- April 24, 2024
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Flagler County's planned new public library branch in Bunnell is moving forward: County Commissioners at an April 18 meeting voted 4-1 to approve a $937,853 contract for full design of the library mixed-use facility, which will be built near the Wendy's restaurant on State Road 100 at Commerce Parkway.
"We've put things off long enough. We want to be proactive and not reactive."
— JOE MULLINS, county commisioner
Commissioner Andy Dance voted against the contact with Orlando-based Rhodes & Brito Architects, saying he'd prefer that the commission finish its strategic planning process before approving such a major expense.
"I just want to be the speed bump on this, and continue to look at our total needs before I spend a million dollars on design fees, which could come after we do our strategic planning," Dance said. "It's just my personal opinion. I know the rest of the commission has been at this project a lot longer than me, so I understand their need to proceed."
County Commissioner Joe Mullins said it was time to move forward.
"We've been talking about it for many years, and I know the strategic plan's important, but I certainly don't want to see us postpone business and delay things," Mullins said. "We've put things off long enough. We want to be proactive and not reactive to things."
Dance asked about how the $937,853 figure was calculated.
Flagler County Library Director Holly Albanese said she'd asked the architect that question, and was told that design fees are calculated in accordance with Florida Department of Management Services guidelines, based on estimated construction costs, plus civil engineering and landscape architecture fees.
The library's construction cost as used in that calculation is approximately $12 million (contingencies and various "soft costs" bring the actual total up to $16 million), which led to a calculated design fee of $840,000, plus an estimated $300,000 for civil engineering and landscape architecture, for a total of approximately $1.1 million, which the firm pushed down to $937,853 by getting subcontractors to reduce costs, Albanese said.
The county also retained Rhodes & Brito Architects last year for preliminary design, spending $42,116 for site investigation and master planning, plus $12,288 for a revised site plan after the county decided to incorporate additional county programs and functions into the planned library facility.
