Napa County, city still seek team-up on new downtown headquarters

Napa County is still interested in teaming with the city of Napa on building a shared, new downtown headquarters, though the initial outreach didn't bear fruit.

The county wants to replace its Carithers building on First Street that houses elections, criminal justice and other offices. Meanwhile, the city has looked at replacing its 1952 City Hall and unifying departments spread across eight sites.

But an initial county idea to build a multi-story building and lease space to the city stalled. The building might be at the county's outdoor, 1.1-acre Sullivan parking lot bounded by Third, Coombs, Fourth and Randolph streets, or at the nearby jail parking lot.

Mayor Scott Sedgley told the Napa Valley Register on Wednesday that a city goal is to eliminate leased space.

County Supervisor Joelle Gallagher, at the May 16 Board of Supervisors meeting, asked for a broader conversation with the city. That could mean the city potentially co-owning a shared building.

She doesn't get the feeling the city isn't interested. Rather, the city isn't interested in being a tenant and wants to be more of a partner, Gallagher said.

"If there is a way for us to collaborate with the city, it certainly would make sense," she said. "I think our constituents would like to see us be as efficient with our taxpayers' money as possible."

County Public Works Director Steven Lederer said another city concern is that a shared building might be too large. A county-only building might be three or four stories tall, but a shared building might be five, six or seven floors.

Sedgley confirmed that size, scale and compatibility are concerns for the Sullivan lot, which is near homes and a church.

Then there is the issue of timing. The county faces having to replace the air conditioning and make roof improvements at the Carithers building at a cost of $6 million. But supervisors say they don't want to keep various county offices in this former department store in the long run.

That means the county could try to construct a new building before the air conditioning gives out. Then it could sell Carithers to be demolished for a downtown redevelopment project.

Whether the county's sense of urgency will mesh with the city's timing remains to be seen. Sedgley said that, in his mind, the city needs to prioritize building a new public safety building over a new administration building.

"Our police building is falling apart," he said.

Supervisor Alfredo Pedroza said he wants to be a good partner with the city.

"But I think we have to have an honest conversation — is this something they can do, is this something they can prioritize, do they have the resources to do so? ... I don't want us to delay things that we need to do," he said.

Napa County and a consultant will spend the next four months gathering information and analyzing buildings and needs. Then they will begin looking at options.

Lederer said the county would ideally know the city's position within four months. Another option is to take more time to work with the city on a shared project and perhaps do the Carithers air conditioning project.

The next step could be more talk. Supervisors proposed forming a "two-by-two" — two supervisors meeting with two city council members. Such conversations would not have to be public.

But the city would have to show interest. Sedgley is willing to talk, saying he is "always looking for opportunities in that arena."

A new county building could cost $100 million to $165 million. The price could rise by $15 million if a new parking structure is needed, a county report said.

Napa County could move its Board of Supervisors chamber, administration and other offices to the new building. The county administration building at Third and Coombs streets would remain, though offices would be shuffled.

The Carithers building houses about 160 county employees in Child Support Services, the District Attorney's Office, the Public Defender's Office and the Assessor/Recorder's Office.

How everything might turn out will become clearer as the county updates its facilities master plan.