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Minot City Council delays action on city hall

File Photo The former Wells Fargo building, with the Big M Building in the background, was the top choice for a new city hall in a technical report on the two buildings.

The M Building is fading from consideration for a new Minot city hall, but the former Wells Fargo building wasn’t an automatic choice for city council members Monday.

The Minot City Council put a 30-day hold on making a decision while asking staff to research expansion of the existing city hall as an option. The $3.75 million in National Disaster Resilience money is available only for renovation of a downtown building.

Doug Larson with JLG Architects presented a technical report from an evaluation of both the M and Wells Fargo buildings. The M Building would require $2 million to $5 million of asbestos removal and the heating and cooling systems would need major work. The reported estimated $34.87 million to turn it into a city hall. Of that, about $29 million would be construction cost.

The former Wells Fargo building had an overall cost of $12.8 million, with about $7.6 million of that for construction.

Larson said either building would work for a city hall, but the recommendation goes to the Wells Fargo building.

Council member Josh Wolsky reminded the council of a previous rough estimate of $4.5 million for construction of as much as 15,000 feet at the current city hall.

“We could fund that entirely by ourselves without the federal assistance and save the taxpayers of Minot in the neighborhood of $3.5 million dollars,” Wolsky said. “I just do not believe this community, our citizens, given everything that’s going on right now are ready to advance this project.”

“With regards to the $3.75 million,” he added, “it is an extraordinary opportunity, but if it convinces us to spend $8 million of our own dollars foolishly, then it wasn’t a gift. It was a curse.”

Wolsky proposed tabling the issue for 90 days. The motion failed 2-5 with only Straight joining Wolsky in support. Council member Paul Pitner, who also asked for new cost figures on expanding the existing city hall, questioned whether 90 days is needed.

Council member Shannon Straight moved to table the issue for 30 days. Straight and Wolsky then were joined by Pitner and, after his long pause for consideration, by Stephan Podrygula. Voting against were Mayor Shaun Sipma and council members Lisa Olson and Mark Jantzer.

Podrygula asked for information on construction of a city hall expansion to the south to be available for council review during the next 30 days. The issue is likely to return to the council at its April 20 meeting.

“I’m mindful that we are in the process of taking people’s homes while discussing building ourselves a new fancy home,” Straight said, referencing flood buyouts. “Does the $3.75 million dollars for this project justify us locking ourselves into building a new house – retrofitting a new building to the tune of what might be $8 or $9 million – under the financial situations that we’re in now?

“What are our needs in relation to what we want? I clearly see that we have some needs, but I think that we should also in times like this give thanks to what we have,” Straight added. “I’d like to have staff have bigger offices, but I just don’t know if it’s the right time.”

John Zakian, the city’s resilience program manager, said the Department of Housing and Urban Development would not look favorably on too many changes, particularly radical changes, in the city’s resilience plans for the federal money.

“If there is a decision to change something in the action plan, we get one bite at the apple in terms of a major project move. It could be the gathering space. It could be city hall, but it can’t be more than one,” Zakian said.

Sipma argued for moving city hall to the Wells Fargo building as a downtown anchor and to shore up economic resiliency.

“There’s never a perfect answer,” he said. “I think this is the best answer we have considering all of the factors that are before us. I’m ready to move forward. I think it’s time to take this step forward.”

Wolsky voiced skepticism over labeling this project as a significant economic stimulus.

“The reality is we’re moving this building approximately four blocks, and if we aren’t having an impact on the downtown corridor right now, I do not see some extraordinary new impact that’s going to exist as a result of the short change in location. I think it’s also important when we talk about things like economic analysis, we do so with a sort of a concrete foundation or some type of feasibility study or something that allows us to really quantify and hold up and say, ‘Yes, this is what we are going to get if we make this choice.’ And right now I don’t see it,” he said.

Reference was made at the meeting to Fargo’s new $29 million city hall, which Sipma and Straight toured last week. Podrygula called the Fargo city hall remarkable but added no one is proposing that type of structure for Minot.

“But I think there’s a difference between making do as we have for decades, and having something that finally meets our needs,” he said. “I’m inclining more toward the former Wells Fargo building, and I think it’s a reasonable kind of decision to make. Basically, there are downsides to it. These are uncertain times, but again I’m looking at it from the perspective of 50 to 75 years, and I think that’s a very, very good compromise for that kind of timeframe.”

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