Buckeye City Council discusses plans for a new City Hall
The Buckeye City Council is talking about a potential new City Hall.
The topic was discussed during the workshop ahead of the regular City Council meeting on Tuesday evening. It's a discussion that is only kicking off and will likely continue in the coming years, said Deputy City Manager Dave Roderique. That's because the city's two primary office locations — City Hall and Sundance Crossings — are almost completely full and will need to make room for more staff.
The city's staff nearly doubled in the past 10 years from about 420 to 800. Early next year, 130 employees will be moved into a new building with room for 220 people on Verrado Way and Roosevelt Street.
But that will only temporarily alleviate the problem for the next 5 to 7 years, and the city's workforce is expected to continue to grow, Roderique said. That means the city needs to address whether it wants to construct a new City Hall and whether it wants a single facility or multiple locations.
Several options are currently being considered to permanently alleviate the issue. While building a new City Hall is one of them, the city could redesign its current facilities to maximize the existing space. But that tends to be expensive and is estimated to cost about $4.5 million for the current building, Roderique said.
Other options include leasing additional spaces or building specialized facilities, such as a separate building for public safety. The city could also switch to more remote work schedules or potentially expand the current City Hall building, which would likely be very expensive.
"Those all appear to be short-term, kind of Band-Aid solutions. The long-term solution, we believe, would be to build a new City Hall complex," Roderique said.
Councilmember Jeanine Guy said she is in favor of leaving the downtown area but questioned how much residents may want to prioritize a new City Hall when the city has other infrastructure concerns. Councilmember Patrick HagEstad said he would like to see a new City Hall that is more centrally located and easier for all residents to get to.
Councilmember Clay Goodman said the fact that the City Hall will be the first impression for interested developers should be factored into the decision. The City Hall should also be located outside of the downtown area for convenience, Goodman said.
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Vice Mayor Michelle Hess said she likes the idea of a sort of hybrid, where there would be one centralized location for the City Council and smaller satellite locations for basic services such as paying bills. Mayor Eric Orsborn said that, in terms of a location, he thinks the main one should be somewhere along the Interstate 10 corridor because it would offer visibility and offer similar transportation to residents who are far north and far south. Some of the council members suggested a spot between Miller Road and Sun Valley Parkway.
When asked whether the city should start the process now or consider other short-term solutions, Councilmember Craig Heustis said the process probably should have been started five years ago. The project is only in its beginning stages, meaning it could take another five years to complete, Heustis said.
And the longer the city waits, the less land is going to be available, making the short-term step of acquiring the site a very important next step, Roderique said.
There's also the option of developing the new City Hall as a part of a public-private partnership, similar to how Goodyear is developing its GSQ area downtown. Councilmember Tony Youngker said that, while he wants to make sure the area isn't only trendy for the moment and will be functional in the coming decades, it would be nice to have something else in the area, such as museums or parks.
Reach the reporter at ahardle@gannett.com or by phone at 480-259-8545. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @AlexandraHardle.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Buckeye, Arizona, could be getting a new City Hall
