Woodstock plans bulletproof glass at City Hall

Woodstock is looking to improve security for employees at City Hall.

As part of those plans, the city intends to install bulletproof glass at department doors and at the main reception area, and also to redesign the reception area for the Building and Planning department. This is the first phase of security improvements officials want to make.

“While this effort will come in several phases over the next few years, the ultimate goal is to protect our employees,” according to city documents, which say security for City Hall employees has come up in many conversations with city staff, police and City Council members in recent years.

City officials said they asked for quotes from three vendors for design and construction work, but only got pricing from Wonder Lake-based Counsel Construction. City officials said they got two proposals from the company: one was for the Building and Planning reception area redesign and the other was “for multiple renovation items and bullet-proof glass throughout the first floor of City Hall,” according to city documents.

City staff is planning to move forward with installing the bulletproof glass and remodeling the Building and Planning reception area, according to city documents.

The total price tag is $77,235, but city staff is asking for an additional $5,000 to cover any repairs that pop up as the project progresses. City officials anticipate the work will be completed by the end of February.

The City Council is expected to review the proposed contract Tuesday evening.

Paul Thomas, who is running to unseat McHenry County Board member Lou Ness in District 7, is the owner of Counsel Construction.