A new Quincy City Hall? Not yet…

QUINCY — The Quincy City Council awarded a no-bid contract of $60,000 to Klingner & Associates to “provide architectural studies, planning, conceptual design and cost estimating services for City Hall space allocation needs.”

But as aldermen questioned Director of Utilities and Engineering Jeffrey Conte about the contract, a broader discussion developed regarding the possibility of a new City Hall.

The building had a new HVAC unit installed in 2008, but Conte said the city has “had a lot of trouble with the cooling units on the roof … There’s a lot of issues with getting cooling and heating to the right areas of the building so once the space allocation study is done, that would … redefine where the air needs to go.”

That’s when Alderman Mike Farha (R-4) expressed his concerns.

“I didn’t think at the time we were doing it right,” Farha said regarding the 2008 work. “I don’t know if the public realizes this is a really old building, and it has a shell on the outside that looks nice. And as a result that basement is a mess. We’ve had nothing but mold and drainage issues for three years. It is crumbling on the outside. I just don’t know how much sense it makes to pour a lot of money into this building.”

City Hall has been in its current location since the early 1990s when it moved to Eighth and Maine from Fifth and Vermont where it shared space with Adams County government. The Quincy Police Department moved to a headquarters adjacent to the new Adams County Jail last year, vacating the basement of City Hall.

“Yes, the building is needs work, but if you look at the cost of a new building versus rehabbing this one, hands down, it’s going to be more cost effective and we can get a good life out of this building,” Conte said.

Farha said he would like to look at the option of a new building “at some point.” Conte said it was discussed that the bid would look at the cost of a new building.

“I’m all for the remodel, but I think we need to have something practical,” Alderman Eric Entrup (R-1) said.

Aldermen asked why there wasn’t a bid process. Conte said, “In architectural services, we usually make a selection based on qualifications. In this case, we feel that Klingner’s would be the most appropriate and has demonstrated the best ability with doing cost estimates for this type of remodel project.”

In other action, aldermen approved:

• A general fund increase of $215,000 to cover firefighter salaries, call-in pay, overtime and other costs to Quincy Fire Department. The need for the overtime was detailed in a story by David Adam posted Monday on Muddy River News.
• Raises for non-union city employees of 2.75 percent that will be retroactive to May 1, 2021. Aldermen approved an amendment that the raises would not be allocated to any employee currently making more than $100,000. Director of Administrative Services Jeff Mays said 55 of the 60 affected employees would get raises.

Sales tax numbers were also issued:

SALES TAX REPORT
July 2021- $980,821.57

HOME RULE SALES TAX REPORT
July 2021- $909,869.18