Commissioners balk at Federal Building cost estimates
Fayette County Commissioner Sean M. Cavanagh is balking at paying $765,400 to completely renovate the Federal Building in downtown Uniontown, based on a recent cost estimate provided by architect Michael S. Molnar. Cavanagh said he’s willing to spend $275,000 from the county’s remaining bond money, but nothing more, to renovate the first floor for use by the Juvenile Probation Office. And he’s openly questioning the value of getting the building for $1 when it costs nearly three-quarters of a million to whip into shape.
“We built a brand new Children and Youth Services building for $1.2 million. It looks like the Federal Building, with all this hullabaloo over getting it for $1, it’s turning out to be a very expensive proposition. Sometimes when you get something for free, it’s not really free,” said Cavanagh. “I’m willing to help renovate a spot (in that building) for the Juvenile Probation Office, but that (remaining) bond money is running out very quickly. That money can be put more into industrial parks or the airport.”
Commissioners Vincent A. Vicites and Ronald M. Nehls aren’t too far behind in their assessment of the cost estimate. Vicites said he wants to stick with the original plan of spending $400,000 or less to make the building usable for Juvenile Probation, which would be fiscally responsible and would provide that cramped department with badly needed space.
“We have to get them into a new facility. They’re out of space in the courthouse. That was one of the agreements we made with the federal government (to get the building), that they would be put in there,” said Vicites. “I was thinking (of spending) in the range of $400,000 or less, and I stated that clearly in a meeting that we had several months ago with Molnar and Commissioner Nehls.”
Vicites said he also asked Molnar to provide a complete breakdown of all the costs associated with renovating the entire building, so the commissioners would have some reliable benchmark of the total bill before embarking on any phase of the makeover.
“I wanted to know what each item would cost. I requested this before we went out for (any) bids, so we would know what we can afford with our bond issue,” said Vicites. “This ($765,400 figure) would take care of everything, every aspect of it, if we chose to spend that amount.”
However, Vicites said that at this time he’s only willing to spend what was budgeted in the bond for the renovation. To him, a more reasonable price tag would come from doing the first floor and only those extras needed to bring the building up to code.
“That’s all I would want to spend. I would want to be conservative on this and to stay within the parameters of the bond issue amount that’s available, which is around $400,000 from my calculation,” said Vicites.
Molnar’s projection contained the caveat that “this cost estimate is only being used to mark the bond amount that would be needed for the project and in no way is to be quoted as project costs to the public.” In addition to pegging the first floor renovation at $275,000 for 5,500 square feet – not including furniture costs of $36,000 – the estimate includes $170,000 for renovating 8,500 square feet of basement, and $93,000 for renovating 3,720 square feet of the second floor.
Related costs in the Molnar estimate are $95,000 for window replacement, $100,000 for installing an elevator, $30,000 to install a second stairway and $2,400 to resurface the parking lot. The building also would be completely air conditioned, although a separate line item for that work wasn’t included in the cost estimate.
Nehls said that while he agrees with the pressing need to renovate at least the first floor, he needs to do further research to find out why the projected cost has escalated from the $600,000 he was quoted two years ago. That’s when Adelphoi Village was lined up as a prospective second-floor tenant, in a deal that was scuttled at the city level due to zoning issues.
“When we talked about this two years ago, the figures were not in that range. It was around $600,000, which in all fairness was just a cost estimate,” said Nehls. “(But) I said there was no way that I wanted a situation where (he) could come back and say, ‘Well, it was just an estimate. This is now the cost.’ I said I need something that will be pretty solid, so we know where we are going on this thing. I didn’t want to be blindsided.”
Nehls said the latest estimate “is way over what the man (Molnar) said to me in the first place,” which causes him concern. Nehls said he’s willing to support doing the first floor, the elevator and air conditioning because those items make sense.
Cavanagh said he’s not going to drain the dwindling bond reserve toward zero by earmarking a larger-than-anticipated amount for the Federal Building. Doing it all, he predicted, will result in a tax increase that he’s on record as opposing at all costs.
“I’m against putting that much money in it. I’m not willing to pump in three-quarters of a million. There’s not a lot of adequate parking there,” said Cavanagh. “That bond money is running out quick. (Spending the full amount needed for the Federal Building) is going to drain it down to nothing and (eventually) lead to a tax increase.”
Vicites said that the Federal Building renovation, while important, rates no higher than number three on his priority list, behind the county industrial park and Connellsville Airport, each of which remain in line for additional promised bond money.