By Ann Marie Shambaugh
In an effort to gather additional public feedback on a new town hall, the Zionsville Town Council declined to vote on a financing plan and instead announced two open house meetings set for residents to speak with officials about the project.
Mayor Tim Haak presented plans for the open houses after a three-hour meeting Feb. 1 spent mostly hearing public comments against the financing plan for the $10.2 million proposed town hall project and debate from councilors.
The open house sessions are tentatively set from 7 to 9 p.m. Feb. 17 and 23 at Town Hall, 1100 W. Oak St. Haak, a representative from CSO Architects and other officials are expected to be on hand to answer questions and address concerns from residents.
“I felt it was important to have the opportunity for people (who work) to come in after hours if they have different questions,” Haak said, adding that residents are welcome to stop by Town Hall during regular business hours to ask questions as well.
During the council meeting, Zionsville residents expressed concerns about the project that ranged from worries that the town wouldn’t have enough funds to address other issues around town if they committed to financing the town hall to allegations that project discussions were done without opportunity for public input.
Others said they didn’t think the size or design of the 41,300-square-foot building was right for Zionsville.
“The building looks like something Carmel would build. It doesn’t fit into the Zionsville village aesthetics,” Zionsville resident Lori House said. “It appears to me ego has gotten the best of this town, and that is not always a good thing. Bigger is not always better.”
Several councilors had questions about the project, but Tom Schuler expressed the most concerns. He said that during his time on council the budget has always been tight, and he is skeptical that the town will suddenly have enough extra funds to pay for the project.
“We’ve spent the last four years grinding nickels and dimes out of the budget here just to make ends meet,” he said. “We’ve started the project backwards from how any of us would buy a house.”
The proposed financing plan calls for using an installment purchase contract, which works much like a mortgage, to pay for building a new town hall behind the current one. Zionsville would make biannual payments on the project over 25 years. The proposed plan has an interest rate of 2.75 percent that could be recalculated in 10 years.
Although the council did not vote on the financing plan, it did approve a resolution establishing the Whitestown 334/700 East Development Area. However, councilors removed part of the resolution that would have allowed TIF revenues from this area to help pay for the town hall project.
The current town hall is in an aging former church building that would likely cost more than $3 million to renovate without providing room to expand.
This story will be updated.
