Thank You, Sir, May I Have Another?
Mono Board thirsty for shot of SoCo
At the Tuesday, July 11 Mono County Board of Supervisors (BOS) meeting, Supervisors voted unanimously (4-0) to direct County staff to finalize and issue a request for qualifications (RFQ) for a contract to design and build a 33,000 square-foot South County Office Facility at the McFlex Parcel. The Supervisors also directed staff to hire an architect to prepare a request for proposals if the board decides to move forward with the project at a later date, a service that is expected to cost the County between $50,000 and $70,000.
The project, which is budgeted at about $21.9 million, will be one wing of an envisioned 53,000 square-foot office complex that the County hopes will someday house the Town of Mammoth Lakes (TOML). At this point, the two entities are proceeding separately. “We have the fire under us more so than the town,” said Mono County Assistant County Administrative Official (CAO) Tony Dublino at Tuesday’s meeting, by way of explaining why County staff thought it was prudent to move forward without the TOML.
Dublino told Supervisors that the County does not actually own the entire portion of the McFlex Parcel on which it plans to build the proposed 33,000 square foot South County office building. Right now, the facility is set to straddle the two properties that together make the McFlex Parcel, with 15,000 square feet on County land and 15,000 square feet on Town land. The County’s portion is currently a parking lot that serves the neighboring courthouse, as governed by a twenty-year legal agreement that Dublino says the County must uphold. Dublino said the two entities have met several times to discuss the dilemma and that solutions will be discussed at the Tuesday, July 18 Special Joint Town and BOS Meeting.
