Live Oak council approves staff negotiations to relocate Public Works to former water plant amid cost concerns

The City Council of the City of Live Oak voted to authorize staff to enter negotiations to relocate the city’s Public Works operations into the former water-plant building, a structure located within the community redevelopment area (CRA), council members said during the meeting.

Council members and staff framed the relocation as a way to consolidate Public Works in one facility and to return the former water plant to the tax roll, while some council members pressed for more precise cost estimates before a final decision.

Council discussion focused on three practical points: the expense of retrofitting the former water plant for storage and operations; the effect of removing an existing building from potential private redevelopment in the CRA; and traffic/access changes tied to reopening Orange Street off Fifth Street to service the site. “I need figures. I need to know how much this is gonna cost,” Council member Robinson said during the item, pressing staff for a quantified comparison with the city’s current Public Works costs. Robinson also said the site sits in his district and worried the city might lose prime redevelopment property if it retained the building for municipal operations.

City staff reported that the CRA board would fund work on the Heritage Park roof and said CRA funding and property boundaries influenced the proposal. “The CRA is going to give us the money to do that,” City staff member Sessions said when asked where funds for a related project would come from.

Supporters of the move said the former water plant offers interior space already divided into rooms suitable for storing electrical, plumbing and gas supplies, and would let the city clear equipment from Heritage Square and return that area to event use. Council members discussed modest retrofit work (fencing and security for vehicles, site access) but asked for a full accounting of utility, road, retrofit and ongoing lease costs before a permanent commitment.

The council took a roll-call vote to authorize staff to negotiate terms; the roll-call as recorded in the transcript shows Council member Arthur voted “yes” and Council member Kemp voted “yes.” The motion was announced as carried and the meeting proceeded to the next agenda item.

Council members asked staff to pursue negotiations but to return with cost estimates and specifics about what retrofitting would require and how the change would interact with CRA planning for Heritage Square.

Next steps recorded: staff authorized to enter negotiations; council asked for written cost estimates, retrofit scope, and clarification of CRA and tax-roll implications before any lease or sale is finalized.