CCMinutes - 11/22/04 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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Avenue and 8th Street Avenue inside the downtown area. Ms. Solomon arrived at 5:40 p.m. B. WORK SESSION: Community Safety Building Next Steps City Manager Taylor introduced the item and stated that his primary recommendation to the council would be to take action that would move the process forward; the most logical next step would be to make funds that had been set aside available to the larger project of replacing City Hall and addressing the need for a new police facility. He also recommended going forward with a master plan to provide clarity. He asked Assistant City Manager Jim Carlson to review the recommendations and options before the council. Mr. Carlson observed that the downtown space planning effort and replacement of City Hall had been a topic high on the council's priority list since prior to 2000. He said that concerns about the seismic vulnerability of City Hall had resulted in relocation of the most vulnerable public safety services, including the 911 Call Center and dispatch for fire and police, to a new facility at 2nd Avenue and Chambers Street, financed through internal funds. He said a successful bond measure in 2002 supported construction of a new fire station at 13th Avenue and Willamette Street and internal resources were used for a new facility for property control and forensic evidence units on Garfield Street. The next steps in the downtown space plan were to move remaining police functions from City Hall into a new facility and build a new City Hall to consolidate all of the City's downtown functions, which were currently distributed among several locations. He noted that the ballot measure to add features to a police building that the City already had the resources to build had been defeated in the November 2004 election. Mr. Carlson reviewed the financing plan to pay for a new police facility entirely with internal resources and noted that two, new one-time resources were available: the Qwest back payment of the two percent Telecommunications Tax and the Qwest deferred payment for franchise fees. He referred to a memorandum from legal counsel that addressed the status of the litigation that resulted in the one-time payments. He said that moving the Telecommunications Tax and right-of-way fees into the Facility Reserve would result in $23.3 million by the end of the year and $28.3 million by the end of fiscal year (FY) 2008, which was the amount required to build the basic police facility. He said that other resources available for the next phase of the civic center plan, replacement of City Hall, included ongoing allocation of approximately $1 million annually from facility charges, sale of assets in the downtown area, and opportunities to identify other one- time resources such as allocation of marginal beginning working capital. Addressing the issue of locating a police station on 8th Avenue, Mr. Carlson said that staff believed that policing was a civic function, represented the largest use of General Fund money in the City, and was already located on 8th Avenue along with the Lane County Sheriff and all of the courts. He advocated for two separate buildings for police and City Hall because of the different seismic standards applicable to public safety functions, which also precluded using the existing City Hall for a police facility. Referring to the issue of replacement versus remodeling of City Hall, he said that based on previous actions by the council, a conscious choice was made to not make major investments in the current building. He said that once the new fire station was completed and those functions moved from City Hall, the vacated space in the basement would not be used for other employees because of its seismic vulnerability. He concluded by reviewing the options set forth in the agenda information summary. Mayor Torrey called for council comments and questions. MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 22, 2004 Page 2 Work Session