The building that Trauth Dairy once used to maintain its hefty fleet is now in the possession of the City of Newport.

After years of considering how and where to build a new public works facility, the City found one in its own backyard.

"We've been looking for a new public works facility for a long, long time," said City Manager Tom Fromme. He called the current facility used by Newport "decrepit", noting that it is an eyesore for drivers along I-471 as they pass the area near Newport High School.

It has been a long road to landing the new facility. A decade ago, Newport budgeted $1.8 million to acquire some land and construct a new public works building but all the bids came back at above $3 million, forcing the plans to be scrapped, Fromme said. As recently as this year, city leaders weighed the possibility of a $1.2 million bond issue to put up a new building along the forthcoming new Route 9.

But the old maintenance building owned by Trauth Dairy, which was purchased by a larger dairy forcing the company to place all of its sprawling real estate on the market, turned out to be everything the City needed. It is located on Eleventh Street at Monmouth Street and was built in the early 1990s.

"When we looked at the building, it was a great representative of what we need for the public works facility," said Doug Roell, Newport's public works director. "It presents a great opportunity for us to modernize our operation."

The city commission approved the purchase at a special meeting before its regularly scheduled caucus meeting on Monday night.

"We were quite impressed with the construction of the building and the land, as well," Fromme said. The property comes with a large parking lot across the street and was listed for $1.25 million. The City reached an agreed price of $1.05 million and that's not the only way Newport will save on the deal. Fromme said that Trauth's utility bills ran at around $24,000 a month but that was with keeping large freezer trucks running all the time. He expects a lower bill for Newport.

Additionally, there is an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-certified paint room, a break room, stronger electrical work than the City currently uses, and a superior heat system.

Mayor Jerry Peluso said that some city employees could now park in the newly acquired lot and walk the two blocks to the city building freeing up space in the city-owned lot there for merchants and shoppers on Monmouth Street.

"It is something that has been long overdue," the mayor said of the new public works building.

The former facility will be torn down and made to be green space, Fromme said.

City Commissioner Thomas Guidugli said that the site where the City was considering a new construction opportunity for a facility could now be opened back up for the possibility of private development, another win in the acquisition of the old Trauth building.

Written by Michael Monks, editor & publisher of The River City News

Photo: New public works facility for Newport/RCN