** Last updated 10/25/22 **
Unfortunately, this blog was not around when City council started on the Old City Hall debacle. So the best I could do is go back through a ton of minutes and try to add up all the waste. It was a tough job, but I proved the OCH “remodel” cost WAY more than Finley’s oft-repeated nonsense of “only” $1.05 million dollars. It was REALLY more like $1.6 million.
Unfortunately, $550,000 is a rounding error when it comes to government waste around here.
Anyhow, I get to start from the very beginning with this Hostess House nonsense. I have no doubt this list will grow to be long and nauseating. Here we go:
Feb 14, 2018 – City pays Lamco Construction $19,270 for “Hostess House repairs” [city council packet 3/12/18]
October 2019 – City takes over Hostess House from DRT. They told us it just needed a ”few minor repairs”:
November 19, 2019 – Council votes to spend $5,850 with All Seasons for a new 5-ton AC unit [Dispatch front page news].
August 10, 2020 – Council votes to spend $2,500 with Hendrix Consulting Engineers (HCE) to evaluate the Hostess House [Council minutes page 7 item 7.3]
February 15, 2021 – HCE report is huge and repairs look expensive. Council debating what to do. Council member Cathy Kuehne is quoted in the Dispatch as saying they should keep the historical look “even if it costs more” [Council packet pages 26, 27, 28]
March 8, 2021 – Council votes to spend $6,600 with Reliance Architecture to draw up a “master plan” [Council packet page 10].
October 25, 2021 – Council votes 5-2 to approve $130,570 payment to Reliance Architecture to plan the Hostess House “upgrade” – representing roughly 10% of project cost.
January 18, 2022 – Reliance Architecture$8,460for “Predesign”
September 12, 2022 – Reliance Architecture$14,775for “Construction Docs”
August 22, 2022 – Reliance Architecture$32,012and$12,312for “Design Dev”
Current expenditures: $164,790
August 16, 2021 Dispatch Article – Project now estimated to cost $1,380,000.00 (page 39) – up from $200,000 five months earlier.
October 24, 2022 City council meeting – project now projected to cost $1.88 million.
Current revenue from Hostess House to City: approximately $1,200 between Oct 1, 2019 and September 30, 2020.
Projected revenue for FY 2022/2023: approximately $10,500 (revenues $16,000 and costs of $5,500 anually)