Ideas for Medical Building Highlight Savanna City Council Meeting

Michael Miller For The Prairie Advocate News

SAVANNA ­ Various potential uses for 333 Chicago Avenue in Savanna (formerly the Mercy Medical Building) were on the minds of the Savanna City Council members last Tuesday night, along with finance issues and the resignation of one of their members.

The meeting was attended by City Council members Jack Fosdick, Lois Hunsaker, Jeff Griswold, Bill Grummitt, Rosalie Hansen, Merle Long, and Bill Robinson. Also in attendance were Mayor Larry Stebbins, City Clerk Paul Hartman, City Attorney Phil Jensen, Comptroller/Treasurer Sheryl Sipe, Chief of Police Michael Moon, Fire Chief Shawn Picolotti and Superintendent of Public Works John Lindeman.

Committee reports kicked off the meeting, with Grummitt presenting the Hotel/Motel Committee report, which included news from the last Committee meeting. Grummitt said the Committee had received an email from Char Spathies, the Secretary for Carroll County Hotel/Motel and owner of Trailside Enterprises, Inc. and heard a corresponding presentation from Gary Heide of www.gocarrollcounty.com. Mr. Heide presented information about virtual tours of City hotels and motels which would be displayed on his website. At a cost of $200.00 to $400.00, Heide would provide the equipment and produce the videos and suggested the Committee consider paying half of the cost. Subsequently, the Committee voted in favor of a motion by Long to commit funds from the Hotel/Motel contingency funds not to exceed $200.00 for use in producing a virtual tour for each lodging establishment in the City.

The newly formed Skateboard Park/Snowmobile Trail Committee report was presented by Fosdick. He said the Committee had recommended that the Council direct Lindeman to work on specifications for the project prior to advertising for bids to complete the work detailed in the grant agreement. The Council unanimously agreed to do so. Fosdick also reported on a letter that Laurie Gungel had given to Mayor Stebbins; this letter entailed an agreement between the City of Savanna and Fast Trax Snowmobile Club of Thomson, wherein the City would place an order for materials needed for snowmobile trail signs and pay for the materials, with the club agreeing to install them. This letter required action on or before November 13th, because of the impending freezing grounds at the snowmobile trails. The Council unanimously voted to act upon the stipulations of the document.

Fosdick also presented the Finance Committee report, which addressed the issue of City employee Christmas bonuses. The Council agreed unanimously to grant bonuses of $175.00 for full- time employees and $25.00 for part-time employees. The Committee also fielded a vast array of requests for funds, including $7110.00 for snowmobile trail signs (encompassed by grant funds), a coax for the fire department, for $14.054.18. Chief Picolotti explained this expenditure is to clear up the current "mess" on the water tower, and that he is negotiating with 4 different agencies to pay for this bill. Other requests for funds came for asbestos removal from 333 Chicago Avenue, totally $1850.00, a stand by pump for the sanitary sewer plant and lagoon, not to exceed $8,000.00, and $130,445.30 for the 149 foot retaining wall on 4th Street. All of these requests were unanimously approved, along with Warrant #7, bills for the month of October, totaling $315,094.56.

Mayor Stebbins then regretfully accepted the resignation of Council member Gail Bowman, who has moved out of town and is unable to continue her duties on the Council. Stebbins said that Bowman was on more committees than any other member and had been an important part of the City Council. He said Ms. Bowman will be sorely missed.

Stebbins recognized Gene Wright as a recipient of the Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award, praising Wright's work in the community "as a teacher who brought history to life for his students and his dedication to preserving local history in his efforts at the Savanna Historical Society." The Mayor will be presenting Mr. Wright with a medal of recognition for this honor at the Historical Society's annual chili supper on November 27th, at 7:00P.M. at the museum building.

The lengthiest portion of the meeting was taken up with discussion of possible uses for the City's newly purchased property at 333 Chicago Avenue. Mayor Stebbins said that the Council had failed to discuss these potential uses in the closed session meeting wherein they finalized the purchase, and called on Council members, one by one, to solicit their opinions on the matter.

Hansen said she would like to see the building utilized for City offices, including offices for the Mayor, City Clerk and Chamber of Commerce, excluding the Police and Fire Department offices. Long said he was not in favor of separating the police and fire departments but Robinson was willing to at least entertain the notion of relocating the Police Department to the new building, saying that other area towns don't keep the fire and police departments together and it works for them. He explained that current estimates for adding a new police department at the current location and tear down the present one were between $250,000 and $300,000.

Picolotti said that in his mind the potential (and unwise) separation of the dispatch center should be a critical factor in whatever course was chosen. He said that the current setup utilized the joint police and fire department site as a "main operations center" and that interoperability was very important in the smooth functioning of the service.

Fosdick favored keeping the present City building and use it until they move ahead with further plans for 333 Chicago Avenue. He said that you "never want separation" of police and fire departments. Hunsaker agreed that the building might be used for the City Hall and Chamber of Commerce offices, and possibly the Park Board. She said it could also be used for storing police evidence in the basement.

Griswold took a different viewpoint, saying that a year ago the Council wanted to keep the fire and police departments together and then because the building was offered at a lower cost, the City now had a building that contained more space than was necessary to meet their needs. Grummitt said he would be open to exploring the idea of putting the police department at the new site. Mayor Stebbins said that the only way it made sense to buy the building was to have both the police and fire departments at 333 Chicago Avenue.

Chief Moon commented that he did not assume that the purchase of the new building would mean that the police department would move. He continued, saying that there would be inconveniences to relocating but that it could be done. He said his first choice would be to be near the dispatch center with a smaller building but that the question of affordability was up to the Council. He suggested talking to other communities and draw up two sets of plans to accommodate different eventualities.

The Council discussed whether or not to include the police department in the proposed floor plan for the building. Griswold made a motion to approve the expenditure of an architect's fee (not to exceed $7500.00) for a building design plan for 333 Chicago Avenue with the stipulation that the Council first decide on one plan. The motion also contained a stipulation that the fire and police departments stay together. A super majority (over 2/3 majority) was needed to pass this motion, and it failed by a vote of 4 'ayes' (Hansen, Griswold, Long and Hunsaker) to 3 "nays" (Fosdick, Robinson, and Grummitt) with Mayor Stebbins also voting "nay".

The Mayor suggested taking another month to look things over at the new building before making any final decisions regarding its use. Hartman suggested reviewing the scope of plans included in the agreement with the architect. Fosdick then moved to postpone further discussion of the matter till the next meeting, and the Council unanimously agreed.

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