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Conference committee hears plan to retain authority to sell 110 State Street
Summary
Witness Doug Farnham told a conference committee that retaining the option to sell 110 State Street would give the state flexibility to reduce repair costs tied to government use; he said FEMA is finalizing an alternative-procedures package that will set a project budget and include codes-and-standards and hazard-mitigation funds.
The conference committee between the House and the Senate institutions committees on May 19 heard testimony on a proposal to give the administration authority to sell 110 State Street, a Capitol Complex building damaged in the 2023 floods.
Doug Farnham, introduced to the committee and identified as chief recovery officer, said 110 State Street is one of 16 buildings in the complex impacted by the 2023 floods and that the administration has been negotiating with FEMA for nearly three years. "We are in the final stages of, agreeing on a 04/28 alternative procedures project with them," Farnham said, adding that once finalized the agreement would produce a project budget from FEMA that includes both codes-and-standards funds and hazard-mitigation funds.
Farnham told the committee that the FEMA codes-and-standards allocation for the complex is currently estimated to be above 10,000,000 and that about 80% of FEMA's estimate is in that category; hazard-mitigation funding for work identified on 110 is "just over $1,000,000," he said. He explained that codes-and-standards money could be deployed on the specific building or elsewhere in the complex, while hazard-mitigation funds are action-specific and apply only if the work is performed on the identified structure.
On the building's condition and regulatory constraints, Farnham said FEMA has classified 110 as a historic structure, which makes the distinction between codes-and-standards work and hazard mitigation "kind of blurry." He said environmental and historic-preservation review will be required whether the state retains the property or sells it, and that any repairs must be coordinated with historic-preservation authorities to protect key elements of the facade and roof.
Committee members asked whether other Capitol Complex buildings were under consideration for sale. Farnham said 110 is the only flood-impacted building currently for sale within the complex and that other smaller, single-story historic structures are unlikely to be suitable candidates because their size and function do not change repair needs as significantly. He said some non-flood-impacted properties have been directed to be sold previously and that the state has completed other sales in the last year.
Members pressed whether selling 110 before FEMA finalizes the package would reduce the state's FEMA funding. Farnham said that under standard public-assistance rules, eligibility typically requires state ownership, but the 04/28 alternative-procedures approach functions as a "fixed cost offer" and provides greater flexibility. He said that under the 04/28 approach the state would retain the codes-and-standards funding even if ownership changed, but the roughly $1,000,000 in hazard-mitigation funding tied specifically to 110 would not be received if the state did not perform the hazard work.
A committee member asked what protections would be placed on a historic building that moves into private ownership. Farnham said historic-preservation authorities would determine required covenants before a sale and that internal covenants have been placed on other state historic buildings; those covenants would apply to subsequent owners, he said.
The committee did not record a formal motion or vote on the sale authority during this session. Members scheduled follow-up coordination and a site visit; Farnham said the Army Corps of Engineers had begun reviewing the FEMA packet for all 16 buildings and that an agency decision on the 04/28 package could arrive "any day now."
