By Traci Chapman
Published on June 5, 2008

Staff “crammed in everywhere” at the Gary E. Miller Canadian County Children’s Justice Center could see some relief, as officials moved forward Monday with plans to expand the facility.

The 8,800-square-foot addition of office space — with an estimated price tag of about $1.5 million — would provide offices for about 19 employees, Director Joan South said. Those employees, all working in the behavioral health services and comprehensive home-based services departments, are unable to operate at “peak efficiency” because of their office situations, she said.

“Our CHBS and clerical staff that support them are all in a classroom in our alternative school, and the CHBS supervisor is temporarily in a small office in the school,” South said. “Our behavioral health people — counselors — are currently in the main building and are forced to share offices. There is a problem with that because of the necessary confidentiality in seeing clients. When one counselor needs to meet with a client, their office mate must leave. It’s causing a big hardship.”

South said the expansion would include construction of a multi-purpose room, which she said could be used for training and group meetings.

“As we continue to grow, that could really be useful for the entire facility,” she said.

County Commissioners approved expansion plans during their monthly Public Facilities Authority meeting. The project will be funded with money held in a reserve account specifically designated for projects and operations at the juvenile center, District 3 Commissioner Grant Hedrick said.

Attorney Andy Bass said the account has a balance of about $2.5 million, including unused bond money left over from the 2002 bond issue. Bass said funding the construction would still leave the authority with a cushion for operations at the center, should sales tax revenues drop.

“You have to have some decent reserves for operations, as well as construction and future expansion. You have to make sure you don’t spend your last penny in case they lose a contract out there with the state or something; we don’t want to have to start shutting stuff down out there just overnight. You need about a million in operating reserves. That leaves you about $1.5 (million) in expansion reserves,” Bass said.
“You’ve got about $2.5 million in reserves now that you set aside partially for this project.”

Officials put the project on hold last year, Hedrick said, to give them time to decide where the new offices should be located.

Bond issue money paid for the construction of the first phase of the facility’s expansion — the group home, Hedrick said, and kept the balance of the funds in reserve while “looking at how the center expansion should proceed.”

Architect Alvin Nicek said he designed a single-level addition that will utilize a “long” outside wall adjacent to the facility’s school.

“We’re getting a pretty good cost savings from that,” Nicek said. “The real cost of the project will really depend on what bid prices we get and how hungry contractors are when we’re ready to bid it.”

Nicek said he expected construction to begin in August or September and fluctuations in the economy could change the final cost of the project.

“What’s going to happen between now and September is anyone’s guess. Construction is very tied to fuel prices. We have 10-percent inflation now,” he said. “I put the numbers to it, that puts us under $1.4 million. That’s probably the very best price. I really think we’re looking at closer to $1.5 (million).

“We might get lucky — we might hit it at $1.25 or $1.3 million,” Nicek said. “I just don’t want to give you that number and then come in significantly higher.”