West Fork plans improvement projects in city

WEST FORK -- The city plans to spend $1.28 million to expand administrative and police office space and renovate the library and community building.

"I think they're very good improvements for the city," said Kristie Drymon, the city's financial director and treasurer. "They will allow more office space for us to grow, and it will also be more convenient for our citizens. The library and the community center are things the citizens will benefit from."

The improvements will help the city of more than 2,300 residents develop its infrastructure, Alderman Jan Throgmorton said.

"I think anything we do to make improvements is a step forward," Throgmorton said. "I think any time we make improvements, it adds a certain amount of pride and interest in our community, and we need that because we're a small community. As much as we want to keep our town a secret, it's our duty to not keep it a secret."

The city plans to move City Hall and administration offices out of the building at 262 W. Main St. to 164 N. Centennial Ave., a 2,000-square-foot building formerly an Arvest Bank branch. City Hall and the administration offices are in about 1,450 square feet the Police Department and District Court also use. The Police Department and court will remain at the West Main Street location.

"We're in the beginning stages," Mayor Heith Caudle said. "It's going to be a coordinated construction process."

Moving City Hall and administration offices will come first, and Baldwin & Shell has been hired as the construction manager, Caudle said.

"We don't currently have a timeline. The drawings are currently being worked up for the new administration building," he said.

The former bank building also will house the Parks Department, Mayor's Office, Treasurer's Office, public works director's office, and the water and sewer clerk's office, Caudle said. It also will have a drive-through to make utility payments, Alderman Don Rollins Jr. said.

Converting the old bank will cost around $250,000 and is being paid for by a short-term loan, Drymon said.

Work on the Police Department, library and community center will be paid for by a city sales tax increase approved in August, Drymon said.

Steve Winkler, a West Fork resident who owns Why Not Cafe at 285 McKnight Ave., said he has nothing against the expansion, but he's against raising the city sales tax from 2 percent to 3 percent to pay for them.

"I don't know why a little town needs to have one of the highest (city) sales taxes in the state," Winkler said. "They had 1 percent for the city and 1 percent for the parks. What they could have done is reduced the amount for the parks because the parks are in good shape."

Winkler also opposes putting new city offices in the old bank because he said the parking area is too small. He suggested to city officials a two-story house for sale across the street from the bank be purchased and used as the new city building.

"They got it in their mind that they wanted that pretty stone (bank) building, and it had a drive-up window, and they were impressed with that," he said.

Police expansion

Work for the Police Department and court space will cost $390,000, Drymon said.

"It's going to allow us to expand our court space and create offices for attorneys," Caudle said.

District Court changed from a night court setup to a day court in January, which has caused cramped conditions, Rollins said.

"The traffic that was there in the night time is now there in the day time when we're trying to do city business," Rollins said.

District Court Judge Casey Jones will have an office at the building, Caudle said.

The Police Department has eight members, including four full-time officers, part-time officers and volunteers. The city needs to fill the police chief position, Drymon said.

Library expansion and improvements

Improvement to the library will cost an estimated $470,000, Drymon said.

The library has 3,200 square feet and will be expanded by 1,650 square feet, said John Riley, head librarian.

"We serve not only West Fork, but the south part of Washington County as well. We're greatly constricted by space, not only in the books that we offer, but in the number of computers we offer," Caudle said.

Work on the library is scheduled for sometime after the city office conversion, possibly later this year, Riley said.

"There's definitely a lot of needs here," Riley said. "We're hoping to have a larger children's area, a genealogy section and an area for people to bring in their computing devices."

He also wants more seating and expanded broadband bandwidth.

The library is in need of updating, Caudle said.

"It's at capacity. It's in need of some technology advancements, some more space for computers," he said. "Libraries have come a long way since ours has been built. We need overhead projectors, more data ports and the ability to increase both our paper circulation and our digital circulation."

Riley stressed the need for greater space to double the number of public desktop computers from five to 10 and expand the book collection, which has around 100,000 books.

The library has been at 198 W. Main St. since 2004 and was expanded by 1,400 feet in 2006.

Community center

The community center, 222 Webber St., has the smallest renovation budget with an estimated $170,000 to $175,000, Drymon said.

Improvement includes installing a fire suppression sprinkler system, updating the bathrooms to be Americans with Disabilities Act compliant, and making exterior and interior improvement to the building, which was built in the late 1980s, Drymon said.

Alderman Joe Toher said he supports all the planned expansions and improvements.

"Each of the projects will help the city of West Fork move forward. We'll get good municipal use out of each building," Toher said. "It's not fancy construction, but serving the basic needs of the citizens of West Fork."

NW News on 04/03/2017