MARSHALL — The city of Marshall took another step down the path to renovating its City Hall building on Tuesday, voting to authorize bid letting for the estimated $6.1 million project. But as with previous parts of the planning process, the decision wasn’t without disagreements.

Council member Glenn Bayerkohler said he thought the city should seek more public input and look for less costly alternatives for the project. Other council members said the city had already done both those things, and urged that the project move forward.

“It’s time for us to make a decision,” said council member Craig Schafer.

The vote to let bids for City Hall renovations was divided 4-2, with council members Bayerkohler and Russ Labat voting against letting bids.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Marshall City Administrator Sharon Hanson said letting bids this year would help the city sell bonds in the 2019 year, and get more favorable interest rates. The resolution before the council would be to accept bids until Oct. 31, with the council formally accepting a bid on Nov. 12.

Bayerkohler was hesitant to call for bids on the project, for a couple of reasons. One was concerns about the potential cost of renovations, especially at a time when the city is also considering some expensive updates to the Marshall Aquatic Center. Another was what Bayerkohler said was a lack of public feedback. He said citizens had circulated a petition for a reverse referendum on the project, which if successful would have put the bonding to a public vote. That petition failed to get a required 244 signatures. But, Bayerkohler said, “I would like to get some public input before we move further.”

He said he’d like to see Marshall hold a town hall meeting on the City Hall project, and look at less costly options for a municipal building.

“We need to hear from citizens,” he said.

“We’ve had at least two studies on this,” as well as committees with input from community members, and evaluations of other buildings for sale in Marshall, said council member John DeCramer. Renovating the current building was the option the city chose to move forward with.

“We need a city hall. There isn’t any way around that,” DeCramer said.

“I don’t want to rush into spending $6 million either,” said Russ Labat. Labat wondered if the city had a new opportunity for a municipal building through a proposal brought forward earlier that evening.

New possibilities on Block 11

Earlier at Tuesday’s meeting, council members had heard a proposal from Mankato-based firm APX Construction Group, expressing interest in building mixed commercial and residential space in Marshall’s downtown. The proposed new building, which would have commercial or office space on the first floor and apartment units on the upper floors, would use vacant space on Block 11, the same downtown block where the Varsity Pub is located.

APX Construction representatives and Marshall EDA Director Tara Onken said there were still details that would need to be researched before APX could bring a development agreement proposal to the council, in October.

Labat asked if it might be possible to incorporate plans for a new City Hall into the Block 11 development proposal.

Marshall Mayor Bob Byrnes said it was a little too soon to make any detailed plans for the block. Plus, Byrnes said, he would be more excited about the prospect of expanded business development in that area.

Next steps

Council members voted 4-2 to authorize the letting of bids for the project. Hanson said she planned to have architectural firm Engan Associates give more information on the bidding documents at the council’s Oct. 8 meeting.

In a separate vote, council members also authorized letting bids for removing hazardous materials from the City Hall building. This project would remove asbestos-containing materials identified in a 2014 building inspection at City Hall. The vote for the hazardous material removal was also 4-2 in favor of the motion, with Bayerkohler and Labat voting against.