Colby to consider bids for city hall renovations

With an eye toward improving security and storage space at the city clerk’s office, the city of Colby is seeking bids for renovating a portion of city hall later this year.

At its latest monthly meeting on June 1, the city council voted to go out for bids, with the goal of awarding a contract at the July meeting. The city has $60,000 budgeted for the renovations.

Plans drawn up by Raatsch Engineering call for adding a back door on the south side of the building, moving the front counter forward and removing one set of the main doors opening out toward Spence Street. A couple parking spaces will also be added in the back of the building.

“When we looked at the space, it’s silly to have the two entryways. It doesn’t meet ADA compliance anyways,” said city clerk Connie Gurnter, referring to the Americans With Disabilities Act.

A solid wall will be installed near where the front counter is currently located, shielding most of the clerk’s office from the general public. Slidingglass doors will be built into the wall to allow city staff to collect water bills and conduct other business.

A separate door will be built to allow authorized staff and others to enter and exit the clerk’s offices with keys and a buzz-in system.

“That is how we will secure our office from the public,” Gurtner said.

One of the new service counters will be at waist level to accommodate people in wheelchairs.

Another part of the bid will be to gut an existing storage room, get rid of a waist-level countertop and replace it with shelving for more efficient storage space. Gurtner said she also purchased some file additional cabinets, with the hopes of bringing a load of files up from the basement.

The council also approved a contract with Raatsch, which is charging the city a total of $8,000 for its involvement, including $1,600 for drawing up the plans, $1,400 for conducting the bidding process, $4,000 for state approval, and $1,000 for construction review.