Jessica Cejnar / Tuesday, March 9, 4:26 p.m. / Municipal administration

Childcare services will move despite the current landlord’s objections and threats against Sue

Del Norte County’s regulators on Tuesday approved a new home for the Department of Child Support Services over threats to sue its current landlord.

Thomas Barnes, owner and owner of the current home of the division of TAB Inc., accused its director, Aaron Goodwin, of circumventing the county’s Future Facilities Goal Committee.

Barnes argued that the proposal to move the division to smaller office space at 1225 Marshall Street in Crescent City had not been properly considered and said he would challenge it in court.

“You owe it to this community to review and evaluate these proposals with an open mind so that you can make an educated guess,” Barnes told the county regulators. “Some things are not factual and incomplete. You wouldn’t know that. “

TAB Inc. submitted the larger of two offers to the County Department of Child Support. On Tuesday, Goodwin recommended that the county accept North Plaza Professionals’ offer.

After District Councilor Joel Campbell-Blair informed them that Goodwin had done nothing wrong by bringing the matter to the Board of Supervisors instead of the Future Facilities Goal Committee, regulators voted 3-1-1 to approve the proposed Step.

District 4 supervisor Gerry Hemmingsen resigned saying he had a conflict. District 5 supervisor Bob Berkowitz voted against the proposed lease with North Plaza Professionals, saying it was necessary to go through the Future Facilities Goal Committee as it allows the public to be heard.

“We plan to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars without the public entering into whether or not they have a legitimate interest,” he said. “It is important that they be heard, and it is important that the pros and cons are heard.”

The rationale for the proposed move to the Marshall Street facility is a desire to increase safety for childcare employees and customers, Goodwin said. Its staff has dealt with hostile customers without any physical barrier other than a high countertop to protect them.

The cubic decor of the current office also offered no privacy, Goodwin said. At 16.4 feet above sea level, the current office of childcare services is in the tsunami-flooded zone and, at 7,100 square feet, is too big for the roughly 16 staff the department currently employs, he said.

“Most of the current facility is largely idle,” said Goodwin. “As a government-funded company, tax money is not used well. We would be more effective in a smaller space. “

There are budget issues too, Goodwin said. Funding for childcare services has decreased by $ 417,000 due to COVID-19 concerns, and the current facility cost is the second largest budget item for the department.

The division’s current lease with TAB Inc. is $ 102,700.80 per year and expires on June 30, according to Goodwin’s employee report. The proposed lease is $ 38,142 for the first year. State and federal dollars would be used to pay for the lease. According to the employee report, the lease would cost $ 355,014 over its 10-year life cycle.

“There are indirect cost savings from downsizing this facility,” said Goodwin. “Our electricity bill here is around $ 900, and that heats a 7,100-square-foot facility. Shrinking to about 3,000 square feet is a saving over what we got on this occasion. If TAB had won, they would have won. “

Kevin Hawkins, owner of Alder Point Real Estate, said he answered Goodwin’s call for proposals on behalf of his client, North Plaza Professionals. Hawkins said he received the RFP as a member of the Del Norte County Board of Realtors.

“We were looking for a tenant who was very specific to the needs and offering,” said Hawkins of Child Support Services. “I think the big things that we have to meet here are cost effectiveness and safety. Ultimately, there will be comments – I suspect the cost seems too high to be true here – we knew there would be multiple people making suggestions in this RFP process. We wanted to make our proposal competitive. “

Before the Board made its decision, Chairman Chris Howard asked Campbell-Blair to consider whether it was a problem not to refer the matter to the Future Facilities Committee.

Campbell-Blair said the Future Facilities Committee is an internal body that helps a department head make a decision.

“This idea that the Future Facilities are a legally necessary entity, that this is something illegal, is just not to be supported in my opinion, and I would not recommend the Board to be concerned about it,” said Campbell-Blair.

District 2 supervisor Valerie Starkey denied Barnes’ claim that the board of supervisors did not have enough time to make an informed decision.

“There is no instruction or mandate in the Administrator’s Guide that says (a proposal) must go through Future Facilities,” she said. “And as for the public comments, we’re going through this now and I hope the people who want to voice their concerns will do so now.”

documents

• Rental proposal

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