by Logan Gruber
operations@thenewsleaders.com
The St. Joseph City Council held a meeting regarding the future of city facilities on May 21 in the conference room at city hall. The meeting was open to the public but was a working meeting and not a regular city council meeting.
The first topic of conversation was the ongoing situation with the purchase of Colt’s Academy.
While the purchase agreement is still being worked out, District 742 will likely continue to use the building – even after the city purchases it – for about two years, until July 1, 2017.
“At this point, let’s assume we’re getting [Colt’s],” Mayor Rick Schultz said. “We’re really close.”
If – or when – the city does purchase the building, Little Saints Academy, a daycare facility, would remain at the site, according to the city.
City Administrator Judy Weyrens said LSA currently uses approximately 22 percent of the space in the building.
“They would like a little more of the space,” Weyrens said, “and we would have shared use of the kitchen and gym.”
Colt’s academy has approximately 40,000-square-feet of space, according to the school district. The city currently plans to pay about $47/square-foot for Colt’s, which would be about $2 million. It was mentioned the roof would likely need to be redone within the next five years, and the district might share the cost.
Operating costs for the building are estimated by the district to be about $160,000 per year, with utilities and taxes making up about $60,000 of the total.
It was brought up that the old plans for a rebuilding or remodeling of city hall might be able to just be dropped onto the site of Colt’s, next to the current building that would be used as a community center. Then the new building would include the city hall and police station, and the old city hall could be leased out or sold.
Weyrens and Police Chief Joel Klein were very interested in keeping the city administration and police department in the same building to facilitate communication.
It was also brought up if a community center could be placed at Colts, old plans to demolish and rebuild – or remodel – city hall, with administration and police in the same building, but a community center at a different location, could be looked at again.
Using the old plans for a city hall/police station in either location could be a cost savings for the city, as adjustments could be made to those plans, instead of having entirely new plans drawn up. It was pointed out that demolishing city hall would cost $50,000 to do, and city hall could possibly be sold for between $500,000-700,000. Mayor Schultz hinted at a potentially interested buyer but wouldn’t say any more.
The working meeting ended with three options in front of the council to explore: remodeling city hall using recycled plans at its current location; demolishing and rebuilding city hall with recycled plans on its current location; or, selling or leasing the current city hall building and building a new city hall/police station with recycled plans on land beside Colt’s.
Regular city council meetings are held at 6 p.m. on the first and third Mondays of the month in the council chambers at city hall, 25 College Ave. N. These meetings are open to the public, and a public hearing for any topic a citizen might want to speak about before the council is held near the beginning of every meeting. The meetings are also broadcast live on the city’s cable access channel on Charter at channel 181 and on Midcontinent at channel 10. Agendas and meeting minutes may be viewed at city hall, or online at cityofstjoseph.com.
