County will increase tax notes to fund Randle-Rather work as well

Gonzales County will increase its upcoming tax note sale by $700,000 from $11.5 million to $12.2 million in order to generate enough funds to fix the deteriorating facade of the Randle-Rather building.

Commissioners voted unanimously Monday, April 14, at their regular meeting to use the $700,000 to make the building safe enough that a scaffolding which is protecting visitors and staff can be removed.

“What that does is it gives us an amount to ideally take care of the make safe of the Randle-Rather building,” said John Duke with CPM Texas, the project management and owners representation firm the county hired to help guide them through renovating the Gonzales County Annex building, on which the original $11.5 million proposed issuance was to be spent.

“We’re not going into the full restoration of the Randle-Rather building, but trying to remedy the stone that's cracking and falling off the building. This is basically the minimum amount needed to get the scaffold upon the building.”

By expanding the tax note value and scope to include the make safe of the Randle-Rather building, the county can delay a full restoration while still tackling the more important emergent need of reconstructing the Annex building by next fall, when the county hopes to receive a grant from the Texas Historical Commission to renovate the Courthouse.

Duke said the increase to the tax note impact would only increase from 2.8 cents at $11.5 million to 2.99 cents of debt service at $12.2 million, which translates to an extra $2 for every $100,000 in value and keeps the county at a goal of no more than roughly three additional cents on a debt service rate.

He also asked commissioners to approve a submitted proposal by Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. (WJE) for professional engineering services related to the Randle-Rather Building. WJE is already performing similar services for the Courthouse renovation project.

After pieces of the historic building came off the second floor balcony balustrade, the county had Curtainwall Design Consulting (CDC) look at the building last October to determine how much deterioration had taken place in the limestone accent and brick elements of the building. The county also erected a scaffolding onto the building to shore it up so it could continue to be accessed safely by staff and members of the public.

WJE performed its own site visit in February and noted that while “the brick masonry and adjacent mortar are in generally good condition,” there are continuous crack is in the brick masonry below wall openings; delaminated, cracked and eroded limestone accent units throughout the facade; biologic soiling and atmospheric staining on limestone accent units; blistered and peeled coating and moisture staining at exterior walls and around windows and hairline cracks and isolated areas of exposed insulation board.

WJE wants to perform a visual survey of accessible facade areas to document existing masonry conditions using scaffolding access as well as drone photographs. They will then work up stabilization design documents for repair of problem areas and then assist the county with bid evaluation and stabilization work management during the construction period.

The total cost to the county for this service is expected to be about $59,500, which also includes an allowance of $7,500 for O’Connell Architecture to cover costs incurred to date. O’Connell is the historical architectural firm the county hired to oversee the renovation of the courthouse due to its historic status and they were also asked for help in determinations about what to do with the Randle-Rather Building.

Commissioners gave unanimous approval for the WJE proposal as well.

Located at the corner of St. George Street and St. Paul Street, the Randle-Rather Building was constructed between 1896-97 and is listed as a contributing building in the National Register of Historic Places Gonzales Commercial Historic District.

The building was originally constructed as a bank for J.P. Randle and C.T. Rather by San Antonio-based contractor Henry Kane. It was later occupied by various retail establishments and served as meeting place for local social clubs. Today, the county tax assessor occupies a good part of the first floor of the building, while the county clerk occupies much of the second floor. The building is also home to the Elections Administration department and is used for early and election day voting and as the central voter tabulation hub.