Butterfield moves forward on city hall construction

March 27, 2019
Vinnie Roberts
During last year’s midterm election, the voters of Butterfield passed legislation called Proposition 1. The proposition allowed Butterfield’s city council to take an existing bond agreement, created to allow for repairs to the city’s sewer system, and extend it for several years to allow for the construction of the city’s first ever city hall building.
The city currently conducts all city business out of the Butterfield Community Building, a structure in the center of town next to the Butterfield park. This building was constructed with charitable donations from surrounding towns to act as Butterfield’s public meeting area, as well as a space the community can use for private events. The building is owned by the Butterfield Community Building Foundation, operated by Eddy Ulmer.
Butterfield’s city council, public works departments, city clerk and police department all currently operate out of the same office in the Butterfield Community Building. City court and city council are held in the public meeting area of the building, and the city pays rent to the Community Building Foundation on a yearly basis for use of the facility.
However, the city made the move to transfer to their own facility for a variety of reasons. Chief among these reasons is the state of disrepair of the community building.
“The building committee has been good to us,” said Darrell Mathis, Butterfield west ward alderman. “The rent there is very fair, but the building does need a new roof. We don’t own the building, so we don’t need to drop $10,000 on it.”
“They were generous enough to let us use it for years without any interference, but the building is in much need of repairs now,” added west ward alderman Donnie Privett.
According to Butterfield officials, the extensive damage on the roof is a continuous sticking point for the council.
“There were some problems with the roof leaking,” said Butterfield mayor Tony Cope. “Under the ceiling tiles, we could see the mold. We might have been able to fix it, but we couldn’t see spending that much money right now.”
City officials in Butterfield stated many plans for changing things at the current city hall have been discussed and debated before, but due to complications involving the Building Committee, those plans were scrapped.
“We had been talking about it for a couple of years before,” said Mathis. “The main thing is the city wants its own building that it has ownership of. That way if something needs to be done to it, it can be done without having to ask and propose a bunch of things.”
“We tried to put in an offer to buy the community building a few years back, but they wouldn’t sell it,” added mayor Cope.
The council and mayor are excited about the new project and listed a multitude of benefits that it will have for the city.
“When it comes in to wanting to put money in to expanding the offices, essentially the city would be using taxpayer money to put in to a building that they don’t own,” said Privett. “I’m not in favor of that. I think that taxpayer money should be used for construction on buildings within city limits that belong to the city.
“When the loan is paid off, this will be the city’s. If they want to build on to it, they don’t have to ask permission. They can use the city’s money because it’s their building.”
“We will have storage for our police cars and our city truck,” said Mathis. “This is centralized. Everything can be stored here. It’s also a good location.”
Butterfield’s new city hall will have all of the features of the old one, with more space for city officials to work. The building will feature separate offices for the city clerk and Public Works Director, as well as a work station for the Chief of Police. It will feature a public meeting area for the council to meet in, as well as for the city to conduct municipal court. The structure will also feature an indoor parking area for the city’s police car and public works truck.
According to alderman Mathis, whose construction company, Mathis Construction, is in charge the building process, the new city hall is coming along on schedule. The foundation for the building has been laid, with the boundaries set, preliminary plumbing laid, and concrete being poured on the foundation within the week. Butterfield’s new city hall is set to officially open sometime this summer, depending on construction time.
Vinnie Roberts
During last year’s midterm election, the voters of Butterfield passed legislation called Proposition 1. The proposition allowed Butterfield’s city council to take an existing bond agreement, created to allow for repairs to the city’s sewer system, and extend it for several years to allow for the construction of the city’s first ever city hall building.
The city currently conducts all city business out of the Butterfield Community Building, a structure in the center of town next to the Butterfield park. This building was constructed with charitable donations from surrounding towns to act as Butterfield’s public meeting area, as well as a space the community can use for private events. The building is owned by the Butterfield Community Building Foundation, operated by Eddy Ulmer.
Butterfield’s city council, public works departments, city clerk and police department all currently operate out of the same office in the Butterfield Community Building. City court and city council are held in the public meeting area of the building, and the city pays rent to the Community Building Foundation on a yearly basis for use of the facility.
However, the city made the move to transfer to their own facility for a variety of reasons. Chief among these reasons is the state of disrepair of the community building.
“The building committee has been good to us,” said Darrell Mathis, Butterfield west ward alderman. “The rent there is very fair, but the building does need a new roof. We don’t own the building, so we don’t need to drop $10,000 on it.”
“They were generous enough to let us use it for years without any interference, but the building is in much need of repairs now,” added west ward alderman Donnie Privett.
According to Butterfield officials, the extensive damage on the roof is a continuous sticking point for the council.
“There were some problems with the roof leaking,” said Butterfield mayor Tony Cope. “Under the ceiling tiles, we could see the mold. We might have been able to fix it, but we couldn’t see spending that much money right now.”
City officials in Butterfield stated many plans for changing things at the current city hall have been discussed and debated before, but due to complications involving the Building Committee, those plans were scrapped.
“We had been talking about it for a couple of years before,” said Mathis. “The main thing is the city wants its own building that it has ownership of. That way if something needs to be done to it, it can be done without having to ask and propose a bunch of things.”
“We tried to put in an offer to buy the community building a few years back, but they wouldn’t sell it,” added mayor Cope.
The council and mayor are excited about the new project and listed a multitude of benefits that it will have for the city.
“When it comes in to wanting to put money in to expanding the offices, essentially the city would be using taxpayer money to put in to a building that they don’t own,” said Privett. “I’m not in favor of that. I think that taxpayer money should be used for construction on buildings within city limits that belong to the city.
“When the loan is paid off, this will be the city’s. If they want to build on to it, they don’t have to ask permission. They can use the city’s money because it’s their building.”
“We will have storage for our police cars and our city truck,” said Mathis. “This is centralized. Everything can be stored here. It’s also a good location.”
Butterfield’s new city hall will have all of the features of the old one, with more space for city officials to work. The building will feature separate offices for the city clerk and Public Works Director, as well as a work station for the Chief of Police. It will feature a public meeting area for the council to meet in, as well as for the city to conduct municipal court. The structure will also feature an indoor parking area for the city’s police car and public works truck.
According to alderman Mathis, whose construction company, Mathis Construction, is in charge the building process, the new city hall is coming along on schedule. The foundation for the building has been laid, with the boundaries set, preliminary plumbing laid, and concrete being poured on the foundation within the week. Butterfield’s new city hall is set to officially open sometime this summer, depending on construction time.