State agency officials explore cheaper office options

MAT-SU -- Leases are coming up for renewal for several local state agency offices and some agency officials are suggesting the state look into "co-locating" the offices to save resources and state money.

The idea of consolidating offices into "one-stop shopping" facilities was introduced recently by Greg Van Kirk, southcentral regional field office manager for the Division of Family and Youth Services. He sent a letter in early September to managers, supervisors and administration officials of area state agencies, inviting them to meet at Wasilla City Hall last month to discuss the possibility of a one-stop office building.

Van Kirk said when he learned his lease, along with the leases of other state agencies that find themselves working together, were coming due, he brought it up at a Mat-Su Agency Partnership (MAP) meeting.

"Since I'm going to start exploring where I'm going to go, you may want to do the same," Van Kirk said he told agency personnel.

But that wasn't the first time the issue came before the MAP group. Several years ago, Van Kirk said, the group submitted a grant application for money that would go toward a one-stop facility. That application was not approved, however. But that's not to say the idea hasn't been on the minds of state officials since.

A second meeting of state agency personnel took place Oct. 5. Jan Madson, a procurement officer with the Department of Administration, said Oct. 3 the meeting of department heads would not be open to the public.

"We just are not in a public meeting environment yet," Madson said.

Madson added that, at this stage, department heads are planning to meet around twice a month, but the meetings have been more spur of the moment than planned.

Jim Duncan, commissioner of the Department of Administration, which oversees some aspects of facility operations, on Tuesday said discussions about the possibility of office space consolidation are still very much in their infancy.

"There have been some very initial discussions about this being a possibility," Duncan said. "There have been no decisions that that's what's going to happen."

Van Kirk said consolidation could cut costs by resulting in shared costs for computer servers and network equipment, telephone systems and phone lines, teleconferencing systems, conference rooms and other common areas.

"At a time when agencies are asked to be more efficient and do more with less, sharing space and resources makes a lot of sense," Van Kirk wrote in the letter.

What Van Kirk is suggesting is that state offices offering services to similar clients be located in the same office area, both to make it easier for clients to access the services and to bolster interoffice communication.

One of the big benefits of office consolidation, Van Kirk said, is that it would remove some of the transportation burden for clients.

"We're spread over an enormous area," Van Kirk said. ". . . you're talking about people with compromised transportation."

Madson said that according to discussions thus far, there are no plans to uproot all state agencies and move them to one giant facility. Although, again, plans are in the preliminary stages, Madson said one plan that has been discussed only involves a reduction of approximately 1,000 square feet of office space in Palmer.

Van Kirk explained that for every agency that may feel it would be logical for it to offer its services in Wasilla instead, there is an agency in Wasilla that is looking to move to Palmer. In the long run, it's likely that if a consolidation effort were made, it would not result in Palmer -- or Wasilla -- office space flooding the market.

At this point, Duncan said, several ideas are being analyzed for their viability and financial costs versus savings -- including simply leaving the offices in their current locations. He reiterated that the process is in the very preliminary stages and many things must still be determined.

One key element, Duncan said, is making the prospect of reaching a conclusive decision rather distant.

The problem, he said, is that the leases on office space for the various state agencies are not on the same time schedule. Madson said many offices are working to find out when their current lease is up -- and some may have several years left on an unbreakable lease.

"If they all expired at the same time, it would be a different matter," Duncan said.

There are a lot of discussions to be had before the leases come up, Van Kirk said. But yes, the rumors are true.

"We're in early discussions," Van Kirk said.