City of Dexter Investigating Space in Dexter Crossings for Temporary Offices/Meeting Space

Dexter Councilmember Zach Michels proposed a solution for the City’s cramped offices and public meeting room to the City Council at its Sept. 28, 2020, meeting.

Anticipating the time when Covid restrictions are completely removed and public meetings are back on, Councilmember Michels highlighted the problem the City could be facing in regards to a meeting space.

“As we all know, city offices have been tight for quite some time,” said Councilmember Michels to the Council. “With the rosiest of timelines no matter which option we go to, it's going to be another three to four years for land entitlement and financing and all the mobilization and finishing work. That's quite a long time, especially when you realize that of December 31 of this year, we completely lose the ability to use the senior center for elections or meeting spaces.”

The City Council has been using the Senior Center for elections and evening events. With The Encore Musical Theatre’s purchase of the property, the building will be utilized by the entertainment company in the evenings for workshops, rehearsals, and classes. An agreement with The Encore is not yet completely off the table yet with the theatre indicating they would be open to discussing continued use of the space for city meetings.

Under the purchase agreement, area seniors will continue to use the space during the day for several more years.

Solutions for new space, overshadowed by efforts to upgrade Dexter’s fire station, have included renovating the current fire station at 8140 Main St. into city offices. Another plan involves city offices as a part of the 3045 Broad St. development.

While no firm decisions have been made by the City Council in regards for new offices, space is needed now. Michels idea is to solve two problems, office space and meeting space, in one move.

“In less than a year, the City will not have a dedicated space to hold any of its public meetings,” Michels said in his written report to the Council. “There will be no space for City Council, no space for Planning Commission, no space for Zoning Board of Appeals, no space for Arts, Culture, and Heritage, no space for Parks and Recreation.”

Michels proposal was for the City to investigate 7069 Ann Arbor Rd. in Dexter Crossings, the available space next to Jensen’s Community Pharmacy. He reported that the space is approximately 3,409 square feet, around 1,500 square feet larger than the current office space. Michels sees this as a chance to expand city offices and still have enough area for a dedicated meeting space. Any such move would be temporary until new offices are constructed. And while the Council has repeatedly expressed a desire to keep offices downtown, the location in Dexter Crossings would have a substantial savings not to mention it is readily available.

The motion was made and passed to direct City Manager Nicholls to contact Dexter Crossings owner, Oxford Properties, to gather initial information on the space. Nicholls was also directed by the motion to request a proposal from Partners in Architecture on the build-out.

The City Council hopes to have the information at its next meeting on Oct. 12, 2020.