City of Spirit Lake moves forward on city hall planning

JoAnn Brown, an employee at Spirit Lake City Hall, works at her computer. City officials are currently discussing options for an improved facility.
(Andrea Kemp/DCN Staff)

Mark Stevens, city administrator for the city of Spirit Lake, notes the problems with the current facility are growing.

"It's just one thing after another," Stevens said. "Recently we've had significant roof leaks, a couple of them, that damaged a lot of records and made some of the offices across the way extremely inconvenient. We've got mold problems, I could just go on and on."

Late last year, Stevens held a planning retreat with members of the city council, who echoed his sentiment about the dilapidated state of the current facility, located at 1803 Hill Ave.

"We had a planning retreat with the council last November (and) one of the things I tried to do was draw out of them what they viewed as the highest priorities of the city for the next couple years," Stevens said. "All of them thought that starting to do something on a new city hall was among the highest priorities that we ought to have."

Stevens commends other cities in the Lakes area for their facilities.

"You look at Arnolds Park - they have a very nice facility without being overbuilt," he said. "Look at what Milford built ... Okoboji has a nice facility ... You go almost anywhere and people have at least much more adequate facilities. It's not that we're jealous and that we're trying to build something fancy, the space is just unworkable.

A new property on the market has made the option of relocating City Hall that much more attractive to city officials.

"Recently, a building is available - the old Presbyterian Church on the highway here, about two blocks away. It's on the market for what appears to be a pretty reasonable price," Stevens said. "That's a big building, its highly visible, its got a lot of space in offices, which is what we need, but it's possible that it could be a replacement as opposed to building a new one."

The property is not the only consideration in the process, however.

"I think ideally we'd like to stay here on this location," Stevens said. "We would tear this building down and build new here. (But) before we can convince ourselves and the public that that's a good idea we should look at other options ... (and the) availability of that space is what's driving the issue immediately, because if you don't act on it soon it could disappear and then you don't have options."

Dwight Dohlman, public works director for the city of Spirit Lake, notes numerous positives to the Presbyterian Church property, including the ability to encompass the police department.

"It's a size that would fit us and maybe the police department and maybe some other non-profits," Dohlman said. "A building of that opportunity may not come around again. The timing on that is really good."

Stevens has established a time line for city council to move forward with discussing options for the City Hall, meet with architects and tour facilities, but notes council members are already cautious to make a costly decision at a time when the city is still suffering the impact of the recession.

"I think they're ready to get it rolling (but) they express caution about moving ahead," Stevens said. "They didn't want it to be costly to do ... this preparation work; and I think most important, they want to be able to stop it if they decide they don't want to move ahead at this time. There would be multiple points where they can make a decision whether or not to proceed or defer. I think part of it is funding is tight, our budget is severely limited for next year and everybody recognizes that money is tight, that the economy is difficult."

If the process moves forward as planned, the city will issue bonds supported through property taxes backed by a referendum taken to a vote next November.

While Dohlman can understand the hesitancy of the public to move forward with a purchasing or remodeling project, he feels confident the expenditure is actually a cost-saving measure.

"When you have a building such as ours, it gets to a point where it starts costing more and more each year just to keep it maintained whereas another building ... that is newly remodeled ... will cost less to maintain on a year-to-year basis," Dohlman said. "(From) a maintenance standpoint, it may be more cost-effective to take care of a new re-remodeled building or a new building."

City Hall Planning Timeline

January-March 15

Building floor plans

Preliminary building and site review

Appraisal

Engineer/architect review

February-May 15

Develop space utilization plan

Possible organizations to co-locate

Renovations needed for council meeting space, office reconfiguration, garage, other possible upgrades (insulation/ VAC, technology, accessibility, other

May

Facility comparison

Review past City Hall building plans

Cost estimates of new building versus purchase/remodeling of Lake Street building

Other issues: Plan for disposition of vacated property (city hall, police dept)

Referendum plan to include statement of need, cost and facility comparison, public information on building plan

June

Decision on proceeding

June-July

Negotiate purchase proposal

July-August

Implement referendum plan

November 2

Referendum