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Transforming the old Newburg High School into the new City Hall may be a lost cause.
According to current board members who toured the old building Thursday morning, prior administration believed the 1921 building could be remodeled and converted to be the City Hall.
After their tour to assess its condition board members were not pleased with what they found.
“It would take a million dollars to bring this building back,” was heard coming from one of the rooms as the aldermen, mayor, and a few residents looked over the building.
The school house shows signs of its former glory including a grey tin ceiling that adorns the main hallway, but has obvious structural issues including a floor in one of the classrooms that is falling into the basement.
The city has access to approximately $8,300 that was borrowed and put aside when the building was purchased, but not all board members are convinced that is the best use of the money.
After viewing the condition of the schoolhouse, the board discussed reapplying the $8,300 to the loan used to purchase the building which has a balance of approximately $38,000.
“To me it just makes sense to pay that money back right now,” Alderwoman Alyson Garvey said. “There were so many bad decisions made with that money already.”
The condition of the school wasn’t the only bad news Newburg officials got last week.
The city may not be getting a building to house emergency vehicles as the Board of Aldermen are considering taking a different course of action with grant money that was intended for the project.
The board voted in a special meeting Tuesday to schedule a conference call with representatives of the State Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to discuss options.
“We are in a pickle,” Garvey said.
Newburg Mayor Cornelius Root said SEMA gave the city until April 1 to utilize $9,000 in grant money.
The city’s original ambition was building a municipal building to house the city’s fire truck and police car with approximately $20,000 in grant money awarded after a flood several years ago.
The city attempted to begin construction on the building in 2009 when it hired TCI Construction, Inc.
According to court documents TCI Construction never made substantial steps toward construction of the building despite being paid $12,000 for materials.
The intent of Tuesday’s meeting was to allow board members to discuss financing options for an additional $9,000 that would be required to accept a bid submitted for materials only — the city would be using volunteer labor.
Transforming the old Newburg High School into the new City Hall may be a lost cause.
According to current board members who toured the old building Thursday morning, prior administration believed the 1921 building could be remodeled and converted to be the City Hall.
After their tour to assess its condition board members were not pleased with what they found.
“It would take a million dollars to bring this building back,” was heard coming from one of the rooms as the aldermen, mayor, and a few residents looked over the building.
The school house shows signs of its former glory including a grey tin ceiling that adorns the main hallway, but has obvious structural issues including a floor in one of the classrooms that is falling into the basement.
The city has access to approximately $8,300 that was borrowed and put aside when the building was purchased, but not all board members are convinced that is the best use of the money.
After viewing the condition of the schoolhouse, the board discussed reapplying the $8,300 to the loan used to purchase the building which has a balance of approximately $38,000.
“To me it just makes sense to pay that money back right now,” Alderwoman Alyson Garvey said. “There were so many bad decisions made with that money already.”
The condition of the school wasn’t the only bad news Newburg officials got last week.
The city may not be getting a building to house emergency vehicles as the Board of Aldermen are considering taking a different course of action with grant money that was intended for the project.
The board voted in a special meeting Tuesday to schedule a conference call with representatives of the State Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to discuss options.
“We are in a pickle,” Garvey said.
Newburg Mayor Cornelius Root said SEMA gave the city until April 1 to utilize $9,000 in grant money.
The city’s original ambition was building a municipal building to house the city’s fire truck and police car with approximately $20,000 in grant money awarded after a flood several years ago.
The city attempted to begin construction on the building in 2009 when it hired TCI Construction, Inc.
According to court documents TCI Construction never made substantial steps toward construction of the building despite being paid $12,000 for materials.
The intent of Tuesday’s meeting was to allow board members to discuss financing options for an additional $9,000 that would be required to accept a bid submitted for materials only — the city would be using volunteer labor.
They are now considering returning the grant money to SEMA in hopes of remaining in the agency’s good graces.
“The way I see it, it’s like a credit score, and if we botch this up, we won’t be in a favorable position in the future,” Root said.
Newburg City Clerk Phylis Harris informed the board Tuesday that if it pays the grant back, it is her understanding that it will be required to repay the entire grant, which, she said was approximately $60,000 and covered flood damages.
In addition to a city-owned building located south of City Hall damaged by the flood, Harris said the grant also helped repair city streets and address storm water issues.
The board contacted SEMA Tuesday morning requesting a conference call.
“We want to talk about some options,” Alderman Mark Fox said. “We want to find solutions.”
