By Moses Leos III

Questions surrounding the scope of an emergency preparedness center (EPC) within Buda’s new municipal facility led city leaders to delay approving a $22 million total cost estimate for the project.

Without the full cost for the EPC, Mayor Todd Ruge said council approving an estimate on the entire municipal facility at this time wasn’t a prudent decision. 

“We’re not going to vote on citizens’ tax dollars on an unknown without having somewhat of an idea of what the price is going to be,” Ruge said. “We need to have a guesstimate of the amount of money we need to spend on (the facility) to get what we want.”

Page Architects, the company hired to guide the design of the new facility, presented an update at the last city council meeting on the schematic design process.

The city’s new municipal facility, located on 8.6 acres of land along North Loop 4, is projected to encompass 68,039 square feet and will house a new city hall, library and public safety building.

The facility made up the first of five propositions Buda voters approved as part of the city’s $55 million bond in 2014.

According to a representative from Page Architects, the potential cost of an EPC was “built into the budget discussed during programming.” The EPC was designed to seat 130 people.

But the “full scope” of the cost for the EPC was not given, as Page Architects and other consulting firms were going to “go back” and determine that factor.

City Manager Kenneth Williams said April 19 he had “other expectations with this part of the building” to function as an Emergency Operations Center (EOC). According to an ECM representative, there were differences in the cost between an EOC and EPC.

Williams said having an EOC is an “essential part of the building” and is one of the “most important parts,” as it was stated within the bond proposition.

“If we aren’t planning for these essentials, questions need to be answered,” Williams said. “We need more than a room with chairs.”

Councilmember Bobby Lane said he “could live with the fact the EPC is built into the estimate” if the design was only for it.

“If the EPC is more than the original estimate … we don’t have that number to deal with,” he said April 19.

Ruge said he was “disappointed” in the lack of solid numbers for the EPC. He said council was concerned there wasn’t a price for that part of the facility, and that “to have nothing there wasn’t acceptable.”

“We don’t throw caution to the wind and vote on something we don’t know about,” Ruge said. He added he hoped to see an EOC with computers and a backup generator, which can be used by the city in the event of an emergency.

While he said council “wants to get this done quickly” and meet its October 2017 timeframe, Ruge said he didn’t mind taking a few more weeks to get the information.

Page Architects is slated to bring back an estimate on the EOC May 3.

“I want quality over the speed (of the project) at this point,” Ruge said.

But Ruge said the overall facility design was “in line where we thought it would be.”

The new facility will house a 16,000 state-of-the art library, and a city council chamber that can hold 100 people.

In addition, the facility will be designed within the 500-year flood plain plus one foot.

“I’m very pleased with design … it’s been well received by council and bond council,” Ruge said. “It’s not your typical four wall, white limestone building that you see across the state and region. It’s very unique.”

Schematic design estimate for Buda’s new municipal facility 

Total square footage – 68,039 

Municipal building – 53,839 square feet 

Public Safety Building – 14,200 square feet 

Total construction cost – $22,229,849 ($329.72 unit cost) 

Sitework – $4,285,705 

Municipal building – $14,086,149  

Public Safety Building – $3,857,995

Other items for consideration 

Second floor terrace at Administration – $75,000 to $85,000

Emergency Preparedness Center – Yet to be determined 

Rainwater collection for irrigation – $280,000 to $325,000

Emergency Power for EPC and essential offices and buildings –  Further study required 

Solar Panels – Further study required for total cost