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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1970 New City Hall Move-in•' C ounci. I n C it By FRANK GRIFFIS Eagle Staff Writer The College Station City Council will hold a special session with the architect and the contractor of the new city hall and polihe -fire station at 5 p.m. Monday in an effort to C determine the cause of delay !: Xn meeting the construction deadline. During the regular meeting [last Tuesday council members asked about the delay and ;requested the special meeting. ?Ran Boswell, city manager, told ,the council the architect had given no explanation for the delay. �_, Mayor D. A. (Andy) Anderson aid the council had not ex- tended the ' deadline on the contract, but that the architect had granted two extensions to -GREAT SAVINGS PLANS made .even better by new legal rates at FIRST BANK & TRUST. Adv . 's ets Session H all the contractor without cor- any negligence on his part. suting the council. Barsh added .that the ar- He added that a total of 20 chitect was advised of the days had been extended to the delays and was aware of they deadline. The architect is C. R. circumstances. Watson of Watson & Co., Bryan. One section of the contract, Boswell told the Eagle he dealing with delays and ex- thought . the architect should tensions of time states the have notified the city council architect shall grant such ex- before granting the extensions.. tensions of time , "as may be The contract provides that the reasonable in the event of labor work be completed within 220 disputes, fire, unusual delay in calendar days from the day of transportation, ' unavoidable commencement which was in casualties or any causes beyond last April. the contractors' control. The contract include; a The list of delays mentioned in the contract includes delay penalty clause of $100 per day authorized by the owner pen - for each day past the deadline. ding arbitration; by an act of As of today, the contract is neglect of the owner or the approximately 68 days past the architect, or by any employee deadline, including the 20 -day of either; by any separate extension. contractor employed by the W. H. Barsh, president of owner; by changes ordered in Barsh Construction Co. told the the work; or by any cause Eagle he had no control over the causes in the delay. He said which the architect determines the delay was not caused by may justify the delay. CS Cou*1 �CC Inspects, Accepts New CO tyHall By FRANK GRIFFIS Eagle Staff Writer The College Station City Council inspected the new city hall - police - fire station Friday evening and decided to accept the building pending comple- tion of minor repairs. The inspection tour was con- ducted by architect C. R. Wat- son, and was attended by the council members and the con- tractor, W. H. Barsh of Parsh Construction Co., Waco. "We agreed. depending on his (contractor's) attention to' lit - tle things we noted, to accept the building," Mayor D. A. (Andy) Anderson, said. He add- ed that the council listed ap- proximately 30 items for minor repairs. "You have to realize the building needs minor repairs such as the grading outside, and the final plumbing inspection by the city. We have theoretical- ly accepted the building sub- ject to the rectification of some small things," Anderson said. He added the council does not know when the building will be ready to move into. "We still need to resolve the matter of furniture. The furni- ture committee met twice last week, but I don't believe all of the bids are in yet," Anderson said. He added that the council room will hav permanent seats I � CS-Cit - Hall Int s e ed, A cCe bv Councilmen r (Continued from Page 1) Anderson said the architect nate with those in the .building will still be the final authority_ before making any recommen- in deciding how many penalty dations to the council. days, if any, will be assessed "We may move in within the against the contractor. next .few weeks in part; In so "Inasmuch as he is still rep - far as possible, it would be best resenting the council it will be to move the whole thing at his responsibility to relay to once," Anderson said. the council the number of days He added that the city man insofar as the penalty is con - ager could move into the new cerned," Anderson said. facilities a few days before the The contract provides for li- rest of the city offices. quidated damages of $100 per E "The moving will probably be day for every day past the done over a weekend to avoid deadline. The council said dur- any inconvenience to the pub - ing a January meeting that the' lic," Anderson said. deadline was last Nov. 24. which will need to be installed when they arrive. Anderson said the furniture committee is made up of Ran Boswell, city manager, and Councilmen Dan Davis and Joe McGraw. "They are still evaluating the bids from the companies," An- derson said. Davis told the Eagle Satur- day the committee received the last bid on Friday. He said the committee members had. diffi- culty getting together. "We will probably get togeth- er Monday," Davis said. He added that the committee will have to look at the furniture and make sure the colors coordi- See CS CITY. Pase 2A _ Dedication Set for New C Ran B , ege Station city manager, told the Eagle Saturday that the dedication for the new city hall - police -fire sta- tion has been set for 2 to 5 p.m. March 21. He added that the date had been determined by the publici- ty committee, headed by Don Dale. College Station Mayor D. A. (Andy) Anderson said that the move -in date has not been de- termined. He added that the city employes would probably move into the new facilities in approximately two weeks, but that no particular date had been set. "It would probably be on a weekend so that we % avoid any inconvenience to the pub- lie," Anderson said. Although College Station has two new white fire trucks to go with the new facility, the fire department is still operated on a volunteer basis, according to Boswell. Boswell told the Eagle he would have to wait until the city offices are moved into the new city hall - police -fire station before determining the size of We fire department and who will be hired. "We will be in touch with you. We will have to wait until we get moved in; then we can get these, things figured out," Boswell said. Woody Sevison, fire marshal and acting fire chief, said he did not know whether he would be the new chief or not. The city council said during a January meeting the deadline for construction of the new fa- cilities was last Nov. 21. The contract provides for liquidat- ed damages of $100 per day for every day past the deadline. Anderson said earlier this month that the architect is the final authority in deciding how many penalty days will be as- sessed against the contractor, W. H. Barsh of Waco. CS City Hall Move Seen This Month College Station City Manager Ran Boswell told the Eagle Fri- day evening he believes the new city hall and police -fire station will be ready to move into by the end of the month. The