Monday, February 15, 1999
Edgewood officials seek more space
BY CINDY SCHROEDER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
EDGEWOOD — At Edgewood's city building, work schedules of administrative staff are staggered, largely to allow four full-time employees and a part-time treasurer to share three desks.
Since the City Hall was built 18 years ago, the number of police officers has almost doubled — from six to 11, Police Chief Steve Vollmar said. However, the space alloted to the police department in the building's lower level has not changed, he said, despite a greater emphasis on community programs and training.
“Right now, we've got a floor plan that's rather restrictive,” Chief Vollmar said. “It's designed for a six-person department that didn't do its own investigations.”
Storage lacking
At the fire department next door, Joe Messmer, chief of Edgewood Fire and Emergency Medical Services, said he has virtually no storage or office space.
As in the city building, the fire department's administrative staff must trade desks or work off tables in a basement that's also used for city recreational programs ranging from preschool story times to dances for teen-agers.
Edgewood City Council recently asked an architect to draw up preliminary plans for a 2,500-square-foot addition on the south side of the city building.
Identifying needs
However, before council decides whether to add on, or build new, members say they want to meet with a professional facilitator to help them decide whether the proposed building changes will meet the city's long-term needs.
“How do you identify what your needs are going to be in 20 years?” asked Edgewood Councilwoman Suzie Kleymeyer. “A lot of people have a lot of different ideas, and before we start spending a lot of money, we need to see what's best for Edgewood.”
City Administrator Lou Noll said that some council members support renovat ing, or adding on to the existing city building, while others favor building a new City Hall, or a combination city building/civic center.
“Our goal is to have council get together (by April) to discuss our long-range needs, and determine what we can afford to do,” Mr. Noll said. “We need to do something about our current space needs. The question is, do we remodel or build new? And if we build, what do we include in the project?”
No tax increase
If the city chooses to build, Mr. Noll said its goal would be to do so without a tax increase.
As part of the long-range planning process, Ms. Kleymeyer suggested that council include residents and officials in the discussion.
“I'm not in favor of building a new building just because other cities are,” Ms. Kleymeyer said. “We don't want to build a new building if we can make something work from the infrastructure we have.”
While council recently authorized an architect to design a possible addition, the architect has had trouble accommodating the police chief's ideas in his plan, Mr. Noll said.
City officials also want to make sure that any building improvements reflect long-term needs.
“We're out of storage space, and we're getting to the point where we need to do something very, very soon,” said Councilman Scott McKinley. “At the same time, we don't want to do something that's going to help us in two years, but not in 10 or 15 years.”
In the fire department, Chief Messmer said he eventually sees the city moving to a career department, or a schedule of 24 hours on and 48 hours off.
The change, which Chief Messmer predicted will happen in the next five to 10 years, would require sleeping quarters for firefighters.
But the fire department can't convert the basement for a dorm, as long as it's being used for recreational needs, he said.
The fire department also is trying to deal with the more immediate problem of inadequate storage space, Chief Messmer said.
“We're strictly at an idea stage right now, trying to come up with some proposals for council.”
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