THE CURRENT Iron River City Hall at 106 W. Genesee St. City officials are considering a move to a one-story building to save money on utilities and maintenance costs. (Jim Paul/Daily News photo)

IRON RIVER — Iron River City Council is gathering public input as it considers moving City Hall.

At a meeting Wednesday, council members and City Manager Rachel Andreski stressed that a possible move is in the very early stages. A building formerly occupied by the Iron County Reporter newspaper is on the market and the city is weighing its options.

“We are holding this public hearing for your opinion, we feel it’s important and that’s why we asked you here,” Andreski said. “There have been no decisions made. I know the rumors going all over that, you know, this is a done deal, it’s not.”

Andreski said she did some comparisons and the UPPCO electric bill was $10,000 higher per year at the current City Hall than the Reporter building and the DTE natural gas bill is $7,500 more. City Hall has an elevator with a $4,300 per year maintenance contract, which would not exist at the one-story Reporter building.

All told, the city could save $30,000 a year in utilities and maintenance costs.

Andreski went on to say that not much has been done in the way of upkeep over the years to the current building. There are two boilers that need to be replaced and the two air conditioners on the rooftop were installed in the early 1990s and parts are getting scarce.

It was also noted the building is only one-third occupied. The third floor, known as The Attic, could be used for events to generate income but there is a problem with a beam and the public is not allowed to enter.

Commissioner Benjamin Garcia said the city has to carefully consider investing money into the current City Hall.

“You know when you look long-term into the future … half a million dollars into this building, what is that going to get you longevity-wise?” Garcia said. “There’s a ton of potential in this building but that would take major (effort).”

But many who attended made it clear they were against a potential move.

Mark Polley said City Hall has always been a focal point of the community and residents had opposed previous suggestions to move it.

Polley said the Reporter building has issues as well.

“That building is going to need repairs,” Polley said. “You don’t have parking. If a crowd like this came to a meeting, where would you put them?”

Others were concerned about what would happen to the old City Hall and that the city would be responsible for the expense of two buildings.

Garcia mentioned the possibility of turning it into a “brownfield” property and converting it into much-needed housing, similar to what was done with the old Central School.

Only one person in the audience said he was open to the move.

“There’s a lot of stuff that if you guys came and spent some time here, you would see that some of the repairs are substantial.” Michael Berg said.

Berg, however, added, “I just hope with the Reporter building you are not trading hospital food for airline food.”