests for how to spend the county’s $5.7 million in federal relief funds already far exceeds the amount the county will receive. Berner estimated that about $1.6 million would qualify for the project since the center will include emergency services such as dispatch. He noted that the federal guidelines for how local governments can spend the money have loosened.