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Mayor Tom Henry has declared the possibility of city and county governments’ sharing space dead.
Henry announced Thursday that Fort Wayne government is moving out of the City-County Building and that renovations will begin immediately at the new city hall commonly known as Renaissance Square.
The mayor’s decree came swiftly after the Allen County Council refused to provide enough funding to renovate portions of both buildings. The work is needed to move city police and sheriff’s officers into the City-County Building and relocate administrative offices into Renaissance Square, 200 E. Berry St.
Henry said he did everything he could to ensure that the city and county could continue sharing space. But the County Council didn’t provide the resources to make it happen.
“We didn’t have any choice,” Henry said.
The County Council unanimously voted to provide no more than the $3 million already set aside to provide a new home for sheriff’s officers either in a newly constructed building, Renaissance Square or the City-County Building. An extra $4.5 million was needed for the county to share both buildings with the city, according to design estimates.
County Council members complained that they weren’t consulted sooner and that the city should not have bought such a large building if it only needed a new home for the city police department. The County Council has blocked previous attempts to build or relocate the sheriff’s headquarters in a bid to force the sheriff to share space with Fort Wayne police.
No county commissioner spoke during the discussion even though the commissioners had worked with Henry’s staff to keep the two governments housed in the same building.
County Commissioner Bill Brown didn’t expect the County Council to provide the additional money regardless of what the commissioners said. He also was not surprised by the mayor’s decision to move out.
Moving forward, the commissioners want to know specifically which offices the city will vacate and when. The county needs to determine how it will fill the City-County Building, which could include space for sheriff’s staff, Brown said.
It’s too late to turn back, he said.
Henry plans to move all city offices except for dispatch into Renaissance Square, although he is willing to discuss with the commissioners whether room could be found for the sheriff, he said.
He plans to renovate space for the police department first, with officers moving in as soon as possible. All city staff should be relocated within a year, Henry said.
Consolidating city departments like fire, police and neighborhood code will save taxpayers dollars. And instead of paying rent to the county, in 20 years the city will own the building, the mayor said.
He emphasized that the police department, City Utilities and public works all need more space than the City-County Building can provide. And he will not back away from buying the empty Berry Street office building, Henry said.
The Fort Wayne City Council previously agreed to borrow $17.3 million to buy and renovate Renaissance Square.
The county will need to spend an estimated $2.5 million to renovate the City-County Building plus moving and furniture costs to make room for county staff that will fill space left by the city, Brown said.
In June, Henry announced his plan to create a new city hall in Renaissance Square. The county commissioners quickly asked him to consider a joint move.
At risk was the $1.2 million in annual rent the city pays for maintenance and security. The commissioners also worried that if the city left, it would unravel efforts to locate offices like human resources and purchasing on the same floor and put future collaboration at risk.
Henry had told the county he wanted to know by Thanksgiving how the two buildings would be used. But the commissioners needed the County Council’s approval to pay for the plan.
The commissioners along with County Councilwoman Paula Hughes, R-2nd, lobbied hard to gain the council’s support, Hughes said.
Hughes had asked the council to provide up to $4.5 million to keep various development and permitting departments in the same building.
Revenue from the sale of one of the county’s many downtown office buildings would help pay for her proposed compromise.
But the council rejected the options on the table. Hughes voted for the $3 million offer, believing it was a step forward and that something could still be worked out, she said.
Instead, it was a missed opportunity, Henry said.
“I’m sorry that it came to this.”
