At the request of Haines Borough Assembly member Joanne Waterman, the borough is reviving discussion of building a new “muniplex” to house the fire hall, police station, administration offices, assembly chambers and possibly a visitor center.
Waterman, who put the item on a recent assembly agenda, said she would like to see an estimate to at least get a design done so the project would be shovel-ready in the event funding becomes available.
“I just want to be ready and in a position that if a situation becomes favorable we can say, ‘This is what we’ve got and this is our situation,’” Waterman said.
Jason Gamache, an architect with the Anchorage-based McCool Carlson Green, provided estimates for one-story and two-story versions of the conceptual 19,500-square-foot building. The two-story comes in at $8.56 million, the one-story at $8.38 million.
The estimates do not include design, construction administration, furniture, fixtures, building permits, geological investigation or hazardous clean-up (if necessary).
At the May 27 meeting, Waterman floated the idea of possibly taking the issue to the voters. “I believe it would take a possible bond project to even do the design, since it is estimated to be 10 to 12 percent of the entire project,” she said.
Assembly member Dave Berry balked at asking voters to bond for another municipal project.
“Before I vote to encumber the people in this valley with more expenses over their head for an administration building, I’d rather look at ports and developing our ports. We’re always shy of money there. I wouldn’t support it. I’m sorry,” Berry said.
In an interview last week, Mayor Stephanie Scott said while she agrees a new municipal space will be necessary at some point, she doesn’t agree with Waterman’s desire to situate it in the “campus area” near Third and Main.
“I just don’t want it downtown. I’d prefer to see it replace the existing (public safety) building,” Scott said. “That was the outcome of the (Facilities Master Plan Steering Committee’s) decision, that it be sited at that original place.”
Scott said she does see the benefit in designing the project, as that makes it easier to secure funding. “You have to have skin in the game. Funders don’t just want to give you money anymore. They want the whole thing laid out,” she said.
However, the borough has other priorities, including getting the sewer treatment plant upgrades, the Small Board Harbor expanded and the Lutak Dock repaired.
“(The muniplex) is on the list, but for me, it is down the list,” Scott said.
The assembly agreed to meet for a committee-of-the-whole at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 5 to revisit the McCool Carlson Green conceptual plans and estimates. The group will also look at a structural analysis of the public safety building performed by PND Engineers, which concluded the building was structurally in fair to good shape.