Published: Saturday, Sep. 06, 2008 / Updated: Monday, Sep. 08, 2008 07:20 AM

Operations center's price tag up to $27M

Price of fuel, skyrocketing construction costs cited; more increases possible

The price tag for Rock Hill's planned city operations center has risen to $27 million -- up from the $19 million estimate given two years ago when the project was first proposed.

City officials blame the 42 percent cost increase on skyrocketing construction costs and higher fuel prices. They plan to start design work by October in hopes of avoiding further cost increases.

But designing the facility will take at least six months, meaning more increases are possible, city manager Carey Smith said.

The rising costs are raising questions from two City Council members who hoped the center would be built on land already owned by the city off Friedheim Road on the city's south side.

Instead, Rock Hill paid $1.8 million to buy land near Albright and Anderson roads on the eastern side. Jim Reno and Kevin Sutton opposed the deal because of that extra cost. Now, Reno is unsure about going further.

"I'm not ready to sign off on that large of a project until I know the underlying details and what we'll ultimately end up with," he said.

Opposition nixed first site

Delays already have set the project back nearly two years. Planners vetted 15 sites around the city before settling on the Friedheim Road location, which is home to the city's compost center.

But homeowners in the surrounding Sunset Park neighborhood fought that idea, saying they didn't want trucks rumbling down their streets and past nearby Sunset Park Elementary School. Dozens of garbage trucks, bucket loaders and city vehicles would be parked at the facility.

Neighbors got help from late City Councilman Winston Searles, who championed their cause shortly before his death in August 2007. In response to the outcry -- and out of deference to Searles -- the city scuttled the Friedheim Road site and reopened the search.

"If we're going to build something like this, we'd like to have it embraced by the community," Mayor Doug Echols said.

Shifting to another location proved expensive. This summer, the city agreed to buy a secluded 32-acre site at Albright and Anderson roads, near Interstate 77. Neighbors haven't put up opposition because the site is heavily wooded and won't be visible to nearby homes and businesses.

City leaders believe they made the right decision. A dispute with Sunset Park could have turned ugly, pitting City Hall against a predominantly black neighborhood where mistrust toward government already runs high. In 2003, a brush fire broke out at the Friedheim Road compost center, causing an odor to waft toward nearby streets.

Residents saw it as an example of their side of town being forced to live with nuisances no one else wanted. The operations center came to be viewed in a similar light.

"We didn't see why it had to come to Sunset Park when there are other places," Anna Daniel, then-president of the Sunset Park Neighborhood Association, said last week. "We know we are a poor neighborhood, but we don't mean for everything to be kicked on us. We're trying to keep it the best we can."

Steel, fuel prices shoot up

The delay in building the new operations center comes at a time of surging construction costs.

• Steel prices have gone up as much as 40 percent in the past year alone.

• The price of asphalt, which is made from crude oil, has climbed at a similar rate.

• Diesel fuel now tops $4 a gallon, making it more expensive to carry materials and run machinery.

"We're dealing with owners that are going through sticker shock," said Marty Cope, owner of J.M. Cope Construction in Rock Hill. "All you can do is lay the numbers out there. After the first of the year, things really started to move."

Still, Echols said, the top priority should remain building a top-notch facility that won't require touch-ups or additions in a few years.

"We want to make sure we're not short-sighted in what we do," Echols said. "If the cost goes up, we'll have to deal with those costs in order to build something of quality. I don't want to shortcut ... to save a little money now."

Smith hopes the public will recognize the project's benefits.

"People know things the past couple of years have just really gotten a lot more expensive," he said. "Long-term, that site is going to contribute to a better way for us to serve the people."