REMODEL PROPOSED FOR WILLITS CITY HALL
Project is on hold for now
At the July 28 City Council meeting, City Manager Brian Bender proposed a renovation of City Hall offices and purchase of new furniture in the amount of $71,700. (Construction estimate is $56,190 and furniture is $15,511.)
The renovation would allow better public access and Bender explained the City Council supports the new floor plan but has concerns over the cost.
Construction costs were about $20,000 more than the city expected. To further complicate things, the city is lacking a Finance Director. Bender stated the city is still trying to determine from which accounts to pull funds for the project. Due to council concerns, the city has rescinded the proposal until they have more information regarding budgets and then they will present it to the council for support.
To reduce costs, doors will be recycled and windows salvaged. The service counter will be moved and a second service counter added for utility billing and public interactions. The new service windows would be accessible from the main hallway rather than a small room as is the current set up, allowing for more spacious queuing of the public. One thing the Covid pandemic has taught us is the value of increased air flow in public spaces. The new service window workspaces would also require new furniture.
Other changes would include a reconfiguration of offices so staff does not have to walk through one office to access another office (as the current configuration requires). Most offices will remain the same size, the City Manager’s office will be slightly larger (a couple square feet) to allow for a small conference table to accommodate meetings, it will also be more centrally located within the office space.
Discussions of the renovation began internally in March. The City Hall building was originally built as a grocery store and the renovation project redesigns the office space in a more functional manner.
Bender said the city first considered the Federal Recovery Action Plan for funding, however that money came with a lot of guidelines and instructions for use and is not eligible to be used for the project. The City is now looking at Enterprise Funds, which are accounts assigned to water and wastewater activities. The specific breakdown of how revenue generated can be utilized still needs to be broken down and the difference would be made up through the General Fund.
Bender clarified that water trucks filling up at the well on Commercial Street are Bulk Water Sales and funds generated from that are earmarked for City Parks (supporting, upgrading, managing and equipment), not for City Hall.
Once the Interim Finance Di
rector gets relocated, the budget allocation will be finalized and presented to the City Council. Bender said, “I think it’s a great project.” Bender has been City Manager since January. He stated, “It’s very concerning that there isn’t a true service counter. (The current) window is not great for staff to work with the public… We just want to open it up and not wall the public off from City Hall, or staff from the public.”