MARYSVILLE — With the help of two outside consultants, local officials are planning to take another look at creation of a centralized city municipal center.

City Council was expected to approve contracts for feasibility and location studies at their July 28 meeting, the last scheduled council session for the summer.

In past discussions revolving around a municipal center, officials have studied roughly three spots.

But Marysville Community Development Director Gloria Hirashima said the administration wants the coming work to be open ended.

“What we’re going to do is kind of look broadly at the downtown,” she said.

Hirashima added that any study likely will include city owned properties downtown, but officials don’t want those properties to be the sole focus.

“They (the administration) want us to step back a lot and not get too fixated on the city properties,” she said.

City owned properties include a couple of spots near Comeford Park and the 10 acres surrounding the city’s public works buildings on Columbia Avenue just east of the SR 529 bridge over Ebey Slough.

Speaking to City Council on July 21, Chief Administrative Officer Mary Swenson emphasized what she feels is the need for the new complex and also how that complex could become part of the city’s overall plan for revamping downtown Marysville. Swenson noted local officials have been discussing the possibility of a centralized city complex for some time.

“We’re not just building this because we want to build a facility,” she said.

Currently, city departments are spread out among at least three buildings, all in different locations: City Hall and the city court on State Avenue and the public works building on Columbia. Police and fire officials are housed on Grove Street in yet a fourth building.

According to Swenson, the multiple buildings lead to duplication of services and equipment: every building needs its own fax machines, phone systems and so on. She added the cost of keeping the separate operations running only will increase as the city grows in size.

Officials also repeatedly have spoken at length about a shortage of space, especially at City Hall and in the safety headquarters.

Speaking to Council, both Swenson and Hirashima talked about how a civic complex could serve as an anchor or spur for other downtown development. Swenson in particular said choosing the right spot for the civic center is key.

“We want to make sure we get the location right,” she said.

Initial plans called for the hiring of two consulting teams, Public-Private Developer Solutions and Makers, Inc. The latter already is completing a yearlong, $275,000 study of downtown. Begun in November, the results of that work are due soon.

Judging from city documents, the two new studies are budgeted to cost no more than $120,000 in total with some results due to be in front of City Council as early as September.