Colfax elevator fund tops $125,0000
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
Editor’s note: LeAnn R. Ralph serves as member of the Colfax Elevator Commission
COLFAX — The Colfax Municipal Building Elevator Fund has topped $125,000.
New donations to the elevator fund, including a donation from Ray’s Metal Works in memory of Ray and Marlene Johnson and their 67th wedding anniversary on July 1, helped bring the fund to over $125,000, said Lisa Bragg-Hurlburt, director of the Colfax Public Library and a member of the Colfax Elevator Commission, during a video posted on Facebook July 6 highlighting updates about the library.
Ray and Marlene Johnson were married July 1, 1956, at Colfax Lutheran Church. The Johnsons owned and operated Ray’s Metal Works in Colfax since 1968.
Marlene passed away January 27, 2017, and Ray died September 2, 2017.
The library director reported June 29 that Colfax Chevrolet had donated $1,000 toward the elevator fund.
The money in the elevator fund 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 elevator commission has been working on fund raising and collecting information for the project since the village board authorized the elevator commission in 2018.
The elevator commission also recently 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.
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.
Grant
The Village of Colfax qualifies for a federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) of up to $1 million that operates as two-thirds funding for a project.
That is, on a project that costs $1 million, the grant would cover $660,000, and the village would provide $340,000.
Part of Cedar Corporation’s services would be to write the grant application for the CDBG funds.
According to McIntyre and Scheidler, the CDBG program now requires a full set of architectural plans to apply for the grant, which would be part of the total project cost, and Colfax could apply annually for the CDBG funds as many times it might take to achieve a grant award.
Funds
The funds raised by the elevator commission have been deposited into a designated fund by the Village of Colfax, which means the money can only be spent on the elevator project.
The funds raised by the elevator commission could go toward paying for the architectural plans needed to apply for the CDBG funds.
The Village of Colfax also has two other funds for the municipal building.
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.
Update
The elevator commission met with the village board in May to update board members on the elevator commission’s fund raising efforts and the information from the architects.
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) 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 nearly 25 years old, and the library is still the same approximately 1,200 square feet now as it was then.
In view of other projects the village has been working on, including reconstructing and repaving streets and the project to stabilize the Red Cedar River bank so it does not wash out the wastewater treatment lagoons, building a new library could likely put the village over the borrowing capacity allowed by state law, which is 5 percent of the village’s equalized value.
The municipal building elevator project includes remodeling the basement into a useable space, and that would increase the space available for the library to use for library programs, such as Story Time, Lego Club and adult and teen book clubs.
To continue the fund-raising efforts, the elevator commission is planning a bake sale at Kyle’s Market on Friday, July 14, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
If you would like to contribute baked goods, bring them to Kyle’s Market Friday morning.
The elevator commission also is planning to hold another community thrift sale at the Colfax Fairgrounds August 10 to August 12.
Items may be dropped off at the fairground the evenings of August 8 and 9 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
