Representatives from Brinkley Sargent Wiginton Architects, a firm Rollingwood officials hired in December 2017, addressed City Council on costs and other aspects of its city municipal building needs. Costs range from $4.74 million on the low end against a high of $4.97 million.

Council took no action at the Nov. 28 meeting, but Brinkley Sargent Wiginton representative Don Greer delivered a presentation that included building and drainage needs as well as various breakdowns of the project budget, depending on which option council ultimately accepts.

Among several other factors, those costs also depend on whether council decides to go after a November or a May bond.

Greer said there are always two big expenses with endeavors of this size—project costs and construction costs. Pertaining to the overall budgeting, Greer said that testing services, construction, fixtures, furniture and equipment, city budgets and professional services all factor into the total cost of the project.

“In this really early stage, you also want to have a design contingency,” Greer said, adding that unexpected events and needs can come into play.

February is the deadline for Rollingwood to go after a May bond, Mayor Michael Dyson said during the presentation, and he asked whether that was a realistic timeline.

Alderman Gavin Massingill said that time constraints, coupled with drainage issues that will also have to harmonize with the building project, demand that council have further discussions on the most effective strategy.

Massingill said there is no definite next step yet pertaining to the building project.

“The bottom line is that we would like to have our infrastructure improvement plan finalized before we do too much more on the building so that we can properly prioritize big-picture spending across various needs,” Massingill said, referring to the city’s plan underway now to identify infrastructure needs, including drainage, wastewater, water, utility and street improvement projects.

Council earmarked $300,000 in fiscal year 2017-18 for facilities updates but ultimately chose to not spend those dollars and instead hired a firm to conduct a professional needs assessment.

After an interview process, officials hired Brinkley Sargent Wiginton because the firm offered a spatial needs assessment. That assessment concluded that for Rollingwood’s administrators, officers and employees to operate effectively, they would need about 8,500 square feet. Currently the police department and municipal building contain less than half that total at 3,780 square feet.