Benicia takes first step in design of new center

Benicia takes first step in design of new center
By Tony Burchyns
Posted: 04/25/2009

BENICIA -- The City Council has approved environmental design work for a new community center that could increase the project's upfront costs.

But nobody's sure where the money will come from to build the center, prompting some elected officials to offer ideas ranging from loans to seeking voter approval for a bond measure.

The much-anticipated center will be housed at the shuttered Mills Elementary School on East L Street. The city has already spent about $700,000 to gut the facility. It continues to spend $10,000 a month to lease the abandoned facility from the Benicia Unified School District.

For now, the project's total estimated cost stands at about $4.6 million.

The Benicia City Council on Tuesday ordered construction drawings that meet national Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards.

The cost: About $235,000.

City officials say the revised plans would probably raise upfront construction costs once big-ticket items such as solar panels and other green elements are factored. Financing mechanisms, combined with energy savings, could make it a wash, though.

Even if the poor economy allows for lower-than-expected construction bids, "Nobody has any idea where the money will come from to build the thing," Vice Mayor Tom Campbell said Friday.

Mayor Elizabeth Patterson said there are ways for the city to raise the money despite the economy, such as borrowing money from the reserve fund. Or, she said, the council could ask voters to approve a bond measure or establish a community assessment district to foot the bill.

"There are tools out there," Patterson said. "We, the community, need to decide what the best tool is."

Meantime, the council may decide during its May-June budget review to move ahead on an early construction phase costing an estimated $600,000 or more.

"We'd prefer to build all at once, but we recognize the economic challenges," said Mario Giuliani, management analyst for the Benicia Parks and Community Services Department. "Staff has prepared a phased approach so that the wing closest to K Street could be used by the scouts and the city."

The phase could be finished by January or February, Giuliani said.

If the city finds money to finish the whole project, it could be completed within a year.

But nobody's holding their breath.

E-mail Tony Burchyns at tburchyns@thnewsnet.com or call 553-6831.