During its regular meeting on Aug. 5, the Archuleta County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) unanimously approved entering into a lease agreement with Wyndham Vacation Resorts Inc. for temporary office space for multiple county offices.
During a work session held earlier in the day, County Attorney Cathleen Giovannini explained that the county had been working with Wyndham for the past month negotiating a lease for the building located at the corner of Village Drive and Talisman Drive.
She indicated that Wyndham performed a study and found that a market rate for renting its building would be $13,000, but that it agreed to lease the building to the county for $6,500.
Giovannini also noted the lease would be for a two-year term, and that the county will also have the option to purchase the property at any point if it chooses to do so.
“We also have a right to purchase that property,” she said, explaining the county will have the first right of refusal on the property.
She mentioned that state election officials visited the county’s office spaces in the building located at 449 San Juan St.
A June 12 arson incident led to the county vacating those office spaces.
“And there were some concerns about our building even if we were able to get in right now,” she said, noting that the county has also been working with insurance companies and the building’s owner, Ronnie Urbanczyk, filing claims to get the building cleaned up.
Giovannini noted that the election officials saw the Wyndham building as well and were pleased with the accessibility of it for the public.
Prior to voting on the matter during the regular meeting, Commissioner John Ranson commented that he was “glad” to have the option to purchase the Wyndham building.
“We don’t know where the longer-term building plans are gonna be with the admin building, but we don’t want to get stuck again,” he added, noting it will be a “good option” for the county to have if it is not ready to move into a new admin building in two years.
“I think that’s gonna be very difficult on a two-year timeframe,” Ranson said, adding, “It may take care of our long-term needs at a very, very reduced price compared to building.”
Commissioner Warren Brown explained that he had previously voted against moving the county offices uptown, and that “it was just a cost point on that, and that ship has sailed.”
He explained the majority of commissioners spoke “and we need to move forward and we need to get this done.”
Brown and Ranson both voted in favor of entering into the lease with Wyndham.
Commissioner Veronica Medina exited the meeting prior to hearing the matter, citing a “family emergency.”
Insurance claims
During the same meeting, the BoCC also unanimously approved the release of insurance funds from County Technical Services Inc. to Urbanczyk “specifically for clean up and restoration of the physical building in the amount of $311,803.41,” as stated in the meeting’s agenda.
During the work session, Giovannini also provided the BoCC with information in regard to insurance claims on the 449 San Juan St. building, explaining there are three portions involved with the county’s insurance claim.
She explained that the first portion is for alleviation, mitigation and restoration of the building, while the second portion deals with personal property.
“Some of that was pretty valuable,” she said, specifically noting items such as the county’s Dominion Voting System machines and county records that were damaged in the fire.
The third portion deals with relocation costs for the county, Giovannini mentioned.
“That is something we were also insured for,” she said, explaining that it will take significant time to repair the building.
She also explained that the county received and accepted the lowest bid from a local company to perform repairs and cleanup, which was estimated at $391,000.
She noted the insurance company “cut a check” for 80 percent for the “building cost alone,” and that there are still large portions of the claim still outstanding.
Medina explained that the county has to give permission to release the funds, but that the insurance company is saying those funds are specifically for the building.
“So, those funds technically are not our funds; we do have to release them to Mr. Urbanczyk,” she said.
clayton@pagosasun.com
