Supervisors approve inviting term engineer for municipal campus feasibility study

County staff and several supervisors discussed a plan to study long-term options for the county’s municipal campus and to replace aging maintenance buildings, including the Department of Public Works garage. Matt, a county staff member, briefed the board on a working group’s recommendation that the county ask its term engineer to return and prepare a feasibility proposal covering three candidate locations and options for phased construction.

Matt said the driving need is the deteriorating DPW garage at the center of the campus. "The garage. But if you're gonna do just the garage, you know, are you gonna do just a garage?" he asked, laying out the choice between replacing a single building or developing a larger consolidated campus. He explained the feasibility study would inventory needs (bays, lifts, storage, power, sign shop) and present pros and cons for on-campus and off-campus options, including potential sites owned by the county such as Fort Ann/Fort Amherst property.

Matt asked the working group to invite Lavella, identified in the meeting as the county’s term engineer, to attend a future work group meeting and develop a written proposal for a feasibility study. "He's just gonna come and he's gonna listen to the work group and everything that we've talked about," Matt said. The motion to invite Lavella was moved in the meeting and carried by voice vote after a short discussion; the record shows "Aye" on the voice vote, and no recorded opposition.

Supervisors discussed the scope at length: potential footprint needs (one speaker mentioned a roughly five-acre parcel for some options), which county operations must remain on campus for operational reasons, and the need to phase work to maintain services during construction. Brian and others raised capital-budget concerns and suggested a later financial presentation that would consolidate the three current projects' finances into a single picture for the board.

The working group will report monthly to Government Operations, and staff said the feasibility proposal is intended to inform possible grant applications and budgeting. Matt emphasized the working group will define the study scope before Lavella produces a full proposal.

Ending: The board approved the invitation; staff will schedule Lavella for the next working group meeting and return with a written proposal for the feasibility study.