New homeless shelter price tag: $1.2 million
KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER
Building a new overnight homeless shelter on Stock Island will cost Key West taxpayers an estimated $1.2 million, according to an engineering report delivered to city commissioners on May 5.
Gary Volenec, a civil engineers in the Key West Engineering Department, had drawn up a preliminary site plan and cost estimates requested by commissioners after they narrowly voted on Feb. 3 to move the existing Keys Overnight Temporary Shelter (KOTS) from its current location at 5537 College Road to a site a few hundred yards down the road in back of the former Easter Seals building, 5220 College Road. Key West officials are under pressure to find another location for KOTS because of a lawsuit won earlier by the nearby Sunset Marina homeowners, who sued alleging the city didn’t adhere to its own permitting rules when deciding to install the shelter next to the marina and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department on College Road. A judge ruled that the city must make a “good faith effort” to find another location.
That “good faith effort” has dragged on for more than three years, as commissioners heatedly debated where the new KOTS facility should go. But now that the location issue has been settled, the new challenge is where to find the money, an estimated $1.2 million, to build a shelter.
“Where is the money going to come to pay for this,” asked Commissioner Mark Rossi after Volenec’s presentation. “Who’s going to pay for this?”
City Manager Jim Scholl told Rossi that the city is continuing its efforts to convince Monroe County officials to kick in at least 50 percent of the annual $440,000 operating cost for the currently shelter. Scholl said he has also asked for the same 50 percent contribution from the county for the “upfront costs.”
“The more we had the plan together, the more we’ll have opportunities to find [financial] support,” Scholl said.
“This is the start of the conversation” with county officials, added Commissioner Teri Johnston.
The preliminary building plan presented by Volenec looked at the cost of building a design previously supported by some of the commissioners, an open-air concrete slab with a roof but no side walls. Roll-down plastic siding would serve as walls during rainstorms. The cost of that in a facility housing 120 people – down from the current 140 people the current shelter can house each night – would be $229,740. But Volenec also looked at the cost of a steel structure with a roof and walls, which came in lower at $222,000.
In addition to the lower cost, the steel sided building would provide more shelter to the homeless men and women sleeping there, he said.
“We feel going with the standard metal building, it affords better structural stability, weather protection and better security,” Volenec said, adding that the building could also be moved and/or repurposed if the city stops offering overnight shelter in the future . “It’s a lot more usable structure than an open-air canopy.”
In addition to the structural building cost, items like plumbing, laundry facilities, adding handicapped accessibility and other features boost the total to $1.2 million. But Commissioner Tony Yaniz was suspicious that the project total would run above that figure, as many other city building projects have in the past.
“Is the $1.2 million fully funded,” he asked Volenec, who responded “no” without giving details.
That prompted Yaniz to complain about some of the amenities included in the proposed plan, including lockers, landscaping and the steel walls instead of the roll-down sides.
“If that brochure gets out to the Midwest, they’ll be packing their bags and moving south,” Yaniz said.
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Just another vanity project cooked up by our local officials. What will be the real cost of this boondoggle? I’m guessing $2.5 million and the intended occupants will not use it.