[ad_1]
ADELLA HARDING Elko Daily Correspondent
ELKO — The architect who studied Elko County’s needs and came up with conceptual plans for a massive courthouse project will now be asked to come up with a price tag that would help the county cut those costs. The project is expected to cost $87.57 million.
The Elko County commissioners informally agreed to seek cost estimates from HA Architects and KMB Architects because preliminary studies showed that issuing bonds to pay for county projects requiring the construction of a new courthouse, renovation of existing courthouses, etc. would involve high interest rates, but still cannot accomplish. enough.
Elko County Manager Amanda Osborne said that if a 10-year bond is issued with annual payments of about $5 million, including nearly $10 million in interest over the life of the bond, the county can only issue 40 million. dollar bonds. She said the county could issue a 20-year bond to obtain additional funding and pay $30 million in interest, while the 30-year bond would “exponentially grow.”
People are also reading…
Nearly $50.23 million in 20-year general obligation bonds will cost nearly $30.43 million in interest, while nearly $40.54 million in 10-year bonds will cost $9.44 million in interest, according to data provided on the committee’s March 20 agenda.
Commissioner Travis Gerber said the process is just like buying a car. “We didn’t know what bonds looked like until today, so we were buying them at the bank. We were piggy bank shopping.” This process is long-term planning.
He suggested the county had the ability to borrow $40 million, so the county should meet with an architect. “Instead of starting with $80 million, we would work with the architect,” Gerber said.
In a report to commissioners in January, architects estimated the cost of building the justice center alone would be about $44 million, not counting design fees. All other costs to renovate the historic courthouse and other aspects of the project bring the total to $87.57 million.
Gerber suggested forming a subcommittee “to try it out,” and volunteered to serve on such a subcommittee because he had been working with the court as an attorney. He said Commissioner Jon Carr could be another subcommittee representative.
Carr also recommended asking architects for cost quotes to “start whittling down” the original $87 million estimate, stressing that commissioners are trying to be transparent and that they have not yet decided on a bond issue.
The county paid the architect about $100,000 for the needs assessment, but commissioners said they hoped the architect could help cut costs closer to $10,000.
Commissioner Delmo Andreozzi said in addition to potential connections, the county has a $17 million community programming fund. The money comes from the 50 cents per $100 assessed value the county levies on community programs after the Elko County School District’s pay-as-you-go tax expires.
He also said the appearance of the new courthouse should be “sound and attractive.” “It’s a place to work inside. It just has to meet our needs.”
Commissioner Rex Steininger said the current courthouse design has extra bathrooms, stairs and elevators that could be removed as an example of cost-cutting.
Chairman Wilde Brough said Elko County has a mining economy and that could change “in an instant” if gold prices fall, so the county should approach any bond with caution. “I was very negative about relationships.”
HA Architects and KMB Architects worked together on county needs assessment, conceptual design and cost estimates for the project, which will include a new judicial center, renovation of the historic courthouse, renovation of the bank building recently remodeled for the district court, demolition The current Public Defender is using the old building to construct new technical services facilities, expand parking and landscaping.
Under the concept, the new judicial building would house all courthouses, be approximately 70,000 square feet, and have an underground garage area for defendants to drop off when they appear in court, while the bank building would be where the public defenders would relocate.
The once demolished George Boucher Building housed a library. The building was built in 1896 and rebuilt after a fire in 1942.
The current 1911 courthouse will be remodeled, including providing a new location for the county clerk’s office and relocating certain other county offices.
[ad_2]
Source link