I-JOBS, FEMA help pay for first county construction project following flood

Lt. Gov. Patty Judge got her hands dirty at a groundbreaking ceremony early Wednesday afternoon at the site of the new Linn County Community Services/Options of Linn County building.

The hard hat was complimentary, but the shovel cost $5 million. To be fair, it was a golden shovel.

The new facility, which will house eight county agencies, many of whom were displace by the flood, and offer residents services ranging from veterans affairs to resources for those with mental and developmental disabilities.

It will be paid for in part by the $5 million in I-JOBS money awarded by Gov. Culver last June.

More than $7 million will come through FEMA to help cover the cost of the first county construction project built after the flood of 2008.

“This project is proof that we can rebuild stronger and smarter,” Judge said. “We are one-hundred percent committed to rebuilding efforts every single day and this project is a huge step forward.”

Originally, the cost of the 100,000 sq. ft. structure located at 1240 26th Ave. Court SW was expected to exceed $15 million. And as late as March, county supervisors were looking at a $3 million funding shortfall.

But Linn County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Linda Langston says that a combination of a surge of FEMA funding and a lower than expected bid-price will result in minimal costs to county tax payers.

“It took me a while to see there are silver linings in floods,” said Linda Langston, chairwoman of the Linn County Board of Supervisors. “This new facility is an example that government can do things well, effectively and efficiently.”

The contract for the building went to Principal, OPN Architects, Inc. And it will be built with local labor after supervisors unanimously passed a project labor agreement in February that sets wage standards for this public project.

“Tax payers will win with this project and local workers will win,” said supervisor Brent Oleson. “Of course, the people using these services, the most vulnerable in our community, are going to have a great facility.”

Langston said that work will begin sometime in June on a new juvenile court house, a $5 million facility which will also be built following a project labor agreement.

Over the next few years, the county will go through $40 million in flood-recovery related construction projects.