City Hall

    At last night's council meeting the council by a 7-1 vote is gon to seek to seek a  $2.2 million bond to move city hall into the Dauchy Building on River Street about a block North of where city hall left two years ago. The business community opposed the move. I have opposed the move for months.
    With about 58% of the property in this city tax exempt we should not be taking a valuable piece of property like the Dauchy Building off the tax roles forevermore. The notion you can just sell the building in a few years is ridiculous. that would mean a fourth location for city hall in less than a decade.
    The ideal move would be to a piece of property which has never been on the tax roles, like School 12 in the S End;  St Patrick's Church;  St Peter's Church or opposite the central fire station next to Kennedy Towers. All these locations are available. In the location next to Kennedy Tower you would have to build a new structure entirely. That, however, may be the best move long term.
     A new structure would be energy efficient and built to be a city hall with a parking lot and a council chambers. In one of the great ironies in the move to the Dauchy Building- despite being bigger than the current city hall it does not have a space for a council chamber which would seat more than 50 people.
     I hate to see either the Dauchy property or the Verizon property (city hall's current location) come off the tax roles. They should both be on the tax roles generating revenue for our city.
     The Mayor will likely veto the resolution so this isn't over yet. Stay tuned-it's Troy