The city of Red Bank will be getting a new city hall. Several years ago officials in the city realized that the city hall building was running out of room. In it are administrative offices, the council room and the police department. At the time, the cost to build a new building was estimated at $2.5 million. Around that same time, Mayor John Roberts found out about the foreclosure of a building at 3105 Dayton Blvd., two doors away from the Red Bank city hall.
At the last minute, a special called meeting was held and the commissioners decided to bid on the building at an auction.
The city won the bid and bought the property for $275,000 which included paying the back taxes. The amount paid was $100,000 below the market value. That was two years ago and on Tuesday night, the commissioners voted on a resolution to authorize an agreement with HL Management, LLC in an amount not to exceed $681,040 to renovate the old building for use as a new city hall administrative office building.
When finished, the space will contain offices for the city manager, the city recorder, the finance director, director of public works, office staff and a receptionist. There will also be a community meeting room. It has been designed to meet the city’s new design standards using approved building materials and glass. Short walls and landscaping will define the parking area.
When renovations of the new building have been completed, the existing building will become the police department.
At the Feb. 6 commission meeting, the Red Bank school district exploratory committee was disbanded. They determined that the city does not have enough students to form a separate district, and that the committee lacked the expertise that would be necessary to form a new school zone. Mayor Roberts expressed the hope that a future board of commissioners would bring up the matter again, feeling that a smaller and local district could do a better job than Hamilton County.
At the meeting Tuesday night, the members of the exploratory committee were recognized and given certificates of appreciation for their voluntary efforts and community involvement. The members that were honored are Chairman Johnny Pierce, Allen Turner, Jamie Kerns, Linda Sparks, Kathy Schein and Mike Congdon.