Solon proposes buying local funeral home as new city hall

Solon officials are working to buy their first-ever city hall.

The city's offices are currently spread out across town, and there are no official council chambers.

“We hold our meetings at the library, at the meeting room in the library,” said City Administrator Cassandra Lippincott.

The closest thing to a city hall is the city office located on South Iowa Street. There's only enough room for two people inside.

“We are just out of space at the office here, we are just [in] very small quarters,” Lippincott said, adding that it's time to keep up with the rest of the city.

The 2010 census showed an unexpected population increase over the past decade. Now, city officials hope to purchase a unique new building.

“It's a funeral home and community center on the bottom. In some ways it is set up perfectly; in other ways it might need just a few alterations, but it's a funeral home,” Lippincott said.

The funeral home is located at 100 South Cedar Street.

It's a long-time Johnson County business called Brosh Chapel and is owned by Matt Linn.

According to Linn, a discussion with city officials prompted him to offer his building for the city's use.

"It's a funeral home and community center and with the growth of the city, we're looking to possibly relocate inside Solon and the city is looking to make it a city hall here on the upper floor and still retain the community center on the lower level,” Linn said.

The council will put the issue up for a vote on the up-coming November ballot.

Mayor Rick Jedlicka said the measure will be the first time the city has asked its residents to support a public project by paying extra on their property taxes.

A 60 percent approval rate is needed to issue a bond for the $1.35 million purchase, but it's not an easy sell.

"[You] hear positive things, hear negative things. The most important thing to get out is a lot of people think this is too big and too much money for what we need right now and we can't emphasize enough we are really looking toward the future,” Lippincott said.

There's a special city council meeting Wednesday night to put the finishing touches on the language of the question for the ballot. Members are still determining how much property owners will need to pay.

If the measure passes, Linn will move Brosh Chapel elsewhere in Solon.