The City Council voted 6 to 0 in favor of allowing Dewberry to begin the first step in the design process.
City Manager Ryan McCrady said this is the first time they have gotten to this level of design in the four years that he has served, “We are actually digging and working with the developer to figure out what the criteria will be for us to occupy the space.”
McCrady said that if at any point they decided they can’t get the building to meet expectations, or it becomes too cost prohibitive, they will be able to break contract with Dewberry and once again begin exploring other options.
Looking to avoid a dire water situation like last summer, the City Council also voted to give Black & Veatch the funds that they had requested to furtherer explore additional water sources.
“We have the emergency wells, but we are also looking at a lot of other options for water. Those are the options we are going to bring back to the City Council within the next couple of months,” McCrady said.
Mayor McElroy said that he wholeheartedly approved the decision because he doesn’t want a situation like the draught of 2012 happening again.
The $75,000 will come from the city’s water fund.
