Hastings city council hears public comment on city hall building, passes related motion

HASTINGS, Neb. — The future of the city hall building in Hastings remains uncertain. 

The city council voted Monday night to proceed with removing asbestos and mold remediation. After those processes are complete, the council hopes staff can provide more accurate cost estimates for both a remodel and rebuild of the building. It’s another step in a years long discussion around city hall. 

“It’s a lot of money," Councilman Steve Huntley said. "You know, it’s a lot of money and you want to get it right. You don’t want to be redoing it again.”

In June, a committee estimated a new build to cost about $8.9 million and a renovation to cost $8.5 million. The council members want to see if something is revealed after the harmful materials are removed that could influence their choice between the options.

City staff had suggested a motion that included interior demolition and a price cap of $500,000. Councilman Steve Huntley instead made a successful motion that only allowed staff to advertise for bids.

“This way it’s going to come back to us, we’re going to be able to look at the bids, we’re going to be able to look at how much money we’re going to be spending at the asbestos removal and get it done,” Huntley said.

Councilman Brad Consbruck helped craft the motion and eliminated demolition from the directions.

“Because if you can use some of that existing structure inside there, then I think we should leave it there as part of the renovation process," Consbruck said. "So I wanted to at least put sort of a limit on how much demolition they can do.”

The adjusted plans were well received by the crowd of about 50 that was almost unanimously in favor of the renovation option. During the public comment section, several people suggested the city staff is steering the process in favor of the new build option.

City Administrator Shawn Metcalf denied the accusations. Huntley and Consbruck stayed in the middle.

“I’m not going to say. I just don’t know," Huntley said. "I don’t know enough on that to say.”

“I don’t know about that. I can only say that I’ve had a lot of people that have come up to me and have suggested to me that they would prefer to have a renovation done rather than a rebuild,” Consbruck said.

City staff says they hope to have the asbestos and mold removed in 45 to 60 days. Then they will take another look at options for the future of the building and the possible costs.