City may opt for second opinion on shelter house repairs

A local landmark shelter's future will be discussed by the Fort Scott City Commission Tuesday evening.

The repairs to Shelter House No. 1 at Gunn Park will be a topic of discussion at the meeting, more importantly the commission will decide what the next step should be in making improvements and reopening the popular shelter.

Shelter House No. 1, which is believed to have been built in the 1930s, has been closed since late February as a result of a report from Professional Engineering Consultants, P.A. finding structural cracking and horizontal and vertical displacement.

According to Fort Scott City Manager Dave Martin, the commission will decide whether to move forward with the project having received an engineering estimate from PEC or to get a second opinion. Martin said that the possibility of getting a second opinion is to be cautious when spending tax dollars.

"We are going to talk about that some more and possibly looking at a different, second opinion," he said. "We just need to make sure we're taking care of tax dollars correctly.

"In my world sometimes if I feel that something, especially when you're going to be spending a lot of dollars, I may get a second opinion ... a second set of eyes that looks at that project," Martin added.

Martin described the project, with an estimated price tag of about $200,000, as a major outlay of money. He said that he wants to make sure that the commission makes a decision when they are ready.

"It's a major decision and it is not something I want to go into very lightly," he said.

Martin later added, "This will be one of those major dollar outlays and I just want to make sure that we have looked at all avenues and feel like we're doing the right things by the tax dollars."

If the commission decided to look into a second opinion, the cost of another engineering estimate would cost the city between $8,000 and $10,000, according to Martin. He added that the purpose of the discussion will be mainly to decide what the commission feel the next steps should be in the project.

"We're looking for some direction from them," Martin said.