The Daily Inter Lake

Kalispell is nearing a decision on whether to convert the old Wells Fargo building into a new city hall.

The decision could come as early as Monday, but probably will be delayed until Dec. 4.

Whatever the decision will be, it likely won't be unanimous.

On Monday, Kalispell's City Council was briefed on five bids to convert the Wells Fargo building into a new city hall, discussed whether a Plan B should be explored, and received a recommendation on how to proceed toward a final decision.

The city wants to move its administrative offices out of the current 26,229-square-foot city hall - allowing cramped police and fire departments and the municipal court to expand to fill most of the space.

The plan is to move and consolidate the city's offices from city hall and from 5,991 square feet in three leased downtown offices into the 19,662-square-foot old Wells Fargo building at 201 First Ave. E. In 2005, the city bought the empty building - appraised in 2003 at $1.7 million - for $1.1 million.

Controversy surfaced when the original $800,000 remodeling estimate - universally acknowledged as a preliminary guess - climbed to $1.3 million after a more thorough review.

That prompted some council members to call for an alternative plan and possibly selling the building and starting over. But other council members contend any alternative would likely be more expensive, especially if construction costs increase while the project is overhauled.

Last Thursday, the city received five bids to remodel the old Wells Fargo building - all close to the revised $1.3 million estimate.

Oswood Construction of Great Falls submitted the low basic bid of $1.209 million. Swank Enterprises of Kalispell had the second-lowest base bid at $1.286 million.

Other bidders were Big Way Construction of Bigfork at $1.314 million, Hammerquist & Casalegno Inc. at $1.349 million and Kramer Enterprises of Kalispell at $1.364 million.

None of those base bids included any contingency money to handle unexpected expenses. However, the city and bidders have the option to add $80,000 in contingency money to the bids.

Architect Chad Grover, of Whitefish-based Grover & Co., said he needed to study the bids to ensure they met the city's requirements, and to see if the bids can be reduced.

The remodeling is expected to take six months. Originally, the city hoped to move into the Wells Fargo building this fall.

Monday the council is scheduled to vote on whether to accept the recommended winning bid, or reject all bids, or delay a decision until Dec. 4 to allow more study. The city staff recommended waiting until Dec. 4.

In July the council requested that architect and city staff present alternatives to either trim the Wells Fargo remodeling costs, possibly leave the city council chamber in the current city hall, or scrap the remodeling to try again somewhere else.

Council members Bob Hafferman and Tim Kluesner were unhappy Monday that no alternatives were presented to the council - contending the staff and some council members are determined to go ahead with the Wells Fargo project without looking at other options.

"Gee, once again, we're saying this is what we want to do, and this is what we're going to do," Kluesner said. "I have not heard anything positive in the community about this,"

Grover said there was not time to study other options while trimming and fine-tuning the Wells Fargo concept so it would not exceed $1.3 million

Kluesner wants the council to look for another location. Hafferman wants to solicit "thinking-out-of-the-box" suggestions, making his own suggestion of studying building extra floors on top of the current city hall.

Mayor Pam Kennedy, who was a council member in the 1990s, said the city looked at that option at that time - and found out that city hall would have to be evacuated to put in a stronger foundation to support a taller, heavier building.

Kennedy noted that appraisal costs for downtown buildings run $200 to $250 per square foot, and that the Wells Fargo project appears to run at a cost of $120 per square foot. Kluesner questioned the $200-to-$250-per-square-foot figure.

The city staff said it would be impractical to keep the council chamber in the current city hall. That's because its chamber is the same room as municipal court, and the proposed increase security measures for the court would not be compatible for the council chamber.

Hafferman requested that the staff provide the council with a written report on why a council chamber and a security-boosted courtroom would be incompatible.