Proposal To Relocate City Hall Still A Source Of Controversy

The city of Ellisville will look to hold town hall meetings later this summer in a move to answer questions about a proposal to relocate City Hall to a soon-to-be-vacant car dealership. Those questions come as residents say the process is moving too fast and as some in city government say a reported timeline for the project is "artificial".

Last month city leaders said there was an agreement in place to purchase Tri-Star Motors' property to house a new city hall and police headquarters in a renovated building. The deal is contingent on Ellisville issuing $5.5 million in special obligation bonds to cover the $3.2 million purchase price of the property and the building, along with more than $2 million in renovations to the Tri-Star building.

City Council members voted 5-0 to authorize the offering for sale of special obligation bonds for the project, although the city's bond underwriter said at the time the vote was merely to start the marketing of the bonds. A sale would not happen until July, he said, and would require another vote of the council.

The acquisition would close August 1, officials said last month.

After this week's Ellisville City Council meeting, however, that timetable appears to be in question. Ward 1 Councilman Matt Pirrello called a timetable for the project "artificial", evidenced by the fact that he said council put off approval of a $30,000 contract to conduct a needs assessment, not sensing a "timecrunch" to do so.

Residents Tuesday spoke out in opposition to the proposal, saying it amounted to a going away present for a business leaving the city and that there hadn't been a public debate about the need for a new facility. Others have criticized the geography of the move, which would put Ellisville's City Hall on the border of Wildwood.

One resident who spoke up Tuesday felt that the existing facilities could be upgraded at a lesser cost. Mayor Adam Paul voiced a similar belief afterward.

While the Tri-Star came together in the last two years, Pirrello said the idea of a new city hall has been in the capital planning process for years, and that a preliminary assessment estimates a need for between 8,000 to 13,000 square feet of additional space.

“I think opposition is typically bred from people who don’t a have full understanding of what this opportunity brings. Our city is far too small to have to concern ourselves with a centrally located building,” Pirrello said. “We have an opportunity to do redevelopment in and consolidate our commercial corridor, which is what we’re trying to do,” he added, saying “sticking a city hall smack dab in the middle of the commercial corridor just doesn’t make any sense at all.”