CC Minutes - 06/22/11 Work Session

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Mayor Piercy reminded the public that the City had moved public safety services out of City Hall because of the higher seismic standards that existed for those uses. The City had relocated its first responders to sites that would survive in an emergency and allow them to continue to serve the community. Mayor Piercy suggested renovating City Hall would be costly because the building was not energy efficient and its design was inadequate for the current use. In addition, it would cost quite a bit to preserve the structure's architectural features. Ms. Taylor said she had been concerned for many years that the City was not maintaining City Hall. She believed it would be a beautiful building if it was renovated, an action she supported. She asked why staff proposed to arrange for space for existing City Hall occupants to move to before the council decided what to do about City Hall. She suggested the council should have a plan in place and a timeline for action before anything was done in that regard. Mr. Penwell reminded Ms. Taylor that the driver for such decisions had been and continued to be the Eugene Water & Electric Board's (EWEB) decision to cease steam heat downtown. The City was at the point where it had to move out because it would not be able to renovate the building in time to meet EWEB's deadlines. He anticipated the City would have a plan in place by the time staff moved out in spring 2012. Ms. Taylor was glad to see staff was considering both renovation and new construction. While she generally supported citizen advisory committees she expressed a desire for a more diverse committee that included equal representation from those who favored new construction and those who favored renovation. She anticipated such an effort would give the council a more balanced picture of the issues. She wanted to know who staff was considering for membership before it formed the committee. In response to Ms. Taylor's comments, Ms. Hammitt anticipated the committee would include people who were knowledgeable about such projects and site development rather than advocates for a particular point of view. Ms. Taylor believed the committee should reflect the differences of opinion about what to do with the building. She also believed the committee should include people familiar with Eugene city government and the history of the building. Mayor Piercy asked if the advisory committee was expected to advise staff on the issue of renovation versus new construction. Mr. Penwell said staff was not necessarily looking for consensus on the topic from the committee but was seeking a wide range of opinions. He anticipated the committee would provide staff with a range of perspectives to help uncover the issues related to both approaches. Mayor Piercy suggested that staff focus the committee on the programmatic elements of the issue as opposed to renovation or new construction, and that it be clear about the committee's mission to avoid the perception that a decision had already been made. Mr. Zelenka anticipated the cost of renovating of City Hall would be substantial. The building was not energy - efficient, it needed a new HVAC system, and it was seismically vulnerable. He supported construction of a new city hall. Mr. Zelenka suggested the potential that the City could work with a private developer to construct a new city hall using a lease with an option to buy approach. Ms. Hammitt said she had explored that alternative. She suggested that cities adopted such strategies when they lacked funding, but the City did have some money. She interpreted Mr. Zelenka's remarks as implying it would be more optimal to complete City Hall at one time rather than in phases, and said staff could explore that approach before returning to the council in the fall with more information. Mr. Zelenka pointed out $10 million could not purchase much in terms of new building but it might be able to leverage construction. He wanted to see MINUTES— Eugene City Council June 22, 2011 Page 2 Work Session