Instead Of Building A New City Shop, Pierz Votes To Purchase Existing Facility | Community

Instead of building a new city shop, the Pierz City Council instead voted to purchase the BH Auto building in the Pierz Industrial Park, owned by Chris Hoheisel. Photo by Terry Lehrke

The Pierz City Council voted Monday, to take a new direction in the replacement of its city shop.

During a storm May 12, the Pierz city shop was basically destroyed. It was where the city’s heavy equipment and other Public Works supplies were kept, on the north end of town off of Highway 25.

Costs to rebuild the shop were estimated in the $750,000 range. The city expects to receive $200,000 in insurance, maybe more, but certainly $200,000.

However, business owner Chris Hoheisel, who owns BH Auto with a shop on a lot in Industrial Park, was planning to sell his building. He agreed to sell his building to the city for $450,000.

Hoheisel’s shop is a 60-by-80-foot building, or 4,800 square feet, built in 2013. It is heated, has an office, bathroom, large break/storage room. A large equipment heated bay is about 45-by-80-feet or 3,600 square foot.

The city’s prior shop was 5,400 square feet, made up of the 40-by-70 foot shop; a large equipment heated bay was approximately 40-by-60 feet. It also had a cold/warm storage area about 28-by-70-feet for 1,960 square feet and the Lions shed, of which the city used half, that measured 14-by-40 feet for 640 square feet.

City Administrator Bob Otremba told the City Council at its July 18 workshop, that the bids received contained just part of what the city wanted for the city shop. One bid, that came in at $459,000, did not include water and sewer.

Public Works Supervisor Eric Gaffke noted a bid for $750,000 for a steel frame building was still missing items the city wanted.

Mayor Dave Fischer noted during the workshop that state money is no longer available.

“The bottom line, when you’re building something, we’re looking at the low end of $750,000,” Fischer said.

Fischer told the Council during the workshop that he had toured the BH Auto shop and felt it would work for the city.

Hoheisel will also be leaving two hoists, which Fischer noted will come in handy for city staff. However, Otremba said the city really only needed one and would probably sell the other, which would just take up space.

Some advantages Fischer pointed out during the workshop included that it was right across from the Rich Prairie Sewer and Water District building and if the city and RPSWD ever got to the point of sharing equipment, it would be close.

In addition, Fischer noted it would be easier for city staff driving the large equipment to turn out of the building onto the road, since it wasn’t right off Highway 25. Industrial Park has a nice turn-around lane, he said.

Monday night, the Council voted to enter into a purchase agreement with Hoheisel to purchase his building. The city will pay $200,000 down, $50,000 of which is earnest money. That $50,000 will come from the general fund.

The city will finance the remaining $250,000 with the seller on a contract for deed, paid over the next five years at 5% interest.

“We talked about paying that off earlier, but the owner did not want that stipulation,” Fischer said.

The deal will close Oct. 14, 2022.

The per month payment over the next five years is $4,717.81, starting in January 2023.

“I guess, based on our discussion at the workshop, it feels like it’s gonna fit our needs,” said Clerk Kyle Bednar. “The bids that came back for building new were pretty high, and this feels like it it’s kind of a turn-key.”

Council Member Lynn Egan agreed.

Fischer pointed out that the city’s building inspector had inspected the building and pointed out a couple of things, but Hoheisel agreed to address those.

The vote from the Council to purchase the building was unanimous, in the absence of Council Member Don Bujalski.

In other business Monday, the Pierz City Council:

• Approved a building permit for Tim and Bridget Corbett for a temporary placement of an 8-by-20-foot pod along their garage on Cassie Circle until Aug. 9

• Voted to increase solid waste fees by 50 cents, from $6 to $6,50 per month, effective Aug. 1, upon the request of Pierz Sanitation. Pierz Sanitation made the request to offset the increasing price of fuel. The Council intends to review the contract with Pierz Sanitation at the end of the year;

• Approved three exempt permits for Holy Trinity School including the March 26, 2023 carnival; its calendar raffle, Dec. 21, 2022; and its steak and wine event, Oct. 8, 2022;

• Approved the list of election judges and increased the rate of pay for judges from $12.50 per hour to $15 per hour, and for the head judge from $15 to $20 per hour. It was noted Mary Korf was willing to be the head election judge, as she has done in the past. Otremba also noted that additional judges were needed. Interested resident can inquire at City Hall;

• Noted the filing period for council seats is Aug. 2 – 16. Up for re-election are Mayor Dave Fischer, Council members Lynn Egan and Don Bujalski, and treasurer Linda Sczublewski;

• Learned from City Administrator Bob Otremba that the street work on Edward Street from First to Karst is nearly completed;

• Learned from Otremba that the job of doing locates to acquire electrical customers on the south side of Park Avenue is finished;

• Learned Otremba has been tackling an inventory of transformers for the city;

• Heard an update on the golf course expansion from Fischer, who said about half of the tees have been roughed in, and that rough shaping of the fairways was going to begin. Measuring greens for drainage piping will begin soon, with other drain piping to begin this fall. He said the project was pretty much on schedule, and maybe a little bit ahead;

• Responded to Jim Gerwing’s question about the well down by the golf course by saying that it was determined that one well was sufficient and another well was not needed, but the size of the pond near that well was going to be increased. In addition, new pumps are coming, with the pump house being totally rebuilt for the newer, bigger pumps.

The next regular meeting of the Pierz City Council is Monday, Aug. 8, at 7 p.m.

Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.

Your comment has been submitted.

There was a problem reporting this.

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.

Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.

Error! There was an error processing your request.