By CHERYL ROMANO and QUINTON SMITH/YachtsNews.com
The Yachats City Council is moving ahead to seek a general contractor to provide estimates to renovate the vacant 501 Building for city offices.
After a long and contentious work session and meeting on the topic Friday, the council voted 3-2 to authorize City Manager Shannon Beaucaire to seek proposals from general contractors, hoping to determine if a $166,000 budget can accommodate what it wants done. That budget includes a $91,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Voting for the proposal were Mayor John Moore and Councilors Max Glenn and Jim Tooke. Voting no were Leslie Vaaler and Mary Ellen O’Shaughnessy, who were worried about new issues found with the building and who wanted more citizen input before proceeding.
The city bought the 501 Building and adjacent parking lots for $500,000 from Bank of the West five years ago when the bank closed. It has sat vacant since. Lincoln County currently list its market value at $756,800.
It was initially intended as a new site for the city library, but when that proved too expensive the previous council asked city staff to develop plans to move city hall into the building, providing proper space for employees and possibly a council chamber. After that move, the current city offices and council chamber could be opened up as a bigger public space within the Yachats Commons.
But after touring the building against last week with contractors, facilities director Heather Hoen had to give the council some bad news Friday — the heating system, roof and some wiring will now need to be repaired or replaced, items not in the original budget.
Those issues will add an estimated $80,000 to the budget, Hoen said, although the roof replacement could possibly wait two to five years.
Hoen said no matter what the council decided to do with city offices, it should move along with repairs to protect the integrity of the 28-year-old building.
“It’s not healthy for any building to lie vacant,” said Moore. “I’d like to go ahead.”
The original budget was intended to cover interior remodeling, replacing five windows, fixing or replacing some exterior doors, paint, carpet and office furnishings.
Brewery owner raises objections
Nathan Bernard, owner of Yachats Brewing and Farmstore, argued, objected and occasionally swore against the project and the council throughout meeting. Bernard argued that the council did not have a mandate from citizens to spend what could be hundreds of thousands of dollars on the remodel and questioned the need for larger city offices. He also contended the city hasn’t done enough homework to gauge the real cost of the project.
The city has already spent $20,000 to come up with an interior design, and has had a structural engineer test the concrete floor and wooden beams. Moore, Beaucaire and Hoen repeatedly said that was the purpose of seeking a general contractor – to see if what the city wanted was feasible within its budget, and if not, what could be trimmed.
Bernard has been in near constant, open warfare with the city for years, after building his brewery and remodeling his restaurant without permits from Lincoln County. The county and city have twice told Bernard they might have to shut him down if he didn’t get required permits and prove that five years of work on his two structures were proper.
After more than a year of promises and delays, Bernard, the city and county are working on plans and a timeline to get his permits in order and do corrections. But in the meantime Bernard has been railing against the council on the city hall move – including what he feels is being singled out for not having building permits or an official county certificate of occupancy for his business.
“What is the source of the community mandate for this project?” he repeatedly asked the council, one time swearing at Glenn. “Does a city of 700 residents need a million-dollar City Hall?”
Bernard stalled the meeting as well after saying he couldn’t find a certificate of occupancy in the county’s files for National Security Bank, and then Bank of the West, to use the building.
“None of the commercial buildings in town have a certificate of occupancy,” Bernard charged, “and the city needs to acknowledge that. I will not be the only one held to account.”
That resulted in a 15-minute recess for Beaucaire to contact county building officials. Beaucaire return to say that all the permits had been approved in 1992 and 1993, but that an official certificate was overlooked.
City will get permits
Later the county emailed the whole file to the city – including the county’s permission for the bank to occupy the building, which Bernard and they had initially missed.
But that issue is moot, Moore and Beaucaire repeatedly told Bernard. The city is not using the building and before it starts any work the city will get all the necessary permits to remodel it. Only when the work is finished to county’s satisfaction will it get a certificate of occupancy.
“We will not start without a permit,” said Moore, referring to Bernard’s unauthorized work on his brewery.
As the council session edged past the two-hour mark, Moore asserted, “no matter what we do with that building, we need to get it to the point where we can either use it or sell it.”
O’Shaughnessey, who was appointed last month to fill a council vacancy, said she was concerned about moving ahead without gauging current community views and getting consensus on the project. Vaaler, who cast the other no vote, expressed similar views.
But Beaucaire and Glenn said the city hall move has been discussed repeatedly the past five years, especially after the decision not to use it for the library. The previous council OK’d the project and budget committees have approved money for it.
“The majority of the budget is to take care of the building,” Beaucaire said, “no matter where city offices are.”
Before the vote, Hoen urged the council to make up its mind about seeking a general contractor. After that, it will have plenty of opportunity to look at plans, estimates and work.
“We have to pick a direction … we have to figure out what we’re doing and then stick to it at some point,” she said.