Manteca is now exploring a plan to address critical space needs as well as make it easier for the public to access municipal services at the current Civic Center campus.

At the same time they are preparing to relocate two city hall departments into the Hensley Building a block to the west on the corner of Center Street and Union Road. That move came after the owners of the Cherry Lane office complex that former City Manager Tim Ogden had tried to purchase for the city leased the space where the information and technology department is now located to another entity while the space where human resources/administrative services  is located is having its rent more than doubled effective July 1.

The city will lease 6,653 square feet of the two-story Hensley Building for $12,640 a month for five years. The Community Development Department as well as the Economic Development Department will be relocated to the leased space.

The city manager’s office as well as the human resources/administrative services and city clerk’s office will be moved into where the community services department is currently located. The information and technology department will take over space where the city manager’s office is now located. It will place IT services on the same campus where the city’s servers are located.

The lease being presented to the council for consideration when they meet Tuesday at 7 p.m. in a public meeting employing Zoom technology that will be streamed live via the city’s website and on Comcast Channel 97 would be the first step of a two phased endeavor.

City Manager Miranda Lutzow is working on a proposal that would take care of pressing space needs at the Civic Center while at the same time improving public access to services by creating a large one-stop lobby for interaction with the public as well as creating additional office space for city functions.

Lutzow said the endeavor is meant to take care of needs while a decision is made on a potential future city hall. That said whatever is designed and built would not preclude staying put by constructing additional space when the needs arises.

It also means needed space can be created sooner instead of later.

From a fiscal aspect, the project could be 100 percent funded from the $19.5 million in fees collected to date from growth to pay for government facilities. Covering most or all of the cost from the fees paid by growth would likely meet legal requirements for doing so given the fee has been collected since the last addition in the 1980s was made to the Civic Center that was built in 1975 at 1001 W. Center Street.

Lutzow said there are not enough funds in the account to build a city hall from scratch. Such a plan would require not just a higher fee on growth but also upwards of 60 percent of the cost to be financed by existing residents under state law.

Conceptually the plan calls for expanding the current wings housing the finance/community development departments as well as the city clerk/city manager offices southwards onto the lawn that is now in place between the parking lot and the structures.

The center of the area — roughly where the breezeway that leads to the finance department as well as breezeways connecting to other city offices —  in the new structure created would be an expansive one-stop lobby. The public would be able to access all pertinent departments such as finance, city clerk, parks and recreation and others from service areas ringing the lobby.

At the same time the police department lobby would be reconfigured and other steps taken to secure the police facility such as a solid masonry block walls to replace wrought iron fencing.

If there is a need for additional parking the city could possibly acquire a parcel directly across the Center Street under PG&E transmission towers that has limited development possibilities due to the power lines. It can be used, however, for parking.

If that were to occur the city could install a high profile crosswalk — possibly with a raised pedestrian island in the middle — to enhance safety,

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com