Galesville council pauses new city hall talk

City of Galesville officials will not continue examining the Industrial ToolCrafters building at 16771 S. 15th St. as a possible new site for city hall.

Mayor Tom Thatcher spoke on the idea at last Thursday’s council meeting, a conversation that ended with a consensus that more information on the current city hall situation is needed before a decision can be made.

Industrial ToolCrafters, Inc. is closing its doors and selling the property, and Thatcher proposed last week having the city investigate whether the spot could host a new city hall.

Thatcher spoke with the property owner and toured the facility but wanted council permission before doing anything more, he said Thursday.

“As many of you have purchased houses, you don’t purchase a house until you know you have the money, until you have an inspection done. … what I’m asking for is permission to get an appraisal to make sure that the price if we do decide to enter negotiations. … we would have a number to work with,” Thatcher said.

The council took no action, meaning the city will stop pursuing the site as a possible new home for city hall, a community room and police station.

August is the second straight month that the council discussed moving city hall after the group met in closed session in July for the same reason. An estimate from architect Brad Simonson of HSR Associates last year projected constructing a new city hall building would cost between $6 million and $8 million, Thatcher mentioned during Thursday’s meeting.

The council’s committee of the whole discussed two options for the future of city hall last year, including building a new 15,000-square-foot city hall at its current downtown location, 16773 S. Main St., as well as a 12,000-square-foot building North of downtown next to the city maintenance building, according to minutes from the meeting on March 30, 2023.

Councilor Jesse Swing wants the city council to consider whether they need a relocation and wants to wait for this year’s audit to better understand the financial positioning of the city.

“As a newer council member and I haven’t done any budgeting, I don’t feel like I have a good enough grasp on the city’s finances as a whole that I would be ready to evaluate such a large project,” Swing said.

Councilor Dave Carlson also opposed the proposition on Thursday.

“Doing a study of what our needs are — I hear anecdotal stuff. Our windows are bad, roof leaks, not enough space, all of that stuff — but I think that’s the place that if we were going to spend some money to do a study, it would be to actually find what it is we need. And then if there’s an opportunity with a building or to build, then we can take a look at finances and what that would cost,” Carlson said.