Marble Falls EDC funds half of City Hall location study
This lot at the corner of Broadway and Main streets is one of several downtown sites owned by either the city of Marble Falls or the EDC that will be studied to determine the best location for a new City Hall. Staff photo by Nathan Bush
The Marble Falls Economic Development Corp. approved $70,000 to pay for half of an analysis of possible sites for a new City Hall — with a caveat. The EDC wants a key role in the decision-making process from start to finish.
“One of things we wanted to make sure of was that we had representation on that team,” said EDC board President Steve Reitz.
The city of Marble Falls is expected to foot the rest of the bill for the $139,000 study, although the City Council has not yet approved its half.Parks and Recreation Department Director Lacey Dingman, who is also the City Hall project manager, asked the EDC for the money and explained the process at the Board of Directors meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 6.
“We’re trying to make the best decision for the placement of City Hall,” she said.
The approved money will help pay for a six-month analysis by Austin-based consulting firm Stantec. The study will look at downtown properties owned by the city and the EDC to determine the best spot for a new City Hall. Stantec will also aid the city in deciding what to do with the other sites, including the current City Hall at 800 Third St.
“We certainly wanted to take a step and make sure that we’re selecting the right site and then how those other sites will get redeveloped,” Dingman said. “The push from our council was that maybe we needed to take a pause, go through and do the best evaluation on how we can get the most bang for our buck.”
The study will provide the city with a request for proposal in the pursuit of a public-private partnership, or P3, to ease taxpayer burden related to the project. A request for proposal, also known as an RFP, is a call for bids on a specific project.
Marble Falls started the process of building a new City Hall several months ago to bring all of its departments under one roof as city staff has outgrown the capacity of the current City Hall at 800 Third St. In January, councilors approved the purchase of a lot on the corner of Broadway and Main streets for roughly $2 million.
“(The site) was a potential location,” said Dee Haddock, EDC director and Marble Falls mayor pro-tem. “It was on the market, and we thought it was such a good location that maybe we didn’t want to lose it. The other idea was that real estate typically doesn’t lose value.”
A notice from the city’s bond attorneys in April that the City Hall project would require a bond referendum, along with high-dollar estimates from architects, slowed momentum.
“The last estimate we had was over $700 a square-foot,” said City Manager Mike Hodge.
EDC Director John Packer, a former three-term mayor of Marble Falls, was unimpressed with the city’s stewardship of the process, specifically its decision to purchase the Broadway and Main property.
“My tongue is bleeding because I’ve been biting it, but I feel like I need to say this,” he said. “Why didn’t we as a city do this (analysis) before spending $2 million in reserves for a piece of property that was for sale for well over five years? I know we need a City Hall. How many different buildings are we in? We need this, but I wish we would have done this before we spent that money out of reserves.”
The study won’t begin until the council approves its half of the price tag, something that won’t happen until it meets again after the first of the year.
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IMO the council needs to vote this down. The EDC needs to put their 70k into other items. If the city already bought the land at Broadway and main for a city hall then build at that spot. Spending 139k for an analysis is wasted money and time. More so if the voters shutdown the bond election.