Martín Bilbao / The Olympian
Thurston County may spend as much as $9.9 million to remodel a complex for its election division, according to recent estimates.
Facilities Services Manager Jason Ashe shared the cost estimate for improving the Mottman Complex during a Thursday meeting with the Board of County Commissioners.
In June, the county spent $5.6 million to buy the three-building complex at the intersection of Ferguson Street Southwest and 29th Avenue in Tumwater. Auditor Mary Hall's office previously leased space at the complex to run elections and process ballots.
With the purchase, Hall can expand to meet her space needs and consolidate her staff there ahead of the next presidential election cycle.
This would involve expanding the ballot processing center and moving voter registration services and records to an adjacent building, according to Ashe's presentation. A third building at the complex would include a maintenance shop and surplus room, he said.
Though no official cost estimate had been previously given, Assistant County Manager Robin Campbell acknowledged the remodeling costs were higher than the county hoped when it bought the property.
To manage the cost, Campbell suggested the county complete the improvements in phases starting with the ballot processing center, which will occupy the entirety of the east building.
Once that's done, she said the county could move on to establishing the voter registration center at the south building. The remaining improvements to the west and south buildings could come after that, she added.
She also floated the possibility that Hall's office could secure grant funding for its ballot processing center and voter registration improvements. While grants could help bring costs down, it's not certain the county would get them.
"Mary (Hall) is extremely interested in always looking for grants, so she will be a great partner in looking for ways to pay for this," Campbell said.
The $9.9 million estimate includes construction, site improvement and "soft costs," Ashe said. It does not include the cost of adding solar panels, which could cost an additional $100,000 per building, he added.
The south building, labeled Building 1, would house the voter registration center under the current plan. Among the improvements are adding lanes for drive-up access and a new sidewalk for pedestrians, Ashe said.
The remaining 30% of the building would be occupied by the Auditor's records department. In all, construction and improvements at this building would cost over $3.1 million.
Adding the maintenance shop to the west building, labeled Building 2, would cost about $1.7 million, Ashe said.
Most importantly, the improvements to the ballot processing center in the east building, labeled Building 3, would cost an estimated $3 million.
Lastly, soft costs, such as furnishings, sales tax, permitting fees and moving expenses, are anticipated to reach $2 million.
Commissioner Tye Menser commented on the higher-than-expected cost during the Thursday meeting.
"I'm a lot happier with the price tag of the solar panels than I am with some of this other stuff," he said. "That's a lot of additional cost that I don't think anyone anticipated."
Even in a worst-case scenario where funding may be scarce, Menser said he thinks improving the ballot processing center first will at least satisfy the key aim of the3 project.
"There are discrete pieces to this and the inability to do the last piece doesn't mean we won't get value out of the earlier pieces," he said. "The first piece we're tackling is the real driver of why we needed the complex to begin with and we still have the investment."
Considering the county's various other needs, Commissioner Gary Edwards said he is nervous an economic setback could derail these remodeling plans.
"Boy, we're taking on quite a load, without any safety mechanism," he said. "I'm worried about the future coming up with all this inflation and other things going on worldwide, but I know we can't stop doing business because of the maybes in the world."
Commissioner Carolina Mejia wasn't happy with the total cost estimate, but said she remains hopeful the county can manage it.
"The price tag makes you balk when you first see it," she said. "Maybe going through phases ... and seeing if we can get grant funding for that and get that price tag way down, that would be preferable."
County Manager Ramiro Chavez said he would bring the project back to the board in about two weeks so it could decide on next steps.
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