Downtown deconstruction plan advances; county, Holt and subconsultant to inventory salvageable materials
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Summary
Downtown Center of Government deconstruction planning is moving forward: county staff said Holt (design consultant) is negotiating with a salvage subconsultant, contractors are scheduled for site visits, and Historic Ithaca’s claimed salvage rights prompted questions from legislators about the scope of material rights.
Tompkins County staff reported progress June 26 on deconstruction planning connected to the downtown Center of Government project, including a planned salvage inventory, contractor site visits and an initial deconstruction schedule.
Raul (downtown facilities staff) said the county is working with the design firm Holt and a subconsultant to perform a salvage inventory and to coordinate reuse or recycling partners such as Finger Lakes Reuse. He said the team plans a site visit with an abatement-and-deconstruction contractor the week following the meeting and described a staged approach: initial non-impacted salvage, followed by abatement and then additional salvage and deconstruction.
Raul said the county expects the work to begin in September; initial salvage will target items that do not require abatement. He said Holt’s subconsultant will approach local recycling and reuse agencies to offer salvaged materials and that the county intends to produce manifest-style records documenting where materials are sent.
A point of contention surfaced when legislators asked about an existing provision giving Historic Ithaca rights to materials from the former professional building at 308 North Tioga. Raul said the language originated during prior negotiations and that Historic Ithaca had attended earlier meetings; one legislator (Randy) objected to the idea that Historic Ithaca would have rights to exterior bricks and other major exterior components and asked staff to revisit that provision and to invite Historic Ithaca to the next downtown facilities meeting for clarification.
Raul said he will review the prior agreement language with legal and administrative staff; no formal contract award was made at the meeting. Staff also reported ongoing grant and funding planning work for the larger downtown project and scheduled weekly coordination to meet grant submission deadlines.
The committee heard updates and asked several clarifying questions but did not take formal action on procurement at this session.