(C) Minnesota Reformer
This story was originally published by Minnesota Reformer and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
State Office Building has safety hazards, few disability accommodations [1]
['Michelle Griffith', 'More From Author', '- December']
Date: 2022-12
The Minnesota State Office Building, which houses the state’s 134 members of the state House, as well as staff offices and a bevy of conference rooms that host public hearings, needs major renovations to fix flooding and mold, poor ventilation and safety hazards that have injured numerous people, state staffers told lawmakers on Monday.
At a House Rules and Legislative Administration meeting in the State Office Building — across the street from the state Capitol — lawmakers heard testimony from officials who manage the 90-year-old building and its various “band-aid” fixes to various infrastructure.
“This building has insurmountable challenges,” said Bob Meyerson, former House chief sergeant at arms on Monday. “We’ve relied on luck, and relying on luck is not a good risk management strategy.”
A 2019 estimate of the cost of renovating the State Office Building totaled $288 million, which is nearly as much as the $310 million it took to renovate the state Capitol from 2013 to 2017.
The DFL-majority in the House may be reluctant to spend on politicians’ office space, however. In 2014, Democrats approved construction of the new $90 million Senate Office Building, which Republicans used to attack them during the midterm election. Democrats lost control of the House that year.
Deputy Minority Leader Anne Neu Brindley, R-North Branch, on Monday said she was frustrated that lawmakers were considering major renovations now all at once when the building’s failures could’ve been addressed over time.
“This approach is very frustrating that … we are now being asked to put the taxpayers on the hook for a major renovation again, perhaps more than the cost of the entire renovation of the state Capitol building,” Neu Brindley said.
Lawmakers have yet to release an up-to-date cost estimate for the State Office Building, but outgoing House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler on Monday said he will present a renovation plan on Wednesday.
Numerous horrors have occurred in the State Office Building over the years, including when a burst valve flooded parts of the building in June 2016. Luckily the Legislature was not in session. Still, Meyerson played a video for lawmakers surveying the damage, which showed water pouring from the ceiling into a pool on the ground of an office space, while the lights flickered on and off.
Meyerson said that the water came within inches of damaging the building’s electrical wiring, which would have shut down the building and likely disrupted the next legislative session.
Numerous employees have been injured because of the building’s poor condition. Meyerson described one staffer’s thigh being impaled by an 8-inch wood shard after they brushed up against a wooden railing in a hearing room. The injury required major surgery, he said.
In addition, the building’s parking ramp doesn’t have an elevator, and during the winter months people have fallen on the slippery pavement and been injured.
The State Office Building also doesn’t meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards, which creates barriers for people with disabilities from accessing hearings and participating in the legislative process, said Minnesota Council on Disability Executive Director David Dively.
The building is used for committee hearing for bills during the session, and people with disabilities have a hard time navigating its steep slopes and walkways, Dively said. There is also only one designated ADA-compliant entrance, which can be easily blocked by cars or trucks.
“Access really does respect the dignity of everyone,” Dively said. “Taxpayers, voters, everybody deserves access … People have the right to be here and observe what their elected leaders are doing.”
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://minnesotareformer.com/briefs/state-office-building-has-safety-hazards-few-disability-accommodations/
Published and (C) by Minnesota Reformer
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/MnReformer/
