Washington County reconsidering facility plans

WASHINGTON — Details on where to relocate Washington County offices for consolidation efforts appear back up for debate after a disagreement between county supervisors Tuesday morning.

The county has spent around a year preparing American Rescue Plan Act-funded renovation plans for Orchard Hill facilities to host departments currently operating in an increasingly crowded courthouse. In that time, officials have allocated tens of thousands of dollars to a feasibility study and contracting an architect for the project. But an unexpected offer from Federation Bank to sell its former building for $800,000, combined with criticism from the city of Washington and some county staff, threw a wrench in the works.

At a regular meeting Tuesday morning, County Supervisor Stan Stoops said he was no longer in favor of proposed relocation efforts to Orchard Hill.

"There was a time when I was not interested in that bank, and the reason was, we had our sights on other things that have not materialized,“ he said. ”I’m failing to see the wisdom in moving out to Orchard Hill … we said we would listen, and people have come in and they have emailed us, and we’re not listening.“

Stoops said traffic safety at the intersection of Highway 1 and Lexington Boulevard — on the road to the facility in Washington — was a top concern.

“There’s a rotten intersection down there, and we’re subjecting our employees to that rotten intersection,” he said. “There’s been fatalities on it. I’m not interested in subjecting our employees to that intersection at noontime when they leave, and when they leave at night. To me, that’s a bad deal.”

While the county has already sunk noteworthy costs into planning for the Orchard Hill option, Stoops said that shouldn’t prevent a pivot to other options.

"We’ve invested that, but you know what, it’s never too late to change our mind until that process is completed,“ he said. ”This, out here, is not the right thing, and we have a chance to fix it.“

While supervisors did not take action on the design proposal for Orchard Hill listed on their agenda Tuesday morning, Board Chair Bob Yoder said the group would revisit the matter at next week’s regular meeting, and that he also favored more consideration for Federation Bank’s offer.

"I like the location,“ he said. ”The last offer they gave us, I thought, was not a bad offer.“

The wind change came as a surprise to some board members, however. Supervisor Richard Young said he was not on the same page.

"I don’t know where you’re getting this stuff from, I really don’t,“ he said. ”If anybody’s got pros or cons, either way, I think they need to be writing them down and giving them to all five of us so we know what they are.“

Supervisor Marcus Fedler was the county’s liaison to contractors for the project at Orchard Hill, which he has been a vocal proponent of. He said he was less enthusiastic about the Federation Bank space.

"The footprint of that building is smaller than the Orchard Hill Complex footprint,“ he said. ”I would say, if I had to guess, that the cost per square foot would be a little bit more, mainly because the second floor would need to be filled back in … and I think we would still be smaller.“

Still, Fedler said the two buildings may not be mutually exclusive.

“I think there’s a way that we can do both,” he said. “I don’t know what that would add to the contract, but if we felt strongly enough about it, and we had the money somewhere in a budget, we could.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com