Milford residents to vote on bond issue

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A price has been set for a new municipal building in Milford, and taxpayers won’t have to foot the entire bill.

The Milford City Council set an $800,000 limit on the principal bond amount for the new building at its Nov. 7 meeting, and it discussed tearing down the current City Hall.

New municipal building

Carlson West Povondra, the architectural firm hired for the project, estimates the total cost of the new building at $1,218,150.

To make up the difference, the council intends to use $300,000 from the city’s unrestricted fund, which is already budgeted, and $250,000 from the Community Betterment Fund, which came as a $1 million endowment from an anonymous donor in 2014.

Council member Jeff Baker said the Betterment committee met late last month and approved the request.

“A lot of discussion was had, and it was a unanimous decision to use the $250,000,” Baker said. “I thought the discussion was really good, and they were all supportive of that.”

Utilizing those two funds leaves a bill of $668,150 on the project. The initial $1.2 million figure does not include the cost of furnishing the new building.

Mayor Nick Glanzer recommended setting the maximum principal amount of the bond at $700,000, but some council members wanted a bit more leeway.

“That’s close to cutting it very tight,” council member Patrick Kelley said. “I would be in favor more of $800,000 just to be sure we don’t run into anything unnecessary. I’m not saying we would use all of that, but for the purposes of setting up a maximum number, I would be in favor of more of an $800,000 number.

Kelley made a motion, which was seconded by council member Scott Bashore, and the motion passed unanimously at $800,000.

The bond issue will go up for election sometime next year, either as part of a special election or rolled in with the May primaries. The council will discuss details of the election at its Dec. 5 meeting.

City Hall demolition

The city drafted a purchase agreement with Heath Yeackley of Rent Works LLC in October 2016, stating that Yeackley would purchase the current City Hall and the former Hill’s Country Inn building next door.

Part of that agreement was that Yeackley would demolish both buildings within a year of the final sale or pay a $50,000 penalty.

Since black mold and other fungi were recently found inside City Hall, council member Dan Kral met with Yeackley to see if he was still interested in the purchase.

The council approved an addendum to the purchase agreement, which now states that Yeackley may exceed that one year allotment if extenuating circumstances arise.

Yeackley said he will need to complete the project during the winter months because of his work schedule.

“It would depend when the sale is final,” Yeackley said. “I would like a whole winter season to tear them down.”

City Clerk Jeanne Hoggins spoke with Terracon, the Omaha-based company that did the mold inspection on City Hall. The company said mold remediation is not necessary if the buildings will be demolished, but Yeackley said he will take precautions to prevent the mold spores from contaminating the air if necessary, but that may cause the demolition to take longer.

The addendum states that “circumstances beyond the control of Rent Works” will be considered.

City Attorney Krista Carlson said those circumstances could include family emergencies or injuries to employees that would prevent them from doing the work, among other situations.

The council may consider such circumstances on a case-by-case basis.

Baker said he would still like to see the buildings down within a year.

“Personally, it’s a big selling point to me that we’re going to get them demo’d within a year,” he said, so that old empty buildings aren’t tarnishing the look of the city’s main street.

Karal pointed out that the mold growth is only going to get worse as time passes.

Yeackley said he did not think it would be an issue and that he plans to begin as soon as the sale goes through.