ITHACA, N.Y. — Tompkins County officials continued to advance the expansive Center of Government project earlier this month, but state historic regulations and parking concerns are poised to slow further short-term progress.
The project is meant to consolidate county services into one downtown facility. Despite support for the project, it faces significant hurdles before construction on the projected 55,000 square-foot, $40 million project on North Tioga Street can begin.
The order in which the county decides to clear those hurdles may have a significant impact on the completion date of the facility, which is currently estimated to be sometime in 2027.
County Administrator Lisa Holmes told the Downtown Facilities Committee that there seems to be substantial initial interest from contractors and consultants. The county’s Request for Qualifications (RFQ) requirements, often the first step in submitting a bid, had been downloaded 84 times as of mid-July.
Holmes said a review committee will winnow the final number of applications down to four finalists based on a set of criteria that county officials were formulating internally. Representatives from those four firms would then present their plans to county legislators. Holmes said she hopes the initial scoring process will be finished by the committee’s next meeting on Aug. 14.
The criteria had not been finalized by the committee’s last meeting, on July 9.
Some committee members, like legislators Deborah Dawson and Veronica Pillar, said that legislators should be involved in setting the scoring criteria for proposals but should allow staff’s expertise to determine the feasibility of the more nuanced details of the proposals.
This was the primary point of contention of the meeting, as legislator Mike Lane said legislators should be more deeply involved beyond just setting the criteria and weighing in on a final project recommendation, given the size and significance of the project.
“To totally delegate this to staff is not, in my opinion, the way this should happen,” Lane said.
Legislator Rich John agreed with Lane, but was also willing to trust that the four legislators who will be assigned to the review committee would be able to communicate with the remaining members of the legislature about the prospective projects.
Holmes and others maintained that having too many legislators involved in the process could create bad optics about the integrity of the selection process. Similar issues plagued the county’s sale of the Old Library property, which eventually became the recently-opened Library Place senior apartment building.
“We are politicians, and it could be seen as more of a political process [if legislators are involved] versus more of a professional, not political process, as our staff is not politically motivated,” legislator Anne Koreman said. “I think there’s going to be greater confidence in our community if we let the professional staff do their work.”
County Director of Facilities Arel Lemaro said based on his prior experience, the choice of a contractor may not be as daunting as it currently seems.
“In the past, it’s been pretty clear that one group really stood out from the rest,” Lemaro said. “If there are two that we feel are really close, what would be the tie-breaker? It could be they have a higher percentage of [minority or women-owned business enterprises involved], it could be that they are a local firm, it could be that their headquarters is a sustainable building. That’s things we can develop with the interview team.”
While the application process continues, there’s a slew of other aspects of the project the county still must tackle.
Consolidating the county’s services means inviting a significantly larger number of county employees to a new downtown workplace, which will create a need for more parking. A parking and access study will be conducted to determine the full parking needs of the new facility.
Deputy Commissioner of Planning and Sustainability Megan McDonald suggested the parking study should wait until after legislators have selected a design team so architects could be involved in, or at least privy to, the parking study.
“That would be more about what we want this building to include, the departments, the number of staff, the public services that are there,” McDonald said. “It would make sense if the design team isn’t the consultant doing that study, for them to be intermeshed with that study, because what is in the building will impact who will need the parking.”
The county is also commissioning an additional survey to gauge greenhouse gas emissions caused by employees’ commutes, which will further inform the necessary amount of parking for employees who will drive to work.
Beyond parking, the county also has to navigate the regulations of the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). The agency has determined that the buildings the county had slated for demolition, including the vacant Key Bank building and an adjacent law office, may need to be preserved in some way because they “contribute to the historic character of the neighborhood.”
The county will now have to submit a list of plans and alternatives to the SHPO. Such plans could include reusing existing buildings, incorporating parts of buildings or demolition, McDonald said.
“I don’t think their message to us was that our project doesn’t go forward, it’s that there’s no decision yet,” McDonald said.
The process could take months, McDonald said, particularly if county staff think it is best to have a design team chosen for the project first, before then proceeding further with the state’s historic preservation regulations.
“There is a high bar for demolishing a historic resource,” McDonald said. “They expect a narrative summary of recommendations in order of feasibility. So if it looks like demolition is the most feasible option, we may lead with that, and then explain the lower orders of feasibility for those other options.”
County legislators are set to discuss the project — and potential design firm finalists — at the next Downtown Facilities Committee meeting on August 14.
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