On Wednesday, October 2nd, Council held a Capital Outlay and Infrastructure Committee on the topic of Facility Condition Assessment and Space Needs Assessment as it relates to the development at 5 Mile and Farmington.

The administration was joined by the City’s representative at Plante Moran Realpointe to provide an update on the Vision 21/5 Mile and Farmington project. The current timeline has a new City Hall being completed by July 2027.

A reminder, the funds for the City Hall project would come from a no new tax bond that would be paid for with cost savings from changes to the city retiree health benefits. The new building would be built in a new location on the same corner (the new location is not decided.)

The administration will request a contract with a company to conduct a phone survey of residents regarding the plans for 5 Mile and Farmingotn. RFPs will be going out for a master planner/civil engineer, architect for a new City Hall, and traffic study. This will be brought to council for a vote in October.

A proposed new procurement ordinance was presented to Council. Currently, City Council votes to approve expenditures of $30,000 or more. The administration is proposing that for projects on City property at 5 and Farmington, Council would approve spending over $100,000. The administration would like to see this change in order to allow swift progress for construction projects – the new City Hall being the most immediate example. Council asked questions and made recommendations, including that a sunset for the ordinance be put in place. This will be voted on at a future meeting.

The Committee Chair will be asking for a new item to be put into committee for future discussions on this topic because the city has moved past the topic of Facility Condition Assessment and Space Needs Assessment.