Polk County got its first look this week at the design for its new Department of Social Services (DSS) building.

Commissioners met Monday with ADW Architects, which the county hired this year to design the building.

Mike Esposito of ADW reviewed drawings of the proposed 11,950 square foot building. He explained how the design should meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification requirements, which the county&bsp; had specified be met.

The county approved the design by a 4-1 vote, with commissioner Tommy Melton opposing. Melton said he thinks the building is too large and the county should shave off about 1,000 square feet, but other commissioners said the extra few offices are for future growth and they dont want to build a building like the Womack building, which was maxed out in capacity on the day it opened.

The new DSS building will be constructed at the county recreation park near the middle school in Mill Spring, off Wolverine Trail on top of a hill. The outside of the one-story structure will look similar to the middle school building, with light coloring, split block, brick and a metal roof.

The public will enter and park at the front of the building, with employees entering and parking in the rear. Cameras will monitor both the front and rear entrances for security. The building includes an 18-person waiting area, several restrooms, storage and work room areas, secure file storage, a training room and a small conference room as well as about 40 offices.

LEED certification points will be gained largely through lighting, air conditioning and plumbing, architects said. The building will be using a lot of daylighting, which involves placing both windows at eye level for outside views and higher elevated windows above to bring sunlight into the building. Esposito said that will reduce the amount of wattage needed to light the building. The goal is to achieve 30 percent in energy savings.

In response to Melton’s concern that the building is too large, commissioners discussed ways to save money on the building. Melton estimated that the building as proposed will cost the county about $152.22 per square foot. He also estimated that if 1,000 square feet of space was eliminated, that could mean a $152,222 savings, which he said could go toward county employee raises next fiscal year.

The architects said cutting off 1,000 square feet would save less than $100,000.

Board chair Cindy Walker also said she did some figuring on how much employee growth Polks DSS has had over the last 30 years. She said in 1980, DSS had 14 workers. By 1990, there were 18 employees, in 2000 there were 24 employees and today there are 32 employees.

At 33 percent growth every decade, in 2020 there will be 43 employees at DSS, Walker said.

I dont know that they all need an office, but I sure would hate to build a building that in 10 years wont be big enough, Walker said. As much as I want to give employees a raise, I dont want to build a building too small.

The building is designed for a lifespan of 40 years. The county is also grading a pad next to the building in case another building is needed in the future.

The site grading contract is currently out for bid. Commissioners plan to approve the grading bid during their July 12 meeting and bids are hoped to be back on construction of the building by late fall of this year.

The county contracted with ADW Architects for $139,000. Architects estimate that the building will cost between $1.4 million and $1.5 million, although exact construction costs will not be known until bids are received later this year. The county plans to finance the costs.

Architects said Monday that during this slow construction time, they have been seeing projects come in between 25 and 30 percent under budget.