Company could help Poplar Bluff with city hall, police department plans

The Poplar Bluff City Council could be ready to choose a direction for a new city complex by August, under a proposal currently before officials.

The council is expected to vote May 20 on an agreement with Navigate Building Solutions, which would serve as an owner representative for city hall and police department projects.

The matter was discussed Monday by the council.

Navigate would spend the next three months looking at what the project should include, such as size, location and cost, explained company representative Todd Sweeney.

By the first city council meeting in August, the company would be able to present information to help the council decide the direction of such efforts, he said.

“(This is) something we’ve been working at for quite some time and I think there are some of us that feel like we do really need to move forward on this,” said council member at-large Ron Black. “I believe this is a service that will help guide us and hold us accountable to some extent to moving forward on that.”

The work done before August would represent phase 1 of the project, for which Navigate would receive a lump sum of $14,500, according to council documents.

It would include review of information related to: preliminary site plans, current building and utilization, project concepts, proposed buildings, determining needs for the new facilities and other items.

Phase 2 of the project would include overseeing design and construction services. The fee for this would be agreed to prior to the start of phase 2, and not exceed 5% of the project costs.

This phase would include assisting with the selection and retaining of professionals for the project, contract negotiations, coordinating items such as project budget and schedule, and other items.

Navigate specializes in public projects such as city halls, police departments and fire departments, city manager Mark Massingham said.

Earlier this year, the council purchased 115 Pine St., near the closed former site of city hall and the police department. The city also owns a condemned parking garage at that location on Second Street.

During discussions by a city hall advisory committee in 2015, the property at 115 Pine was discussed in connection with a possible new city complex on Second Street.

The former police department and city hall were vacated in 2016.

In 2017, the council pursued a north Poplar Bluff location for a city complex. That was dropped in early 2018.