The City of Rockdale has received an offer to purchase the 125-year-old former City Hall.
Meeting “electronically” Monday in regular session, the council decided to call for a Request For Proposals to sell or lease the iconic building, vacant since last year.
Council members also discussed possible ways to use over $300,000 due in grant money to battle the COVID-19 virus and left in place their lenient policy on water bills and cutoffs during the pandemic.
CITY HALL—City Manager Barbara Holly said an anonymous person has approached the city and offered $100,000 to lease or purchase the building and city-owned vacant lot behind it.
“They said the plan would be to restore the building to its former glory,” Holly said.
The Victorian Era structure, which underwent a radical renovation in the 1930’s once had turrets, spires, a central bell tower and a second story room which once served as Rockdale’s largest meeting place and even a gym for high school basketball contests.
The structure once housed the Rockdale Volunteer Fire Department and was the home of the police department until a new police headquarters was completed on the opposite end of downtown in 2019.
As the vacancy of what is unquestionably the town’s most historic structure neared, an organization, Save The Old City Hall (STOCH) was begun in 2018. In August of that year, Austin attorney Chris Hildreth appeared before the council and said an anonymous donor had pledged $1-million toward restoring the building to it 1890s appearance.
Only stipulation was that $1-million be raised locally in support of the project.
“As far as I know that offer is no longer on the table and this one replaces it,” Holly said.
GRANT—The council discussed ideas to use $312,675 in CARES grant funds for COVID-19 relief.
Holly said she had recently attended a meeting in Rockdale with health care providers to discuss the situation.
“To a person, none of those health care providers support urgent care in Rockdale with these funds because of an inability to staff or fund long-term such an effort,” she said.
Milam County is using CARES funds to renovate a former hospital building for use as an urgent care facility in Cameron.
Holly said the providers instead requested fast-response testing, deep cleaning reimbursement and any assistance the Rockdale ISD needs for distance learning.
WATER—Council members did not take any action on revising a March decision in the first weeks of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Rockdale will continue to suspend, temporarily, utility billing late fees/service fees and utility disconnections.
In other business Monday, the council decided to use the Texas Water Development Board instead of the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, as it continues to seek funding for its ongoing water system upgrades.
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