MTSU building will remain named after Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest
Middle Tennessee State University President Sidney A. McPhee said Wednesday there will be no appeal of a Tennessee Historical Commission decision rejecting MTSU’s request to change the name of a campus building named for Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, reports the Murfreesboro Daily News Journal.
Legislative Plaza to become parking space under plans for redo of state-owned structures
Much of the office space in the Legislative Plaza, used by the General Assembly before Lawmakers relocated to a renovated Cordell Hulll building, will become parking space for state employees under plans for overhaul of state government facilities in Nashville, reports the Nashville Post.
Construction gets underway on new $124M TN Library and Archives building
Press release from Secretary of State’s office
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett, along with Gov. Bill Haslam, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge), Speaker Beth Harwell (R-Nashville) and Tennessee State Librarian and Archivist Chuck Sherrill, officially broke ground on the new home of the Tennessee State Library and Archives Monday.
‘Complete rebuild’ of Fall Creek Falls State Park lodging approved
The Haslam administration has received approval from the State Building Commission for its plans to rebuild the guest lodging at Fall Creek Falls State Park, reports the Time Free Press.
The plan is to tear down two existing facilities and build a single inn with about 85 rooms along with a new restaurant and conference center at the 26,000-acre park, long considered the “crown jewel” of Tennessee’s state parks system, on the Upper Cumberland Plateau. The work is expected to take 1 1/2 to two years.
Legislators bypass Jones Lang LaSalle, chose Siemens Corp., for services at Cordell Hull building
Legislative leaders have chosen Siemens Corp. to provide building management services at the just-renovated Cordell Hull State Office Building over Chicago-based real estate giant Jones Lang LaSalle, reports the Times Free Press.
While JLL now manages operations at the existing Legislative Plaza and War Memorial Building, home since 1973 for lawmakers’ offices and committee hearing rooms. Those buildings will be vacated starting next week as legislators move to Cordell Hull.
With $700K spent, new Reelfoot Lake State Park building may be torn down rather than finished
State officials are tentatively planning to demolish an interpretative visitors center that has been under construction at Reelfoot Lake State Park rather than complete it, reports the Commercial Appeal. That comes 18 months after a ceremonial groundbreaking, expenditure of up to $700,000 in taxpayer dollars and an audit indicating possible bidding improprieties in awarding a construction contract.
Former TRA headquarters sold for $8.9M — $8.5M for state, $400K for auction company
The Nashville building that was for years home to the Tennessee Regulatory Authority, previously known as the Public Service Commission, was sold at auction Wednesday for just over $8.9 million, according to the Nashville Post. Included was an adjacent parking lot.
The state Department of General Services says via email the state gets $8.5 million of the money. The rest of the $8,925,000 price goes to the real estate company handling the sale.
State officials give final approval to five-year outsourcing contract with JLL
News release from Department of General Services
The State of Tennessee has executed a five-year contract with Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) to provide statewide facilities management services. The contract is effective today (May 26, 2017).
JLL was selected following a two-year multi-step procurement process led by the state’s Central Procurement Office that included representatives from higher education, general government and the legislature.
As we have consistently said, the contract will protect the livelihoods of current state facilities management employees, and is another tool for state departments and institutions to use to keep their expenses low, reducing the need for cost and tuition increases.
To view the contract, (go HERE.)
Contract Background and Highlights
· The State of Tennessee began to look at opportunities in professional facilities management services after studying results from 10 million square feet of state-owned office buildings currently under a similar arrangement in which taxpayer savings of about $26 million were achieved over three years. An additional third-party inspection of the cost analysis upheld forecasted savings if the program were expanded to more state buildings.
· Participation by state agencies and institutions is voluntary.
· The contract includes strict provisions that JLL will retain all current state facilities employees (provided they pass a background check and drug screening).
· JLL will provide compensation equalization for every employee that is transitioned to ensure that they are made whole at the time of transition.
