Pueblo West board’s tie vote tanks plans to buy ReMax building
A tie vote Monday tanked the Pueblo West Metro District’s bid to buy a former ReMax building for use as an administration office, prolonging the district’s three-year quest to find a suitable home.
With Doug Proal, board vice president, recusing himself from the vote Monday, the board was spit 2-2. Without a majority, a motion to enter into a contract to purchase the $1 million building at 19 E. Abarr Drive failed. Proal said his son Sam Proal owns the building at 63 E. Spaulding Ave., which district staff have leased for office space since October 2020.
“I have no financial interest in the building and am not legally required to recuse, but I did it out of an abundance of caution so as to not raise any questions,” Doug Proal told The Pueblo Chieftain.
Joe Mahaney, board secretary, and Kim Swearingen, board president, voted in favor of the purchase contract.
“It is probably the best opportunity we have for the money and I think we can adapt to that building. It fits into our budget much better,” than trying to build a new building, Mahaney said.
Before voting against the contract, board members Jami Baker Orr and Nick Madero, treasurer, voiced concerns about the building.
Baker Orr said she had questions as to whether the building could fill the district’s staffing needs now and into the future based on talks with Pueblo West District Manager Brian Caserta. Caserta said he did have some hesitation.
“I personally feel it has a lot of shortcomings to accommodate the number of staff we have without major renovations and we would still be short a board (meeting) room,” Caserta said.
Madero said he had concerns with businesses already in the building which “have long-term leases. I don’t think we want to be landlords.”
The district has been without a permanent administration building since a March 2019 bomb cyclone weather event lifted the roof and destroyed portions of the heating and cooling system at the 109 E. Industrial Ave. office. The building was condemned.
Before considering the ReMax building, the board had pondered spending about $3 million to purchase either the Hanson or IntelliTec buildings, each of which also would have required extensive remodeling, but those potential offices didn’t work out. The board also considered constructing a new building but the cost was prohibitive.
More Pueblo West news:Metro board eyes fourth plan for a new civic center
Pueblo Classical Academy school expansion approved
In other business, the board voted 4-1 to approve a resolution that will allow a charter school to expand before completing road improvements. The Pueblo School for the Arts and Sciences’ Pueblo Classical Academy, at 694 E. Spaulding Ave., will be able to expand and has a year to get street upgrades completed.
The charter school wants to add three modular buildings to the site to accommodate increased enrollment, which is projected to triple from about 60 to 180 students this fall. Pueblo West Metro Public Works Director Christain Heyn told the board Monday the charter school staff were looking to apply through the state for a building permit which could mean bypassing Pueblo West Metro recommendations to get the modulars approved without the street improvements.
Traffic study recommendations include adding an eastbound right turn lane and a westbound left turn lane at the Spaulding Avenue and Empress Drive intersection. In casting the lone “no” vote, Baker Orr said a year is too long to allow for the improvements because the intersection is already busy and she would prefer to make safety concerns a priority.
More school news:Pueblo Classical Academy faces roadblock in expansion efforts
A new meeting location coming soon
In other business, the board approved a move to a new meeting room for its twice-monthly meetings. The board room is located at 356 S. McCulloch Blvd., where the district leases office space.
The vacant room 103 is being leased by the district for $1,150 per month through Nov. 30. It will be transformed into a meeting space and set up with the district’s live-streaming equipment and microphone system.
The room can seat up to 25 people. Although the space offers just two additional seats compared with the SonRise Church meeting room the board currently uses, the acoustics are much more amenable.
In agreeing to make the move, Proal said “I don’t like wasting space we are paying for.”
Caserta said use of the room should work as a short-term fix. The lease expires Nov 30.
An exact date for the move to the new meeting space was not immediately announced.