Determine if co-location makes sense

On. Off. On again. Better late than never. Before it's too late to matter.

We're talking about the revival of co-location discussions - leaders from Cedar Rapids city government and school district and Linn County meeting to see if it makes sense to join forces on replacing their administrative buildings, all of which were damaged in the June 2008 flood.

We're glad to see co-location discussion back on the table, even though it was just as important to pursue months ago. These entities are facing decisions on facilities and delivery of services that will affect the communities they serve for 50 years and beyond. They would be remiss in not fully exploring any joint, big-picture ideas that might better serve their constituents.

A co-location concept surfaced among city officials about a year ago but talks with other entities faded by February when the county withdrew. Supervisors said they wanted to move faster on their problems.

But on Sept. 3, the city council declared it wanted to revisit co-location after reviewing projected costs of building a new city hall - versus repairing and moving back into the iconic Veterans Memorial Building - and several other major facilities.

A day later, county supervisors said they're willing to renew talks. The decision came shortly after the state turned down their request for

$8 million in I-Jobs funds to help pay for renovation of the county's existing office building.

Cedar Rapids school officials are still open to discussing co-location ideas. The new superintendent, Dave Benson, told us recently that “if the community tells us co-location is important, we'll take that into consideration.”

Benson once worked in a shared government facility in Salina, Kan., a city of about 50,000, where an office building also is used by the local city and county governments. He said the arrangement worked well.

Perhaps that model or others could be useful.

Meanwhile, our city and school district are gathering public input on what to do with their damaged facilities and plan to finish by late October. The county expects a consultant's report later this month on the feasibility of converting its temporary offices at Westdale Mall into a permanent facility. Supervisors also are looking at a building that once housed a supermarket.

All of which is more reason for our local governments to finally determine whether a co-location site could deliver public services in a more efficient, convenient and cost-effective way - whether that means converting Westdale, building new or some other idea.

Even if co-location is found not viable, the discussions should lay groundwork for more intergovernmental cooperation. We'll need more of that as this region retools and rebuilds over the next decade.