· Tennessee’s facilities management program implemented in 2013 is considered innovative nationally, receiving awards from the National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) in 2014 and from the National Association of State Chief Administrators (NASCA) in 2015.
Today the state is also announcing Charles Burkett as the contract governance executive. A Memphis native, Burkett is a 41-year veteran of the financial services/ banking industry, and most recently a member of the University of Memphis leadership team serving as advisor to the president. In his role at the university, Burkett was responsible for a range of strategic initiatives including implementation of quality improvement measurements of student satisfaction and managing residence life and dining.
In his new contract governance role, he will be responsible for ensuring the overall oversight of the statewide contract to ensure best service across all stakeholders, and for serving as the main point of contact for interested entities that would like to request a quote for service.
Burkett is a former member of the state’s FM Steering Committee, and will continue to serve as a liaison between the statewide contract with JLL and committee members, which will transition in name to Board of Advisors. Representatives on this advisory committee are from higher education and general government leadership.
Note/UPDATE: The Nashville Post reports Burkett will be paid $95 per hour under a contract, which would be $197,600 for a full year of 40-hour week – more than $20,000 more than his salary at the University of Memphis. Further:
He (Burkett) also was a member of the Facilities Management Steering Committee, which oversaw the secretive two-year process that resulted in JLL’s contract. Roberson said the steering committee will transition to a “Board of Advisors” overseeing the contract.
Roberson said the membership of the new board of advisors could be shaken up, but as it currently stands it consists of the head of the Department of Customer Focused Government, Terry Cowles (salary: $150,000); Bob Oglesby, the commissioner of the Department of General Services (salary: $159,996); Mike Perry, the head of procurement in General Services (salary: $147,900); Larry Martin, the commissioner of the Department of Finance and Administration (salary: $190,260); Brock Hill, a deputy commissioner of the Department of Environment & Conservation (salary: $146,532); Russ Deaton, the deputy executive director of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (salary: $155,004); Rick Nicholson, the budget analysis director for the Senate (salary: $110,220); and David Miller, the CFO of the UT system (salary: $310,000). TBR has not had a member on the committee since Warren Nichols left for a new job at the beginning of the year but is expected to appoint someone soon.
Comptroller poses 53 questions on JLL outsourcing contract, awaits answers
State Comptroller Justin Wilson’s office has run a proverbial fine-toothed comb through the governor’s potential building management contract with Chicago- based Jones Lang LaSalle, reports the Times Free Press.
The contract is valued at an estimated $1.9 billion over a five-year period, the amount state and higher education facilities are expected to pay for operating their buildings.
As a result of the review, Wilson said in an interview, administration officials have “already indicated to me they will make changes. Now what they are exactly I don’t know.”
Overcrowding has some kids sleeping on DCS office couches
Some kids in state custody are sleeping on couches in Department of Children’s Services offices or in a Nashville church because state officials cannot find a better place for them to stay, reports The Tennessean.
Davidson County Regional Administrator Tiwanna Woods said no more than 19 teenagers have slept in state offices or the church since the beginning of March — and no more than three teens on a single night. However, sources who work closely with DCS put the number of children higher – as many as 15 teenagers spending the night in offices or the church in just the past week, and as many as seven on a single night.
The reports come just as DCS nears the end of a 14-year federal lawsuit originally brought by children’s rights advocates over kids being place in emergency shelters or other inappropriate settings instead of foster care, group homes or residential treatment centers.
DCS Commissioner Bonnie Hommrich acknowledged the agency is facing challenges placing some of the teenagers coming into custody in appropriate residences. She said that most of the difficult-to-place cases involve delinquent teenagers and foster kids with behavioral or psychiatric problems. While there aren’t always enough spaces for them now, Hommrich said DCS is working to open 60 beds for therapeutic care in July at Mountain View Youth Development Center in Dandridge, a facility for teenage boys who have committed multiple felonies. The new spots will be in a separate section of that facility.
“I think it breaks all of our hearts to see these kids and not be able to place them just like that,” Hommrich said. “It makes us determined for this (situation) to not drag on.”
