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City hall project goes out for bid

The proposal to remodel and expand Weyauwega’s city hall and police department is going out for bid.

“Bids are scheduled to be opened on April 14,” City Administrator Patrick Wetzel told the common council during its Monday, March 16, meeting.

The council initially planned to vote this week on authorizing interim financing for the project.

However, the council decided to hold off on that decision for a month.

That is because the amount of money the city borrows in the interim determines how much the city borrows at the back end, Wetzel said.

He learned that from the city’s financial adviser.

“Since the Finance meeting, Jon Cameron from Ehlers has indicated that the city would need to identify a specific amount of funds to be borrowed with this action, and because we have not yet received construction bids, it is my belief that there are too many unknown variables at this point that would allow us to select a specific amount for interim borrowing,” Wetzel wrote in a memo to the council.

He further wrote, “Jon Cameron also mentioned that the amount that is borrowed for interim financing, is also a key figure in permanent financing as well. If the city borrowed money on an interim basis, and found that the level of funding wasn’t going to be adequate once these variable costs are clarified, the city likely would not be able to modify that borrowing amount with the permanent financing. Essentially, we’d have to make up any potential gap in funding through cash on hand, or other borrowed funds on less favorable terms.”

Wetzel told the council it also has not determined if it will use any cash on hand to pay down the project.

Thus far, the estimates used for the project have been between $2.3 and $2.5 million.

On March 10, the council reviewed the project design and schedule during a workshop.

Cedar Corporation, the Green Bay company working on the design, recommended providing an option for the contractor to start the project between June and September and then giving the company 300 days to complete the project.

Assuming the council awards the bid in April, city hall and the police department would then need to move into a temporary location, Wetzel said.

A temporary downtown location has been identified, with information being gathered to determine the costs to relocate.

During last week’s workshop, the council learned that the parking lot upgrades behind the building will be a separate project in 2016.

That area could include an island, which could be used for farm markets, as well as lighting and a terrace area with plantings.

With the renovation project going out for bid now, Wetzel told the council that regardless of how anyone feels about the overall project, it is an exciting step.

“We will get hard costs,” he said.

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