“We have not placed this project on hold and have no intention of doing so,” Green said.
Green characterized an article in Thursday’s edition of the Telegram as not being factual or fair - particularly in saying that an architect’s feasibility study indicated the project was not feasible.
The city council authorized the purchase in November 2006 and the city closed a sale and took ownership Dec. 28, 2006, for a price of $2 million. A lease agreement with the church allows it to stay in the property rent-free until July 2008 with an option for an additional six months at $100 per day.
The council hired architect David Mills with F&S Partners in Dallas to provide a plan for rehabbing the structure into office space for use by city offices and county owned and independent human service agencies.
Mills told the Telegram on Wednesday the project would mean gutting the interior and starting over to cure functional obsolescence, meet requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act and to simplify the floor plan.
Mills would not reveal his estimate of a projected cost. He said he met with the city manager and mayor a week ago and was told the city might wait until after the May elections to make a decision.
Mayor Tim Hancock told the Telegram on Wednesday he had not been at the meeting and did not know about it and perhaps Mills mistook someone else for him.
Green said the meeting included two staff members, Leslie Hinkle and Don Christian, and himself along with Mills. He bridled at the statement that Hancock had been there and said it was not customary for a council member to attend a staff meeting. Hancock is a non-voting member of the council.“There seems to be some ignoring of the truth or an attempt to report something that is not true,” Green said. “I have expressed my dissatisfaction to F&S Partners and I’m expecting that company will make a professional retraction of those comments if they intend to continue to do business with the city.”
Green was asked if Mills submitted a report on the cost to convert the church.
“He prepared several draft scenarios, none of which I was comfortable taking to committee,” Green said. “I consider this project ongoing. Ongoing means we have not reached the point where recommendations are ready to be presented to a council committee.”
He said he was amazed when Mills brought him some alternate, unsolicited scenarios, including a plan to build a new structure of 51,000 square feet at a cost of $11 million. He said the term “functional obsolescence” had never come up before.
“He has never briefed me that the building is functionally obsolete,” Green said. “I was aware he said we should make improvements to heating and cooling, roof work, ADA compliance and some of the infrastructure needs to be converted to commercial use. That is different from saying a building is functionally obsolete. I would consider that these items are maintenance.”
Green said he would not share the reports discussed last week or the cost of the various scenarios because they are preliminary, not final reports.
“That is our policy. I will be glad to give you a final report when one is available,” he said.
Green said his timeline for presenting a final report to committee is sometime between now and when the church moves out and after he has a final plan that he is comfortable with.
He said he told Mills that after the first of the year he had to take up issues with a new fire station, animal control facility, police headquarters, family recreation and senior center facility and on launching a new strategic plan and he would likely get back to him after the May election.
“We have a lot on our plate,” Green said. “You have to look at it in the context of our other projects.
He said the church project wasn’t moving at a slow pace. It’s moving at a normal pace.
nhclark@temple-telegram.com
