The first step toward a Los Alamos County Municipal/Judicial/Public Safety Complex, revamped or new, was approved by all seven county councilors Tuesday evening.

Assistant County Administrator Diana Stepan explained that the current municipal building is plagued with structural, electrical and mechanical problems including problems caused by the heating and air conditioning system.

"The mechanical problems are the result of interior wall modifications without consideration to the HVAC system," she said. "Some of the other problems include the building's insulation, water pipe problems, the ventilation system and the location of the electrical panels."

With regard to the facility's electrical problems, Stepan told the board that the distribution panel board is completely full. No spare circuits are available and the feeder breakers trip regularly.

She said the wiring is almost four decades old and its condition is questionable.

There is also fire and safety concern surrounding short-circuiting that fails to trip switches.

And on top of all that, Stepan said the building's grounding is questionable.

In 2004, the estimated cost of repairs for the mechanical and electrical deficiencies were $1.7 million, with only a 10 percent contingency and no escalation rate included.

"The structural issues almost cause us more concern," Stepan said. "We can't place heavy files or furniture on the second floor because the vertical load carrying capacity is overstressed resulting in permanent slab deformation."

Photos were shown of many cracks in the building's interior walls and in windows just installed in July.

Last year the county remodeled the council chambers at a cost of $500,000.

Stepan also said the building also lacks earthquake resistance.

The Municipal Building is 38 years old and the police station is 30 years old.

Both Mahlman & Miles and ASCG Inc. independently determined that the cost of remodeling to improve layout and operational inefficiencies was close to the price tag for a brand new facility.

Stepan said remodeling could actually cost $3 million-$6 million more than a new facility, which is estimated at about $70 million.

"It's generally cheaper to remodel but that's based on the premise that they are starting with a sound structural foundation and that is not the case here," Stepan said.

Options for the project include:



Construct all new buildings. Municipal, safety and judicial.


Remodel municipal building.


Remodel police station.


Lease office space.


Consider community building site for centralized customer service center.


Any combination of the above.


Or pursue a lease-purchase option.

Stepan told the board that the proposed complex would include:


A municipal building to house current county departments plus branch offices under one roof.


A public safety complex for the police station, jail and fire administration.


A judicial complex for the municipal, district and magistrate courts.

The project would improve resident services by centralizing all county functions in one convenient location, she said.

The project also would free up valuable commercial development space for the creation of new and improved retail space to serve Los Alamos residents, according to Stepan's presentation.

She said some important points to note about the project are:


The county could receive financial assistance from the state for construction of new judicial complex.


The county would receive annual lease revenues from the state for use of the judicial complex by the magistrate court.


The county could receive reimbursement from the NNSA/DOE for having county-owned spaced that is occupied by the fire administration.

Council Chair Fran Berting, Council Vice Chair Michael Wheeler and councilors Nona Bowman, Jim Hall, Ken Milder, Jim West and Michael Wismer directed staff to take the necessary steps to proceed with the schematic design of the complex in accordance with policy direction.

Council further directed staff to initiate the steps necessary to implement the other 2/8ths of Gross Receipts Tax planned for this project to be effective July 1. 2006.

Council also passed an amendment to the existing professional service agreement with ASCG, which increases compensation to $4,508,011. That amount does not include applicable GRT for the purposes of space and adjacency studies, schematic design, final design and construction administration for the airport site and the Trinity Site Relocation Project.

The councilors voted to approve the construction of a replacement wastewater treatment plant.

They approved the amount of $11,458,100, plus applicable GRT, for an entire project budget of $16,585,000 including project contingency funds of $742,143 with GRT.

And council gave the go ahead for the creation of a sculpture at Entry Park. They postponed a vote on the White Rock gateway project until a future date to allow time for other issues to be resolved.

The council meeting will hold a strategic planning update meeting at 8:30 a.m. Friday at Fuller Lodge.