Linn County supervisors duck FEMA curveball on juvenile justice project

Linn County supervisors have a quick and easy workaround to a sudden change in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funding for the county's new juvenile justice center, but they're not happy about it.

“I think you're hearing from this board there's a significant degree of annoyance,” Supervisor Linda Langston said on hearing FEMA will require a historical and environmental evaluation at the justice center site, 801 Third St. SW, if the county is to use FEMA aid diverted from other flood-damaged county structures there.

“We were always told the opposite,” Supervisor Brent Oleson told Garth Fagerbakke, the county's construction services manager, who delivered the news.

Fagerbakke said he learned of the heretofore unheard-of restriction yesterday in a meeting with FEMA. Agency officials told him they'll require the historical/environmental study if the county indeed shifts about $300,000 in FEMA payments for damage to other county-owned buildings to the juvenile center.

Supervisors instructed Fagerbakke to find out how long the historical and environmental reports will take. If the work appears likely to cause a significant delay, they'll make another shift: divert the $300,000 to another project while moving a like amount from that project to the juvenile center.

Fagerbakke doubts the evaulation will find significant historical value or environmental hazard at the site. The block was mostly residential, with the exception of the old Freeway Lounge, demolished in May.

Supervisors also formally awarded a contract to the project's lead contractor, Kleiman Construction of Cedar Rapids, for $5,303,576. The projected $6.7 million total cost will include about $4 million from the state's IJOBS program.

They also gave the juvenile justice center its official name: the Linn County Juvenile Justice Center.

The 23,000-square-foot building, which will be elevated about 4 feet to prevent future flooding, will include three courtrooms with room for a fourth, and offices for juvenile-system court clerks, probation and county attorneys.