The city will be establishing an advisory committee comprised of staff and public members to explore the feasibility of building a new city hall.

Ceres resident Dave Pratt said while the is overdue for a new City Hall, questions how the city would pay for an expensive construction project.

“Let’s talk about where you’re looking at getting the money for this project,” Pratt told the council last week.

Councilman James Casey answered Pratt by saying: “Absolutely we can’t start anything unless we have concrete financial arrangements that’s not going to put a burden on the citizens of Ceres any larger than they already have. That’s why the committee’s going to be formed. It’s an idea that’s been talked about.”

The exploratory committee would be charged with identifying sources of grants and other funding.

Casey suggested appointing Vice Mayor Bret Silveira as a “very prudent and a wise committee chairman.”

Citizen John Warren said Silveira would do a great job exploring issues like funding and building location and volunteered to be a public member of the committee.

Silveira took credit for bringing up the idea of a new City Hall 10 to 12 months ago “because like any new idea and new plan it has to start somewhere.

“I don’t spend as much time at City Hall as some people probably do but I know that our employees deserve better.”

Silveira suggested that he and City Manager Doug Dunford begin doing some research and “figure out how this committee would look and get a pretty clear vision on what our intentions would be. Obviously if we don’t have money, we’re not going to use city money to build anything.”

Councilwoman Rosalinda Vierra said an exploratory committee is a good starting point while acknowledging “I don’t know if we have what it takes to move it forward.”

The details of the committee makeup and mission will be brought back to the council for discussion as early as July.

The current City Hall building is at least 50 years old. As the city has grown in population and in size of staff, operations have expanded into available spaces. The city moved some staff into the former Florence Gondring Library – which was built in 1974 next to City Hall – once library operations moved into the nearby former post office building. The former City Council Chambers was converted to use as the Finance Department and utility bill payment counter after the Ceres Community Center opened in 2009.