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With three members absent and an over $300,000 expenditure at stake, the Spokane Valley City Council decided Tuesday to hold up on making any decisions on a study that would outline details for a new city hall for at least two more weeks.
The new municipal building has been long considered to be a key component of a city center to be developed at University City. The idea has been to build a three-story brick structure on just over three acres of land that would be surrounded by green space, walkways and boutique shops.
Details of the city hall plan and its final costs, however, have been sketchy. That’s why the council has been working with Spokane architectural firm Bernardo Will/GGLO and is ready to move forward with a $377,000 study for a schematic design of the proposed structure.
But at least one council member and the chairman of the board of the Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce believe the council could be moving a bit too fast.
“(The chamber board) believes you should exercise caution,” said Philip Rudy, Valley chamber board chairman. “This is a large amount of money.”
Rudy added that the since the city has yet to actually buy any land – real estate negotiations with University City’s ownership and continue – moving forward with design schematics on that specific site is a “bold move” in these “challenging economic times.”
Council Member Rose Dempsey agreed.
“While I support the concept of a city center and a city hall, with today’s economic climate now is not the time to spend $377,000 on dreams,” she said. “Now is not the time.”
Dempsey had initially made a motion to table the issue to Feb. 24, but it failed to garner the three votes for passage. Deputy Mayor Dick Denenny and Council Members Diana Wilhite and Gary Schimmels were not present at Tuesday’s meeting.
After the comments by Rudy and Dempsey, Public Works Director Neil Kersten concurred that the city shouldn’t go too far along on any design study until the city actually owned the property.
“(The schematic) should be designed for the site,” he said.
Kersten added, however, that there are components of the study that can be done beforehand that are not incumbent on owning the land while other elements should be delayed “until the site is ours.”
Gary Bernardo, the principal architect, said that the initial work of his firm would be to determine if “this is the correct site.”
“There’s some work to be done up front which might be needed,” he said. “It will give the council a tool to make an informed decision if the site is right for you. Some design work up front is prudent.”
City Manager David Mercier said it was a classic “chicken and the egg” situation saying that some initial design work was needed but that it also didn’t make sense to “overcommit” financially, though the amount for the design work has been budgeted in the city’s Civic Building Fund for some time.
Mercier suggested bringing the issue back to consider on Feb. 24, which was Dempsey’s original suggestion, which the council overwhelmingly agreed upon.
“We made kind of a surprising decision tonight,” Mayor Richard Munson said.
The council will not meet next Tuesday, Feb. 17, as most members will be in Olympia for a legislative conference.
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By
Mike Huffman
