A groundbreaking ceremony was held Tuesday to mark the start of a project to expand and renovate the Truesdale City Hall.

The current city hall will be renovated to include separate evidence and interview rooms and the relocation of the public restroom. The chamber area will remain in the same location.

A 1,035-square-foot addition to the west of the current city hall structure will house separate offices for the city clerk, treasurer and mayor along with a break room and storage room. Space also will be available for a receptionist, a position city officials agree they would like to see filled in the future.

The project will cost $233,211, nearly $20,000 lower than the budgeted amount.

Attending the brief, informal ceremony were city employees and elected officials, Brian Gentges of Cochran Engineering and Tim Banze of Banze Construction.

“It’s a long time coming,” Mayor Murray Bruer said. “This is fantastic. We’ve been waiting for this for two years.”

Discussion on the project has been ongoing for some time until Bruer reinitiated talks in February after months of inaction. The board then voted in March to proceed with the project.

A year ago, aldermen voted to delay any expansion plans due to disagreement over the cost and size of the project.

Banze expected to begin working on the addition Wednesday. Once that is complete, the current structure will be renovated. The entire project should be completed within five months.

A bigger facility will allow records currently stored at the city shed to be moved back to city hall. The police department also will be more segregated from other city staff. 

West Street Project Delayed

A project to widen and upgrade West Street has been delayed after it was learned a sewer line belonging to the city of Warrenton needs to be replaced. 

Bruer said the sewer line replacement will take about two weeks to complete. He hopes Gold Star Paving, the winning bidder for the street project, can begin work at some time during that time.

Along with improving storm drainage, the street will be widened to 26 feet which will improve access for buses leaving and entering the Warren County R-III bus garage located at he intersection of West and South streets.

Increased traffic is expected in the areas of Lou Gunther, South Street and Pinckney Street due to the closure of West Street. Last month, the city awarded the street project bid to Gold Star Paving for $74,563.55.

Tax Rate Approved

The 2010 tax rate was approved during the Aug. 25 board of aldermen meeting.

The tax levy was set at 70.21 cents for every $100 of assessed valuation. The 2009 rate was 66.86 cents.

The total assessed valuation in 2010 is decreasing from $18,969,264 to $17,552,751. The projected real estate valuations are $11,289,061 and the estimated personal property valuations are $6,263,690.

Of the two categories, the personal property assessment dropped the most, after being assessed at $7,726,147 in 2009.

A public hearing was held prior to the board voting on the tax level.