Victoria MN Newspaper-City Scoop

Public Works Director Ann Mahnke said the cold storage would include other seasonal vehicles and accessories. "Consolidation would have been nice. Now we'll be running back and forth," she said.

"Our biggest need is heated space," said Mr. Uram. "We can bid alternate options for additional square footage. We're a little shy of $6 million. That number came from our consultants and three companies."

Stated Mayor Tom O'Connor, "This is a concession, a compromise. It's not a perfect world. This is a metal building. Staff believes this is an adequate design for five years." At that time the building would need to be expanded.

Said Councilmember Jim Crowley, "Our shop today is 5,900 square feet of shop space and we're talking about tripling it and this will last only five years?"

Replied Ann, "Safety is a concern. There's not a real good working space for employees today. A facility like this [proposed] will give us space to do that safely. We currently don't have a lunch room or a working bathroom. Roughly $300,000 worth of equipment sits outside and rusts -- ten bobcat attachments, five plows, trailers, some lawnmowers, a pickup truck, and other miscellaneous equipment. The Public Works employees are very talented in getting things done with what we have. As we grow we'll need additional plows and mowers for the parks ... One of our current employees has been our assigned mechanic. Actually, all the guys take care of the equipment. Most of them do welding."

Mr. Uram said the proposed building could last from five to eight years.

Said Councilmember Joe Pavelko, "If this building is short term, it's a waste of money." He said it didn't make sense to build something that was inadequate.

"For the record," stated Councilmember Crowley, "just where do you stand? 23,000 feet was too big and 16,000 feet is too small."

Clarified Councilmember Tom Strigel, "We're not building something with a five-year life. It's a 20 to 30-year life. We keep using it, not knocking it down or starting over, but adding on."

Mr. Uram said that staff is still in the schematic design phase because they're working with the preparation of the city's preliminary 2014 budget. "We need to fine tune the plans," he said. "It would help us if you estimated the budget. We need to consolidate our efforts and bring in a construction manager. I don't have the time it takes. Give us the opportunity to do that."

A long term financial plan suggests an average annual tax increase of $11 to $22 on a median value home of $307,000 and an average annual tax increase of $20 to $77 on a $600,000 home -- due to new facilities debt and depending on the sale of the 94 acres of city-owned property that could buy down the debt.

The City Hall Facility

Manager Don Uram spoke of a possible land swap for the city-owned property next to the Post Office with the Hartman property along the LRT on Stieger Lake in downtown Victoria.

"Are we swapping dollars for dollars?" asked Councilmember Pavelko.

Replied Mr. Uram, "We had an appraiser tell us they're roughly equal in value. I'd argue the lakeside property has more value for the city."

Councilmember Crowley pointed out that significant site work has been done on the Hartman property whereas none has been done on the city-owned parcel and adjacent Johnson property to which the city has a purchase agreement.

According to Mr. Uram, "We have a purchase agreement on the Johnson property and we are still doing our due diligence. The purchase agreement says that we cannot close before August 31st." Total purchase price was $182,000.

Mayor O'Connor said there would also be expense involved for demolition of the Johnson home and soil correction. "Five more appraisals would give us five different numbers that are roughly the same," he said.

Square footage of the city-owned Post Office and Johnson lots: 7,394 square feet. Square footage of the Hartman parcel is 12,154 square feet. The city receives an additional 4,760 feet.

Holly Kreft presented a preliminary sketch that showed the existing amphitheater at the Lakeside property, as well as the possibility of a bandshell for community events.

Mr. Uram said the potential size of the new City Hall is 12,000 square feet, two floors of 6,000 square feet each. "If we do a library, it will be on the first floor. The size of the building has not been finalized."

THE FOLLOWING 6:30 P.M.

CITY COUNCIL MEETING

Approximately 50 residents were in attendance. Mayor Tom O'Connor invited them to speak at the podium under the "Open Forum" part of the evening's agenda and limit themselves to five minutes each. The subject: New Public Facilities. Nine residents got up to speak.

Click here to continue CITY CONTINUES TO INFORM.

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