City Council approves $4.2 million for auditorium, MPEC improvements
Wichita Falls City Councilors on Tuesday voted to spend millions for work on Memorial Auditorium/ City Hall and the Ray Clymer Center at MPEC.
The work on the exhibit hall comes in the form of a "change order" rather than the normal bidding process and awards Clark Contractor, LLC up to $3.3 million to renovate the hall. The money will come from venue tax revenue, bond proceeds and $2 million of excess general funds the city has on hand. Clark is the contractor building the new conference center near the exhibit hall and the city staff said it was important the renovations complement the new structure and Clark could create synergy between the two projects.
Councilor Larry Nelson said he was concerned about the way the action was being handled.
"I think we might be on thin ice on the charter," he said, referring to the city charter.
City Manager Darron Leiker took exception to the "thin ice" characterization.
"If I'm the public watching this, that leaves me with the impression w'ere doing something wrong and I don't think we are," Leiker said.
Leiker said the work falls under the 25 percent limit required by the charter for change orders. Nelson ultimately voted in favor of the change, with only Councilor Steve Jackson voting against it.
Work will include remodeling all bathrooms, replacing all carpet, putting new vinyl on interior walls, replacing doors and frames and adding new wood-look surrounds at entrances.
Councilors also authorized a contract with Bundy, Young, Sims, and Potter Architects of up to $918,750 to prepare documents for renovation of the Memorial Auditorium building. This will come from the $12.5 million in federal COVID-19 relief money councilors allocated for work on the auditorium and city staff offices. The staff said the spending would qualify for the federal dollars by reducing potential public exposure to airborne pathogens, maintaining safe social distancing and providing improved functioning of municipal offices.
Councilor Michael Smith pointed out voters turned down the opportunity in 2018 to pass a bond issue that would construct a new city hall, police station and fire headquarters.
"And here we are," he said. "So money has to be spent, money that in my eyes we could have spent that money on a brand new facility."
Councilor Bobby Whiteley said he was not in favor of the City Hall project in the 2018 vote but saw the need for new police and fire facilities.
"Those cans keep getting kicked farther down the road," he said. "In the future I know there's going to be more priorities that keep coming in and getting in front of the fire and police facilities. At some point public safety facilities need to be a priority."
The council approved the expenditure with only Jackson voting against it.
In other business, councilors also approved:
$814,464 to replace six reverse osmosis trains at Cypress Water Treatment Facility.
$434,250 for 10 2023 Ford Utility Police Interceptors from Caldwell Country Ford.
$358,898 for eight pickup trucks from Wichita Falls Ford-Lincoln, Inc.
$227,717 for five one-ton pickup trucks from Wichita Falls Ford-Lincoln, Inc.
$264,217 for a pothole repair truck from Bruckner Truck Sales, Inc.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: City Council votes to spend $4.2 million on auditorium and MPEC improvements
