$2.34 million remodel slated for former planning/public works building

Nye County has been casting about for ways to provide more adequate space for its staff and with a $2.34 million remodel contract awarded for what once housed planning, public works and building and safety, several departments are set to be shifted to new locations.

However, before construction can commence on the building at 250 N. Highway 160, the county has to decide on a funding source to support the project.

“You are completely flexible moving forward as to what funds you want take that from. But just understand that if you do this, you are going to be committing to this $2.34 million bid,” Nye County District Attorney Brian Kunzi told the Nye County Commission during its June 18 meeting.

The board was discussing two bid proposals, both from Double M Construction. The first was for $2.5 million for a renovation of the building with a fire sprinkler system included, while the second was for $2.34 million with the remodel only. Double M Construction General Contractor Russ Meads explained that the second bid was created because his team had reevaluated the space and determined that it would not be needed per code.

“The building is not as big as what it was alleged to be, which we found out after we measured it all, which helped in terms of the code. Once I realized that it was a little smaller, it allowed us, through a frontage increase in the code… we were able to gain almost 40% additional area, which allows us to be inside this unsprinkled safety margin,” Meads said.

“The approach we took in getting this together was a complete demolish inside,” he detailed. “The only thing that will be remaining inside of the building is, there are three interior, solid-grout block walls. Those will stay but everything else will go - insulation, wiring, flooring, a 100% gut and rebuild… Inside when you walk into this building, it will be an up-to-date, brand-new, as if it was from scratch, building. You would never know it was a remodeled building, similar to the One-Stop Shop here at the Eye.”

The county was originally hoping to secure a $1 million grant from the U.S. Centers of Disease Control to support the project but that fell through. Nye County Comptroller Elizabeth Jordan said there were three main options available to the county when it came to finding the money to fund the remodel.

The first would be to utilize dollars from the $12 million Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund allocation the county is receiving. Alternately, the county could consider pulling funding earmarked for other projects that have not yet gone out to bid.

The third option would be to simply not move forward with the project. This was not the preferred option, as the county’s finance department and the Nye County Water District are currently housed in a facility that is no longer suitable for the health and safety of the employees. With the remodel complete, Nye County Health and Human Services could be moved into the newly renovated space and the finance department and water district could relocate to HHS’ vacated space.

There was plenty of discussion generated by the item. Commissioners bounced around a multitude of potential funding sources, prompting debate on the merits of each. In the end, the board concluded that the project was important enough to move forward without immediately identifying where the costs would be borne.

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com