Colfax Elevator Commission has raised $123,000 — what’s next?
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by LeAnn R. Ralph
Editor’s note: LeAnn R. Ralph serves on the Colfax Elevator Commission
COLFAX — Through pledges, donations, memorials for loved ones, the $22 for 22 Steps campaign, thrift sales, bake sales and other fund raisers, the Colfax Elevator Commission has raised $123,000.
The money is intended to go toward installing an elevator in the Colfax Municipal Building, to install bathrooms on all three floors and to remodel the basement into a useable space.
The community has responded so well to the fund-raising efforts, and if the Colfax Elevator Commission is going to continue fund raising, we would like to be able to show people that we are making progress toward our goal, said Lisa Bragg-Hurlburt, director of the Colfax Public Library and a member of the elevator commission, at the Colfax Village Board’s May 22 meeting.
The elevator commission has been working on the project since 2018, and now it is time to start a conversation with the Colfax Village Board about any concerns and the board’s vision for the village, she said.
The village board authorized the elevator commission in the fall of 2018.
The library needs more space for library programming, Bragg Hurlburt said.
From an article about the library in the Colfax Messenger in May of 2015, in 1999, “a report from the engineering firm of Short Elliot Hendrickson (SEH) stated that Colfax needed a new library, citing a lack of program space, a lack of patron seating and a lack of collection space.”
Readers should note the SEH report is now nearly 25 years old, and the library is still the same approximately 1,200 square feet now as it was then.
Lisa Ludwig, former director of the Colfax Public Library, went on record in 2015 saying that because the Colfax Public Library’s circulation area includes the surrounding townships, the Colfax library should be 10,000 square feet, according to standards set for libraries with a circulation area like that of Colfax.
In April of 2015, Colfax held an advisory referendum about the library.
The majority of the people who voted agreed that “something” should be done to either remodel and expand the library or to build a new library.
Dunn County contributes nearly two-thirds of the revenue for the library’s annual budget to account for the people living outside of Colfax who use the library.
The Colfax Municipal Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Village hall funds
The village of Colfax has two separate funds for the village hall.
One fund is restricted, which means it can only be spent for the stated purpose, and the other fund is an assigned fund for the village hall, which means the village board could transfer the money out of the fund and use it for another purpose.
As of December 31, 2021, there was $77,912 in the restricted fund for future improvements to the village hall, and $81,876 in the assigned fund for the village hall, according to the village’s audit report for 2021.
A past president of the Colfax Municipal Building Restoration group has gone on record saying that the restricted fund contains money that was donated for the village hall.
The donations for the municipal building were given before CMBRG officially became a non-profit organization, so the village held the funds donated for the municipal building, the past president said.
The donated money has never been spent on the purpose for which it was given, and the village has not disbursed that money to CMBRG, she said.
CMBRG has spent more than $100,000 upgrading the electrical service to the building and renovating the auditorium.
Architects
Bragg-Hurlburt has met with a representative of the West Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission to talk about the elevator project.
WCWRPC could write a grant application for a Community Development Block Grant, she said.
CDBG money is a two-to-one match, with a maximum grant of $1 million.
A $1.5 million project, with a grant of $1 million, would require $500,000 in matching funds. The elevator commission has nearly $125,000, so with the nearly $78,000 in the restricted fund, that is a little over $200,000 to date.
The village could apply for other grants to make up the difference needed for matching funds, Bragg-Hurlburt said.
Not long after the elevator commission was authorized by the village board, Bragg-Hurlburt spoke to several representatives for grant opportunities who said they would be interested in putting funds toward the project once there were actually architectural plans available.
The elevator commission also has met with two different architectural firms: Bryant Christenson of River Valley Architects in Eau Claire, and Lynn McIntyre and Cory Scheidler with Cedar Corporation out of Menomonie, she said.
Cedar Corporation completed a schematic drawing of the elevator project (including remodeling the basement and bathrooms for all three floors) several years ago, and the cost was estimated at $700,000. Because of increases in construction costs, the project would probably be around $1 million today, Bragg Hurlburt said.
Cedar Corporation also could write the application for CDBG funds.
There are significant sections of the building that cannot be used because of handicapped accessibility issues, Bragg-Hurlburt said, noting that if the basement was remodeled, the library could use the basement for some programs if it were handicapped accessible.
New people come to town and then come to the library for information on resources. The library’s programs and circulation are growing, too, she said.
Story time has had such an increase in attendance that it has been expanded to a morning session and an afternoon session because there is not room for all of the children and adults for one session, Bragg-Hurlburt said.
Next steps
The elevator commission now must find out what the village’s plans and vision for the future are, Bragg-Hurlburt said.
The municipal building has served Colfax for more than 100 years, said Mark Johnson, a member of the elevator commission and the owner of Cafe II Coffee Shop and Bakery in downtown Colfax.
Where does the village see the municipal building in the future of the village? If the building is not the village hall or the library, then a building must be built somewhere else in Colfax, he said.
Glenwood City, with a population of 1,300 (compared to Colfax’s nearly 1,200), built a new city hall, library, community center and police station of 11,750 square feet in 2021.
The construction cost was about $2.5 million.
Scheidler told the elevator commission that construction costs have increased by 30 percent in the last few years.
That would place the cost of an 11,700 square foot building at close to $3.5 million today.
CDBG grants are up to $1 million. The village would have to come up with an additional $2.5 million to build a new village hall, library, community center and police station.
Readers should note that Colfax does not have a community center.
Construction more than likely would be a few years out. Construction costs are typically expected to increase by about 10 percent per year, so in a few years, a new village hall, library, community center and police station in Colfax would cost about $4.5 million, with the village financing $3.5 million if the village received $1 million in CDBG funds.
The equalized value of Colfax is about $69 million.
State law sets the borrowing capacity of a municipality at 5 percent of the equalized value, so Colfax would have a borrowing capacity of $3.5 million.
Sean Lentz from Ehlers and Associates, the village’s financial consultant, recommends leaving 20 percent of the borrowing capacity for emergencies, which would leave Colfax with a total borrowing capacity of $2.8 million.
In early 2019, Colfax had outstanding debt of $1.4 million.
According to Ehlers, Colfax’s outstanding debt in 2019 will be paid off in 2028.
DPW
Anne Jenson, village trustee, questioned whether the municipal building is worth putting $1 million into it.
What about using the Department of Public Works building as the village hall and the police station since there were previous plans to do that? she asked.
Even if the village hall and police station were to move to another location and the library remains in the municipal building, the municipal building would still have to be made handicapped accessible to bring it up to code.
Between the cost for purchasing the DPW building, remodeling for the Colfax Rescue Squad and remodeling for offices and a small conference room, as well as more recent repairs to the ceiling, the village has put about $1 million into the DPW building so far.
Lynn Niggemann, village administrator-clerk-treasurer, said that recent structural issues with the DPW building make it less desirable for remodeling and additional uses.
The Colfax Village Board tabled the topic for further discussion and approved holding a public property committee meeting with one or more representatives of the elevator commission.