Holts Summit city officials are spending this week settling into spaces provided in a new City Hall building at 213 S. Summit Drive, just north of the previous City Hall at 245 S. Summit Drive.
Moving to the new Holts Summit City Hall was completed during the weekend. City offices were closed Friday to start the move.
The change to another building for City Hall got its start from a need to expand space occupied now by the Holts Summit Police Department.
Holts Summit City Administrator Brian Crane said rather than constructing a new building for the Police Department, the city decided to buy a nearby former bank building and convert it to the new City Hall.
"That was much less expensive for the city," Crane said.
The change also will allow the Holts Summit Police Department, which now occupies the lower basement level of City Hall, to occupy the entire building and receive the extra space it needs.
More space also is needed for the Holts Summit Municipal Court. During sessions handling traffic tickets and other offenses, the room often is not large enough to accommodate the number of people waiting for court sessions.
Crane said this week an architect will meet with city representatives to discuss a plan to renovate the top floor the storm shelter building immediately south of City Hall into a combination court chambers for the Holts Summit Municipal Court and a meeting room for the Holts Summit Board of Aldermen.
When the city's storm shelter building was constructed a few years ago, the top level was completed but it the interior was left unfinished.
Since the building already has walls and a roof, Crane said, the project won't be as expensive because it will involve only finishing the interior.
Tonight, Crane said members of the Board of Aldermen will tour the new City Hall Building at 213 S. Summit Drive and check out a meeting room on the lower level of the structure.
Members of the board will determine if they want to use this room as a regular public meeting room for the Board of Aldermen or continue using current chambers while a new combination Alderman chambers and courtroom is constructed on the upper level of
the storm shelter building.
The room in the new building already has a large conference table and chairs along with numerous chairs to seat the public.
Crane said the new two-level building to serve as City Hall was acquired through a lease-purchase agreement. The seller of the 5,000-square-foot property was Kenneth Berkel of Berkel and Berkel LLC of Holts Summit.
The building at 213 S. Summit Drive cost the city $310,000. The city paid half of the cost of the building and financed the remaining amount through Missouri
Public Utility Alliance at an annual percentage rate of about 3 percent. The group is using Greyhawk Commercial Finance LLC to finance the structure.
Crane said the $310,000 city hall building would cost about $1 million if constructed as a new building.
Crane said the new City Hall Building came equipped with a drive-through window from the former bank building that will make it more convenient for Holts Summit residents to pay utility charges and other city bills.
"We plan to use only the drive-through window next to the building for the convenience of residents paying sewer service charges and other bills," Crane said.
Crane said about $20,000 was spent on renovations at the new City Hall building. The former bank building also includes a large vault on the lower level of the building.
The new building will house five City Hall administrative employees on the upper level. They include the city administrator, the city clerk, treasurer, court clerk and clerical technician.
The lower level will be occupied by three employees of the city's street department and four employees of the city's sewer department.
The upper level of the new building is accessed from the south side of the building and the lower level will be accessed from a separate entrance on the north side of the building.
The Holts Summit city government now occupies a 10-acre complex that includes three large buildings, large paved parking lots, and the city's Hibernia Station Park. The city building-park complex is located along South Summit Drive next to North Elementary School.