East Texas

By KELLY GOOCH
Staff Writer

JACKSONVILLE - The Jacksonville City Council gave the go ahead to Randall Scott Architects, Inc. to proceed with construction plans for the proposed new City Municipal Building at its Tuesday meeting.

The site plan the city has decided on for the building has a flag pole, an entryway with various glass windows and walkways.

"It's a real open, airy concept," Mayor Robert Haberle said.

The outside will have block masonry, he said, and the architect has utilized natural lighting so the building will be energy efficient.

City Manager Mo Raissi said what the floor plan will look like was decided before Tuesday's meeting.

He said city staff and others had three or four meetings with the architects and, eventually, city staff and council members agreed on a floor plan.

The new City Municipal Building will include the City Council Chambers, Municipal Court, the city secretary's office, the finance department and the water department.

It will be at the corner of South Bolton Drive and Devereux Street on roughly seven acres of land the city purchased from East Texas Medical Center in 2007, Haberle said.

Raissi said that purchase cost the city $69,000.

As for the new City Municipal Building, he said it is currently estimated to be around $2.5 million and that the city has set aside probably $350,000 that can go toward the project.

Haberle said the rest of the cost will be paid for with the money left over from a Texas Water Development Board loan, if they are able to use it for this specific project, or from certificates of obligation.

Those certificates of obligation would be paid back from property tax revenue, but without raising taxes, he said.

Raissi said the city needed a new City Municipal Building because it has outgrown the current facility.

City Hall is located at 301 E. Commerce St., he said, and does not have enough offices or room for the City Council to meet.

Raissi said the City Council meets in the Norman Activity Center at 526 E. Commerce St. and there are usually at least 20 to 40 citizens at meetings.

He mentioned that the current City Hall is also probably 70 or 80 years old and used to be a bank. The city discussed renovating the current building but decided to replace it with a new building because it would be more cost-efficient, Raissi said.

Additionally, he said customers have to park on Commerce Street instead of parking spaces.

"I think with this building we can solve all these problems ... ," Raissi said.

Now that Randall Scott Architects Inc. has the City Council's approval to go forward, Haberle said the next step is to process construction documents, which will take about 45 to 60 days.

He said that, after those construction documents are processed, a bid would be open on the project for 30 days.

Haberle anticipated construction to start in early 2009 and said the tentative completion date for the project is February 2010.

(Artist Rendering Courtesy Of The Jacksonville Ma)