SOUTH PORTLAND – The dozen people in attendance Monday at a City Council workshop made it clear that now is not the right time for South Portland to spend millions of dollars to upgrade its City Hall.

“We do not need a new City Hall. I have not run into one person that said we need a new City Hall,” Albert DiMillo told councilors.

He said he drives through Scarborough, looks at their Town Hall and worries South Portland, like Scarborough, will invest in a facility the community doesn’t need.

“This is the absolute wrong time to talk about a new City Hall,” he said.

At issue is whether South Portland should move City Hall, currently in a cramped building at 25 Cottage Road. The choices include buying an empty, four-story building at 100 Waterman Drive, renovating Mahoney Middle School, renovating the current facility or tearing down the existing structure to create a new, $5.9 million City Hall. While the council is far from a decision, several councilors, including Linda Boudreau, Jim Hughes and Mayor Tom Coward listed the Waterman Drive property as the most viable option in their minds, while other councilors preferred renovating the current City Hall. The other alternatives are more problematic because of cost or uncertainty.

The idea to explore a new City Hall, Coward said, came up when the city went through a strategic planning process examining the needs of the city’s infrastructure. The first priority was a new public works facility because part of it is in poor shape. The second was a new City Hall.

“I am glad you all came out tonight,” Councilor Maxine Beecher told the audience, “but I hope you also understand we have a responsibility to plan ahead and look ahead, whether we do this in five years or 10 years.”

What the council ends up deciding, Coward said, is “not a forgone conclusion.”

DiMillo told councilors it would be more prudent to focus on the renovation of the high school, which longtime teacher and South Portland resident Betsy Parsons described as in “substandard condition” for students.

Voters may have the chance to determine if the city needs a new high school if the topic comes up in a referendum in November. The current proposal is a $47.2 million renovation for the aging school, which has health, safety and space issues. The City Council has ordered an independent review of the proposal. Voters decisively rejected a $56 million renovation plan in 2007.

“I am fearful that the turmoil that is created by this is going to affect the ability to get the high school project get done,” said resident Bill Arnold. “I think there is going to be a taxpayer rebellion. It’s a hard time for a lot of people.”

Resident Greg Lewis agreed.

“This is the wrong time for the city to be doing this. It doesn’t seem to be a priority of anyone in the city except you guys,” Lewis said.

Lewis has been vocal against the city buying the Waterman Drive building, which he said has been assessed at $2.7 million, but with an asking price of as much as $4.7 million.

“I think it is a ridiculous place to put it, even if it was free,” he said, drawing attention to property’s proximity to the city’s wastewater facility.

Because there are still questions about when or if the school department would consolidate the middle schools, it cannot be determined when, or if, Mahoney Middle School would be available for municipal purposes. The school board has expressed an interest in consolidating the two schools into Memorial Middle School. Mahoney renovation is estimated to cost $4.61 million.

“The question isn’t when will Mahoney be ready, because we are not ready for a new City Hall in my opinion,” said Councilor Rosemarie DeAngelis.

She said now is the time to undergo the improvements needed at the current City Hall, not purchase or construct a new one.

However, her fantasy, she said, would be to utilize Mahoney Middle School when and if it became available by combining City Hall and the city’s library into the property and converting the athletic fields into community garden spaces.

Hughes, who presented a series of rough cost estimates for each of the four options to supplement City Manager Jim Gailey’s estimates, said he supports moving forward with discussions about a new City Hall, including the purchase of 100 Waterman Drive.

Councilor Patti Smith disagreed, saying the best option now would be to keep the existing City Hall and continue the energy savings performance contract the city has entered with Siemens, in which the company, which has an office in Scarborough, will review the building’s energy efficiency and make updates over a 10-year period.

The improvements, she said, would make the building a much healthier one and fix many of the maintenance needs.

While the energy saving performance program is going on, Smith said, it would be the time to plan for a new City Hall.

“I do think we need a City Hall that is going to function in the 21st century, just like we need a high school that is going to function in the 21st century,” she said. “We should be planning today for how we are going to afford a new City Hall and what the needs of the City Hall will be. I’d like to see a good, well-thought-out plan.”

The council, Coward said, will hold a workshop on the high school project after its regularly scheduled meeting on Aug. 2. In the meantime, the council will continue to get more data on future City Hall options and survey the public to determine what South Portland residents feel the needs are for City Hall.