What Happens If We Do the Math on Annex Project?

Below is a copy of the document I gave to each Council member prior to the meeting 13 January. This work is a compilation of ideas from citizens, from discussions at meetings, and sources mentioned in the document. ~ Christine Brauer Mueller 

[Note- RQAW did original jail designs about 10 years ago and DLZ is the firm doing it now. Maxwell is the construction manager on the project. Contracts for design and management base their pay of these firms on a percentage of the project cost. ] 

What Happens If We Do the Math on Annex Project?

DATA GATHERED FOR ANNEX AND COURTHOUSE CAMPUS PROJECTS 

RAW SQUARE FOOTAGE (outside dimensions) OF BUILDINGS- source- Assessor’s Office

Courthouse- 7548 sq ft /floor x 4 = 30,192 sq ft

ADM Bldg- 7242 sq ft/floor x 4= 28,968 sq ft

Hoosier Square- 2940 sq ft/floor x 2 = 5880 + basement 2352 sq ft= 10,584 sq ft

PARKING AREA NEEDED- source Lawrenceburg BZA meeting tape and regs- at least 120 MORE spaces. This EXCLUDES the Votaw Shumway space as that was already used to get the variance on parking for the jail addition. NO ADDITIONAL PARKING IS IN THE PLAN OR COSTS YET.

SPACE NEEDS ANALYSIS- source- notes, presentations, and minutes of commissioners and council

RQAW->Maxwell ->DLZ-  stated needs for the Courthouse occupants including future magistrate space etc. would take 37,000 sq ft. This is above the RAW SQUARE FOOTAGE and it is also above the USABLE sq ft in the Courthouse that he stated was 16,000 sq ft.  37,000sq ft – 16,000 sq ft = 21,000 more sq ft needed than exists in the courthouse. 

DLZ DESIGNS DRAFTS of ANNEX- source- notes, presentations, and minutes of commissioners and council

Original design has 45,000 sq ft. June 2014. Redone versions have about 37,000 sq ft. with different facades from Nov 2014. Price tags that Maxwell said he was comfortable saying are firm numbers = total costs which run from $ 11.2 million – 12+ million. 

45,000 sq ft original design- doubles the current ADM/Courthouse campus usable space (28,000 = 16,000 = 44,000 sq ft) 

IMAGINE- Every usable space in both buildings DOUBLED. This would vastly increase interior and exterior maintenance, HVAC, furnishing, and cleaning person hours. So operating costs and staffing go up also. 

BUDGET CONSTRAINTS-source- Auditor’s office

Riverboat savings has about $8 million in it now.  If we cut square footage to 21,000 sq ft- then mathematically 21,000/45,000 x $12 million = $5.6 million. This number is closer to the budget the Council was considering.

LOCATION OF ANNEX- what happens if we vary the annex use and location?

Current design connects two buildings that require different levels of security. Proposed plan increases security for both and has increased security hours due to evening meetings in ADM BLDG side. 

If we could use the current ADM building and add another floor it would yield 35,000 sq ft of usable space total. It could be connected via breezeway or tunnel to Courthouse. If the ADM building occupants moved to a new location, the upper floor could be added with little disturbance to any staff from air handlers, construction noise, etc. This would maximize the potential of the ADM building as originally conceived.

The ADM staff would go to a new building location that would not require the strict security measures that the Courthouse staff needs.

Design of new building will have no historical building issues or stained brick maintenance issues that would be part of the current plans. 

Parking could be incorporated in the new ADM building by building it on top of a parking garage with the 120 or so required and needed parking spaces for the campus project. 

INCREASING TAXES- Increasing COIT to pay for this would hit every wage earner and affect business development in the county. 

Christine Brauer Mueller

Lawrenceburg Township