Sisters to get a glimpse of new city hall

Sisters citizens will get a first look at plans for their new City Hall on April 25.

City council members will be presenting a proposed exterior design for Sisters’ new city hall building to the public from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the current City Hall. The purpose of the meeting is to get public comment on the design.

Last Friday, City Manager Eileen Stein received elevation drawings of the new facility from the architect, Scott Steele. On Thursday, April 21, city council members, during a workshop, will review the drawings for the first time.

While a vision of the new public facility is coming into focus, the financing is still taking shape. According to Stein, the city has planned for two different scenarios in order to finance the new building. The city had hoped to sell the building that formerly housed Multnomah Publishers and use those proceeds to fund construction of the new city hall.

Stein said that there have been a few offers on the Multnomah building but when the city council has returned counter-offers the prospective buyers have “gone away.”

There are currently no offers on the table.

The second option for financing the building is to take out a loan and begin construction by dipping into other city funds. The city has proposed to draw $600,000 from other funds to initiate construction. Stein estimated that $200,000 of the transferred $600,000 would come from the city sewer operation fund.

Other definitive allocations have yet to be made.

By the end of the fiscal year on June 30, Stein estimates that there will be a cash carry-over in the city hall remodel fund of $150,000. The cash carry-over will fund the rest of the design process, which is half over, and help start construction. The bidding for construction is estimated to begin in late summer.

Stein said that the city will pay its system development charges by taking money out of the city hall remodel fund and putting it in the SDC fund.

“It ends up being really just a money transfer,” said Stein.

The city will pay $11,580 for water, $11,976 for sewer, and $6,000 for transportation. At $145 a square foot for a total of 9,030 square feet, the new city hall carries an estimated $2,335,764.20 price tag. Previously, city officials budgeted $2,150,000 for the new building.

The new city hall will feature 1880s Western architecture, though the land’s “public facility zoning eempts the building from the theme.

Despite the special zoning, city officials seek to make the building consistent with the rest of the city core.

“I hope the community is interested in the building because it’s their city hall. It’s stately.

“It’s grand and it certainly has various elements that comply with the architectural theme,” said Stein.