Update: Blue Earth County moves forward on $24M government center renovation – Mankato Free Press

MANKATO Despite a little uncertainty over a large price tag, the Blue Earth County Board of Commissioners plans to move ahead with plans to renovate and add onto the county's government center on South Fifth Street.

Commissioners voted 4-1 Tuesday morning in support of a resolution on the project.

The project comes after three years of work by county officials. It's split into four parts: $7.3 million to replace the center's parking ramp, $7.5 million for a 38,000 square-foot addition to the government center, $6.3 million for renovation costs, and $2.7 million for design, testing and other associated costs. Blue Earth County will pay for the project using a combination of borrowed money and funding reserves.

The county is embarking on the project to free up more space for departments and growing resident service needs. The new building will help bring together multiple departments in one central location, which will free up space at the nearby historical courthouse.

To that end, the county will replace its current 220-spot parking ramp with a 340-spot parking structure, along with some additional parking spots along the street. The new two-story addition to the south of the building also will include an unfinished basement, which will house a shower and potential gym equipment for county workers.

The renovations will address current and upcoming maintenance issues at the 60-year-old government center, according to County Administrator Bob Meyer.

"Because we are going to be doing an extensive remodeling, it is an opportunity to not only bring it up to code but address some of the deficiencies that we're likely to be faced with in the near future regardless," Meyer told the board Tuesday morning.

Several commissioners initially balked at the project's high price. In response, county officials have cut about $500,000 out of the project's cost estimate. Commissioner Drew Campbell hopes the county continues to look for savings as construction continues, while Commissioner Will Purvis said he was undecided on the project up until a day or two before Tuesday's meeting.

Commissioner Vance Stuehrenberg cast the lone dissenting vote. Though Stuehrenberg supports most of the project, he took issue with the $1.1 million basement that's part of the addition plans. Stuehrenberg tried to separate out the addition from other plans through several motions and amendments but didn't get support from the rest of the board.

Stuehrenberg is concerned the basement represents a waste of taxpayer money because it won't be utilized right away and more space would be opened up in other county buildings.

"I don't believe we need this $1 million basement underneath our new building," he said. "I believe it's not right to be charging our constituents, our taxpayers, levies that end up to be about a 3 percent levy to put an extra basement underneath there."

Other commissioners and county officials pointed out putting a basement in during construction now is cheaper than a future project to put in a basement. Representatives from architecture firm ISG said a full basement would only require digging down 4 to 5 additional feet from the building's foundation without one, and would be cheaper per square inch compared to other parts of the building. In addition, the basement will remain largely unfinished until the county needs more space in the future.

"This is not an easy task," Commissioner Kip Bruender said. "Nobody likes to spend this kind of money. But it's an infrastructure piece that we have to have."

Bruender agreed building the basement now compared to even three years in the future would save the county money and represents a better opportunity than potentially adding a third floor in the future.

Construction is set to start next spring and run through the next year.

Follow Trey Mewes on Twitter at @MFPTreyMewes.

Read more:
Update: Blue Earth County moves forward on $24M government center renovation - Mankato Free Press