Harford County will spend up to $883,000 to refurbish the county government's administration building in downtown Bel Air, an extensive project that includes creating a "permit center" on the first floor.
The county's Board of Estimates voted Tuesday afternoon to award a contract to Centennial Contractors Enterprises, of Baltimore, which would cover moving the Department of Inspections, Licenses and Permits to the first floor of the building at 220 S. Main St., creating the permit center, replacing "storefront" windows on the first floor and then replacing third-floor windows, along with the "mansard roof," which has four sloped sides.
The building dates to 1968, according to a county press release issued Tuesday.
"The move to create a 'Permit Center' is the first phase of a major restructuring planned to make better use of county-owned facilities and save taxpayer money by reducing leased space," according to the news release.
The work is scheduled to begin during the summer, and county officials expect the permit center to be open by Labor Day. Officials also do not expect county services to be disrupted during the construction project.
The permit center is designed to be a one-stop-shopping experience for people who apply for permits or licenses from Harford County. Those people have to fill out an application on the second floor of the building, pay at the Treasury Department on the first floor and then travel back to the second floor to show proof of payment and collect their licenses or permits.
In the new permit center, applicants will be able to conduct all of their business with county employees on the first floor, which will be arranged in an "open floor plan," rather than cubicles, according to the news release.
Applicants will also be able to meet with representatives of the Departments of Public Works and Planning and Zoning.
The contract was awarded to Centennial Contractors through the National Joint Powers Alliance, a national cooperative contract purchasing organization supported by local government and nonprofit agency members, according to the NJPA website.
Erin Ferriter, chief of efficiency and innovation for the county's Procurement Department, said awarding the contract through NJPA helps "streamline" the contracting process.
She also noted that Centennial has worked for the county before, when its workers built a water and sewer maintenance shop.
"We wanted to utilize that piggyback [NJPA] contract and utilize Centennial for this first phase," Ferriter told estimates board members.
Warren Hamilton and Timothy Hopkins, the board's respective County Council and county executive citizen appointees, questioned why the county was using a piggyback contract rather than putting the project out for bid.
Ferriter stressed that the NJPA contracting process is being used for only the first phase of the administration building rehabilitation, and that officials want to see "how it works" for the county.
Director of Administration Billy Boniface, who was chairing the estimates board meeting in place of Harford County Executive Barry Glassman, said the board will review contracts for subsequent phases of the project.
He said the county employees overseeing the project "have to sell me that this works."
"I'm being flexible," he said.
The permit center and refurbishment of the administration building are one part of Glassman's reorganizing and streamlining of local government. The debt service on $2.5 million in bonds sold for the refurbishment project is being covered by the cancellation of leases of 112 Hays St. and 15 N. Bond St., both in Bel Air.
The Department of Human Resources was using the Hays Street space, and the Department of Public Works' Construction Management Division was housed at North Bond Street. Both agencies will move to 220 S. Main St., and the county expects to save $226,648 in annual lease payments, according to the press release. The annual debt service is $197,986.
County leaders also plan to move the public conference room from the second floor to the first floor of the administration building and move the Treasury Department payment window from the Bond Street of the building to the Main Street side, according to the news release.