Agenda - 01-16-2008-2 - Laserfiche WebLink

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L4 Lease Proposal Social Services can provide significant revenue to support its space needs. It is therefore proposed that the County staff be authorized to commence discussions with a local landlord to lease space in which to house all of the employees involved in the current operation at Whiffed, some of the staff currently located at Southern Human Services, Veteran's Services, and all of the Work First st employment and training activities including the pilot projects. An estimated 40,000 square feet for use by DSS will be needed to address current and future space needs in a material way. There would be initial costs to upfit the space to meet the requirements of Social Services. Some of the advantages to leasing at this time include: • All of DSS staff from Whiffed and the overflow of staff from Southern Human Services, approximately 125 staff would be located together. This allows for efficiencies in travel, administrative support and communication among DSS staff regarding clients. • The Work,First training site would be moved from its temporary location at Northern Human Services to a centrally located site with staff on site to support the operation. • Sufficient space would be available for team meeting rooms, client training, family/child visitation observation rooms and agency staff meetings. • The strain on meetings rooms C and D at Southern would decrease as DSS workers begin using other space. • Record storage which now occurs at various sites throughout the county would be consolidated. • Space for storage of items needed for foster children and other clients, adult services clients, special needs shelters, etc., could occur on the site rather than at public works, rented storage units, etc. • Sufficient space would be available for current and future space needs for DSS. • The space is accessible and has sufficient parking available • The move from the Whiffed Building would eliminate the current issue of elevator and client flow when there are mechanical or electrical issues and during power outages. • Space at Whiffed would become available for other programs such as Health. • The immediate need for space at Southern would be met. This is essential since it does not appear that more county space would be available there for the next 5-7 years. • Growth and consolidation options could be available at a larger site. • Parking and congestion complaints from the current Whiffed neighborhood should decrease. By securing this space,the needs of Social Services for now and the future could be met. It would allow for better coordination with programs within the agency and potentially with other partners who might be co-located at the site and who potentially could be a source of revenue to farther off-set operational costs. The space at Whiffed would then