News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
"I just want the council to tell me how to proceed," said Sisters City Administrator Barbara Warren.
Several options remain before the council, Warren said. The city could remodel the old bowling alley building and sell the existing city hall on Fir Street.
Although the city's engineering firm estimated that remodeling the bowling alley would cost about $400,000, Warren said she has been told by a "couple of contractors" that they do remodels for $28 per foot, or less than $260,000 for the city hall project.
Another option is what Warren called a "builder/developer design," where a developer would build a city hall on another site either for cash or in exchange for real estate owned by the city.
Depending on the market, the city has probably $600,000 to $700,000 of equity in the old bowling alley and the current city hall.
Either option, if it involves spending more money than the city has already invested, is complicated by the fact that the city faces some severe financial difficulties.
The city is trying to cut about $80,000 from a $511,000 general fund budget to avoid depleting its reserves by next year. Two committees, one looking at cutting expenditures and another looking for ways to increase revenues, will be meeting again and providing recommendations to the council on November 13.
The city auditor makes his report on November 21, which will give the council a clearer picture of where the city stands.
Warren said the council could also form a citizen's committee to provide recommendations on what to do about building a new city hall
"My own personal feeling is that the public should be brought into it more than they have been," Warren said.
But above all, the city administrator said she wants "some direction from the council. They need to decide where we are going, or if we are not going" forward with a city hall project.
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