Council hears update on King Municipal Operations Center; designers report budget trimmed below $4.9 million

The Angleton City Council received a monthly update Feb. 26 on design and budget progress for the King Municipal Operations Center.

Greg Paltz (design consultant) told council that recent space consolidations reduced conditioned office area and that the construction manager at risk, Teal Construction, believes those changes make it possible to add a sixth storage/shop bay while trimming the projected cost below $4.9 million. "Through the reduction of cuts in the office space, we would have the ability to add that additional storage bay, and actually still lower the price," Paltz said.

Paltz reviewed plan features intended for operations staff: a large training room, pass-through to a break room, changing rooms with full showers for crews, and lockers. He corrected an earlier remark about lockers, saying "there are 60 full height lockers, 15 inches by 15 inches." He also summarized exterior materials and streetside elevations, and noted the controlled public entrance and secured laydown area.

Council discussion focused on trade-offs between additional enclosed shop bays and office layout. Several council members and staff favored limiting hard-wall offices in the interior and using open workstations or cubicles to reduce conditioned-space cost. Council members asked whether the building footprint would allow future expansion; Paltz said the structure can be expanded to the east or north and that adding bays later would be more expensive per square foot and more disruptive to operations.

Paltz said schedule slippage was minor ("probably slid a week or two") and that the team expects a 95% guaranteed maximum price (GMP) set of drawings by mid-April for subcontractor pricing, with council consideration of a GMP approximately a month after that and construction mobilization potentially in June. He reported an earlier estimate just over $5 million and that the trimmed plan is now projected below $4.9 million.

Council gave general direction to favor flexible office arrangements and to let the 95% GMP and Teal Construction's pricing process further refine the cost and scope. Staff and the consultant will return with updated documents and a refined GMP package.