OP-ED: Crossroads purchase in best interest of taxpayers
For many years prior to the change of the board of commissioners in 2020, concerns were raised about the rapid deterioration of the Washington County parking garage, which is the foundation of our Courthouse Square Building. More than eight years ago, we began placing temporary shelters in our garage to stop the concrete drips and pieces of concrete from falling onto vehicles and people. Multiple areas of the garage have swelled by 9 inches due to pyrite expansion creating parking issues.
In 2018, the commissioners hired an engineering firm to evaluate and develop a Request for Proposal (RFP) to address the issues. They found a membrane layer that was nearly 20 years past its useful life, had allowed water to pour from the plaza into our building and the parking garage below. In March 2019, bids to repair both were at $8.5 million. As a minority commissioner, I (Diana Irey Vaughan) inquired about the price of purchasing the Crossroads Building and suggested we conduct a cost benefit analysis so that the best financial decision for the county could be made. Former commissioner colleagues did not support this plan of action and the delay allowed the leak to continue, ultimately costing the county millions more to repair.
After becoming chairman, I felt it was a priority to address this issue as a board. We again sought an RFP in March 2020 and found the cost to repair had increased by $2.1 million, to $10.6 million. Commissioner Nick Sherman fully supported the decision to do a cost-benefit analysis of repairing our current building versus acquiring the Crossroads building.
To better assist us in this analysis, the county retained Jones, Lang and DeSalle (JLL), one of the world’s largest commercial real estate companies, to conduct that analysis and provide alternatives. An appraisal on the Courthouse Square building returned a value of only $3.9 million. It took no more than our first meeting between all members of the board of commissioners and JLL to conclude that purchasing the Crossroads building for the right price would be the financially responsible solution.
That is, purchasing the Crossroads building for less than what the county’s cost would be to make repairs, over five years, the county would save $4.3 million.
Shortly after taking office, Sherman toured all county facilities and found county employees working in cramped spaces, where five employees were wedged into a room no bigger than a typical spare bedroom, with significant overloads to our electrical supply with technology devices. Not only are these safety concerns and present confidentiality issues, but staff work product and morale suffer.
It is imperative that, as county residents, you know that our decision to purchase the Crossroads Building was based on factual financial information provided by an independent third-party cost benefit analysis. As stewards of taxpayers’ dollars, we must consider what is in the best financial interest of the taxpayers.
Diana Irey Vaughan is chairman of the Washington County Board of Commissioners. Nick Sherman is a member of the board of commissioners.