THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 20, 1994 TAG: 9409200308
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
Dare County officials should begin looking for land on which to build an administrative office complex, Dare County Board of Commissioners Chairman Robert V. ``Bobby'' Owens Jr. said Monday.
``We should proceed with caution on this,'' Owens said. ``But we should move as rapidly as possible on planning for this project.''
At their regular bimonthly meeting Monday, commissioners asked their finance director to begin advertising requests for architectural firms that would assist in planning for the new buildings.
County Planning Director Ray Sturza said no timetable has yet been set to choose a site or begin construction.
But the county's estimated 500 employees need a new place to work.
``Much of our complex is aging out,'' Sturza said of the county office buildings, most of which are located in downtown Manteo. ``It's time for the county to start looking for an upgrade.''
In 1988, county officials contracted a site selection study to determine where a county-owned office complex should be located. Currently, the county leases at least 15 buildings and lots. Annual rent totals more than $350,000.
``For what we're paying in leases, we could probably come pretty close to financing the debt service on an entire new complex,'' Sturza said. ``Then, at least, the county would own its buildings. That would be quite an asset - especially instead of continuing to pour out rent money.''
The 6-year-old site selection study suggested places in Manteo and Kill Devil Hills for the proposed county office complex, Sturza said, but officials have since decided that the county buildings should remain on Roanoke Island because moving a county seat to a new town would require approval from the North Carolina General Assembly. All county satellite offices will remain open at their current north beach and Hatteras Island locations.
``We're only looking at Roanoke Island sites now,'' said Sturza, who did not know how much land would be needed for the county complex. ``The existing site is even an option. We could construct new buildings on the land we already own, and demolish the offices we have now.''
In planning for the new administrative complex, Sturza said officials are going to look at their current space needs and add 5 percent. The site will be big enough for future expansion. But the building - probably 100,000 square feet or larger - will only be slightly larger than what is currently needed.
The 1988 study looked at constructing a facility much larger than what the county needed at the time, Sturza said.
Transitions between elected board members - and the county's $9 million Roanoke Island jail which opened in November 1992 - put the county office complex on hold.
``We're shooting for one big building now. But after the squabble over the new jail's cost, we're not planning to construct any more space than is necessary,'' Sturza said.
``We're looking for a Chevrolet this time - not a Cadillac.''
In other action Monday, the Dare County Board of Commissioners:
Welcomed former Hampton Roads newsman and Currituck County spokesman Charles Hartig as Dare County's new Public Relations Coordinator. Hartig, who was selected over 50 other applicants for the long-vacant position, began work Monday in his new office in the Administrative Building. He encourages anyone from the public to call, promises not to screen calls, and said he will return every message. Hartig's telephone number is (919) 473-1101, ext. 355.
Voted 6-0 (County Commissioner Sammy Smith did not attend Monday's meeting) to appropriate $6,000 for lights at the county's Kill Devil Hills soccer field. More than 900 Dare County youth currently are signed up for the soccer program. The money came from the Dare County Girls Softball Babe Ruth League, which returned $6,000 that it did not use from a spring appropriation.
Heard that county funds paid for seven people to travel to Louisiana this past weekend to try to convince Babe Ruth baseball officials to hold the 1996 summer World Series on the Outer Banks. County Manager Terry Wheeler, who went on the trip with several others who are not county employees, said he did not know yet how much the four-day excursion cost. Next month, Babe Ruth officials plan to visit Dare County to meet with tourism officials, Chamber of Commerce leaders and view the Manteo High School ballfield, where all of the games would be played. If the Babe Ruth league holds its World Series in Manteo, hundreds of 16- to 18-year-old boys and their families would arrive on the Outer Banks in August 1996. by CNB