Johnson County will use facility audit as ‘road map’ for long-term planning

IOWA CITY — A facility condition audit completed last year for Johnson County buildings will serve as a “road map” for county officials and staff as they explore capital needs and long-term plans for the coming years.

Among the facilities the audit identifies as being in greatest need of attention — rated in “very poor” condition — is the Johnson County Jail and Sheriff’s Office, which officials told The Gazette last year is at the end of its useful life.

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Johnson County Sheriff Brad Kunkel at a meeting Wednesday urged the Board of Supervisors to think “big picture” and said discussions surrounding the Sheriff’s Office and jail will likely be “its own separate, large issue.”

County staff are recommending forming a capital planning committee to review the findings and develop a long-term plan for projects based on need and priority. The committee is expected to form and start meeting within the next 30 days. Initial recommendations could be issued ahead of budget discussions next year for fiscal year 2025.

Dave Curtis, facilities manager for the county, said the audit will guide the capital planning committee.

The audit estimates the cost to repair deficiencies in county buildings currently sits at just over $18 million, and will grow to $25.3 million in 10 years if nothing is done.

Audit findings

The board in June 2022 approved a $103,275 contract for a countywide facility condition audit completed by Faithful and Gould, an international project management consulting firm. Inspection began later that year in August, according to a county memo.

Scott Edson and Pat Hagan, of Faithful and Gould, presented the findings to the board during Wednesday’s work session.

The 26 inspected facilities each received a facility condition needs index consisting of a condition and percentage value. Good is 0 to 5 percent; fair is 5 to 10 percent; poor is above 10 percent; and very poor is greater than 60 percent.

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Presentation slides recommended that buildings with a rating above 60 percent “should be considered for demolition,” but Hagan clarified this is not a recommendation from the firm but an “alert to evaluate the cost of addressing the deficiencies.” It also indicates that the cost to address deficiencies might exceed a building’s value, Hagan added.

The audit found 11 county facilities in good condition, two in fair, six in poor and seven in very poor, Edson said.

If nothing is done, in 10 years the audit predicts there would be five facilities in good condition, four in fair, 10 in poor and seven in very poor.

The Johnson County Courthouse, which is more than 100 years old and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was rated in fair condition at 8.6 percent.

Curtis said he doesn’t see this type of audit being conducted annually but added it may be good to take another look at the “bigger picture” in five years.

Some steps already taken to address concerns

Supervisors pointed out that the audit’s cost estimates don’t take into account recent plans, including the renovation of the administrative campus. The county’s administration building is currently in fair condition but would be in poor condition if no work was done over the next decade, according to the audit.

“I think that the financial analysis, the projections, are not attuned with our situation, but it is good to have the reports,” Supervisor V Fixmer-Oraiz said, adding that the audit will serve as a “starting point” for the county committee’s discussions.

The administrative campus renovation’s first two phases are estimated to cost $9.2 million, according to numbers presented last month. County officials and staff have said the project — funded by the general fund and American Rescue Plan Act dollars — is necessary to improve safety, experience, customer service and accessibility for county employees and the public.

The county also is preparing to demolish three houses it owns on Capitol and Prentiss streets. The audit found all three houses are in very poor condition with one of the homes ranking at 204.3 percent. Any percentage above 60 is considered to be very poor condition. The board earlier this year voted to move forward with demolition since it is not financially sustainable to repair the properties.

Supervisor Lisa Green-Douglass added the county’s Solon Shed — which was also found to be in very poor condition at 61.8 percent — was destroyed by severe storms earlier this month.

Future of new jail still unclear

The Sheriff’s Office and jail at 511 S. Capitol St. was identified as being in the worst condition of the county buildings that are not already slated for demolition. It received a rating of 104.8 percent

“In the past, the conversation seems always to fall heavily on the idea of it's the jail, but we have to think about the Sheriff's Office as a whole,” Kunkel said Wednesday.

In 2012 and 2013, Johnson County voters rejected bond measures for a new justice center that would have addressed the county’s aging jail and courthouse.

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The facility, which opened in 1981, was built when the Sheriff’s Office had about 50 full-time employees. Now, almost 100 full-time employees work out of a space designed for half as many.

The jail opened with a 46-inmate capacity, and not long after, the county started double-bunking inmates for a capacity of 92.

Kunkel said the Sheriff’s Office is working on a request for proposals that would study space needs for the building.

“Where should we be just to do what we do in our day to day now, and then where do we need to be 20 years from now to accommodate growth,” Kunkel said about the study.

Kunkel previously said the space is too crowded for inmates and staff, leaking pipes are a constant hazard and maintenance repairs are a Band-Aid. There was a need for a new jail a decade ago when voters rejected the referendums, and that need hasn’t gone away, Kunkel said.

“We’re not fixing anything — we're getting by,” Kunkel said.

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During Wednesday’s work session, Supervisor Rod Sullivan said not much can be done with the jail unless a bond referendum is approved by voters.

“There's not any other solution there,” Sullivan said. “We're kind of at the mercy of the public unless we get really, really creative, but the odds are good that we won't be putting money into that building, per se, at least millions of dollars into that building.”

The audit estimates it would cost $4.7 million to address immediate needs and repairs of the current building, without expanding it to provide additional space. Repairing the current building would not address the various challenges facing staff and inmates, officials have said.

Other buildings will need attention

Two other county buildings Curtis brought up Wednesday as being in need of attention and discussion were the Conservation Education Center and Chatham Oaks.

The Conservation Education Center, located in F.W. Kent Park, is currently rated poor at 42.1 percent but will jump to very poor — 102.3 percent — if nothing is done in the next decade.

Chatham Oaks, a residential care facility located in Iowa City, provides 24/7 services for adults with a mental illness. The building is rated as very poor at 90.8 percent.

Curtis said the building at 4515 Melrose Ave. was built in 1964 and hasn’t undergone any work other than a couple of emergency repairs.

“If you ever want to do anything with it, upgrades are going to be costly, at best,” Curtis said. The immediate capital needs for Chatham Oaks are $7.2 million, according to the audit.

Curtis said he doesn’t think anyone would suggest the building should be demolished, but a “serious discussion” should be had about whether the facility will meet long-term needs.

“Is this facility going to meet our needs 20 years down the road, and if not, even if we put all the money into it to bring everything up to as new condition, is it really going to still, at that point, meet our needs?,” Curtis said.

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