La Plata County officials have been doing a lot of maneuvering and relocating over the past few months and are looking at more on the horizon.
The county’s building inventory grew in 2012 when it purchased the former Vectra Bank at 1101 East Second Avenue. The board of commissioners and staff moved out of the county courthouse and into the renovated building in June, signifying the first step of implementing a facilities master plan.
And there’s more on the way.
Accounting for real property, buildings, vacant lots, pending purchases and mineral ownership, there is a fair amount of ambiguity in answering the question: What is La Plata County worth?
There isn’t one way to answer that, said La Plata County Assessor Craig Larson.
According to a 2015 report of La Plata’s casualty and property pool values, the county owns about 30 entities, counting different equipment and buildings at the same address as one inclusive entity. But this report does not account for property such as severed minerals, vacant lots or properties under lease.
Furthermore, the building values listed in the report are for insurance purposes and do not reflect the market value if the county were to sell those assets today, which makes it difficult to place a number on the county’s value.
La Plata County’s annual financial statement for 2014 reflects about $9.5 million in land and $2.7 million in construction that are not being depreciated.
Depreciable assets include the county’s buildings, improvements, machinery and equipment, and infrastructure. Those totaled $160.4 million by the end of last year.
The county has a total of $172.5 million in capital assets, according to the 2014 financial statement.
Public Works Director Jim Davis said La Plata County has 654.64 total miles of both paved and gravel roads. The county maintains 189 with support from Highway User Tax Funds.
The county closed 2014 with $84.3 million in infrastructure (road and bridge) capital assets and $50.7 million in accumulated depreciation for infrastructure, said Finance Director Diane Sorensen.
The annual financial statement is a cumulative, categorical report and does not break down the value of individual properties.
Among the highest valued and/or oldest county assets are the fairgrounds, Old Main Post Office, courthouse and detention center. According to the assessor’s records, the actual value for the fairgrounds is approximately $35.8 million, and the assessed value is about $10.2 million, as of 2015.
Though the Department of Local Affairs provided a $1.5 million energy impact assistance grant, Vectra Bank came with a $2.7 million price tag, in addition to $3.9 million in remodeling.
County staff and commissioners moved out of the courthouse and into the former bank this summer to make way for the federal court, which will soon be housed in the county courthouse along with state judges, staff and the county attorney’s office. A projected $5.1 million will go toward the courthouse remodel, which is offset by a $1.9 million state grant, and the feds will pay their own way to use 5,000 square feet of the courthouse building.
The newest piece of property added to the county’s assets is a $1.9 million building at 211 Rock Point Drive purchased in August, which will allow the building and planning department’s approximated 20 employees vacate current headquarters in the courthouse by year’s end.
And yet another purchase is on the horizon to move the human services department out of the courthouse basement and into a facility at 10 Burnett Court. The county is leasing at $53,000 per month with an option to purchase in 2016. If the county exercises that option, the purchase price will be established through an appraisal. The contract stipulates a minimum purchase price of $8 million.
Before the barrage of property acquisition in the past few years, county officials had not purchased a building since the early 2000s, when they obtained the Old Main Avenue Post Office, which now houses the District Attorney’s Office, said Assistant County Manager Joanne Spina.
Meanwhile, a vacant lot across from the courthouse on Second Avenue remains undeveloped. It was originally purchased with an intent to build new and move some administrative offices, but the county has instead opted to acquire existing facilities as a way to save. Currently, there are no set plans for developing the vacant space.
Resident Wally White, a former county commissioner, said he has been surprised by the new acquisitions in La Plata County since the natural gas industry’s decline has shrunk the county’s budget. He added that the location chosen for the human services department could be a disadvantage for some.
“That separates departments that usually work closely together,” he said. “It could also create some difficulties for the general public. Human services often deals with people on the low-income scale, and if they have to get up to the Tech Center, that could create some problems for the people that use human services.”
Spina said the county has been running short on space for a long time but hasn’t purchased a property for administrative use since the Old Main Post Office. The 2012 facility master plan was the impetus for the purchases in the past five years. The plan, Spina said, reflected the “gravity of the county’s space needs,” particularly with federal court services on its way to La Plata County.
“We have not been keeping pace with the space needs we have,” Spina said. “We’ve had maintenance on some buildings identified as a separate issue we’re tackling year by year, but also growth over the years has not been addressed by adding facilities. For example, in the courthouse, there are a large number of people in a relatively limited space.”
The public has critiqued recent buys, saying, for example, that a new administrative building could have been built for less. It’s a lot of money moved, but Spina said the new properties are need-based. From an alternate perspective, moving staff into vacant office space can lend a hand to real estate agents.
“Where it’s going to help us is that the potential purchase of this office building (at 10 Burnett Court) takes a lot of vacancies off the market,” said Wells Group broker Don Ricedorff. “Local government taking that space makes the market healthier. It’s helpful when a big user can utilize that space and balance our market between supply and demand.”
jpace@durangoherald.com
Key properties
County Administrative Building
1101 East Second Ave.
Purchased in 2012
13,217 square feet
$742,040 total assess value
Use: Administrative staff, including the county managers and finance directors, share the space with the three county commissioners. The assessor’s office is also in the building.
Sheriff’s Office/Jail
742 Turner Drive
Purchased in 1983
86,794 square feet
$3,042,750 total assess value
Use: The sheriff’s office employs approximately 100. These employees include those in the detention, public safety, investigations, special investigations, special services and alternatives to incarceration divisions. It has been added onto and improved throughout the years.
Building/planning building
211 Rock Point Drive
Purchased in 2015
7,200 square feet
$298,750 total assess value
Use: This department is sharing courthouse space with human services and includes emergency management, search and rescue, weed management, building inspection and code enforcement.
Human services
10 Burnett Court
Tentative purchase in 2016
28,000 square feet
$7,690 total assess value
Use: Human services is one of the county’s most varied departments and includes employees in child welfare, adult protection, child support enforcement and income maintenance.
Old Main Post Office
1060 Main Avenue
Purchased in 2004
22,427 square feet
$1,444,740 total assess value
Use: The county acquired this building about 10 years ago to house the District Attorney’s office, among other county offices.
County Courthouse
1060 East Second Ave.
Built in 1951
79,788 square feet
$2,929,020 total assess value
Use: Building/planning and other county departments occupy the courthouse basement. Court rooms and judges offices are upstairs.
Fairgrounds
2500 Main Ave.
Purchased in 1961
About 31 acres
$10,218,820 total assess value
Use: One of the county’s largest properties has a number of facilities including 4-H, exhibit hall, rodeo arena, athletic fields and open space.
Sources: La Plata County Assessor database, La Plata County website, county department heads
