Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray said Tuesday night that the time is not right to expand City Hall, but this is the right time to plan for expansion.
On Tuesday, Gray completed the purchase of the former city treasury building, behind City Hall, along Marion Street.
The city drew from capital bond funds to buy the building for $259,000, including closing costs, Gray reported at City Council's twice-monthly meeting.
The city took the property through eminent domain, but Gray said the taking — from the owners of the adjacent Marion Court Room restaurant — was amicable throughout the process.
The city has no immediate plans for the property and may even lease it back to the Marion Court Room, the mayor said.
Preliminary plans call for a City Hall annex to be built on the site. That annex would be connected to the existing city office building and allow the city government to consolidate its operations.
Gray said such a move would increase efficiency and save the cost of putting an elevator in the 118-year-old City Hall.
The city's intent to acquire the site was announced nearly a year ago, but the process actually began three years earlier. In 2006, a committee appointed by Gray shortly after he took office began studying the city government's space needs.
A committee study found it would cost $4.1 million to install an elevator in the old building to comply with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and to bring it up to the city's own building code requirements.
That still would not have alleviated the crowded conditions in City Hall.
The city unsuccessfully negotiated for the purchase of another building and even considered constructing a new building, at an estimated cost of $11 million.
Instead, the plan to build an annex to the existing City Hall is expected to cost $8 million.
The city has about $5 million available in capital improvement funds from a 2007 bond sale. Gray has sought additional state and federal grants but has been unsuccessful.
Now is not the time to push ahead, he said.
"It just isn't the right time to do it. But it is the right time to make plans for the future," Gray said.
"Two mayors from now may do it," he added.
Gray emphasized that the capital funds used for the property purchase must be used for long-term investments. That money cannot be used for city operating expenses, such as employee salaries and benefits.
Also on Tuesday,
• Council members had the first reading of a bill which would shift the licensing of peddlers and vendors from the city Economic Development & Neighborhood Revitalization Department to the city police. The move would allow police to do background checks on peddlers. A vote is expected at council's next meeting on March 30.
• Council members also had their first reading of a bill to establish a Public Art Advisory Board. The seven-member board would be charged with advising the city regarding artworks to be displayed in public areas. A vote is also expected March 30.
• Council members passed a resolution recognizing March as Women's History Month.
• Gray announced that the city and Thomas Committa Associates were honored recently by the American Association of Landscape Architects for the city's Urban Park, Recreation and Open Space Plan. The comprehensive park plan, prepared by the consultant, is intended to guide park improvements into the future.
• Gray also announced that Cristina Vivo began working as the city's Human Resources chief this week. Vivo was formerly personnel director for the City of Casselberry, Fla. The city's top Human Resources post had been vacant since June 2009.