The Elon Town Council discussed possible funding paths for a new municipal building and police station. The Town agreed to purchase a Labcorp property at 112 Orange Drive in the fall. The purchase has not gone through and members debated costs Jan. 27.
There were no participants in the public comments portion of the meeting.
Discussions
Elon Town Manager Richard Roedner led the discussion on how the town could purchase the Labcorp building and fielded questions from council members. Much of the renovation will be concentrated on fixing the buildings’ roof, heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, as well as reprogramming the building to fit the needs of the Town.
The council also discussed deferred maintenance of the building until they are able to put together a plan for the space.
“Talking about renovation costs, we don’t really know how we’re going to use it,” council member Steve Exum said. “Really the only cost is, is it worth it to have this building, and how do we maintain it until we decide what we want to do? Those are first steps.”
According to town policy, the town is supposed to have four to five million dollars in a fund balance, Roedner explained the town currently has a fund balance of around $11.4 million. The fund balance could possibly be used to pay for the costs of the building.
The fund can be used for disaster clean-up and repairs and to pay for certain bills and expenses. The fund balance has previously been used to purchase the new ladder and fire truck.
The council reviewed how the Town paid for previous big purchases. For example, in 2019 the Town purchased a fire truck by taking out a car loan from a bank and did a revenue bond to update the pump station.
The meeting ended with a closed session to discuss acquisition of the property for public facilities.