The saga of where the East County Water Control District will call its administrative offices continues. Will it be at the I&E Building at 615 Williams Avenue, which is presently being leased, and some want to purchase, or will a new smaller building be constructed on site on East County Lane?

The five commissioners Mike Welch, David Deetscreek, Chairman Nate Stout, Mike Bonacolta and Desmond Barrett cannot agree and it appeared at the Feb. 28 board meeting that they don’t want to agree and politics and personalities played a major role in the board having not made a decision yet although the fighting in and out of the board room has continued for longer than most can even remember.

The ECWCD had met in rented trailers for years after the small administrative building on E. County Lane was closed several years ago because it had been declared a sick building, filled with mold and residue from hazardous chemicals that had once been stored inside. That building was recently demolished while a new utility building is under construction on the site.

A “Two pronged approach” keeps coming up as a phrase to pacify each other as commissioners continued to bicker. A “two pronged approach” is not new. It simply means that the board is attempting to make a decision whether to stay and buy the building they are leasing on Williams Ave. or to build a smaller building a third of a mile away back on the site on E. County Lane.

On the left side of the table is Mike Welch, who makes no secret that he is against the I&E Building sale to the right side of the table where Commissioner Desmond Barrett sits who wants the board to move on, make a decision, and to do what he says the taxpayers sent him there to do. Deetscreek, Stout and Bonacolta have their own opinions, but are apparently not ready to vote either way yet.

But still no decision has been made even though a bank loan is on the table.

Ugly emails have been circulating one individual in Lehigh who makes jokes saying “David Lindsay won’t get his building.” A previous board may have been ready to make a decision but in November, two more commissioners were elected to fill vacant seats on the board and the ballgame started all over again, back and forth, often with commissioners hurling insults at each other during public meetings.

The two trailers that that the ECWCD used as offices for several years were removed several months ago when the water drainage board staff and crew moved into the I&E Building and leased it on Williams Ave. Some on the board like the new building in which the ECWCD is only occupying half, but would have to build an interior meeting or multi-tasking room that would hold at least 80 people. It would also be the board room and meetings would not have to be held elsewhere as they are now. And in the end, both buildings would likely cost about the same.

The I&E Building is in receivership and platting would have to be completed and other legal issues taken care of before closing could come about.

On the agenda at last week’s night meeting, listed for discussion and even a possible vote, one of the items to come before the board was “Administration Building Vision.”

Barrett said the board should make a decision. Others disagreed and Board Chairman Nate Stout had to calm down the rhetoric when voices were raised.

The only thing that the board came close to agreeing upon due to a 3-2 vote was to have a workshop and continue the discussion.

However, they can’t decide on a mutual date so the matter will come up once again at the next meeting on March 21.

At the meeting, last week, Barrett called the back and forth discussion a circus.

“We can do it here tonight. It is 7:25 p.m.; we can do what we are here to do (to make a decision).” Barrett said. The back and forth took about 45 minutes, much more time than spent on any other item on the agenda.

While it was discussed that the I&E Building can be bought for $750,000, (it originally was listed at more than $1 million plus), it was also noted that it would take additional expense to build a large meeting or multipurpose room inside. One half of the building is empty and could be rented out, but at past meetings, some have argued that the ECWCD shouldn’t be in competition with area businesses for rental space. Others claim by renting the other side out, it would help to pay for the building.

If the board were to decide to build on the site owned by the ECWCD on E. County Lane, the building would be somewhat smaller, maybe around 6,000 square feet, according to board members’ estimates, and even though the cost per square foot to build it now would be less, in the end both buildings may cost taxpayers around the same amount because of added work to the I&E Building.

Some said the administration building should not be a third of a mile away from the working crew building where the outside employees work from, but others argued that such a situation was not uncommon.

Manager Lindsay told The Citizen after the meeting that either location was fine with him. He said some of the staff may prefer being onsite near where the crewmen are to be housed in a new utility building.

Commissioner Barrett said later, that when he speaks the truth, it hurts other people’s feelings. He said the reason is that is what he was elected to do, to ask the rough questions and demand answers for the people.

He said he has tried to take a futuristic approach to governing, always keeping his eye to the future and to think out the ramifications of the decisions made.

“That is why I was so forceful in calling out the political shenanigans that are going on in and out of the district at that meeting,” he said.

He said the most contentious issue for the last decade that the district has faced has been regarding the building of an administration building.

“Since I was elected in 2000, we have discussed five different proposals counting the Feb. 28 ‘visioning session’ and have spent close to $500,000 on buildings that have never been built nor purchased.

“The board – on a 3-2 vote with myself and commissioner Bonoacolta voted no – decided to delay yet again and revisit the issue in a workshop meeting to be scheduled at a later date.

“Mind you, this was only 45 minutes into our one monthly meeting and two of the five board members wanted to discuss the proposal for a little while longer,” Barrett said.

“Two years ago was a great time to buy or build at the rock bottom part of the market. Today is better than yesterday, but to wait six months to a year before we break ground on a building will cost the district more money and in the end, the taxpayers will pay more during tax season.

He said his fellow commissioners can meet and hash out their special designed building that suites them in a special workshop meeting and he will be ready at the board table at a regular meeting to either vote yes or no, based on the merits of the proposals in front of him.

“The time of waiting is over,” Barrett said.