County, Hays Remain At Odds Over Facility

    The debate over how to best handle a space crunch inside the Lake County Supervisor of Elections office was the subject of another extended debate on Tuesday, but the Lake County Commission and Supervisor of Elections D. Alan Hays continue to be at odds over how best move forward with the office’s facility needs. In fact, the commission itself continues to struggle to find a broad consensus among members on the best way to move forward, and on Tuesday instructed county staff to do more research.
   Hays for months has advocated for a new building to be built on county property south of Tavares, but the price tag of that facility, estimated at $25 million, has failed to gain traction with the commission. Instead, the county last fall signed a lease at the former Sears store at the Lake Square Mall in Leesburg, and budgeted $3.5 million in renovations with plans to move the supervisor’s operations there for at least the next ten years.
   However, renovation costs exploded after asbestos was found in the building, and in July the commission asked staff to seek a way out of the lease and to find some other options. On Tuesday, seven options were brought forward: 1) Purchase the Sears building at an estimated $7, 2) Terminate the lease at an estimated cost of $1.5 million, 3) Continue renovations at the Sears building with current owner guaranteeing to meet original $3.5 million budget with his own contractors, 4) Remain in the lease and only renovate Sears building for storage for elections office, sheriff’s office, and other needs, 5) Purchase existing office in Tavares and associated bank next door at an estimated cost of $4 million, 6) Build a new building on county property at an estimated cost of $25 million), 7) Purchase an as yet unidentified site that already has a building suitable for supervisor’s office. Cost unknown.
   No single plan drew wide-range support. Hays strongly advocated for the new building, even though it is the most expensive option.
   "This is not about a new building. The supervisor of elections office has to have more space." Hays said over 60,000 new voters have been added to Lake County's rolls in recent years, a number that is expected to continue to climb. He feels the best long-term solution is to build the new building, and would avoid the county having to readdress the issue in a decade or so.
   However, only commissioner Josh Blake openly agreed, at least in part.
   “We can’t afford a $24 million building,” Blake said, but also forwarded the idea of building the structure in phases, allowing the office to slowly move to the new site over a period of time as current leases expired and additional space could be funded.
   Commissioners Leslie Campione and Kirby Smith opposed the idea of new construction, with Campione responding to a question from Hays regarding when the right time would be with “It’s not now”.
   With no obvious answer in sight, commissioners asked staff to do further research on options 4, 5, and 6, though a majority didn’t appear to favor any of those options as they are currently conceived.
   Hays pushed for a date certain on a resolution, but it is unknown when the topic will be settled.
   “I know we will get there, but let’s hurry up,” Hays said.