Community meeting in Florence fails to please everyone
A group of about 45 Florence citizens gathered at the Florentine building Sunday afternoon for a community forum on the need for a new city building. The meeting was organized by the Florence Chamber of Commerce and was moderated by chamber member, Bev Wiebe.
Mayor Jeanie Meirowsky and council members Beverly Baldwin, Dan Ludwig, and Barbara O'Dell were present to represent the city. Councilman Larry Timm had a long-standing prior commitment and was unable to attend. At Wiebe's request, the city representatives presented the reasons why they feel it is important to have a new building in Florence.
The council noted that city employees need more workspace and more space for storing records and documents. They feel the police department not only needs a private office area of its own, but also needs a storage area for records and evidence. The current city building was erected in 1921 and is need of major renovation. O'Dell said the proposals to renovate and remodel the building were about $85,000.
After the city received those estimates, it began looking at other options. The one that looked the most attractive was a plan to build an addition to the ambulance building. A metal addition, 40 feet by 40 feet, could be erected and be made ready to move into for a cost of $71,000. The council purchased the land next to the ambulance building and had a structure on the lot torn down two months ago. The cost of the lot and the demolition totaled $5,900. If the structure is built it will be a lease-purchase arrangement with a financial institution. Payments for the building will come from the general fund until the building is paid for.
Members of community voiced many concerns. Several wanted the council to look at renovating one of the downtown buildings that currently is vacant. A couple expressed concern over the condition of the library building, which is a building the city already owns. They were interested in seeing the city repair and renovate that building and move the city offices into the back and upstairs. Library staff present said that they were less than enthusiastic about that plan because they had plans for expansion into that space themselves.
Many in attendance expressed a desire to see the current city building remain standing while others voiced concern over "saving" the building just so that it could remain empty like so many other buildings in downtown Florence. Some wanted nothing to be done, citing concerns over higher taxes.
Others thought the ambulance and fire departments should be combined in one large new building. The city offices could then move to the current ambulance building, while the current fire department building and the city building could be taken over for a city shop and storage for city equipment. But Mayor Meirowsky noted that if the current city building is converted into a city shop, many of the repairs the building needs (such as a new roof) would still need to be done at the city's expense.
There were accusations of executive session violations from several members of the audience. Citizens felt the council had planned to build the building without discussing it properly in open meetings. The council, on the other hand, felt it had proceeded in accordance with laws governing municipalities.
The discussion grew heated several times and a number of individuals left the meeting.
After nearly an hour and a half of conversation and argument, four ideas still had some support from various factions in the group. The list included building a new city building attachment to the ambulance building, renovating and remodeling an existing building, remodeling the current city building, or building a fire department/ambulance building (which would give the city the ambulance building and make the city building into a city shop.)
People interested in each of the ideas will research the cost. They hope to present the results either at a city council meeting or at a future community meeting.
The council members in attendance did not give the group any indication that they would impede progress on the new city building while the new reports are being developed. It was noted during the meeting that the council would be opening bids at the March 4 meeting from the financial institutions bidding on the lease purchase arrangement.
No date was set for a future community forum.
