Albany Utility Administration opens new complex

ALBANY — About 75 people gathered in front of the new Utility Administration Complex at 401 Pine Ave. Friday for a grand opening celebration.

Albany Mayor Dorothy Hubbard offered remarks at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the long-delayed utility complex.

“I love it when a plan comes together,” Hubbard said. “I take pride in the collaboration with others. This (new building) will present an opportunity to serve customers better in a modern facility and a modern environment.”

Assistant City Manager Stephen Collier gave a brief history of the events leading up to the opening of the new location.

“Our initial plans were to remodel the building at 207 Pine (Ave.) or to find an alternative location,” he said. “We discovered it would cost $3.5 million to do the work … and that would not include all of the repairs.”

In particular, Collier spoke of a 50-year-old roof in need of replacement and said that additional expenditure is one of the primary reasons city officials decided to find a new location.

“We then shifted our focus to look for a new building,” he said.

The approval to obtain the building at 401 Pine came in August 2015.

“The old building model was not what we wanted it to be, so we decided to make this building fit our business model,” Collier said.

The new Utility Administration Complex will serve as the utilities service hub and will also house an office for the city manager, who also heads the Albany Utility Board, the technical services department and other administrative services. A drive-thru for customers paying their bills opened earlier this year.

An estimated 90 employees will be relocated to the new facility.

City officials said more than 50 local vendors and contractors were involved in preparing the building for its grand opening on Friday.

Soon after the ribbon-cutting, Ward III City Commissioner B.J. Fletcher said, “This is a great day in Albany. It is a way to give customers a better place to do business.”

Ward IV Commissioner Roger Marietta, also on hand for the opening, said he likes the security the new location provides.

“Because it was a bank, it offers additional security,” Marietta said. “You have to think that the utilities department collects hundreds of thousands of dollars each day.”

Hubbard said she believes the drive-thru feature and the added interior work space will benefit the employees as well as Albany residents who go there to handle their utilities business.