Town halls scheduled for proposed Cosi municipal building

September 20, 2019 4:20 pm
(Daily World Photo) Just about all the physical aspect of Cosmopolis’ city government will fit in this room, originally built as a bank. This fall voters in the city will decide whether to build a municipal building next door for City Hall, the court and the Police Department. Tuesday night at the fire hall is the first of three public meetings to discuss the issue. Working in the office Friday afternoon were, from left Kristina Eccles, Cheryl Chrt and Police Chief Casey Stratton. Behind him is Candice Makos. (Daily World Photo) Just about all the physical aspect of Cosmopolis’ city government will fit in this room, originally built as a bank. This fall voters in the city will decide whether to build a municipal building next door for City Hall, the court and the Police Department. Tuesday night at the fire hall is the first of three public meetings to discuss the issue. Working in the office Friday afternoon were, from left Kristina Eccles, Cheryl Chrt and Police Chief Casey Stratton. Behind him is Candice Makos.
(Daily World Photo) Just about all the physical aspect of Cosmopolis’ city government will fit in this room, originally built as a bank. This fall voters in the city will decide whether to build a municipal building next door for City Hall, the court and the Police Department. Tuesday night at the fire hall is the first of three public meetings to discuss the issue. Working in the office Friday afternoon were, from left Kristina Eccles, Cheryl Chrt and Police Chief Casey Stratton. Behind him is Candice Makos. (Daily World Photo) Just about all the physical aspect of Cosmopolis’ city government will fit in this room, originally built as a bank. This fall voters in the city will decide whether to build a municipal building next door for City Hall, the court and the Police Department. Tuesday night at the fire hall is the first of three public meetings to discuss the issue. Working in the office Friday afternoon were, from left Kristina Eccles, Cheryl Chrt and Police Chief Casey Stratton. Behind him is Candice Makos.

Story updated Oct. 2, with corrected meeting date for second meeting, Oct. 8

A series of town hall meetings have been scheduled by the City of Cosmopolis to discuss the need for and cost of a new municipal building to house the police department, court and City Hall.

The first meeting is Tuesday, Sept. 24, at the Cosmopolis fire hall at 6 p.m. Other meetings are slated for Oct. 8 at 3 p.m. and Oct. 22 at 6 p.m., also at the fire hall at 19 F St.

City staff will answer questions regarding the proposed $3 million facility at the informal meeting. Addressed will be the need for the facility, the city’s financial status, and the estimated costs to the citizens, along with a review of conceptual drawings.

The building is intended to get the police department out of the “temporary” modular building it’s been housed in since it was donated by Weyerhaeuser after the mill shut down in 2006. The department and its five full-time officers, six reserve officers and clerk has outgrown the non-ADA-compliant building, according to Police Chief Casey Stratton.

It would also house the City Hall and municipal court, and include office and storage space lacking in the current facilities, and the designs provided by the city show it would complement the architecture of the existing fire station next door.

The building proposal and funding through a tax levy will appear on the November general election ballot.

The city is considering two cost breakdowns for the facility, to be paid by a property tax levy, one a 20-year loan, the other 30. With input from the public and the city’s Facility Advisory Board, a decision on which loan plan will be used will be selected by the City Council prior to the November vote.

20-year loan: Quarterly payments of $57,069 would be made on the $3 million loan, a total of 80 payments. The total payments would add up to $4.5 million, with total interest of $1.56 million. The cost per $1,000 of value in property taxes to city property owners would round up to about 41 cents, roughly $82 annually for a $200,000 home in the city.

30-year loan: With this option there would be 120 quarterly payments of $45,682 made for the term of the loan. This option would lessen the annual impact on property taxes to about 33 cents per $1,000 in assessed value, about $66 a year for property owners, but would increase the total end payment for the loan to $5.48 million with an additional $916,299 in interest over the 20-year loan.

There are two videos about the project, accessible through the police department’s Facebook page and YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXSpqaa0mO4&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR3TgY5CLniLEDoZO_7VmNNQWWAHgIFXG0xBgo06KJOGwOtQvsZXqOiE8yM. The first is a walk-through of the current police facility; the second shows the design and cost estimate. Stratton said anyone with questions can contact him personally at 360-532-9273, or call City Hall at 360-532-9230.