Local News

County building's fate to be decided this week
BY JEFFREY GAUTREAUX, SUN STAFF WRITER
Published on: January 14, 2007

Since 2004, Yuma County has been wrestling with what to do about its county administration building. But Wednesday, inside that very building at 198 S. Main St., that wrestling is expected to end.

County Administrator David Garcia says county staff members have been investigating options for remodeling the current building, renovating a different, existing building or constructing a new building from the ground up — but now they need a definite direction from the board of supervisors during the regular meeting at 9 a.m. Wednesday

"We just need to make a decision," Garcia said.

In 2004, the supervisors approved a $4 million plan to fully remodel the current building. That project moved slowly because of delays in finishing the Yuma Historic Courthouse, which would have been used as temporary offices during the work.

Those extended delays led supervisors to decide only to remodel the basement and first floor and also directed staff to look at locations downtown for building a new facility. Garcia said constructing a new building between 40,000 and 50,000 square feet in size would cost about $10 million.

Garcia said other county departments, such as the assessor’s office, recorder and treasurer, that need more space could be housed in the new building as well.

County staff has provided the board with six proposed downtown sites for a new administration building, although Garcia said "some are more viable than others."

The sites include 3.3 acres owned by Union Pacific on Madison Avenue between Giss Parkway and 5th Street; 9.8 acres just north of the curve where Giss Parkway becomes 8th Street; a total of nearly 8 acres in two parcels owned by the city of Yuma on both sides of Madison Avenue north of 1st Street; 3.3 acres owned by the city northwest of 1st Street and 2nd Avenue; and 3.8 acres of city property northwest of 4th Street and 2nd Avenue. The last parcel is a possible site for a Yuma Fire Department station, according to the county documents.

In other business, the board is scheduled to hold a public hearing on a minor amendment land use change to the Dome Valley/Wellton Planning Area of the Yuma County 2010 Comprehensive Plan for the proposed Agrinext Ethanol plant. The change would be from Agriculture Rural Preservation to Heavy Industrial.

The plant is proposed for 19.9 acres at the northwest corner of Highway 80 and Avenue 47-3/4 near Tacna. Also, the supervisors will hold a public hearing on rezoning the property for the plant from Rural Area-40 acre minimum to Intensive Industrial.

Jeffrey Gautreaux can be reached at jgautreaux@yumasun.com or 539-6858.



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