Expensive update

By Carolyn Reid

FALMOUTH — Schedules synced last Thursday night to allow Tyson Hermes of Hermes Construction to appear once again at the Falmouth City Council meeting. Hermes Construction is the consultant hired by former mayor Sebastian Ernst “to help develop a plan and a budget for the proposed community center in the old school on Chapel Street,” as he reminded all council members last night.

Hermes spent time orienting the council as far as the building itself, using maps drawings of each floor and also the outside of the structure in order to clarify the initial plans and his findings as he has continued the work of estimating the costs of the entire task of renovating the nearly 100-year-old structure to make it a community center.

The planning includes a police department, rental space, room for the Pendleton County Patriots, a basketball court, a multi-use stage, a place for the Falmouth Rec Committee, ADA-compliant restrooms on the first floor, a youth room and rental spaces on the second floor, and a gym, storage, and public restrooms in the basement.

After discussing the new roof which has prevented many leaks (this was top priority) since it was completed, Hermes turned to unexpected findings. Due to the windows being broken, more moisture is seeping in, and animals still have multiple accesses to the inside of the building where they are doing more damage.

The elevator in the front of the building needs substantial repairs, and the crew also found a crack in the southwest corner of the building that extends from the basement to the roof.

The findings in the code review called for a plan for fire suppression. Hermes explained the floor space is 17,542 gross square foot per floor. The building is fine for business or education use group, he said, but it is too large for the purposes proposed by the city as a community center. The maximum for that use is 16,625 square feet.

With those findings, Hermes gave the options of a sprinkler system or fire barriers. The sprinkler system would cost approximately $700,000 while the fire barriers would cost around $250,000.

With the fire barriers, a portion of each floor could possibly be sectioned off for business, city administration, education, and assembly.

After presenting the findings using only the fire barriers and doors and including plaster patching and insulation ($105,000), an elevator allowance ($100,000, and needed only if the upper areas are public), exterior crack repair ($100,000), along with electric, HVAC, plumbing and finishes ($225,000), the total to get prepared for a minimal opening would be $880,000 estimated, and that does not include other unexpected discoveries along the way.

Councilperson Amy Hurst asked how much of the building would be ready to open at that total. “A quarter to a half of one floor?” she suggested, and Hermes agreed.

Councilperson Sabrina Hazen asked how much the city would have to spend to complete the entire building, and he answered he was being paid for the time he was putting in to make the estimations that, over time, could be inaccurate due to the time it would take to complete the building, the cost of materials, and the possible discovery of more damage and updating they have not encountered yet.

Hermes suggested going forward to phase the work prioritizing windows, then reviewing the goals and budgeting accordingly.

The idea includes keying future leaders in on the vision and goals of the project.

ANIMAL CONTROL

Animal control and planning and zoning, both at one time interlocal agreements with the county, were addressed by Mayor Luke Price and the council. Brian Thompson, the new city planning and zoning administrator as well as the flood plain administrator, is already doing the job for less than the proposed rate for an agreement with the county, Price said.

Animal control still has its rough edges. Pendleton County Fiscal Court, in its caucus, addressed the city’s ordinances that mention cats and livestock as part of animal control, but animal control is not equipped to address those ordinances. . .

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