City Hall talks lose steam
A public forum to review options for a
new Whitefish City Hall has been scheduled for next week, but some
city councilors are ready to cease the discussion before it starts.
They are in favor of focusing on lowering the high school bond
first.
Councilor Turner Askew suggested at the
regular Oct. 3 meeting that it might be time to put the City Hall
discussion on the back burner until April.
By then, he said, “the school will
figure out how to make [a bond] happen or not.”
“If we get caught up with City Hall, it
might poison the school bond.”
A new design for the high school was
released last week along with a cost estimate of $19 million. A
target of $4.5 million in alternative funding has been established
with a goal to bring a bond request down to $15 million. A bond
election could happen in the spring.
A city council work session has been
set for Oct. 17 to discuss the possibility of using TIF funds for a
new high school, just two days prior to a City Hall public forum
slated for Oct. 19.
“I think we’re going to have a [City
Hall] meeting on Oct. 19 and be further behind making a decision
because there is no consensus on what we are trying to do,” Askew
said.
He said the council first needs
accurate numbers on what City Hall will cost before continuing the
discussion.
“Numbers are being thrown around so
recklessly, we are doing ourselves a disservice,” Askew said.
Mayor Mike Jenson said that even if the
council chooses to dedicate TIF funds to the school, “it doesn’t
mean [the council] has to stop planning for City Hall.”
“It doesn’t have to be either / or,” he
said. “You would be delaying a decision you have to make
anyway.”
Councilor Chris Hyatt said there could
be a poor perception of the council if they are looking at building
both a City Hall and funding a school bond at the same time.
“It’s not the best situation for our
community to go forward at a fast pace,” Hyatt said about City
Hall. “I don’t believe we need to be doing this at this point in
time.”
Councilor Phil Mitchell said the
council should be behind a new school first and City Hall second,
and that he’d like to delay City Hall talks.
“It will show that kids are more
important than a City Hall,” he said.
Councilor Bill Kahle wants to see the
two issues kept on “separate tracks.”
“It makes me nervous when we start to
blend the two,” he said. “It seems to me we are just getting
started in a sequential process. Getting the community involved
[with City Hall] is a good thing. I don’t see how putting it off is
a good thing.”
Councilor Ryan Friel agreed with Kahle
that both issues need to be kept separate.
“We can put the priority on the high
school, but we can also continue forward with city hall,” he
said.
City Manager Chuck Stearns wanted to
clear up the fact that a new City Hall won’t involve a tax
increase, while passing a school bond will require tax
increases.
A $15 million school bond will cost an
owner of a $250,000 home about $50 more in taxes a year.
• Council voted unanimously Oct. 3 to
approve an ordinance to rezone 2.3 acres on Carver Bay from county
suburban residential to Whitefish suburban residential.
The zoning change was requested because
the city plans to annex the property. The resident has connected to
city sewer services.
• Larger signs have been ordered to
warn drivers about the hands-free cellphone ordinance.