The city of Geneva is currently planning for millions of dollars in upgrades to its facilities and is gathering input from the public through meetings and phone calls to learn what residents want.
Overall, the city is hoping to spend upwards of $97.5 million on improving or replacing its aging facilities, according to a presentation given by City Administrator Stephanie Dawkins at a meeting on Wednesday night. She said that many of the city’s current facilities have significant issues, such as flooding, lack of proper work space and poor accessibility, among others.
“Being a historic community does have its challenges,” Dawkins said. “We do have infrastructure that dates back nearly two centuries.”
The current phase of public input, which is the second of four planned phases, asks residents to rank which facilities they most want improved, which types of improvements are most important to them and how much funding the city should get for these improvements, among other things.
Residents who attended Wednesday night’s meeting used an online survey or paper survey to rank their choices after Dawkins quickly presented each of the options. That online survey can be found on the city’s website and is open until Nov. 22.
Geneva’s police station, which is currently located near the corner of State Street and First Street, is one of the buildings the city is looking to fully replace. Dawkins said the building was likely built in the early 1930s, with renovations in the 1950s and early 2000s.
Now, the building has a number of issues, including lack of office space for employees and frequent flooding from roof leaks and sewer back-ups, according to Dawkins’ presentation. The roof has also recently partially collapsed, the presentation said.
So, the city is proposing spending between $45.3 million and $58.9 million on a brand new police station on a city-owned property immediately adjacent to the Public Works site on South Street, Dawkins said. This 45,000-square- foot building would feature modern technology and provide enough space for the police department, according to the presentation.
The building could also include an indoor firing range and indoor parking for all vehicles, but that would tip costs closer to the $58.9 million price tag, according to Dawkins. Without these upgrades, the cost would be closer to the $45.3 million lower-end cost estimate, she said.
Another core city facility looking to get significant upgrades is City Hall. This building, which is located at the corner of First Street and James Street, is more than a century old, Dawkins said.
Because of its age, the building is not accessible, has poor insulation that wastes energy, cannot support modern technological needs and does not have enough space for city employees to work, which makes it difficult to do city business, she said.
To fix these issues, Geneva is proposing spending between $33.4 million and $37.4 million on a complete overhaul of the site, which would include the partial demolition of the vacant library building next to City Hall and the construction of a 15,000-square-foot connector between the two buildings, according to Dawkins’ presentation.
This work would retain the original historic section of the old library building but create a new civic center that is more accessible and has more space for employees to work, she said.
This new civic center could also include a build-out of the old library’s basement, but that would take construction prices closer to the higher-end cost estimate, Dawkins said.
Geneva is also looking to renovate its Public Works building, which Dawkins’ presentation said is actually a 40-year-old metal barn. This building has a number of safety issues, including shock hazards and tripping hazards, in addition to a number of leaks, she said.
The building is also the city’s dedicated severe weather shelter, but it can only really house a handful of people, according to the presentation.
To improve the site, the city is proposing to spend between $20.6 million and $37.0 million to renovate the building and make the site safer, more functional and more efficient, in addition to upgrading systems that are at the end of their usable lives, she said.
The site could get additional renovations, covered storage and improvements to the salt storage dome if costs rose to the high-end estimate, Dawkins’ presentation said.
Another new facility being considered by Geneva is a new Fire Station 2 for the city’s west side. It was built over 30 years ago to residential standards, rather than commercial or industrial standards, which has led to long-term issues, according to the presentation.
The station also does not have separate spaces for male and female firefighters, and it needs more room for daily activities and training, Dawkins said. The fire truck parking bays are also undersized, so trucks cannot pull through and have to back in to park, she said.
So, a new 20,000-square-foot fire station is being proposed to be built right next to the existing station on city-owned land, according to Dawkins. She said the new station would provide enough space for vehicles and gender-appropriate locker rooms.
A fourth vehicle bay and additional training facilities could also be constructed at the new fire station, raising construction costs closer to a high-end estimate of $20.8 million rather than a low-end estimate of $18.8 million, according to the presentation.
Fire Station 1 on the city’s east side, the newest facility, is also proposed to receive maintenance and upgrades to mechanical systems, Dawkins said during the presentation. Options for this project include gender-appropriate living quarters, plus an addition to the building to provide meeting and training space, her presentation said.
The cost for this project would be between $7.9 million and $14.8 million, depending on which options are eventually picked, if any, according to Dawkins.
The city’s “significant infrastructure challenges” are making it harder for the city to provide the staffing level and expertise that residents should expect, according to Dawkins. She said these challenges also negatively impact city staff’s morale and make it difficult to recruit and retain quality employees.
But, if Geneva had city facilities that “reflected the quality of our community,” the city could become a destination employer that would be able to recruit “the best and the brightest,” according to the presentation. High quality facilities would also make city staff more proactive and responsive, reduce maintenance costs and make capital budgets more predictable, the presentation said.
Near the end of the survey, residents were asked to pick their favored funding level for all projects combined. These funding levels ranged from no additional funding to the highest possible funding at $97.5 million, which is near the maximum amount that the city can bond for, according to Dawkins.
That highest level of funding would also address the most facility needs but would cost the average property tax payer around $300 per year, based on a $350,000 home, her presentation said.
The medium funding level would address some of the city’s needs at a cost of $78.8 million, according to the presentation. That would mean an average property tax increase of around $215 per year, again based on a $350,000 home, the presentation said.
The lowest level of funding would address only the city’s most urgent facility needs at the cost of $45.3 million, Dawkins said. That would mean an average property tax increase of $125, based on a $350,000 home, she said.
The final question of the survey asked residents if they were in favor of Geneva receiving home rule authority. If Geneva had this authority, it could issue bonds for each of the projects separately and over time, saving taxpayers money, instead of having to rely on a single referendum to borrow all of the money up front, Dawkins said.
This authority would also give the city access to new streams of revenue, like business licenses and impact fees on new development, as well as broader powers around economic development, according to her presentation.
While cities with a population of 25,000 or more automatically receive home rule designation under state law, cities under this population level can still get it with voter approval, according to Dawkins.
Similar meetings to inform residents about the city’s plans and gather feedback during this phase of public input are set to be held at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 19 at the Geneva Public Works Department, 1800 South St., and at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 21 at a virtual Zoom meeting, which residents must register to attend.
More information, along with the online survey, can also be found at: www.geneva.il.us/1607/Facilities-Community-Engagement
rsmith@chicagotribune.com
