County building issues, needs discussed at task force meetings

Over the course of recent meetings, members of the public have gathered to take part in the process of investigating options that address issues with current Worth County facilities.
Worth County is working with FEH Design to involve the public as much as possible in the process.
The first public involvement took place on April 7, when an advisory task force meeting was held. That was followed by another meeting on April 21. The task force consists of people invited by county officials to take part. The task force meetings are also open to members of the public.
The meetings have opened with goals of the process, including complying with building codes, bringing county offices and services into one location as much as possible, providing flexible meeting and office spaces, improving safety and security, increased efficiency, separating the courts and jails from the visiting public, updating technology and infrastructure, making a structurally sound and watertight building, reducing maintenance needs, improving ADA accessibility and public access, providing a controlled environment for historic documents and accommodating growth and change. After the first meeting, at the request of the task force, a goal of preserving the historic courthouse was added.
The process before the meetings involved conversations with County officials about their space needs and an assessment of current County facilities by an FEH Design architect.
According to the needs presented at the meeting, there would be some significant increases in what the county offices would require.
For the Sheriff's office, that would be an increase from 2,005 square feet currently to 4,350 square feet of proposed needs. The jail would increase from 2,335 square feet to 8,506 square feet to meet needs that are largely unmet state requirements, such as exercise spaces, security, inmate service areas and more.
The judicial branch currently uses 4,215 square feet. Their needs would bring the space to 6,737 square feet.
County administration, which includes the assessor, auditor, IT and GIS, recorder and treasurer offices, currently occupy 1,679 square feet. Space needs would total 1,686 square feet. While those numbers are similar, that points to the inefficiencies of current offices, as there is more space than needed for some purposes and a lack of space for other.
For the engineer's office, an additional 648 square feet would be needed for break, meeting and lab spaces. The office current occupies 2,522 square feet.
The current building housing the public health, veterans affairs and emergency management offices were renovated for their needs in 2016 and would not need any changes. Emergency management could use additional space for emergency supplies and for redundancies of services in emergencies.
The conservation department's current buildings do not meet their needs, with one open space for offices and meetings, garage areas for other work and the storage for vehicles and equipment. To meet office and other requirements, conservation would need 5,031 square feet.
For the secondary roads buildings in Northwood, the needs for replacement facilities would be 20,410 square feet.
That information covered the needs of the County offices, according to department heads. Next up for discussion was an assessment of current issues and what it would take to address them.
Common to most of the facilities were issues with water infiltration as the courthouse brick exterior sealants and roof connections deteriorate. Another common issue was ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) requirements not being met, either through changes in the law after past construction, or the layout of the aging courthouse.
While the majority of the county's facilities showed damage that needed fixing, the secondary roads buildings were said to be past their useful life and would need to be replaced, according to the architects.
The cost to fix the urgent needs, like water issues, of all the buildings in Northwood used by the County was estimated to be $209,250. To address ADA and building code needs would add $737,050.
If the County were to follow through on other recommendations of the architects, it was estimated to cost an additional $881,250.
To address space needs, the estimated cost, based on land and construction costs, would be $6,890,000.
The total to address all issues and needs for county offices would be $8,717,550.
Of that total, the cost for offices that are currently and may be relocated to the courthouse property would total $6,118,300. That is the focus of the county's needs at this time. That leaves out the conservation and secondary roads portions of the projected costs, which could be addressed after the courthouse.
The task force and other interested members of the public have been invited to give their input on how the current issues should be addressed and if or how the lack of space should be tackled as well.
One issue, mentioned at the April 21 meeting, is that the public has not been given an idea of what kind of money may be available and whether that will come from taxes countywide, borrowing against future wind development taxes or any other sources. That information may be valuable as options are considered.
On Tuesday, May 11, and Thursday, May 13, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., sessions will be held to allow the task force and members of the public to meet with FEH representatives to share ideas and see how they may be executed determining which are the most popular and which should be considered moving forward.
The public is invited to all the task force meetings and design workshops. They will be held at the Kensett Community Center. Options will be available to participate online as well.