City manager cites need for more space, wants to see what options city has for new facility
The City of Solvang may be looking for a site to place a new City Hall.
At the regular City Council meeting on Monday, Oct. 27, City Manager Randy Murphy brought a discussion item asking for direction to find a way to fund a new building to serve as Solvang’s City Hall.
In his staff report, Murphy noted the plaque on the front of the building said the current Solvang Municipal Center (aka City Hall) was completed in 1969.
“As is often the case with pub- lic buildings, city staff outgrew the available space, and the nearby Masonic Lodge (constructed in 1957) was acquired,” Murphy said. “Only minimal modifications were made to the building prior to commencement of City operations in 2001/02 when Parks & Recreation, Community Development (Planning/ Building), and Public Works were moved across the street into ‘The Annex’. This arrangement continues to this day, which, unfortunately, contributes to multiple inefficiencies between/among staff and the public.”
Murphy continued to list inadequacies of the building on 1644 Oak St., which the city administration with the Santa Barbara County Fire Department. Moreover, he was making his case on a night the video system malfunctioned, leaving colorful test patterns on the two video screens above the council dais.
“Building is older and it suffers from a serious lack of technology, as evidenced tonight,” Murphy said, gesturing up to the screens. “An evaluation shows we need about twice of what we have. We need a new City Hall sooner rather than later.”
Murphy said staff has evaluated options to moving into existing building, but nothing could be found that was feasible. He supplied council with a primary building design for a proposed new building that could be built on the lot across the street. An evaluation determined that a new City Hall would cost between $8.7 million and $10.3 million, and that price tag would increase 5% or more each year.
“It’s not an inexpensive proposition, but it could included in a bond offering or other opportunities, like grants,” he said.
Murphy cited other community benefits, such as the Fire Department taking over the space in the building that would be abandoned by the city, and the Solvang Library moving to The Annex when the city leaves that facility. Murphy said both the Fire Department and the library were open to those scenarios.
“I’m just hoping to get direction from council whether or not this is worth pursuing,” Murphy concluded.
At first reaction, councilmembers seemed pleased with the idea.
“I’m interested about bartering with library,”Mayor ProTem Claudia Orona said. “Everybody needs more space; I would like to go forward.”
Mayor David Brown wondered if Murphy’s floor design really does take care of the “inefficiencies,” of the current setup, questioned the need for an exercise gym that was on there, but Murphy reminded council that the plan was a primary draft he drew himself and could be modified — and said he envisioned the room as a potential child-care area.
That seemed to appease Brown, but Councilmember Elizabeth Orona warned about the financial consequences of such a project.
“I feel we have huge costs coming at us already,” she said. “To put unavoidable expenses on the backs of our residents and businesses, we better be really diligent.”
Elizabeth Orona asked further about the possibility of moving into an existing building and whether it would be cheaper to retrofit a current building. She also brought up the possibility of moving into the former Rite-Aid space at the Valley Fresh Market shopping center.
Murphy said a new building would actually be cheaper than a retrofit, which was confirmed by Planning Director Rafael Castillo, who also noted that the Rite-Aid space is not set up for the demands of a City Hall-type office and Murphy added that space doesn’t have enough square footage.
At the end, council instructed Murphy to pursue the matter, and he said he would have something in the next three to six months.
The City Council will next meet on Nov. 10 at 6:30 p.m.
