City Council Minutes 07-28-2008 SpecialSp Council Minutes: 7/28/08
MINUTES
SPECIAL MEETING - MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL
Monday July 28, 2008 - 5 p.m.
Members Present: Clint Herbst, Wayne Mayer, Tom Perrault, Brian Stumpf and Susie
Woj chouski
Members Absent: None
1. Call to order.
Acting Mayor Brian Stumpf called the special meeting to order at 5:10 p.m. The purpose of
the special meeting was to consider facility needs planning and a possible request for
proposal for a study on the City's facility needs.
2. Discussion of facility needs.
Finance Director, Tom Kelly had prepared a listing of existing facilities and noted
departments that needed expansion. Tom Kelly had also prepared a draft request for
proposals for a facilities and space needs analysis.
Brian Stumpf was concerned about going through a proposal process when the steps outlined
in the proposal may not be initiated for a number of years. He asked what the status was of
the Public Works Facility Study. He was aware that many of the existing facilities needed to
expand to meet the City's needs but he questioned the need for a study. Tom Kelly
explained in 2007 $80,000 had been budgeted for improvements at the DMV site and
$80,000 had been budgeted in the Building Department for improvements to the
garage/storage building on the property formerly owned by Eisele. Brian Stumpf felt that
the $160,000 previously budgeted for improvements would be better spent on actual
improvements rather than a needs and space study. Brian Stumpf also expressed the
concern that if the study is done and the City for financial reasons is not able to complete the
improvements recommended in the study within 5-7 years, the needs of the community
could change from what was originally set forth in the study. Susie Wojchouski stated the
City just does not have the money to do extensive facility improvements.
Jeff O'Neill said the request for a facility and space analysis study was initiated by the Fire
Department wanting to do a space analysis study for their needs. Since there were other
departments that needed expansion staff felt it would make sense to look at all existing
facilities and existing needs to see how they could best be met. The question for discussion
is what is the proper sequencing for addressing the City needs.
Brian Stumpf stated he believed that some land was set aside by the water tower in the
Jefferson Commons development for the Fire Department. Wayne Mayer said the Fire
Department felt the proposed fire hall site was too far away from TH 25 to be practical and
thought the site should be on the south side of I-94. There has also been discussion of
remodeling the current Public Works Building for the Fire Department once a new Public
Works Facility has been built on the land that was recently purchased. Another idea that was
Sp Council Minutes: 7/28/08
discussed was to have a satellite location for the Fire Department at the site of the proposed
Public Works Building.
Brian Stumpf felt the old bowling alley site was questionable for use in any expansion and
he felt it has more value if it stays on the tax rolls. Brian Stumpf said he understands why
staff wanted to incorporate all the facilities into one study but he felt the City should be
looking at what the immediate needs are and what can the City afford to do. Wayne Mayer
questioned why the study is required since the Council is aware of the needs. The general
feeling of the Council was that the facility needs and space analysis study was not needed at
this time.
Clint Herbst entered meeting at this time. Brian Stumpf briefly updated him on the
discussion held thus far. The Council was in agreement that since there isn't any money to
do the improvements it didn't make sense to do the study at this time. Clint Herbst said the
City should be setting some funds aside every year to cover at least some of the immediate
facility needs. The Council spent some time discussing the existing City facilities and what
was needed to accommodate growth. The most immediate needs were thought to be the
DMV building and garage/storage building. The Building Department, MCC and Fire
Department have been using the garage for storage of vehicles and equipment. Gary
Anderson noted that they have budgeted funds for the past two years but the delay in coming
back to the Council with plans is that it has not been determined what to do with DMV.
Once it is determined if the DMV stays at their existing facility or moves to the
garage/storage facility then staff can design the expansion accordingly.
Wayne Mayer asked about expanding the existing City Hall/MCC building. He stated the
Mississippi Room is not suitable as a Council Chambers because of the acoustic. He felt the
design of the room was geared for event rentals such as weddings. Staff indicated that at the
present time the square footage for the City Hall portion of the building is about 7,000
square feet. Clint Herbst felt the City should look at getting prices for adding a second story
to the City Hall/MCC facility.
Brian Stumpf asked how much room there would be if the garage/storage building was
expanded. Gary Anderson replied that the site could be developed to the property line.
There was some discussion on how adrive-through for DMV could be incorporated as part
of the garage/storage building expansion. Wayne Mayer felt the present DMV site is ready
for redevelopment and he did not think a major renovation of the building would make
sense. Jeff O'Neill noted that the food shelf and clothing portions of the building used by
Christian Social Services have expressed the need for more space. Clint Herbst suggested
that maybe the area churches should look at providing space for these services. Wayne
Mayer wondered if there wasn't space at the new Workforce Center for these services. The
DMV was asked about issuing driver's licenses. Ann Johnson indicated they would be
doing limited driver licenses and would be eligible for cameras in 2009 but they would need
to have the space to handle that. The DMV space is approximately 2,400 square feet. Clint
Herbst asked if the food shelf/clothing uses were out of the building would there be adequate
space for the DMV needs. Ann Johnson responded that the DMV connects to the portion of
the building used for clothing distribution but does not have access to the food shelf area.
Gary Anderson sketched out a possible layout for the DMV building expansion. This
expansion would be approximately 14' x 30'. There was discussion on what kind of drive
2
Sp Council Minutes: 7/28/08
through layout could be utilized on that site. Council felt staff should come up with some
kind of plan for the DMV site so they could see what the cost would run.
Tom Perrault asked about relocating the senior citizens facility. Kitty Baltos said the senior
center is very successful but it does eat up rental space and the MCC has not been charging
the senior center for use of other rooms. The general feeling of the Council was that senior
center should remain housed in the City Hall/MCC building.
Susie Wojchouski asked if it was wise for the City to lease space for their needs rather than
buy property. The Council also discussed if there was storage space at the Bohanon farm
site. It was suggested that perhaps drop off containers could be utilized to meet some of the
storage needs.
The Council viewed the city hall space noting that space from the records room and plan
room could be utilized once the City's paper records are converted to electronic format. It
was noted that in the 2009 budget it was proposed to acquire a machine that could scan, print
and copy large size plans. Council felt that the estimated cost of $13,000 was not unrealistic.
The Council also viewed the existing space for the MCC offices before viewing the space at
the garage/storage building and the DMC building.
The viewing of the facilities and the meeting closed at 6:50 p.m.
O~Tn ~~Jwss-c..~.si.
Recording Secretary