SEQUIM — Newly completed remodeling work on the interior of City Hall is expected to be approved when the City Council meets tonight.

The Sequim City Council will consider accepting the work at its 6 p.m. meeting in its chambers at the Transit Center at 190 W. Cedar St.

The $38,516 contract job by Maple View Enterprises of Sequim added lunch and conference rooms to the City Hall building at 152 W. Cedar St. and gives the entrance a more open and customer friendly look and feel, said City Manager Steve Burkett.

A disabled-accessible counter was added to the remodeled service counter.

Burkett, whose office was moved from the back of the building to the front facing West Cedar Street, said the remodeling will meet the city’s immediate needs until a new City Hall is built within the next two to five years.

The city’s human resources office was moved back to City Hall from the remodeled city annex space at Sequim Village Plaza, next to the police department.

A new room is available for handling passport applications and other city-related work.

The remodeling also involved the rearrangement of walls, new paint, lighting and counter space.

The city engineer and facilities manager said the work meets all contract specifications.

Burkett said the city is expected to sign a purchase and sale agreement sometime this week for new City Hall land, a $1.25 million deal for 22,000 square feet at the corner of North Sequim Avenue and West Cedar Street.

The property is owned by Serenity House and includes commercial space for Serenity House, a hair salon and a 10-unit apartment complex for transitional housing.

The city’s purchase would in effect create public ownership of the entire block of the north side of West Cedar Street from North Second Avenue to North Sequim Avenue.

The city and Clallam Transit under an agreement share the Sequim Transit Center building where the City Council meets.

Under the agreement that has to go through escrow, the city also would lease the property to Serenity House for $1,500-a-month for three years, so long as Serenity House pays for the insurance and maintenance.

Proposed is a new City Hall and police station of about 40,000 square feet.

While the remodeling of the existing City Hall is intended to provide space for up to five years, city officials like Burkett hope to save money with a new building.

The city now rents additional space for police and the public works, planning and building departments in two different locations, costing the city about $200,000 a year that could be going into a mortgage payment, Burkett said.

“We might be able to build a new City Hall in two years but it’s uncertain until we get funding,” he said.

The city may have to go to the voters, asking them to approve a tax increase, he said.

While the city had more than enough budgeted — $2.25 million — to make the final land acquisition, estimates on total cost of the project have ranged from $12 million to $18 million.

“Ideally, we would like to build a building that meets space needs for 15 to 20 years,” Burkett said.

________

Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.