MONTPELIER — The Shumlin administration is taking the first concrete steps to imagine a future for the flooded-out Waterbury State Complex, but Friday it got tripped up by a panel of anxious lawmakers.
The debate that erupted before a joint panel of the House and Senate Institutions Committees was over how and when legislators will chime in on what the best option is for the state complex. Whether the answer is restoration, sale or a mix of both, it is likely the most ambitious undertaking the state has ever attempted: A 100-acre parcel with 700,000 square feet of office space and historic buildings that housed 1,500 employees before tropical storm Irene hit Aug. 28.
“This is about the 21st century. This is about the entire state. I think this process is really critical,” said Sen. Robert Hartwell, D-Bennington, chairman of the Senate panel.
“This is way bigger than anything the state has ever envisioned before,” said Rep. Linda Myers, R-Essex Junction, who worried that by the time the Legislature convened decisions would already be far along. “Are we not going to get the opportunity to say, let’s put up a red light in front of this train, maybe not a red light, but a caution?” she asked.
Rep. Jason Lorber D-Burlington, said he was worried lawmakers would be left facing a “foregone conclusion” instead of being a partner in the process.
Lawmakers weren’t just concerned about the brick-and-mortar decisions.
“I’m not seeing a space for the Legislature to be able to rethink how services are being provided,” Lorber said.
Wanda Minoli, who is principal assistant to the commissioner of buildings and general services, was left to explain the complex process the state has embarked on. She attempted to allay legislators’ fears.
“I don’t see anything different from what we have engaged in the past,” she said, insisting the Legislature would be a partner in the Waterbury decisions. “I think we have always had an open and engaged process.”
Still, Minoli was pressed for more than 90 minutes about what Rep. Alice Emmons, D-Springfield, and chairwoman of the House Institutions Committee, said was a process that appeared to be running backward.
“It’s really confusing. It’s not that it’s wrong, it’s different,” Emmons said. Lawmakers are used to vetting a specific building or project and its costs, not a massive conceptual makeover, she said.
The day was a metaphoric free-for-all with lawmakers worrying about putting the horse before the cart, whether the train would leave the station without them, and the chicken was before the egg.
The state has begun the bidding process for the complex — BGS issued an RFP (request for proposals) seeking architects interested in evaluating “return and full reuse, multi-use, new off-site building or a hybrid” plan for the complex.
Ten architectural/engineering firms or teams indicated an interest in working on the Waterbury Complex when they submitted request for information proposals. Minoli said the state was using the RFIs to gather ideas about what to do with the complex and “broaden the vision.”
The ideas the architects floated include building a flood berm to protect the complex from the Winooski River, creating an incubator space for entrepreneurs, building a University of Vermont Waterbury Campus, designing a green office campus that would be a statewide or nationwide model — and even erecting a ski jump.
Minoli explained that the state has developed a tight timeline for the RFPs with bids due Dec. 6 and a contract executed by Jan. 3, 2012. But unlike most RFP processes, in this case the state is not asking for bids and costs on a specific building or detailed project, but essentially a feasibility study and for a firm or teams to work with the state.
“Because of the size and scope of what has occurred, we may need to engage more than one team,” she said, noting the need for varied expertise at the site, which could include flood proofing, engineering, commercial reuse and development, historic building redevelopment, and more.
(As Sen. Joe Benning, R-Lyndonville joked about the floodplain issue, one need might be “high-quality Dutch engineers.”)
That the state would hire a team without knowing what the team would work on stymied lawmakers.
“It’s hard for me to understand the picking first,” said Rep. Joan Lenes, D-Shelburne. “It strikes me that guidance needs to be provided on how we want our state services to function and where we want them to function and where state offices should be should not be up to the architectural firm.”
Minoli explained that the firm that is selected would develop plans with the administration and the Legislature.
“It’s more a working relationship,” she said, and the RFP was more about processes and plans than specific building and development proposals.
She said the Legislature would be engaged “right off the bat” when the contract was signed Jan. 3 with the firm or firms hired.
Emmons called the Waterbury situation “a very fluid process” and said she just wanted to make sure the Legislature is part of that process “and no foregone conclusions have been made.”
“I think that’s what we’re all concerned about,” she said.
Lawmakers Friday also heard from Warren Architect William Maclay and Rebecca Towne, administration manager for Green Mountain Power, about open office spaces in net-zero energy buildings with workers grouped in “neighborhoods.” They also talked about how work environments affect productivity and creativity, and healthy workspaces.
Towne explained how GMP’s “open” office differs from the stereotypical “Dilbert cubicles” in a big open room. The office requires less space and uses less energy as a result, and it has spurred creativity and contact between different departments, she said.
Maclay, whose architectural firm has designed a lot of office work for the state, urged lawmakers to plan for the needs and demands of office space — and rising energy costs — decades down the road. He also said building construction and office furnishings should be considered as part of any project, and given the rising cost of energy, it would be prudent for the state to spend money up front for net-zero energy-efficient buildings that will save money in the long run.
“In one sense, obviously, Irene was a disaster but in another it’s an incredible opportunity to do what everybody in the state wants to do,” he said.
–30-
