City hall back on the agenda for Hermiston council
Published 2:00 pm Friday, February 5, 2021
- The Hermiston City Council awarded the bid for construction of a new city hall during its Monday, Feb. 8, 2021, meeting. The bid was awarded to Griffin Construction, of The Dalles, for more than $8.6 million. The contractor was the low bidder of five bids, and came in under estimates by city engineers.
HERMISTON — The Hermiston City Council plans to vote on awarding the bid for construction of a new city hall during its Monday, Feb. 8, meeting.
The vote was on the agenda at a previous meeting, but staff discovered the city hadn’t yet completed a seven-day notice period required for bidders. Now that the notice period is complete, Griffin Construction, of The Dalles, remains the low bidder at $8,660,000. Architects had estimated the project cost at about $8,968,000.
The project will demolition of the old city hall and construction of a new, larger and more accessible building on the same site, as well as a renovation of a municipal parking lot across the street, and new water and sewer lines under the adjacent alley.
The council also plans to discuss a proposed public-private partnership with CGI Communications to place sponsored decorative banners on light posts around town.
According to the information in the agenda packet, the company would provide the banners, installation and maintenance at no cost to the city, and the city would retain artistic control over the banner design. The company would make money by selling sponsorships of the banner.
The name of the sponsoring company would be on the bottom of the banner, while the upper two-thirds of the banner would feature a decorative design of the city’s choosing, such as a historical photo with the words “Downtown Hermiston” or a watermelon design in the style of the city’s official logo.
The agenda also includes adoption of amendments to the water chapter of the city’s municipal code. The amendments are part of an ongoing project to update the city’s codes, and according to the agenda packet, the updates to the water chapter are only to bring it into compliance with state and federal law and won’t substantially change the way the city conducts business.
The council meeting will take place on at 7 p.m. at the Hermiston Community Center, 415 S. Highway 395, and will be livestreamed on the city’s YouTube channel. For the full agenda packet, see hermiston.or.us/meetings.
