City Facilities In Need of Upgrades, Consultant Says A West Michigan-based consultant says more than $24 million in improvements are needed to upgrade city-owned facilities in Zeeland.
The recommendations are outlined in a study by Grand Rapids-based Tower Pinkster, which has been meeting with city officials for the past year to determine the needs of such facilities as City Hall and the Howard Miller Library and Community Center, and develop a plan to address those needs.
Assistant City Manager and Finance Director Kevin Plockmeyer went over the consultant’s recommendations with City Council during a Jan. 6 work session. The recommendations were based on a facilities audit and space use analysis by Tower Pinkster.
“They spent multiple days on site, looked at every nook and cranny of the buildings, looked at the HVAC equipment, the plumbing, the electrical, the site work, the roofs, the architectural components, and really evaluated … what is in good shape, what is in poor shape, what needs to be done and replaced,” Plockmeyer said of the facilities audit.
While he said the facilities audit was helpful, Plockmeyer said it didn’t take into consideration operational improvements that may needed at each building. So Tower Pinkster sat down with stakeholders of each of the city’s major buildings to listen to the needs and wants of each department, then put together schematic designs that could be used as a blueprint for future building modifications, he said.
Plockmeyer is quick to say that the Tower Pinkster recommendations are “very conceptual,” and that city leaders will have to decide which of the proposed improvements to prioritize and how the projects would be paid for.
“These are not set in stone. This is just a playbook to guide us into the future,” he said. “We do look forward to the conversations of how do we tackle some of the needs within our buildings.”
The Tower Pinkster report recommends more than $4.35 million in improvements to City Hall, which was last renovated in 1999. Among the recommendations is replacing the roof of the building, which has been subject to leaks in recent years.
“Ben (Kiewiet, facilities maintenance supervisor) has done a good job of patching leaks and … done a good job lately of replacing the ceiling tile, but there are leaks and we continue to fix them, but the roof needs to be done sooner as opposed to later,” Plockmeyer said.
The report also recommends that the elevator inside City Hall be replaced in the next five years. It also calls for the mayor’s office to be moved to the second level, the clerk’s office to be moved downstairs to the first level, creating a larger conference room on the first level and relocating the information technology department, now currently split between City Hall and the Howard Miller building, onto the lower level.
Tower Pinkster also recommends more than $8.2 million in improvements to the Howard Miller Library and Community Center that was built 30 years ago, including replacing the roof, updating mechanicals, reconfiguring meeting space downstairs and renovating the offices behind the checkout desk.
“It’s quite a cramped area in behind (the checkout desk),” Plockmeyer said. “The general public doesn’t really get to see it, but there’s a lot that goes on behind those doors. They just need more space.”
Also recommended are more than $4 million in improvements to the city’s public safety building and more than $6.88 million in the street maintenance garage. Recommendations for the public safety building include creating a decontamination room for firefighters to remove their turnout gear after responding to a fire, as well as locker room improvements to accommodate both male and female firefighters. Also proposed is more space for evidence storage and offices for police, according to the report.
Recommendations for the street maintenance garage include an expanded covered salt storage area, a larger indoor heated equipment storage area and a dedicated women’s locker room, the report said.
Plockmeyer said that while just about every facility in the city is at least 20 years old, Tower Pinkster was complimentary of how well the facilities have been maintained over the years.
“Our buildings are in fantastic shape considering their age, and I would like to thank the current and past facilities department employees for their work in maintaining our facilities,” Plockmeyer wrote in a memo to the council.
No action has been taken yet on the recommendations, but it’s expected that the City Councill will have discussions later this year on what projects to tackle and how to pay for them.
“We have work ahead of us, but I do feel it gives us … a guide for going forward,” Plockmeyer said.
The recommendations are outlined in a study by Grand Rapids-based Tower Pinkster, which has been meeting with city officials for the past year to determine the needs of such facilities as City Hall and the Howard Miller Library and Community Center, and develop a plan to address those needs.
Assistant City Manager and Finance Director Kevin Plockmeyer went over the consultant’s recommendations with City Council during a Jan. 6 work session. The recommendations were based on a facilities audit and space use analysis by Tower Pinkster.
“They spent multiple days on site, looked at every nook and cranny of the buildings, looked at the HVAC equipment, the plumbing, the electrical, the site work, the roofs, the architectural components, and really evaluated … what is in good shape, what is in poor shape, what needs to be done and replaced,” Plockmeyer said of the facilities audit.
While he said the facilities audit was helpful, Plockmeyer said it didn’t take into consideration operational improvements that may needed at each building. So Tower Pinkster sat down with stakeholders of each of the city’s major buildings to listen to the needs and wants of each department, then put together schematic designs that could be used as a blueprint for future building modifications, he said.
Plockmeyer is quick to say that the Tower Pinkster recommendations are “very conceptual,” and that city leaders will have to decide which of the proposed improvements to prioritize and how the projects would be paid for.
“These are not set in stone. This is just a playbook to guide us into the future,” he said. “We do look forward to the conversations of how do we tackle some of the needs within our buildings.”
The Tower Pinkster report recommends more than $4.35 million in improvements to City Hall, which was last renovated in 1999. Among the recommendations is replacing the roof of the building, which has been subject to leaks in recent years.
“Ben (Kiewiet, facilities maintenance supervisor) has done a good job of patching leaks and … done a good job lately of replacing the ceiling tile, but there are leaks and we continue to fix them, but the roof needs to be done sooner as opposed to later,” Plockmeyer said.
The report also recommends that the elevator inside City Hall be replaced in the next five years. It also calls for the mayor’s office to be moved to the second level, the clerk’s office to be moved downstairs to the first level, creating a larger conference room on the first level and relocating the information technology department, now currently split between City Hall and the Howard Miller building, onto the lower level.
Tower Pinkster also recommends more than $8.2 million in improvements to the Howard Miller Library and Community Center that was built 30 years ago, including replacing the roof, updating mechanicals, reconfiguring meeting space downstairs and renovating the offices behind the checkout desk.
“It’s quite a cramped area in behind (the checkout desk),” Plockmeyer said. “The general public doesn’t really get to see it, but there’s a lot that goes on behind those doors. They just need more space.”
Also recommended are more than $4 million in improvements to the city’s public safety building and more than $6.88 million in the street maintenance garage. Recommendations for the public safety building include creating a decontamination room for firefighters to remove their turnout gear after responding to a fire, as well as locker room improvements to accommodate both male and female firefighters. Also proposed is more space for evidence storage and offices for police, according to the report.
Recommendations for the street maintenance garage include an expanded covered salt storage area, a larger indoor heated equipment storage area and a dedicated women’s locker room, the report said.
Plockmeyer said that while just about every facility in the city is at least 20 years old, Tower Pinkster was complimentary of how well the facilities have been maintained over the years.
“Our buildings are in fantastic shape considering their age, and I would like to thank the current and past facilities department employees for their work in maintaining our facilities,” Plockmeyer wrote in a memo to the council.
No action has been taken yet on the recommendations, but it’s expected that the City Councill will have discussions later this year on what projects to tackle and how to pay for them.
“We have work ahead of us, but I do feel it gives us … a guide for going forward,” Plockmeyer said.
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