Central gets funds for a City Hall building

• By JEREMY HARPER
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Aug 18, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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CENTRAL  — Six months after taking over services from East Baton Rouge Parish, Central’s private contractor is moving out of its temporary office and into a larger space.

Meanwhile, the city has landed state funds to design a separate municipal center that would replace its current City Hall, which is merely a private home on loan from a local resident.

Both developments represent major steps forward for Central, which became the parish’s fourth city in 2005 but only took over services from the parish in March.

Central opted to hire a private contractor, CH2M Hill OMI, to run nearly all of its city services. About $4.3 million, or 80 percent of the city’s budget, is dedicated to CH2M Hill.

Until Friday, the firm and its 22 employees had been operating out of a small office in a shopping center off Sullivan Road. 

CH2M Hill had planned to eventually move into a larger space in the same shopping center but instead chose a building on the corner of Hooper  and Greenwell Springs roads, said Tommy Higgs, the city’s project manager.

Higgs said the building at 22801 Greenwell Springs Road is larger and was already wired for the company’s technology equipment. 

Higgs said the new location will open  8 a.m. today.

The move does not affect the company’s contract with the city, and none of the city telephone numbers will change.

Even if Central builds a new City Hall as planned, the building probably will not house CH2M Hill, said David Barrow, the executive assistant to Mayor Mac Watts.

The state’s 2008-2009 capital outlay budget includes $50,000 for design work for a municipal services center in Central.

Rather than financing the construction itself, Barrow said the city is considering a long-term lease of a new building, with an option to purchase. The building would be built to the city’s specifications.

Central’s 2008-2009 budget already includes $120,000 in rent for a new City Hall.