FARMINGTON -- City leaders can remove the "For Rent" sign on vacant space in the new City Hall.
A new neighbor is moving into the city complex after a recent vote by the city council to approve a lease agreement with Caldwell Richards Sorensen Engineering.
The accord calls for CRS Engineering to spend up to $210,000 to complete space in the city complex and to use the amount spent on the project as a credit toward rent owed the city over the five-year lease.
The lease agreement is subject to staff review of existing office space rates in the area. CRS is paying the equivalent of $18 per square foot in the lease accord, and council members want to make sure the rate is fair and within existing market guidelines.
Councilman Rick Dutson likes the terms of the agreement, but wants to verify the city is getting a fair rate for the vacant space so he and other city officials can "stand tall on this issue."
In moving to the new City Hall in July this year, city staff moved from crammed quarters into a building with too much space for current needs but one designed to handle potential growth
A portion of the complex, on the western end of the second floor, was unfinished. That space, estimated to be between 3,100 and 3,500 square feet, will be leased to the engineering company in the interim.
The city's new neighbor is hardly a stranger.
Based in Farmington, CRS Engineering includes local engineer Paul Hirst, who handles most of the city's engineering needs.
Hirst said CRS established a rate of $18 per square foot based on an analysis of the market, which he says has an established rate of $16 per square foot.
He bumped the rate up $2 per square foot, taking into consideration access to common areas in the new city complex, including a kitchen/break room on the south end of the second floor and a conference room used by the council for work sessions adjacent to the break room.
CRS received a quote from Hughes Contractors, the contractors for City Hall, to complete the drywall, office walls, flooring and millwork on the incomplete area upstairs for $210,000.
If costs for completion of the area come in at $210,000, the city would extend a credit of $63,000 a year to CRS for the first three years of the lease and then would receive payments of $50,400 a year for the remaining two years.
Under terms of the accord, CRS will be responsible to pay for janitorial services of its area as well as installation of specialized office equipment.
Several city leaders asked what happens if CRS falls out of favor with local officials.
Councilman Sid Young suggested staff should include language in the lease to deal with that possibility.
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