USCIS ABANDONS HOPE FOR REPAIRS AT ST. ALBANS COMPLEX
By Gregory J. Lamoureux
County Courier
ST. ALBANS: A confidential source has alerted the County Courier to updated plans at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) complex in St. Albans.
The facility has been largely empty of staff since a water main broke beneath the office building in December. That water leak flooded the entire first floor of the facility, leaving behind water damage and silt.
In an email, acquired exclusively by the County Courier, Connie Nolan, the Acting Associate Director of the Vermont Service Center in St. Albans, announced to the staff that the St. Albans Facility would no longer be the home of USCIS in Vermont- however, the whereabouts of the new Service Center has yet to be established.
The lease on the Tabor complex, as it is known to the workers, expires on June 30th of this year.
“Repairing such severe damage is a complex and lengthy endeavor,” Nolan wrote in her email, “Based on all the information at this time, we estimate that the [Vermont Service Center] workforce would not safely be able to reoccupy the Tabor building for approximately 10 months. Therefore, the decision has been made to forego reoccupying the Tabor Building and it is our goal to have the replacement facility be in Franklin County.”
In order for the government to break the contract with Elman Vermont Investors, the owner of the building, the government must notify them of their intent to vacate at least 120 days before the lease expires. That would make March 3rd the last day the government could officially notify the landlord of the intent not to renew the lease.
Nolan’s letter to employees continues, outlining the bare minimum repairs needed in order to reoccupy the Tabor building- removing and replacing carpet and drywall, filling voids in the foundation that have been discovered by engineers, replacing electrical wiring and receptacles within the damaged slab, and commit to ongoing air quality tests and abatement to ensure the safety of the employees working within the building.
Nolan’s letter says that she, along with other officials within USCIS and Homeland Security, will brief the congressional staff and Governor on the issue later today.
The facility employs about 600 government officials, as well as about 200 government contractors.
The email was sent to staff at the facility a little after 2pm on Wednesday afternoon.
According to the internal email, management at the Vermont Service Center is working to ensure that the new location is “in the Franklin County area,” but it also goes on to say that the new facility will “model the Service Center of the Future concept with a reduced footprint, a digitized workload, and federal staff in a maximum telework posture,” indicating that many of the workers who have been moved to work at home environments since COVID, will likely remain that way even after COVID is a thing of the past.
A request for comment from Nolan was not immediately returned as of press time.
The County Courier reached out to Governor Phil Scott’s Office, as well as the Congressional delegation Wednesday afternoon with no response.
St. Albans City Mayor, Tim Smith, said the news comes as a shock, although he did know there was to be a discussion at the federal level on the future of the St. Albans complex.
Smith is also the Executive Director of Franklin County Industrial Development. He said there is no current space in Franklin County, at least to his knowledge, that would hold a candle to the square footage of the Tabor complex.
Smith said the only immediate possibility might be the former Energizer building on Route 7 in St. Albans Town, though much of that building’s square footage is being utilized by Peerless Clothing company.
The future of the second half of the complex with USCIS, better known as the CVPS building is unknown. The Tabor facility generates $14.4 million to the City’s grand list, while the CVPS build provides another half million on the grand list.
As for the future of the Tabor facility after USCIS’ departure, there is a possibility that Mylan would look to expand their nearby real estate.
Smith reminisced of the days when USCIS workers in the city numbered just a few dozen. “It leaves a big void,” Smith said of the impending loss to the City, “In county employment for sure. I don’t mean that the jobs are going away, but in terms of the City model.”
© County Courier, 2021
