MONROE - On Aug. 15, 2016, Monroe city staff picked up their previously packed necessities, moved out of City Hall and into a variety of municipal buildings throughout town.
Meant to be gone for six weeks, the municipal employees are still scattered, accommodating the inconvenience by traveling more and accessing files by digging through storage trailers parked behind the building.
City Clerk Carol Stamm crammed numerous folders and supplies into a four- by six-foot space and a small desktop at the westside fire station, sharing a small room with Deputy Clerk Nicole Cummings.
"The fire department has been very accommodating to us; they're wonderful," Stamm said. "It's been difficult, but we're getting by. Fortunately, a lot of our files are electronic. I mostly feel badly for the public. A lot of the time they aren't sure where to go."
City Administrator Phil Rath took over an office in the fire station slightly smaller than his corner space at City Hall. Parks and Recreation employees were sent to the Street Department. Recreation Director Marge Klinzing said she sits in the conference room doing work at a table meant to accommodate roughly eight people.
Engineering workers were moved to the wastewater treatment plant. City Comptroller Bridget Schuchart accompanied them. In fact, Schuchart left a day early, moving everything to her corner cubicle at the plant in order to be organized when she returned from a brief vacation. On Thursday, she brought the workers who share her space some donuts as a celebration of the year that had passed since she moved in.
"The challenge has been that I've been using one two-drawer file cabinet," Schuchart said. "It is a struggle, and we're working through it the best we can, but we're ready for a resolution. We're ready to move back."
Engineers occupy the conference room space, filling it with plan documents and bright yellow vests. Schuchart, who often has confidential materials to discuss, shares a large room with the water administrative assistant, the streets administrative assistant and the wastewater administrative assistant. There is no door and the space separating Schuchart's desk from the other work areas is a cubicle wall that stops a few feet below the ceiling.
Schuchart said the relocation involves more traveling than before. She will visit different offices throughout town to discuss topics with department heads or go out to her car to make phone calls.
The change has been challenging for those who work closely with Schuchart: Stephanie Bachim, treasurer, and Karla Fritsch, deputy treasurer and comptroller. Bachim and Fritsch both work at the Monroe Police Department across town from the westside wastewater plant, tucked among dispatchers at a small desk. They remain connected to the city's computer system. Fritsch is utilizing a small office usually reserved for meetings.
"It's been a rollercoaster for me," Bachim said. "I always have high expectations, and they kept saying we were going to go back, and then I was like, 'we're not going back.' I just miss my space. I miss my window."
Despite the separation and the inconvenience of having less space, the workers have formed a bond that would not have otherwise happened without the project extending more than 10 months past expectations. Monroe Police Chief Fred Kelley noted that Bachim and Fritsch are cooperative people who settled in after initial weeks.
"It's probably more of a burden on Karla and Steph than it is on our staff," Kelley said. "If we've got to have people here, both of them have really great personalities. It's just like having other friends that come and stay over for the year."
He added that some of the workings of City Hallitself, such as council and committee meetings that now take place in the westside fire station, are more inconvenient than the presence of additional workers. City Hall remains closed to the public until legal disputes between the city and the group hired to complete the work, KPH Environmental and Construction of Milwaukee, can be settled. However, Monroe Common Council noted in July they hope to move everyone back in as soon as possible.
Meant to be gone for six weeks, the municipal employees are still scattered, accommodating the inconvenience by traveling more and accessing files by digging through storage trailers parked behind the building.
City Clerk Carol Stamm crammed numerous folders and supplies into a four- by six-foot space and a small desktop at the westside fire station, sharing a small room with Deputy Clerk Nicole Cummings.
"The fire department has been very accommodating to us; they're wonderful," Stamm said. "It's been difficult, but we're getting by. Fortunately, a lot of our files are electronic. I mostly feel badly for the public. A lot of the time they aren't sure where to go."
City Administrator Phil Rath took over an office in the fire station slightly smaller than his corner space at City Hall. Parks and Recreation employees were sent to the Street Department. Recreation Director Marge Klinzing said she sits in the conference room doing work at a table meant to accommodate roughly eight people.
Engineering workers were moved to the wastewater treatment plant. City Comptroller Bridget Schuchart accompanied them. In fact, Schuchart left a day early, moving everything to her corner cubicle at the plant in order to be organized when she returned from a brief vacation. On Thursday, she brought the workers who share her space some donuts as a celebration of the year that had passed since she moved in.
"The challenge has been that I've been using one two-drawer file cabinet," Schuchart said. "It is a struggle, and we're working through it the best we can, but we're ready for a resolution. We're ready to move back."
Engineers occupy the conference room space, filling it with plan documents and bright yellow vests. Schuchart, who often has confidential materials to discuss, shares a large room with the water administrative assistant, the streets administrative assistant and the wastewater administrative assistant. There is no door and the space separating Schuchart's desk from the other work areas is a cubicle wall that stops a few feet below the ceiling.
Schuchart said the relocation involves more traveling than before. She will visit different offices throughout town to discuss topics with department heads or go out to her car to make phone calls.
The change has been challenging for those who work closely with Schuchart: Stephanie Bachim, treasurer, and Karla Fritsch, deputy treasurer and comptroller. Bachim and Fritsch both work at the Monroe Police Department across town from the westside wastewater plant, tucked among dispatchers at a small desk. They remain connected to the city's computer system. Fritsch is utilizing a small office usually reserved for meetings.
"It's been a rollercoaster for me," Bachim said. "I always have high expectations, and they kept saying we were going to go back, and then I was like, 'we're not going back.' I just miss my space. I miss my window."
Despite the separation and the inconvenience of having less space, the workers have formed a bond that would not have otherwise happened without the project extending more than 10 months past expectations. Monroe Police Chief Fred Kelley noted that Bachim and Fritsch are cooperative people who settled in after initial weeks.
"It's probably more of a burden on Karla and Steph than it is on our staff," Kelley said. "If we've got to have people here, both of them have really great personalities. It's just like having other friends that come and stay over for the year."
He added that some of the workings of City Hallitself, such as council and committee meetings that now take place in the westside fire station, are more inconvenient than the presence of additional workers. City Hall remains closed to the public until legal disputes between the city and the group hired to complete the work, KPH Environmental and Construction of Milwaukee, can be settled. However, Monroe Common Council noted in July they hope to move everyone back in as soon as possible.