The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

Dear Editor,

Upon reading Mr. Davison’s letter to the editor in the Sept 5th edition, I wanted to add another perspective. While Mr. Davison makes some valid points I will say upfront that I have a difference in opinion. I would prefer to see the City Hall remain at its current location and make only the renovations required to make it a safe and functional facility. We don’t need to do a total renovation/restoration in the short term, we can budget for and do further renovations over time, something along the lines of a 10 year plan.

There are many details missing that would provide the city commission a complete cost analysis that would enable them to make a fully informed decision. At a bare minimum, however, they should understand the cost of the work that needs to be done to the current building to allow the town’s business to be conducted efficiently in a safe environment. If the cost of purchase and renovations for the Jehovah Witness building is, for example, $250,000, what does $250,000 buy us in needed renovations to the current building?

The city of Waitsburg has an asset in the current building. It would be good for the commissioners to know what has been invested into this building (purchase price and existing renovations) as well as its current assessed value. What the plans are for the use of the building if the move is made? How are we going to protect this asset’s value and how does the city benefit by having another vacant building on Main Street?

To me the bottom line is that the decision on whether to move the City Hall is being made in a vacuum. Having attended the recent city commission meetings I have not seen or heard any meaningful data that builds a business case for or against the move. Hyperbole and off the cuff estimates should not be sufficient for supporting the decision to spend scarce taxpayer provided city funds.

This is not how these decisions should be made, we can do better.

Randy Charles