Worth County approves professional services agreement for new administrative office design

The Worth County Board of Supervisors approved a professional services agreement to move forward with preliminary engineering and final design for a proposed new administrative office building.

County staff presented an updated project estimate that places the construction cost at about $4.5 million — $3.6 million for the building, $400,000 for the parking lot and $500,000 for contingency — and a total project estimate of roughly $5.1 million when engineering, legal and administrative costs are included. "So a total construction cost of 4 and a half million dollars," a staff member said while summarizing the budget breakdown.

The agreement approved by the board covers preliminary engineering and the final design phase; the staff member said the design contract as presented did not include construction-phase services. The presenter also said a lump-sum fee of $381,000 was proposed for final design and that construction administration fees would be negotiated separately once the project scope and schedule are defined.

During discussion, supervisors requested that department heads be shown three layout options and that room square footage be included when staff solicits feedback. One supervisor said multiple separate supervisor offices were unnecessary and recommended more open/shared workspace and a larger meeting room; another supervisor said department employees should review the plans to identify missing space needs. Staff said the design team will meet with departments to refine requirements before finalizing the concept.

The board discussed an approximate schedule: staff described a plan that would advance design this year with the intention of breaking ground in the next construction season, targeting foundation and early work across a fall/winter timeline, but specific milestone dates were not finalized at the meeting.

A motion to enter the professional services agreement was made and seconded; the board voted in favor and the motion carried. The text of the motion as recorded in the meeting transcript named a firm unclearly (the firm name was not clearly captured in the audio/transcript). The agreement will now proceed to the next administrative step for signatures and follow-up design work.

The board did not at this meeting approve a construction contract or financing for construction; staff said construction administration and contractor selection will be addressed after design and when the project scope and schedule are settled.