April 9, 2010 Special meeting minutes

Minutes of the Board of Ward County Commissioners

Special Meeting

April 9, 2010

 

A special meeting of the Ward County Commission was called to order by Chairman Christianson at 9:01 a.m. with Comms. Fjeldahl, Gruenberg, Erickson and Nybakken present.  Also present were Auditor/Treasurer Smestad and Donald Davison of DLA Architects.

 

Comm. Gruenberg suggested that any buildings without adequate parking be removed from consideration.

 

The Minot Building (aka Midwest Federal Building) was the first reviewed.  Although there is sufficient space within the building, the parking is not adequate.  There is a proposed plan to build a parking garage so it was decided to keep the M Building on the list for a 30-day review.

 

The eTelecare building was removed from consideration given that there is only 20,861 square feet of usable space available.

 

River of Life Church was kept on the list for consideration as it has adequate space and parking.

 

The Enerbase building was removed from consideration as it would require costly renovation in order for it to be used as office space.

 

The Trinity building was kept on the list for further review.  It has many positive qualities including close proximity to the Courthouse, a parking garage, and adequate square footage.  Comm. Gruenberg stated that remodeling could be difficult due to the age of the building.

 

St. Leo’s Community Center was removed from consideration as there is not adequate parking available.

 

The US Bank building was removed from consideration due to lack of parking and inadequate square footage.

 

There was discussion regarding the possibility of a lease/purchase option for some of the properties.  Joe VanEst and Byron Lindbo of River of Life Church stated that they were unaware of this option. Chairman Christianson asked Auditor/Treasurer Smestad work with the State’s Attorney’s office regarding the possibility of a lease/purchase option.

 

Comm. Fjeldahl asked for a review of the County’s agreement with Don Davison and DLA Architects.  Davison stated that the initial assessment was provided for a fixed fee and current work is being billed on an hourly rate.

 

Moved by Comm. Gruenberg, seconded by Comm. Nybakken to continue under the original contract with DLA Architects.  Roll call vote: all voted yes; motion carried.

 

Moved by Comm. Gruenberg, seconded by Comm. Nybakken to set a special meeting on May 7th at 9:00 a.m. to continue the building space needs discussion.  Roll call vote: all voted yes; motion carried.

 

At 10:01 a.m. with no further business, the meeting was adjourned.

 

ACCEPTED AND APPROVED THIS 20TH DAY OF APRIL, 2010.

 

s/ Bruce I Christianson

Chairman, Ward County Board of Commissioners

 

ATTEST:

s/ Devra Smestad

Auditor/Treasurer, Ward County