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Commissioners approve relocation of City Hall
By a unanimous decision, the Fort Scott City Commission approved the city's offer to purchase the building at 123 S. Main St. for the relocation of City Hall.
"We've been talking about this for three or four years now and nothing has presented itself is as nice as this building ... we haven't seen anything close," Commissioner Jim Adams said during Tuesday evening's special meeting to discuss the purchase.
The city has made an offer to purchase the building which formerly housed the Social Rehabilitation Services, for $150,000. According to Fort Scott City Manager Joe Turner, the purchase will be funded through temporary notes over a three-year period. The estimated annual payment for the building would be about $53,000 which would be divided equally between the general fund, wastewater fund, water fund, and rate stabilization fund.
Turner said that there would need to be about $11,000 worth of improvements which would need to be made before the city moved in. The largest of the renovations would be increasing the structural support so it would meet the city's load capacity code.
"We did some investigation and found it would be a good location for City Hall," Turner said.
Commissioner Sam Mason described the opportunity as a "win-win situation" for the city because the commission and the Fort Scott Municipal Court would remain in Memorial Hall. He said if any overflow were to occur, the option to move into the auditorium is still available.
Although the commission's decision was unanimous, it was not made without opposition. Several citizens were in attendance to provide their input. Jim Shoemaker, resident and downtown business owner, expressed his concern with the purchase taking another building off of the tax roll and preventing that income to the city. He said that the building does not address all the issue the city has with the current facility and that the timing of the opportunity is not good.
"I don't think this is the right time," he said. "It would be great if it solved all our problems."
Jim Pitts, resident and downtown business owner, said he was not opposed to the purchase but wanted to see more care taken into making the decision to come up with a plan for the future of Memorial Hall. He said that without a plan for Memorial Hall, the building could get neglected and the city would allow an historic building to sit vacant.
"We're gambling here," he said. "Let's slow this horse down."
The purchase opportunity has come at a time in which the city has made dramatic cuts to the budget and Pitts said it feel like the city is saying it is broke but not when it wants something.
"That almost feels disrespectful to us voters," he said.
Not all public comments were negative, Lindsay Madison addressed the commission saying she feels the move will make the city more attractive to incoming businesses.
"I think it will bring a lot of activity to downtown," she said.
Turner said the city began discussing the possibility of relocating City Hall due to high utility costs and the lack of handicap accessibility. Fort Scott City Attorney Bob Farmer said that the city could face legal issues in the future and the the move would make him "very happy."
After everything is finalized City Hall should be operational in the new location by the end of the summer.