BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Telegraph Editor
STARKE — Questions about the oversight and the ability to release the funds, as well as mounting costs, placed the RJE gymnasium project back in front of the county commission for discussion on Monday.
Those questions also filled the boardroom with supporters of the Concerned Citizens of Bradford County, which has been working for five years to preserve this cornerstone of the historic black high school.
Concerned Citizens President Alica McMillian wondered why in a community filled with landmarks — which have been saved or repurposed in part with public funds — the RJE project was running into obstacles.
“People don’t realize this: There are landmarks all over Bradford County. We’ve got Santa Fe, the old courthouse building, it’s a landmark! The Woman’s Club — it’s a landmark! The Call Street District — it’s a landmark! The Rosenberg Building — it’s a landmark! RJE? It’s a landmark!” she said.
Last May, the commission voted unanimously to contribute $500,000 of its $5.4 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act to the restoration of the RJE gymnasium, which among other things needs a new roof to stop the infiltration of water and continued deterioration of the facility.
A follow-up meeting with the former county attorney Will Sexton and Commissioner Chris Dougherty, serving as chairman, confirmed that everyone was on the same page about how the project and distribution of funds would occur, McMillian said. They were eager to get started on the time-sensitive project. They tasked their attorney with drawing up a request for proposals for construction services but ran into problems getting information from the county to complete the RFP.
Fortunately, in addition to seeking a grant award on behalf of Concerned Citizens, the city of Starke committed an additional $200,000 of its ARPA funds to the project in the event the grant application was unsuccessful. The city also got architect Paul Stressing involved in the project, and Stressing was able to reevaluate the scope of the project and recommend a more affordable option for completing the roofing work.
The bad news is that to fully renovate the gym, including restroom renovations, ADA compliance, electrical work, scoreboard and HVAC, could cost $1.2 million. The good news is that Concerned Citizens is willing to work in phases, saving wish list items while they continue to raise funds and seek a legislative appropriation. According to Stressing, they can accomplish the essential work of reroofing the building and sealing it from the elements by piggybacking on a state contract for less than $500,000.
It felt to the Concerned Citizens that the county had withdrawn its support of the project, however.
McMillian said when the Concerned Citizens board approved the contractor and she brought that information to the county, no action was taken. She didn’t know that until later in December when the contractor called her seeking a purchase order to move forward. When McMillian and her board followed up with the county manager, they found out questions had been raised about the project, including who would be the custodian of funds. To their great dismay, they were informed the funding could be in jeopardy.
There was no communication with Concerned Citizens about any change until they sought out that information. Had they not done so, their attorney, Temika Hampton, pointed out that they wouldn’t have known further discussion of the ARPA funding had been scheduled for the commission’s Jan. 3 meeting. She questioned the board about why the goal post for this project keeps moving.
McMillian criticized the lack of communication and inaction. For the contractor’s information to sit on someone’s desk for 19 days was unacceptable, she said. She also revealed how disturbed she was when she called her representative, Commissioner Kenny Thompson, and he told her the RJE gymnasium should be torn down.
Thompson vocally supported the award of ARPA funds for the RJE project last year. He later explained that he visited the gym with a contractor after that vote and was surprised by the gym’s damage, including the east and south walls.
Stressing didn’t deny the condition of the building, but he said the steel-frame building has good bones and could be restored, albeit for more money than originally thought. However, to tear it down and rebuild would cost $5 million or more, he said — money the Concerned Citizens would likely ever receive.
Stressing is giving of his time to the project because of the gym’s history of serving Bradford County and its potential once fully restored, he said.
“You have a very unique building here, not only from the historical standpoint, but you’ve got a building that is the hub of the community and has that sense of neighborhood,” he said.
He will serve as project manager and told the board there will likely be no more than two draws for the project: the first for the materials being sourced and the second at the successful completion of the roofing project, which will also fully seal the building envelope and provide some handicapped restroom access. The county will remain custodian of the funds.
That scenario went over better than turning over the funds to the Concerned Citizens, the legality of which was questioned, but which was only proposed when reluctance was expressed to the amount of work the project could create for county staff. Federally funded projects are audited and records must be meticulous.
McMillian countered, wanting to know who was overseeing the expenditure of the remaining $5 million in ARPA funding.
Stressing did say the commission was doing its job and asking the right questions about expenditures involving this much money. Commissioner Chris Dougherty thanked them both for providing answers he said the commission had been lacking until that day.
McMillian said Concerned Citizens has done its due diligence all along in seeking funds to preserve this landmark — a landmark that is not just for one community, but for all of Bradford County, black and white. She said they weren’t seeking a handout and had never asked the county to do everything for them. They, as members of the same community, are only asking for help shouldering the burden.
“That gymnasium has a rich history, and we will continue in the future to have a rich history,” she said.
They are also sure that evidence of local investment by the city and county will be advantageous to future grant awards.
In the end, the commission voted to support the project and get the first phase started. Commissioner Danny Riddick urged the board to act and avoid any more delays, saying they have all the answers they need.
Commission Chair Diane Andrews attributed all this to a change in management and legal representation, and she asked for the public’s understanding. She also declared the matter decided.
“This is done,” she said. “Every question we have been asked has been answered today. Whose fault was it that we didn’t ask the right questions on the day we approved this? Ours. You’ve educated us very well, Mrs. McMillian. You have taken the steps that you needed to take, and now it’s time for us to take the steps that we need to.”
The motion to approve the $500,000 once again was made by Commissioner Carolyn Spooner, with a second from Thompson. The vote was 5-0.
