Town weighs $10M Public Works complex
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The Public Works crew currently cannot fit trucks completely into the fleet management buildings. - Photos courtesy of Town of Farragut
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Public Works is hoping to have a lift system, such as this one from another city, that can handle large vehicles. - Photos courtesy of Town of Farragut
With the Capital Investment Program budget draft close to completion, Town administrator David Smoak introduced a new project, a Public Works complex, during a Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen budget workshop Thursday, March 12, that could affect the Town’s bottom line.
“When we put that project in here, that changes these numbers considerably,” Smoak added.
“I think this project should be a very big priority,” Alderman Alex Cain said. “They are the face of the Town — on a day to day basis — those [Public Works and Parks] departments, and I think they deserve the best facilities.”
“I have absolutely no doubt that we need something new, [but] I am nowhere near ready to support $10-$13 million on a last-second drop in my lap,” Alderman Drew Burnett said. “I don’t like surprises, unless it’s my birthday.
“But, this is a whole lot,” he said. “I feel like it’s getting shoved into the budget at the last second. “I’m just not there,” Burnett said. I’m there in that I know that we need it, but something with this type of expenditure this large. Man, I would like to get in a room and just white boarding, looking at options … there are a lot of options.”
Mayor Ron Williams favored completing the work in phases, agreeing with Burnette that “we couldn’t do this in one whack. It’s just too much, too soon.”
Currently, Smoak said the draft budget is balanced, “but if we drop this project in, based on the years … you can see the available fund balance at the bottom line of this draft shows about 2030, were negative, so we would have to do something.
“We could transfer more funds from the General Fund [budget] to the CIP fund,” he said. “We can cut or move projects out of the CIP; we could also issue bonds.
“I know that’s something we haven’t done in a long time, but a project like this is exactly why you would do a bond issue,” Smoak added. “The concept is every year you wait on a project, that’s about 5 percent more in costs that it’s going to cost you in materials and supplies and things that go up in value and cost more to build,” he said. Right now, the bond rate is at 3.57 percent and you save a little money and have the building now.
Alderman Joe LaCroix said he would like to learn more about the benefits of issuing a bond.
Regarding the needs, Smoak said the Public Works staff of 20 have a combined co-ed locker room, training room and break room totaling 416 square feet. There is no room to expand, and it does not allow room for hands-on training. Also, Smoak said the facility is the only entrance to fleet office and storage, creating interruptions during training or meetings.
A proposed administration building, 1,100 square feet, would provide separate private male and female locker rooms, separate break room and a proper meeting space for training with technology.
The fleet management building currently has a single garage bay with a single lift, garage space of 1,080 square feet and no oversized vehicle capability. He said it can only accommodate one project.
The proposed fleet garage space would have three pass-through bays — 1,080 square feet each — with heavy vehicle and adaptable lift capabilities, parts and equipment storage, tire mounting and dismounting area and fleet mechanic office space. If the Board chooses to go ahead with the design, which is estimated to cost $500,000, then “we would design this over the next year, Smoak said.
“I think we need to go ahead with the design,” Mayor Ron Williams said. “If we don’t get on design now, it’s a miniscule amount of money compared to what the phases are going to cost.”
Smoak said the Town could begin the construction in phases, starting in 2028 with the administration building, then the fleet management building in FY 2030.
However, the mayor said he thinks the fleet services management should be done before the administration building.
