New building eases squeeze

Times Contributor     

 

Staff at the County administration building will be encouraged by Wheatland council’s decision to go ahead with further development on the Administrative building expansion. They also voted to support the council chamber enhancement and front office upgrades.

“From what I hear from our staff and what I see, there is definitely a need,” said Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Alan Parkin.

The pressure of additional growth in programs and staff, and accommodating WFCSS in the building, has left working areas seriously cramped. The small Protective Services office is shared by four people. File rooms have been filled to overflowing, leading to housing overflow in several file rooms throughout the building. The data copying centre sits between administrative staff desks in full view of the reception area with staff crossing other staff working areas to retrieve copies. There have been several opportunities for the county to host interns in the various departments, but they had to be refused as the space to accommodate them was not available.

“Currently the county office building houses 31 staff in 19 offices and front workstations. It is anticipated that staffing needs will be maintained or increased slightly over the next 10 years. The addition of office space will secure room for growth for the next ten years, if past and present patterns continue,” said Parkin.

The proposal is an addition of 12 metres by 40 metres on the east end of the existing building which will be designated as office space. It still leaves room for further expansion if needed in the future. A 12 metre x 12 meter addition to the west end of the building will house a multiuse space used for meetings, an Emergency Operation Centre, or training. Five existing office spaces will be reduced to two, to allow access corridors for the new spaces, and the expropriated three offices will be relocated in the East wing. There will also be improved storage spaces and multiuse areas.

Safety and security concerns will see improvements to the front reception area, so that workers can feel safe if required to work evenings. There will be a new visitor policy that will help locate them in the building in the event of an emergency. The Protective Services manager briefed council on several initiatives that he was working on and it is expected a security system will be in place after renovations take place. Council made it clear that they wanted the public to feel welcome and architectural space should reflect that attitude in any of the new designs and policies.

Council approved moving ahead with architectural drawings and requested a cost analysis, so they could consult further with the public. They hope to gather feedback at an open house and from comments on the county website. Parkin is hoping new architectural drawings will make clear how the expansion will better serve county needs, now and for ten years to come. 

Parkin said this project will be funded from reserves and/or Provincial grants. Current tax revenue will not be utilized to fund this project. No increase in taxes from current or future years will be required to fund this project. The Council upgrades are approximated at $345,000 with the total project estimated at $1.5 Million. 

Council was hoping to have the drawings and open house prior to the fall elections.