91ÊÓƵ

Several key decisions concerning the future Multnomah County courthouse need to be made in the next several months, project leaders told county commissioners on Thursday. Those decisions include the size and operational structure of the courthouse, a financing method and a procurement model type.

“The difficult task between now and September will be determining what size of project we want to construct,” Michael Bowers, the county’s facilities manager, told commissioners. “By fall 2014, we hope to land on the exact project that we’re committing to over the next four years.”

The National Center for State Courts by fall will complete a programming study projecting operational needs of the courthouse for the next 50 years, Bowers said. The study will help project leaders create a conceptual design. The project is expected to cost at least $200 million, according to the county.

Site selection criteria also will be prepared by this summer, and a request for interest will be sent to owners of land that potentially could be sold or transferred for the new courthouse. This follows a June 2012 study by Inici Group Inc. looking at five options for the courthouse, said Mike Day, a partner in Day CPM Services – the owner’s representative for the county.

“We’re going through the site selection process now,” Day told commissioners.

In that 2012 study, the Central Eastside and the downtown government core received the highest scores for location of a future courthouse. However, other areas around downtown and the Pearl District were considered viable options too.

Meanwhile, Partnerships BC, a firm based in Vancouver, British Columbia, is working with Day CPM to create a business case analysis determining the possible use of a public-private partnership model for the project.

The business case analysis also will determine the methodology that will be used to pay for the courthouse, including potential revenues that could be generated.

As for project funding, Bowers, Day and county project manager JD Deschamps said they would likely ask commissioners to approve a request for bond sales at the next county commissioners’ meeting on May 15. The request would be sent to the state’s Department of Administrative Services for the 2015-17 biennium, according to Bowers.

Any request for extra cash needed to carry the project through the remainder of this year also would need to be made by May 15, Bowers said.

Commissioner Loretta Smith questioned the urgency of the funding request.

“I’m feeling a bit rushed,” she said. “You’re talking within 30 days. I’m feeling a bit uncomfortable.”

While the funding request’s exact amount has not been determined, it would likely be a small portion of the total project cost covering design and preconstruction, Bowers said.

“The good news is that irrespective of the size, the breadth and the scope of the project, we will really have the same amount of money (needed) the next two years,” he said. “It will be for early design work – not heavy construction, which we don’t know at this point.”

An estimated funding request will be needed by May for inclusion in the governor’s proposed budget, said Nancy Bennett, co-director of the county’s Office of Government Relations. That will essentially allow the county to get in line for next year’s legislative session, when funding approvals will be made, she said.

“We are looking at this project over several bienniums,” she said. “They’re not going to give us everything at one time.”

The county projects $42.5 million in project spending in 2015, including $40.2 million for land purchases and other capital and contractual expenses.

Program revenues include $15 million in state funding that was approved in 2013, $9.3 million from the Portland Development Commission and $18.2 million in other county funds, according to the county.