PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The Presque Isle City Council voted 5 to 2 in favor of an $878,500 City Hall renovation, during Wednesday’s meeting. Councilors Randy Smith and Doug Cyr, who were in favor of an estimated $2.5 million new building project, cast the dissenting votes.
The city received two contractor bids on the City Hall renovation project. The bid was awarded to the lowest bidder, DeVoe Construction. Slated to start this spring, the estimated eight-month project includes renovations to the first floor, the second floor and council chambers; redoing bathrooms, new windows, HVAC, and a freshen-up on the outside of the building.
City leaders began talking about this project several years ago and in the process they have explored both renovating the existing structure and building new. At the same time, the city has been putting money aside for the pending project.
“We already have $532,000 placed against a remodel,” Council Chairman Kevin Freeman said. “It’s important to understand we have already reserved a substantial amount to go toward this project.”
Freeman explained that the City Hall renovation is the last on a list of city improvement projects — built a new public safety building, remodeled a public works building and built a structure on Chapman Street — that are already completed.
“Making it [City Hall] a place that is efficient, safe and a comfortable environment for our city employees is a priority for me,” Freeman said.
Councilor Mike Chasse, who was on the city hall improvement committee, said that early discussions go back to late 2014. And in that time, the city and city council members have looked at different locations throughout the city and explored the possibility of partnerships with both public or nonprofit entities.
Several Council members noted that they could not find anything available that was better than staying at the current downtown location.
“I think if you look at the stains on the rug here and the 1980s paneling … if we’re going to stay here, it’s time we put some money into our building and do the right thing for our employees and the public,” Chasse said. “From my standpoint on the committee, I’m in favor of investing money into city hall. I’m not hugely excited about a project that’s $878,000 plus contingencies, but I can stomach that better than spending two or three times that on a new building.”
Cyr and Smith pointed out that building new is an investment into the city over the long haul because of the longevity of a new structure, and that this might be the best time for the city to build because increasing labor costs and new people coming to the area might be put-off by an older city structure. Additionally, an older building could have more issues down the road, they said.
DeVoe Construction out of Eagle Lake is just completing the new armory in the industrial park, City Manager Martin Puckett said.
The next step is to work with the architect, Aviest Engineering, to set a timeframe for completion, Puckett said, adding that getting materials could cause delays because of COVID-19.
