Three sites in Warren County will be evaluated as the future home for a new administration building which, officials hope, should be under construction by some time in the fall. The county owns the 0.9-acre site behind the courthouse, which is presently used as a parking lot for courthouse employees. But the footprint of the proposed new 39,000-square-foot, two-story structure plus a walkout basement, would occupy two-thirds of that lot. "That leaves very little room for parking," said Presiding Commissioner Arden Engelage. "And that is an important issue for us." In addition, Carol Rouw of Treanor Architects PA, the firm doing the site survey, told commissioners Monday it would cost an estimated $350,000 to repave the access roads and lot, plus install new curb and gutter, at the downtown site. If utility lines have to be moved, the total redevelopment costs downtown might end up being roughly equivalent to the price of buying a three to four-acre parcel of land elsewhere. "The cost of new land could be considerably offset by the redevelopment costs of the downtown site," said Engelage. "That's something we will have to look at very closely." County commissioners formally approved retaining Treanor, based in St. Louis, to undertake the site study. Cost of the survey will be $5,000. The location of the three sites, according to the commissioners, will include the downtown site and two separate tracts of land in the area around Brune Business Park. At least one of the sites is believed to be a parcel in Brune Park. "They are along South Highway 47," said Southern District Commissioner Hubie Kluesner. The site study will take about a month to complete, according to Sharon Schmitz, a representative from Treanor who attended the meeting. "Hopefully, this study will conclude with a clear recommendation on what we feel is the best location," Schmitz said. The survey will weigh a total of 27 criteria for the commissioners. Each separate criteria will be evaluated and weighted based on factors the commissioners feel are most important. Among the highest priorities are lot size and expansion potential, parking, water and utility accessibility, site footprint capability, the cost of land and accessibility for the public. Rouw also pointed out the downtown site would allow the county to merely "hold the line" on the number of available parking spaces unless an alternative parking site could be found. "We know people complain now about the lack of adequate parking at the courthouse," Engelage observed. "They don't want to have to park four or five blocks away." Treanor officials previously told the commissioners they would recommend a lot size of not less than 1.4 acres to accommodate the new administration building and parking for the facility. But that lot size, they added, is merely for the planned new building as it exists now and does not factor in future expansion capability. "Having the ability to expand the building, as needed, is becoming a very key element in this process," said Engelage. "We need room to grow." Once the site study is completed, the next step will be the schematic design phase for the new building. That is expected to take about 90 days, after which the project would go out for bid to contractors. Treanor officials said they envisioned a potential construction start date in September or perhaps October.