Polo City Council OKs landscaping contract for new city, township hall

POLO – Polo city staff aren’t quite ready to move into the new city hall building just yet, even as the finishing touches are put on the property.

Polo City Council members on Tuesday voted 4-0-1 to hire Next Landscaping LLC of Polo for $8,785 to landscape in front of the new city hall and around the flagpoles. Alderman Tommy Bardell abstained, and Alderman Keith Chesnut was absent.

“He said he can start it next week,” Mayor Doug Knapp said.

The new city hall is a joint municipal building shared with Buffalo Township. Both municipalities contributed to the cost of the $1.93 million building, which is located at 118 N. Franklin Ave., about two blocks north of the current city and township halls.

Construction on the new municipal building, which is 4,800 square feet, began in March.

They still are waiting on interior doors to be delivered, City Clerk Sydney Bartelt said Wednesday. Until they are delivered, they don’t have a move-in date set, she said.

“Even if we don’t get moved in … we can probably try to be on track to move the council room so the first meeting in October can be in the new city hall,” Bartelt said. “But actual city business, the day-to-day operations, that might be late October.”

The landscaping work will include the installation of weed barrier fabric, black mulch and a total of 53 plants, all of which will be back filled with compost. The plants include dwarf box woods, hydrangeas, black-eyed Susans, fountain grasses, lavender, Karen azaleas, dianthus, emerald arboviteas, Russian sage, gold mop cypress and impatiens.

Work near the city/township hall costs $4,700, and work around the flagpoles is $4,085, according to the estimate from Next Landscaping LLC.

“It just seems very pricey to me, and I wish we had another local company to get a quote from, but I don’t think we have one,” Alderman Joey Kochsmeier said, adding that he wasn’t at all against the expenditure.

Alderman Larry Weaver noted that the plants are “very expensive.”

“The other thing you’ve got to consider, too, is, if you put grass in there, somebody’s got to take care of that,” Polo Public Works Director Kendall Kyker said. “And you’re going to be pushing time from other people. If what he puts in is grassless, that’s worth it to me.”