The City’s Heritage Advisory Committee came to City Council Monday hoping to refurbish the City Hall bell that hasn’t sounded in the clock tower since the 1960s.
While no funding was given for that project, the City will at least be looking at the state of the aging bell to make sure it doesn't fall and come crashing through the building.
The City Hall bell is located in the clock tower and has not been functional for decades. Furthermore, the metal bolts that keep it in place are rusted. Accessing the bell is only done through a small, narrow entrance in the tower and therefore the state of the bell remained a mystery until the Heritage Advisory Committee realized that the bolts -- which are the same age, but of a different metal than the bell itself -- were badly rusted.
The Heritage Advisory Committee had requested that they transfer $10,000 from their reserve fund to get the clapper on the bell operational.
“We are prepared to pay for the refurbishment of the bell, but we would like to have the City look into the replacement of the bolts themselves,” said Scott Hellings, chair of the Heritage Advisory Committee.
Once the matter was brought to the attention of council, City Manager Jim Puffalt agreed with council that it was a health and safety issue and an obligation of the City to ensure the bell was structurally sound. The possible safety issue was unanimously referred to the Parks & Rec. department and it was recommended that the City get an expert to investigate the state of the bolts.
The Heritage Advisory Committee had sought out a quote to determine the cost of getting the bell operational and expected the reserve fund would cover it.
“Initially the committee was prepared to pay for all of this using the Heritage reserve fund," Hellings said. "I know that fund was initially set up for the Natatorium, but unfortunately we don’t have a plan for the Natatorium right now and those funds realistically wouldn’t go very far anyway.”
Coun. Dawn Luhning was opposed to re-allocating the $10,000 from the reserve fund from Natatorium to the bell.
“Even though we don’t have plans for the Natatorium now, that was ear-marked for that project and now, for whatever reason, it’s been recommended by this committee that it be given to the restoration of this bell. I have some concerns with moving the money around,” Luhning said.
The motion to allocate the funds for the bell didn’t get a seconder and died on the floor.
