Staff presented design plans for a new Rockwell maintenance building during the board'staff discussion Oct. 27, describing a seven-bay structure plus an additional wash bay and an enlarged break room that staff said will also serve as office space and a station for electronic time cards.

The staff member said the new building would sit on the north side of the roadway adjacent to the county'owned cold-storage building, and that the design keeps the new structure about 10 feet from the existing building so the cold-storage area can remain in service as either cold or semi-warm storage. "The current building that we have in design is a 7 bay building with an additional bay for a wash bay," the staff member said.

County staff said they considered orienting the building north'south to avoid interfering with some existing site constraints, but an adjacent property owner to the east, described as a large farmer who uses the east'west road, objected to closing that roadway, making the north'south option impracticable. Staff said the chosen layout allows continued use of an established alley area behind the site.

Design options remain under review. Staff told the board the county asked designers for multiple construction types to compare costs, citing previous county shop projects as examples: pole'barn/wood frame with steel sheeting and larger steel'frame buildings already used at county facilities.

Board members asked when the project would go to bid; staff said they have not received an updated schedule from the designers. "They came to us with the first proposal of one building type," the staff member said. "We asked them to go back, bring us the rest so we can look at every option."

Board members and staff discussed interior layout and worker accommodations; staff said the larger break room will include a computer station to support electronic timekeeping for employees. No final construction type, contractor, or bid date was provided during the meeting.

Next steps: staff will continue to solicit alternate construction options and report back with an updated schedule and cost comparisons before further action.