ORWELL – After a briefing and discussion, Orwell Village Council opted during a Tuesday, Feb. 17th meeting, to direct its administration to follow up on options to expand a planned building for the Department of Public Services to allow for a greater degree of flexibility in the future.
Village Manager Sean Ratican laid out the original project specifications and the bid accepted by Country View Construction for a 50-by-90 square foot steel building in an amount not to exceed $383,000 – this would include radiant floor heating, but only basic plumbing connections for the future possibility of putting in restrooms. The building would also need a further $27,000 for electrical utility installation.
In pre-construction conversations with the contractor, Ratican said he and his team had discussed widening and lengthening the building, as well as installing higher garage doors and a full utility installation to allow for administrative functions to be consolidated at the new building, greater utility for workers and flexibility of use in the future.
After discussion, council directed Ratican to move ahead with a proposal to build a 60-by-124 square foot building with full utilities for a conservative, not-to-exceed amount of $790,000.
“In quoting the great David Hartz, ‘You’re only going to do it once,’” Ratican said.
“It’ll cost you more to do it a second time,” Hartz replied.
Ratican said moving on the higher price-point option will be better handled with financing construction, as opposed to the initial plan to pay cash out of village funds. With a small difference between the village’s interest income and the interest charged for financing, this would allow for flexibility in paying off the loan, depending on village finances in the year or years ahead.
Existing village garages are so packed with vehicles and gear, workers have to pull trucks and fire trucks outside to work on or to clean them, according to Shane Gregory, director of public services. A larger building would allow for large trucks to be serviced easily inside, as well as providing secure, covered parking for police cruisers and officers’ personal vehicles while on patrol, according to Ratican.
The Department of Public Services is also staffed fully now at five employees, and they often have to wait to take lunch or do it in shifts if there’s a meeting inside and queue up to use the bathroom because the buildings are so crowded.
Vice President of Council Jeremy Cottrell asked Gregory for his opinion. He responded that there’s no way to know what the future will bring and the larger building allows for more utility now and more flexibility moving forward, calling the project expansion a “no brainer.”
Hartz said that while the amount is more than previously discussed, “The price ain’t going down to do this stuff.” It would also allow for storage of a new fire truck being delivered sometime in the autumn that wouldn’t fit in the current fire hall without significant renovations to the building.
Councilman Brian Adkins said the extra square footage will mean a lot for village workers and would help in the long run.
“I think it’s something we need – the community needs,” President of Council Chris Ruks said.
In other business
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