The council began considering a new city hall in 2001, but some residents and council members have persistently questioned the location and the expense.
The building committee's proposal would answer those reservations with two ad hoc committees: one would evaluate possible city hall sites and the other would look at the city's building needs over the next 15 years and the best way to pay for them. The committees would include two council members and seven to 10 residents, and their meetings would be public.
Council members who support forming new committees -- who include councilmen Ed Selich, Don Webb and Dick Nichols -- said Thursday that taking another look at city hall sites will help build vital community support that's been lacking.
In the last four years, other sites have been suggested, but there was never a comprehensive analysis on paper. That's an important step, said Selich, who was appointed to the council in June.
"If someone says to me, why did you build a new city hall on the existing site, I can say, well, I looked at all these options, and I decided it was the best way to go," he said.
Whether a site study would change anything is questionable, however. Nichols seems to be the only council member with strong objections to the peninsula site, and Councilmen Steve Rosansky and Tod Ridgeway favor building the $48-million project as proposed.
"I'm prepared to move forward with the project because nothing's getting any cheaper and I think that we have demonstrated a need for a city hall, and I don't know that any of these questions will be resolved to anyone's satisfaction 100%," Rosansky said. "At some point I think you've got to be a leader and make a decision."
