New buildings for the city of Sunset Valley’s police and public works departments are estimated to cost $6.9 million, as determined by consulting architects for the project.
Of the $6.9 million, $4.2 million is for a permanent police building featuring a training room and an emergency operations center suite as well as additional parking space for City Hall off Jones Road, and $2.7 million is for public works buildings and storage space.
Both departments currently operate out of portable buildings east of Sunset Valley City Hall on Jones Road. City staff has cited a lack of space and safety concerns as reasons for moving out of the portables and into buildings. Other reasons for the new buildings discussed during the Oct. 27 council meeting included the lack of a backup generator and lack of protection from severe weather in the portable buildings.
“The need for [these buildings] cannot be expressed enough,” Mayor Rose Cardona said.
Don Greer, vice president of Wiginton Hooker Jeffry Architects, presented cost estimates to City Council during its Oct. 27 meeting. In his presentation, he showed how the original cost of Sunset Valley City Hall, $1.2 million in 2003, would be inflated to $1.8 million in 2015.
“We see these numbers all the time, but if you don’t deal with construction costs, they can be pretty shocking,” Greer said.
For a project timeline, Greer advised the city to begin bidding for contractors in late 2016 and begin construction of the police facility. The estimated completion for the police facility is late 2017. The public works portions, which are split into three phases, could be complete in March 2017, August 2018 and March 2019.
“From a financial standpoint, we need to keep the momentum because the cost of construction will go up,” Cardona said. “Plus, the time, energy and resources put in by the architects and staff will be lost if we don’t at least keep some sort of clear timeline.”
The $6.9 million cost estimate is greater than the amount the city of Sunset Valley has saved for the project. It has set aside a total of $835,088 during the past three years and an additional $52,820 in its general fund for the new buildings.
Cardona said to city staff that they should begin formulating funding options for the project and present them to City Council at a future time. She also said to council members that they should think about how they can use the allocated funds so that the project can move forward.
City Administrator Clay Collins said Sunset Valley residents are averse to debt, so issuing a long-term bond for the project may not be favorable in the community. But he did not rule out the possibility of using a short-term bond.
Council Member Walter Jenkins said the city of Sunset Valley has no debt, and it is a matter of when, not if, the buildings will be constructed.
Council Member Jeff Burdett said the need for the facilities exists, but the city can get to the financing portion of the project later.
“I would encourage you, if you [have] the will to do the project, try to do it as soon as possible because we just hate to see hard-earned dollars go towards something unfortunate for all businesses—the escalation costs out there,” Greer said.
