Option A: Property at the Decorah Business Park
Posted: Sun, Jan 13, 2019 5:25 PM
Site plan for Business Park development
A bus barn on four acres of land in the Decorah Business Park carries a base cost estimate of $1,893,978.84.
The largest cost would come from constructing a 7,000 square foot building at a price of $875,000. Other major costs would be $210,000 for creating a gravel parking lot; $159,600 for land purchase; $117,900 for site work and $82,000 for an access road. Total construction cost is estimated at $1,672,387, with another $221,591 in developmental costs, which include fees, construction contingency and other costs.
Supporters of the Business Park proposal say the site has fewer construction challenges than the Fox & Coon Club location; that it is better property in terms of stormwater runoff retention; that four acres are plenty of space for a bus barn and that it is more of a blank slate for development.
Critics of the Business Park proposal say the site is further from where students would be picked up; that traffic on Highway 9 at the Business Park entrance is too fast for buses to navigate and that the Fox & Coon site is closer to where bus drivers live.