County Attorney Tim Scannell has been reviewing a contract with Orb Management Corporation, the consulting firm recommended by the Community Center Steering Committee to represent the county through the process of building a new community center/pool facility.
At the Tuesday, October 12, 2010 county board meeting, Commissioner Jan Hall expressed frustration that they would hire another consultant when so much was spent on consulting last year when the 1% Sales and Use Tax Committee was contemplating what would be included in the list of projects approved for funding by the new tax and how much each one might cost. At that time, consultant Mike Fischer of LHB helped the committee come up with a possible plan for what the facility might include.
Commissioner Bob Fenwick said he thinks the Community Center Committee needs the help of a consulting firm to outline a plan that they can then propose to the county board for its approval.
Hakes ” Grand Marais Mayor and county commissioner candidate Sue Hakes, on the Community Center Steering Committee, said Orb Management can help them plan a facility the community can afford to operate and maintain. They will be using the information and documents that came out of the previous process, she said. “We don’t want to have to reinvent the wheel if we don’t have to,” she said.
The operating costs of an $8-9,000,000 building would cost the same amount of money the community currently spends on the same amenities that are in different locations now, such as the current pool and current community center, Commissioner Fenwick said.
Attorney Scannell supported the notion of hiring a consulting firm at this point in the process. “Theywill help facilitate a much more efficient process,” he said.
Commissioner Fritz Sobanja said he thinks the steering committee should narrow down its ideas before paying a consulting firm to get involved.
Orb would be able to look at what has been discussed so far and tell the steering committee what’s feasible and what’s not, Commissioner Fenwick said. “What we want to hear from the professionals is, ‘This you can do and this you cannot,’” he said. “We’ll get it done that way.”
The county attorney will bring the contract to the county board when he is done reviewing it.
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