SL Council Votes To Resurrect City Hall Study

(Spirit Lake)– The Spirit Lake city council Tuesday voted unanimously to re-start a study into possible options for city hall.

The council took the action after City Administrator Mark Stevens reported about ongoing problems with the existing city hall, including a leaky roof and moisture problems.

The council voted to resume an agreement for consulting services with Short Elliott Hendrickson.

The council suspended the process when the evaluation phase was completed and the findings were presented at the May 25th council meeting. It was the concensus of the council at the time that one option studied by the firm, remodeling an existing facility at 605 Lake Street, or the former Presbyterian Church, be taken out of consideration due to concern over structural and other issues with that building. With that option out of the mix, Public Works Director Dwight Dohlman told the council Tuesday the firm will now be directed to look at two options on the current city hall site: possible floor plans with one option for just city hall and another with city hall, the Police Department and the Chamber of Commerce. Dohlman said the council will then review the findings of each of those options and make a decision on which to pursue.

The amount of the original contract for the study was $19,800. The city has been billed $9,980 for services provided to date, so city officials say there’s still money in the budget to carry the study through.