County to pursue Orchard Hill for facility plans

WASHINGTON — Washington County Supervisors said they would carry on with facility plans at Orchard Hill Tuesday morning, after a committee considered the results of a building study at the Federation Bank Building, where owners had proposed a low-cost alternative.

Supervisor Marcus Fedler — one of the building committee’s four members — said the five-story property had less space than Orchard Hill’s facilities, where the county has proposed major renovations to consolidate its offices outside the courthouse. While the difference is roughly 3,500 square feet, he said the gap was closer to 2,000 when excluding nonwork spaces like hallways.

“It’s still short, and there’s no real room to expand at Federation Bank,” Fedler said. “Adding onto that building’s not really an option … the expense associated with that, (compared to) building something on-grade, is significantly more.”

Federation Bank had offered its former building — now that the business has moved across the square — for $800,000. The price point was far lower than proposed renovations at Orchard Hill, expected to come run for between $6.75 million and $7.5 million, according to its own feasibility study, made public in September. The county has signaled plans to spend its roughly $4 million or cash from the American Rescue Plan Act to help pay for the project.

Still, Supervisors said Federation Bank’s property would cost more in the long run. Fedler said the 111-year-old building came with a high maintenance cost, and would reduce county revenue if it came off the tax roll. Washington County’s GIS service shows almost $23,000 net taxes due for the property from 2021.

"I think it’s the best thing for that building long-term, but it’s probably not the best thing for Washington County,“ Fedler said of proposals to buy the five-story property.

The vote to move forward at Orchard Hill was 3-1, with Supervisor Stan Stoops absent and Board Chair Bob Yoder voting against, saying the former bank was a “much nicer location.”

The decision does not lock the county into a contract for the renovations, but supervisors said they were likely to vote on one next week.

Yoder was not alone in that opinion. Some businesses owners in Washington have lobbied for keeping county offices downtown, including JP’s 207 owner Jaron Rosien, at previous meetings.

In interviews after the Tuesday morning meeting, other business representatives said they worried Orchard Hill’s out-of-the-way location would reduce visitor traffic to Washington’s downtown area.

“Unless they made it a point to then also visit the downtown, they could easily just go out there and then go back home, or back to work,” said Isabella Santoro, a manager at Dodici's. “Downtown, they’d have no option but to have it right in front of them, what our historical downtown Main Street district has to offer.”

Others worried about losing the business of dozens of county employees after the proposed relocation.

“That will remove those employees from our downtown area, which I think could have a negative impact on restaurants and retail and service industry shops and stores,” said Karen Bates-Chabal, owner of Central Park Antiques. “No longer are they in a position to go outside their building, stretch their legs and walk to a restaurant or shop, to get lunch or a cup of coffee or do some shopping.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com