Mayor Tom Henry responded to the Allen County Commissioner’s letter sent June 29th.
The letter from the Mayor to the Commissioners is dated July 1st and has been released to the media. Â Full text of the letter is here:
To: The Honorable Linda K. Bloom, Bill Brown and Nelson Peters
1 E. Main St.
Room 200
Fort Wayne, IN 46802Dear Commissioners Bloom, Brown, and Peters:
This is to acknowledge receipt of the letter dated June 29, 2009, regarding the City of Fort Wayne’s plan to purchase and renovated 200 East Berry Street (formerly the Renaissance Square Building) for use as office space for various City Departments. We are delaying the presentation of the current proposal to the Fort Wayne Common Council to allow time to meet as suggested in your letter.
Since time is of the essence we propose meeting on July 14th at 11:00 am in the Mayor’s Conference Room to discuss your proposal. At that time, City Controller Pat Roller will also present the 200 East Berry Street proposal. This plan will show the City’s need for space for various departments, timeframes for relocating the Fort Wayne Police Department and other departments, and the positive impact on the fiscal constraints which the City must operate.
Any proposal by the County must be specific in nature and address space utilization and sharing of acquisition and renovation costs and ongoing operating expenses at the 200 East Berry and City-County buildings. We would expect that any County proposal would be able to meet or exceed benefits to the City for space utilization, timeframe for relocating the Police Department, and the fiscal parameters established in the 200 East Berry Street Plan. The City has worked hard on many occasions to develop space utilization plans with the County that would be beneficial for both organizations. We continue to be interested in discussing any plan that meets the critical space, timeframe, and fiscal parameters established in our current plan and will also meet the needs of the County.
The City remains committed to finding ways to work more effectively with the County to achieve greater operating efficiencies. Relocating City police services from its inadequate, century-old building to a downtown location is a critical part of our overall facility plan. The space remaining at One East Main Street could present possibilities for the County to consolidate operations as well. I sincerely believe that the City’s decision creates more opportunities for both local governments to better serve the public and save resources.
We look forward to presenting our current proposal for 200 East Berry Street and reviewing any specific proposals from the County. We also look forward to talking about how we can continue to work together for the good of the entire community.
Sincerely,
Tom Henry
Mayor.
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