Meeting of the Board of Regents | March 2008

SUMMARY

Issue for Discussion

The Governor’s proposed budget includes $12,585,000 for a capital project to expand the state records center.  Geof Huth from the Archives will brief the Committee on the details of the proposed project.

Reason(s) for Consideration

To provide information to keep the Regents informed on improvements in the care of records under the Department’s stewardship.

Proposed Handling

The Regents will discuss next steps to ensure this proposed capital project is approved and moves forward.

Background Information

The Governor’s proposed budget includes $12,585,000 for a capital project to double the capacity of the state records center.  The expansion of the records center will allow the Archives to store more state government inactive records at prices much less than through commercial vendors, thus saving the state hundreds of thousands of dollars and increasing revenue for the Archives’ state agency services program.  The records center will be a state-of-the-art facility that will also include special storage areas for electronic media, as well as climate-controlled space for the storage of 60,000 cubic feet of permanent records.  The Archives and Office of Management Services staff will work closely with the Office of General Services on the design of this expansion, with expected completion by 2011.  The Archives runs the records center like a business and has developed careful business plans that estimate costs and revenues out three to five years in the future.  This detailed analysis allows the Archives to identify our real financial needs and make a convincing business case for these improvements.

Recommendation

Staff recommends the continued support of the Regents for this project.

Timetable for Implementation

Assuming that this item remains in the enacted state budget, the Archives and other staff in the Department will continue to work with the Office of General Services to develop design and construction plans for the expansion of the state records center. Given the need to finalize the specifications for the building, to carry out a formal bidding process, and to construct the addition, the project is not expected to be complete until 2011.