During Tuesday morning’s meeting, the Brownwood City Council approved an agreement with Brown County for the renovation, construction, ownership, and operation of the City of Brownwood/Brown County Health Department, which is moving to 305 Booker Street.

The City Council also approved awarding a bid from Covington Contracting in the amount of $1,649,202 for the renovation, as well as up to $21,923 for construction and related costs outside of the bid. Approval is contingent upon the approval of Brown County for their portion, which is on the agenda for the next commissioners meeting.

The agreement designates the City of Brownwood to oversee the renovation of 13,400 sq. ft. of space at 305 Booker Street for the use of the City of Brownwood/Brown County Health Department. The City of Brownwood and Brown County will split the expenses for the design, construction, and renovation equally.

The City of Brownwood will maintain ownership of the building. The City may lease a portion of the unoccupied space (5,600 sq. ft.) to the County on terms to be agreed upon by both parties.

The agreement releases Brown County’s ownership from the current jointly owned Brownwood/Brown County Health Department location at 510 E. Lee Street. The City of Brownwood and Brown County will equally be responsible for operational expenses for Brownwood/Brown County Health Department, as is currently budgeted by both entities.

There were two bids received for the renovation of the Brownwood/Brown County Health Department on December 4, 2023. The low bid was for $2,005,718 from Covington Contracting. Negotiations and discussion with Covington resulting in the current bid of $1,649,202. There are additional costs of $21,923 for engineering services and other construction related costs outside the bid. The total cost of the project is $1,671,125. The City of Brownwood will split the cost of the project with Brown County 50/50, resulting in a cost to each entity of $835,562.50. The construction timeline is 290 days.

The City Council originally allocated $600,000 for Public Health and Safety in the ARPA plan. Approximately $500,000 of ARPA Funds remain available for the Health Department Renovation. Staff recommends funding the remaining $335,563 from reserves. The City’s reserves increased in 2021 due to CLRF COVID grant funds that offset budgeted expenses.

City staff recommended funding through reserves over including any commitment in the 2024/25 budget, as the project will be nearing completion by the end of the current fiscal year. $335,564 equates to 2.89 days of reserves. Using the Dec. 31, 2023 reserve balance of 135 days, and taking into account the estimated remaining costs for the event center, would leave 98 days of reserves.