Meeting to discuss South Campus Building cost

Flathead County Commissioner Phil Mitchell has asked for a special meeting to discuss the cost projections for the South Campus Building.

The meeting will be held from 9 to 11 a.m. Friday, Jan. 16, in the commissioner chambers on the third floor of the courthouse.

The location was changed — it had been scheduled at the Earl Bennett Building — to provide more space for the public.

The commissioners will meet with the architect, contractor and county staff members regarding the South Campus Building construction plans. The meeting is open to the public.

No formal action can be taken at the work session.

Swank Enterprises won the contract to construct the two-story county building on First Avenue West. Swank bid $5,969,000.

The county has $6 million in its capital improvement budget for the project, but figuring in architectural and permit fees likely will bring the total cost closer to $7 million.

Mitchell said he wants to do a cost analysis and determine if the total cost can be pared down.

During the process of awarding the contract, David Mitchell of CTA Architects Engineers told the commissioners the heating and cooling system could be downgraded to a less costly but less efficient rooftop model.

The project also includes some building elements to accommodate a future third floor and sky bridge to connect with the Earl Bennett Building. He said those elements could be taken out, but it’s more economical to include them now rather than later.

County officials have worked out a funding scenario for the new building that would tap into a portion of the county’s future payment-in-lieu-of-taxes, an annual federal appropriation that compensates counties for lost tax revenue from public lands.