Platteville's Common Council is renewing its efforts to address the city's administrative space crunch.
During a Tuesday, Jan. 16, work session, council members will select one of three firms that have submitted proposals to conduct a municipal facility study project.
Platteville's municipal building was built in the late 1920s. Besides numerous city offices, it also houses the Police Department. Ideally, a new municipal complex would house police, fire, EMS, administration, senior center, and possibly a new community center area, according to Platteville City Manager Lon Pluckhahn. It would put city services all under one roof.
"However, building site constraints and public sentiment may lead to having separate buildings for some of these functions," he said.
Some of the possible sites include:
* The First National Bank of Platteville building that will be vacated later this year.
* A parcel the city owns (currently housing Ubersox Chrysler and Hooks Auto Body) that is adjacent to the existing City Hall.
* The former Dick's Bakery building on East Business U.S. 151.
Pluckhahn said the city also would entertain new construction options.
One of the driving forces behind doing the building study is to give city officials the information they need to make an informed decision.
"What I don't want to see happen is the city spending money to fix the immediate needs as cheaply as possible, but end up spending more later on to address the rest of the problem," Pluckhahn said. "The decision we make on the immediate needs can impact costs later on."
Pluckhahn estimates that a new building would cost $5 million to $7 million. It would be paid for through the proceeds of the sale of the existing properties, developer payments from Tax Incremental Funding District 5 and money saved through lower operating costs.
"Depending on the option chosen, we stand to save a lot of money on copiers, copier contracts, elevator maintenance contracts, building upkeep, utilities and possible staffing changes," Pluckhahn said.
