Johnson supervisors rethink county office renovation

A rendering shows what the future Johnson County Board of Supervisors meeting room could look like under an administrative campus renovation plan. (Rendering from OPN Architects)

A Dec. 6, 2021, photos shows the current Johnson County Board of Supervisors meeting room. At the meeting, the Sheriff's Office presented a proposed budget for fiscal 2023 that included funds for a Lenco Bearcat armored vehicle, which drew controversy from the public. The supervisors ultimately rejected the request to buy the smaller Bearcat to replace a larger armored vehicle known as the MRAP. (Izabela Zaluska/The Gazette)

A rendering shows what Johnson County’s Health and Human Services building could look like under the administrative campus renovation plan being considered. (Rendering from OPN Architects)

A rendering shows Johnson County government departments accessible to the public. (Rendering from OPN Architects)

IOWA CITY — The Johnson County Board of Supervisors is discussing how to move forward with a costly renovation of the county’s administrative campus after the project costs ballooned.

The campus renovation, which has been in discussion since 2017, originally was estimated at $15 million. But after a redesign that added to its scope, the cost increased by more than 85 percent to $27.9 million. That’s a price the county can’t afford unless it increases taxes and dips into its reserves.

County officials and staff say the project is necessary to improve safety, experience, customer service and accessibility for county employees and the public.

Last week, the supervisors indicated they would support moving forward with the project, but in phases. The first phase is estimated to cost $6.5 million, which the county already has budgeted. The costs of additional phases have not been determined.

Four supervisors, with Supervisor Royceann Porter absent, indicated Thursday they are supportive of this phased approach but have not formally approved it. Additional discussion and formal approval is expected to occur in the coming weeks.

Improving experience, safety

The project includes renovating the Health and Human Services building and the county administration building, which are located along S. Dubuque Street in Iowa City.

The guiding principles of the project have been safety, wellness, equality, human experience and functionality. This includes allowing for remote work, having a sustainable design, adding accessibility for the disabled, increasing customer service and ensuring long-term adaptability, among other priorities.

Mike Hensch, executive director of the board, said employee safety can’t be dismissed. He said the Iowa Legislature “is on track, again, to liberalize firearms laws even more” and he spoke about the political climate of the last six years and increasingly disruptive public behavior. The renovations also will prepare the county and its employees to serve the public in future pandemics or epidemics.

“We have to increase our resiliency so employees can work safely in these buildings with safe spacing and ventilation,” Hensch said.

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Hensch added that the renovations will benefit the public because residents entering the building will feel safer and more welcome.

Pursuing phased approach

Justin Bishop with OPN Architects presented a potential scenario that would have a $6.5 million budget impact in 2023 with room for future budget and phases to be discussed later on.

Moving forward with this would mean the oldest infrastructure in the project gets improved and some accessibility is addressed.

The heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, sprinklers, security and safety components would be addressed in this first phase, along with potentially other smaller projects.

If all goes according to plan, the project would go out to bid in late April with construction scheduled to start in June. Construction would be complete in late 2024, Bishop said.

Bishop said the timeline is “pretty aggressive” but that is intentional because finishing ahead of the 2024 election is important so as not to disrupt the auditor’s office work.

Ray Forsythe, the county’s special projects manager, said the proposed first phase “solves a lot of the problems in the admin building for those front-facing departments that the customers are coming in to see on a pretty regular basis.”

Supervisor Lisa Green-Douglass said the first phase would “lay the foundation” for future phases. Supervisor Rod Sullivan agreed, saying it would give the board time to discuss the next phases, including funding and what should be reduced in the plans.

Supervisor V Fixmer-Oraiz said they would like to see a “holistic phased approach,” as well as more discussion about where the later funding will be coming from.

Supervisor Jon Green said the financial package presented last year has been “very difficult for me to wrap my head around.” He expressed trying to balance finding value in the work that’s already been done but also ensuring the project is realistic.

Overall cost still to be determined

While the first phase is tentatively estimated at $6.5 million, the overall cost and how much the board is willing to spend are unclear.

OPN estimated the second phase could cost up to $5 million depending on what the board wants to prioritize.

Forsythe said the biggest challenges are the financial piece and clarity on the county’s financial capabilities.

“I think to the core of the problem is the board needs to grapple or decide how much money they want to spend on a project, in addition to what the project looks like,” Forsythe said.

“We're going to focus really hard on Phase A, but then we're going to have to build a long-term plan for the balance of the needs,” Forsythe said.

Comments: (319) 339-3155; izabela.zaluska@thegazette.com