The City Council have approved a plan to buy an office building in the Crown Square in Mervue and eventually redevelop the current City Hall site for social housing https://galwaybayfm.ie/galway-bay-fm-news-desk/councillors-approve-loan-to-move-city-hall-to-crown-square-in-mervue/
Its going to be odd that the County Council have a very central building but that the City Council will now move to the outskirts.
As usual now its been agreed, some of the Councillors seem to be rolling back their support https://connachttribune.ie/no-procurement-process-for-galway-city-council-move-to-crown-square/
You were corrected a few posts above after your last daft statement so not sure why you feel the need to repost almost the exact same comment.
Council bought at top of market as well you cant give offices away at moment arse has fell out of that market
I think the move is a shambles and very shady but expecting employees to be consulted on an office move within the same city is very public service.
Some staff are apparently unhappy about the move
“In meetings, the Council are saying one thing, but the reality is, staff are not happy with the move. They’re asking why there wasn’t consultation with staff before they bought the building,” he said.
“Staff don’t want to move from a prime city centre location. That’s the feedback I’m getting. They’re consulting now with staff, but there was no consultation before they bought it.
A quarter? Not much available though currently to buy. Probably have overpaid, but I say it will be more in the 10-20% bracket.
they would have bought it for a quarter of the price in current market...
"Brian Barrett, Director of Services, confirmed that he hoped staff will have transferred to the new offices before Christmas 2024. "
Wonder what state the Commercial Office Market will be in 2024; it aint looking great for Dublin currently, presume Galway City will follow.
Design for the fit out about to begin
Perhaps - but the €€€ are significant that I cannot see it falling by the wayside + the City Council can be hit over the head for next decade or two with the "buying the extra car parking for ourselves" for any new major development in the City.
There credibility is on the floor.
It needs to be kept on top of as well although I don't think the majority of the general public are exercised enough by it so may not keep in the news.
Maybe they have a barter account of some sort too for Fiip Flops but yes seems very odd they planned to rent then all of sudden decided to spend 50 odd million Id imagine with way office space prices has gone in the last year its worth way less than half that price now...
Fair play to the Tribune for keeping on it
Dara keeping with this one, fair play.
They do use various community centres and Leisureland, but appears no accountability exists
Ridiculous. Surely there are other public buildings that could be used rather than renting hotels, or do they not have the same selection of refreshments.
All that expense on audio visual equipment yet they can't bring themselves to click the setting to make the zoom call a public webinar.
1985 was when the foundation stone was laid, and it opened in 1991
According to the article, it's still Covid: the air con isn't good enough so the staff don't feel safe.
So why can't the building be made safe, by fixing the aircon?
Can anyone find a link to when the current City Hall was built? It's definitely a lot longer than 15 years old. I'd be surprised if it's only 30 years.
Asbestos? City Hall is <30 years old Excuses given for hiring hotels was because of space, then Covid and now space
Let me guess: there's asbestos in structure around the air-con in city hall, so making it better will cost a fortune. That's the real driver behind moving anywhere.
NB this is a total GUESS on my part. I don't know the building. But it matches what I've see in other similar places.
Nuts!
" the average cost per meeting in 2022 was €3,550 "
Was it though ever feasible that City Council would be moving in 2023, it really looks like to me that City Executive wanted to push through the purchase before CEO McGraths exit and now there is some "delay". I know the public sector are far slower on these matters than private but the idea that a complete City Hall move could occur within time span proposed is laughable.
There'll be new councillors by then (hopefully!)
Delayed by at least a year.
https://connachttribune.ie/city-hall-move-to-crown-square-is-a-year-behind-schedule/
Odd alright, or else some Cllr's knew and kept stum. I don't know what exactly the point Cllr Declan McDonnell was trying to make in the Newspaper section that was covering that story?
Management were planning this for over a year but gave councillors only a few days notice before a rushed vote.
Stinks, this story is going to keep rolling. Fair play to Dara Bradley for keeping a spotlight on it.
I dunno informal chat to me would be that they met without planning in the hall or something. I think the fact that they seem to have been scheduled means that they're meetings.
As someone who has taken minutes, it would be extremely difficult to take minutes and be a participant in the conversation which would mean that there would need to be a staff member to sit in on all of the Chief Executives meetings most of which I imagine aren't that remarkable.
I do agree as someone said upthread that this Crown Square deal will be a Primetime Investigates one day
If there are only two people, is it really a meeting vs an informal chat?
Well in fairness minutes are never released right after the meeting as they have to be approved at a later meeting. This is normal with minuted meetings (govt depts, NGO's, sport clubs etc etc etc)
Though you have a point, there should always be minutes regardless of the meeting
In the interests of transparency, these meetings should be minuted. But, in reality, minutes barely exist even for formal monthly Council meetings, never mind informal meetings. They invariably get released months after the fact and are woefully vague.
Would minutes generally exist for small meetings with Councillors like this?
Poly were taken over by HP recently.
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