TOWER— City officials here had hoped to hear from the public regarding city facilities at a council study session last Wednesday, but with limited turnout, city officials did most of the talking during the hour-long session. And they laid out their rationale for continuing to pursue a new joint emergency services building that could cost as much as $3.2 million. They also argued for consideration of a new city hall, possibly near the civic center, to replace the current facility.

The joint emergency services facility has been under active consideration for the past two years, as officials from Tower and Breitung Township have tried to find agreement on a facility to house the two communities’ combined fire departments, the Tower Ambulance Service, and the Breitung Police Department.

But progress on that planning effort has slowed in recent months, as officials from the city and township have failed to agree on the scale of the project. Along the way, the township announced that the Breitung police offices would remain in Soudan. “We’ve kind of hit a snag on the joint facility,” said Tower Mayor Josh Carlson. Under the latest proposal, the township would pay about a third of the bonding debt for the new facility, while the city would pay the rest, a total of about $50,000 a year for 40 years.

“Can we do it?” Carlson asked, then noted that the city is about two years away from paying off its new fire truck, which currently costs the city $25,000 a year.

But resident Sheldon Majerle noted that the city has other needs that may require funding in the future, such as upgrades to the drinking water treatment system and possible wastewater treatment expansion that are likely to pose significant cost as well.

“Yep, there a lot of projects,” said Carlson. “There are a lot of things that were not adequately addressed in the past.” Carlson indicated that he doesn’t want to leave it to a future generation to address the city’s aging facilities.

Carlson noted that the ambulance service is down one vehicle due to lack of space to keep it in a heated stall. The city lost ambulance and fire storage space almost three years ago, when a separate garage building at the fire hall was destroyed by fire. The city has yet to replace it as it seeks an overall plan for the future, which has created a challenge for the ambulance and fire service. “Here we are ready to expand the ambulance service, with a fire truck sitting out in the elements, and a third ambulance in a pole barn,” said Carlson.

Maintenance director Randy Johnson suggested that the city might be wise to replace the garage, regardless of which direction the city moves with the joint facility. “I don’t think it would be a wasted building,” he said.

City Clerk-Treasurer Linda Keith argued that the city should consolidate more of its facilities. “We should be all together,” she said. Earlier this year, Keith had argued for moving city hall to the joint facility, but the council had rejected moving city hall off of Main Street.

But Carlson argued that the city should look at some kind of replacement for the aging building. “It was built in 1939 by the WPA,” said Carlson. “It’s very inefficient and costs a lot to heat. And it would likely cost a lot to refurbish and make useful again.”

The city has never gotten an estimate for renovations at city hall to improve energy efficiency, nor has the city had a full energy audit completed that would help to determine whether energy use for the building is particularly high. An electricity use audit completed in 2007 showed a monthly electric bill of about $120, although that included operations of D’erick’s Bar and Liquor Store on the building’s main level. The heating bill is the largest utility expense. The city typically budgets $6,000 a year for fuel oil to heat the building, although the total cost may not be that high.

Renovations designed to improve energy efficiency can make a big difference. Carlson noted that the city significantly reduced energy consumption and maintenance time due to ice damming at the civic center by adding foam insulation to the roof, at a cost of about $45,000.

City officials also talked about the poor condition of the city’s public works storage building on Hoodoo Point Road and whether to replace it.

Carlson said the construction of a new emergency services facility would open up space at the current fire and ambulance hall for public works storage, which has been part of his overall plan. “I always figured we would build the emergency services building, then move public works into the fire hall, and build a small city hall near the civic center, possibly with a breezeway to connect them,” he said.

Majerle suggested the city look at constructing an airport maintenance building at the airport, which would allow the city to store its airport-related maintenance equipment, such as the huge New Holland snowblower, on site. That would free up space, he said, in existing public works storage buildings. Majerle said the city could probably obtain 90 percent federal funding for the project as part of its airport improvement entitlement.

Orlyn Kringstad suggested the city prioritize its needs and develop a master plan, or commission a feasibility study, based on those priorities.

City officials said they’d like more public input, given that only a half dozen area residents turned out for the session. They discussed briefly the possibility of a survey. Marshall Helmberger noted that TEDA had good response on its childcare survey, which was distributed through the TowerMn facebook page using SurveyMonkey. The council made no decision on how to proceed to gather more input from residents.