city council inspected the new facilites Feb. 6 and de- cided to accept the building pending completion of minor repairs. At that Vmx, the fur- niture committee needed to let the contract for tae furniture. Boswell, also .a member of the furniture committee, , said the contract was awarded to News Office Supply, 123 E. 25th. Boswell said that most of the furniture is on hand, but News Office Supply will have to order some of it. He added that per- manent -type benches will be in- stalled in the council room and it may take a while to install them. Walter Doney of News Office Supply told the Eagle Satur- day that the total amount of the contract has not been completed. He added that the furniture committee approved their pro- posal by items. "They have just completed their (furniture committee) se- lections, and the total has not been computed as yet," Doney said. Mayor D. A. (Andy) Ander son said the official opening wll be held next month. "There will be an announce- ment for the official opening," CS Planners Meet Monday The College Station Planning and Zoni ng Commission will make the final consideration of the revised subdivision regula- tions Monday during a regular 7 p.m. meeting. The commission also will con- sider final subdivision plats for the Sweet Briar Addition an Southwest, section eight. PRESS TOUR PREVIEWS '� (�►�� OPEN HOUSE The City Council of College Station invites 8 • every interested person to the dedication and op- �Q ening of the Municipal Building and Police - Fire Station Facilities from 2:0J P.M. to 5 :00 P.M. on Saturday, March 21, 1970. The Dedicatory Add - ress will be by D.A. An- derson, Mayor of Coll- ege Station. On Monday the press was given a tour of the New City Hall and the Fire and Police Stat- ions by Mayor Anderson These photos give you a k vtO brief pictorial view of the Beauty of the new facil- ities. - College Station, Texas Page 3 THE DAILY EAGLE—SECTION A Sunday, March 1, 1970 `Move In' Held at New CS I College Station city employes moved into the new city hall and police -fire station Friday and Saturday. The city offices will be open for business at their new location Monday, ac- cording to Ran Boswell, city manager. Officer Melvin Mad- 1 ity Hall Police -Fire Station dox of the College Station police and James Allen look on as Walter Coney and Jim Platt install a radio in the police dis- patcher's office. Platt is from Platt's Communications, Bryan. (Eagle Photo zy Mac Shadix) L " h U". vx aj i � d NEW HOME —Amid packing boxes George Eby, city planner, talks with Lynda Swove- land,. city secretary, in the new College Station City Hall on Texas Avenue. (Photo by Hayden Whitsett) mployes By Hayden Whitsett Battalion Staff Writer Elbow room seems to be the most enjoyed aspect of the new city hall, at least to the city employes working there. Chief Melvin Luedke of the College Station police department summed up the majority opinion when he said, "There is nothing to compare it to in size. After what we had been working in, this is great." Despite the dedication date this Saturday, all of the city depart- ' ments, with the exception of the still - organizing fire station, were moved to the new buildings two weeks ago. Ribbon - cutting ceremonies for the new twin building complex will be presented from a bunting - decked platform in front of the city hall. Presiding over the cere- monies will be Frank Anderson and Ernest Langford, past mayors of College Station, and D. A. (Andy) Anderson, the present mayor. C. H. Ransdell, assistant dean of engineering at A &M and a city councilman, will be the mas- ter of ceremonies. According to Ran Boswell, city manager, the new city hall and police and fire station were first conceived about two years ago when it became apparent that vew En'o in J � g the old building would not be enough to take care of the - pansion problems. Boswell said that the contract for the buildings was set about a year ago and that the ground- breaking was April 19, 1969. The white - concrete buildings cost about $346,000 and were financed by bonds, he added. The City Hall will house the offices of the mayor, city secre- tary, planner, manager, and the utilities, public works, water and sewer offices, and engineering sections. The separate police and fire station building will house the police and fire departments and be a garage for the two new fire trucks. Boswell said that a list of telephone numbers from the new offices was sent to all citizens on the utility roles. Citizens who do have a problem reaching the city hall should call 846 -7761. "In the old city hall we had one room for the entire depart- ment and it was 10 by 13 feet," said Luedke about how things used to be for the police depart- ment. "Now, he continued, "we have a room that size for the sergeant, the detective, and myself, as well as one twice- that size for the patrolmen." City Ha th lbow Room' He added that there is also an 4 interrogation room, a room for the municipal court clerk, a wait- ing room, dispatchers room and a record and supply room. The fire station segment of the building contains a kitchen, dor- mitory space, a day room,. and the truck stalls. Luedke said that the station is presently empty because the crews for the trucks haven't been organized. The city hall itself has a total usable space amounting to 9,700 square feet, the police and fire station 5,700. George Eby, the first full time city planner Col- lege Station has had, said that the new building is large, beau- tiful, and functional. "In the old building," Eby said, "two people couldn't pass by each other in the corridors without difficulty." "Now," he said, "you could march an army down one." The hall is, divided into three basic segments: the public area, the offices, and the work areas. The public area is comprised of the cashier's collection window in the front of the building and the city council and municipal court room. The court room is a large oval - shaped room with a nine person (See City Hall, page 3) (Continued from page 1) L- shaped desk on an elevated Platform. The old city council room at the North Church Street facili- ties will be used for various civic and club meetings. The management and secreta- rial offices are carpeted and wood- paneled or pastel - painted sheet rock for the most part. The remaining offices, such as the City Hall engineering and utilities sections have white sheet -rock walls and tile floors. To simplify bill payments a drive -in window has been added to the back of the building. Bos- well said that this and the new billing machines in the utilities section should make things easier on the citizen and the employee. According to Mayor Anderson, the addition of approximately 15 new employes within the next year will allow College Station to assume more fire- fighting, police, and sanitation services that A &M had previously been responsible for. "Our dependence on Texas A &M University should come to a close shortly," Anderson said. "We have been nurtured by A &M and we are most apprecia- tive.