(Seguin) — The future of Guadalupe County is officially on the table. Guadalupe County Commissioners on Tuesday discussed a list of capital projects and ways in which to fund them. The discussion was part of a special workshop designed to help commissioners prioritize the projects totaling $8.5 million dollars.
Breaking down the list of projects was Guadalupe County Judge Kyle Kutscher. Kutscher says on top of that renovation/new construction list was the need for a remodel at the Guadalupe County Justice of the Peace, Constable Pct. 4 Office.
“The JP 4 building as we know, as we talked about had considerable water damage under the building from pipe and from the elevation of the existing parking lot and sidewalks that have shifted over time causing additional runoff and drainage to get under the building. I talked to the architect again last night and this morning. He sent some preliminary costs which will be about $2 million of remodel on that building but a scaled back version of that really just fixing and repairing the foundation of that building tearing away the flatwork that is all around it, turning off the brick lug, excavating underneath the foundation, rebuilding that back up the way that it should be, regrading all of the site around the building, redoing the parking lot – all those things and then going back inside the building to basically repair sheetrock, fix cracks, replace flooring, do that stuff is about $1.1 million as opposed to right over $2 or $2.1 for more of a full remodel after the leveling of that building,” said Kutscher.
Next on the list is the proposed Guadalupe County Veterans Center.
“I know this has always been on the fringe of the capital project discussion list. We’ve had this on the list for a number of years, the last really handful of years. It’s just something that I think is important but we are going to make a determination on this court if it makes the cut. We all know it’s important. It’s needed and it should be a focus but we’ve got some really important projects on this list also and we are just going to have to prioritize them and we are going to have to draw a line at the level of funding that we can afford and the number of projects that we can accomplish and some things just may not make it,” said Kutscher.
Moving down the list is need for a new Development Service Center at the Road and Bridge Department.
“Down the list of new construction, addition, that’s the Development Service Center which is the new building at road and bridge. There’s a $2.5 million estimated cost in the right column but the total estimated cost is $4 million. I think Commissioner (Greg) Seidenberger spoke to the architect and got a per square footage price on the building which included all construction aspects, including furniture and everything — $343 (per square foot) at the current design was about $4,116,000 which is considerably higher than some of the other projects but we hadn’t had turn key, everything included, in those price per square (feet). I think we could probably trim a little bit which is why I have it at $4 million than the $4,116,000 — $1.5 million is currently funded in the budget that we are going to file using road and bridge reserves. So that’s in the budget right now. We would need $2.5 million to make up the balance,” said Kutscher.
Kutscher says the county also faces a much-needed upgrade to the technology at the Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office.
“Equipment and software purchases, last week on Wednesday out at the SO, the sheriff invited a company out to do a presentation on a computer-aided dispatch (CAD) and record management system (RMS). I’ve been using an estimated about $1 million. We did have a phone conference yesterday and some estimated costs in a neighboring county with the needs of Guadalupe County taken into consideration came in about $1,435,000 so I’ve got a $1.5 million in there for the CAD and RMS System,” said Kutscher.
Crews continue to work on the two-story expansion of the sheriff’s office.
Priority projects according to Kutscher also include new security cameras and other infrastructure at the Guadalupe County Adult Detention Center, the Juvenile Detention Center and at the Guadalupe County Justice Center. He says cost is estimated at $1 million for the adult detention center and $400,000 at the juvenile center. While upgrades are also needed at the Justice Center, Kutscher does not believe the security system is priority but will need to happen in the next couple of years. With questions of whether they will be required to only purchase American made cameras in the future, Kutscher believes now might just be the right time for the investment.
Kutscher says the county is in a good financial position to move forward as there are plenty of priority projects that need tackling. The one project, however, that the judge believes can be held off a little while longer may just be the Veterans Service Center.
“The Veterans Center is something that Commissioner (Judy) Cope and I have worked on for some time with a group of volunteers and a committee and the idea was to create a rural Veterans Community Center that basically had our Veterans Service Office operate out of but also have buy in from the VA, from mental health professionals and other agencies that assist veterans so a veteran, not only in Guadalupe County but in the entire region could walk in one door and go to five or six different agencies and get help instead of being told every time they go to get assistance, ‘well, you have to go to San Antonio for that, you’ve got to drive 60 miles back to Austin from wherever your house is for that.’ You’ve always got to go somewhere else. We originally started talking about remodeling the old hospital which was used by Community Council for Head Start which is the old Weinert building. We were talking about $1.7, $1.8, $2million and as you can see, the building hasn’t gotten bigger, it’s just construction costs, time – all those things continue to increase,” said Kutscher.
In addition to prioritizing the projects, Kutscher wanted commissioners to also consider whether they should launch all the projects at the same time. If so, questions of possibly hiring a construction manager will also have to be decided. In the end, Kutscher reminded the court that all projects have merit, and all are important. Continued discussion on the future of the county is expected to continue as the court decides where to go from here. No official action on any of the mentioned projects was taken during Tuesday’s meeting.