Jeffco Considers Buying Building in South Jeffco for County Service Hub
As part of Jefferson County's initiative to save taxpayer dollars and enhance customer service by consolidating County services into regional service hubs, the Board of County Commissioners has approved the purchase a nearly 33,000-square-foot building in South Jeffco.
 
Under the purchase agreement, the county would buy the building for less than $4 million only after performing due diligence on the property. This would include securing an independent appraisal and conducting a detailed analysis of the property.
 
The building would be a new home to the Sheriff's Office south substation, a Clerk & Recorder's motor vehicle office, other county services and a community meeting room. The building, at 11139 Bradford Road near West Ken Caryl Avenue and West Chatfield Avenue in South Jeffco, is an unfinished "shell," which would allow the county to have the property finished specifically to its needs.
 
The county currently leases space for the Sheriff's and Clerk & Recorder's offices in south Jefferson County. The Clerk & Recorder uses approximately 3,200 square feet at 6004 South Kipling Street for a motor vehicle office; and the Sheriff's South Precinct Substation occupies 12,100 square feet in the Ken Caryl Business Center, which is near the proposed new location. According to the Sheriff and the Clerk & Recorder, both spaces are inadequate to meet their departments' needs and efficiently serve citizens.
 
Lease payments for both spaces total  $173,000 a year. The new building would allow the county to add to its assets, reduce long-term maintenance costs and eliminate the need for two leased spaces.
 
The commissioners tentatively agreed to the purchase agreement, which will go before the Board of County Commissioners for formal approval on June 8. This would allow the county sufficient time for due diligence so that closing on the property could take place before Oct. 6. Both leases expire at the end of February 2011. If the construction work moves along as planned, both departments could start moving into the property after Feb. 1, 2011.
 
The purchase of this property is just one step in the county's initiative to maximize assets, reduce long-term maintenance costs, promote economic development and bring county services closer to the citizens who use them, as recommended by the county's Citizen Budget Review Panel.
 
Nine months ago, the Citizen Panel recommended that the county could improve customer service and save taxpayer money by consolidating services into regional service centers. This would control future costs, improve service delivery and eliminate the use of leased space. The county's internal Organization Review Committee, examining ways to improve efficiency and cut costs, seconded the recommendations of the citizens' group.
 
Jeffco is evaluating other properties for regional service hubs in Wheat Ridge and Lakewood. The county currently leases more than 40,000 square feet of space for motor vehicle offices in Arvada, Lakewood and South Jeffco, public health services in Arvada, and the substation for Sheriff's services in the south. These leases cost about $694,000 a year. These services, as well as those of the Treasurer, Assessor and Library, could be located into the service hubs.

 

County to Move Forward with Energy Improvements to Detention Center
Commissioners directed staff to move forward with plans to use bonds to finance energy and water conservation improvements at the Sheriff's Office Detention Center in Golden - work that could result in the savings of $2.2 million over 15 years.
 
Improvements include installing:

• An ozone/cold water laundry system that would use chemical liquids and cold water, instead of hot, to wash laundry.
• A reclamation gray-water system for the sheriff's car wash where water would be recycled back into the wash for use during some cycles.
• Waste-oil heaters at the sheriff's fleet shop that would enable the county to recycle oil to provide heat.
• Equipment and controls upgrades to optimize performance of building systems.

• 305 passenger cars not driven for one year
• 179,400 gallons of burned gasoline
• 11.8 acres of forest trees
• 3,370 barrels of burned crude oil