CENTERTON -- City officials said they recently decided to build a new City Hall on Municipal Drive between the fire and police stations because it's the most cost-effective option and will provide more space.
The building will have 15,000 square feet between two stories, said Mayor Bill Edwards. One floor will house the council chambers and court while the other will house the administration offices. Modus Studios is the project's architect, and Morrison Shipley is the civil engineering firm.
The facility's cost isn't known yet, Edwards said. The project will be paid for with money from the 1-cent sales tax extension voters approved in September 2017. The sales tax extension resulted in a $31 million bond, $4.5 million of which is for capital improvements such as a new City Hall.
There is $15 million for street improvements, $6 million to refinance a 2006 bond, $4 million for parks and trails and $1 million each for the police and fire departments.
"We're outgrowing this," Edwards said of why a new building is needed. "We're stuffed in here."
Ten employees work shoehorned into the 6,500-square-foot City Hall building at 290 N. Main St. with makeshift cubical walls to create designated office spaces. The building was the fire station until it moved to West Centerton Boulevard in the early 2000s.
Court, held in the same building, sees about 120 people a month, Edwards added.
Centerton has had a 47 percent increase in population from 9,515 residents in 2010 to 14,000 in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
City administration, staff and City Council members have been discussing for several months whether the best location would be on Municipal Drive or rebuilding at the current spot.
Council members voted 3-2 at their October meeting to move it. Keith Higginbotham, Wayne Low and Robin Reed voted for the Municipal Drive location. Darren Warren and Misty Elam voted to rebuild it on North Main Street. Josie Reed was absent.
It would be too expensive to rebuild on North Main Street because there are utility lines that would need to be moved, Low said. The Municipal Drive location has the infrastructure in place.
"That whole property was bought many years ago to be the area for all three facilities -- fire, police and City Hall," he said.
The sewer line goes right through City Park, just north of City Hall, Frank Holzkamper, utilities director, told the council in October.
"The plans I saw had the building back that way, right over the top of it," he said. "You're moving sewer and water, you're talking at least a half million dollars."
The city also doesn't own the parking lot south of City Hall or the property to the southeast. Bemco Inc. does, Low said. Bemco has been generous to let the city use the gravel lot for parking, but that's not to say there won't be a change in ownership or use of it that would further limit parking for City Hall, he said.
About 130 additional parking spaces will be added to the location on Municipal Drive, Edwards said.
Police Department officials expressed concern during the October council meetings that excess vehicles and traffic between the police station and West Centerton Boulevard could delay patrol cars from leaving the station in a timely manner for emergencies.
It was also the desire of some others the city government building remain in the downtown area, Edwards and Low said.
Attempts to reach Elam through phone calls, text messages and emails, Warren through email and Josie Reed through phone calls and email were unsuccessful.
NW News on 12/15/2018