Laserfiche WebLink
Jonah Cohen of Thomas Hacker Architects stated that the purpose of the work session was to provide <br />information requested by the council on several issues and that information was provided as attachments to <br />the Agenda Item Summary. He hoped the council would take action on three key questions: <br /> <br />? <br /> project site, <br />? <br /> approach to consolidation options, and <br />? <br /> council direction for completion of the remaining work for implementation and planning phase of the <br />City Hall complex. <br /> <br />Mr. Cohen said the consultants agreed with using the currently City Hall site for the project and master <br />planning that site would allow it to accommodate full consolidation, either wholly or incrementally. He said <br />that would provide an appropriately sized site area that would maximize future flexibility and was located <br />adjacent to other governmental entities. <br /> <br />Ms. Ortiz, seconded by Mr. Pryor, moved to direct the City Manager to use the ex- <br />isting City Hall site for the planning and design of City Hall. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman asked if the option to build and occupy a patrol facility first prior to the move would occur <br />before or after the ballot measure. Mr. Cohen said the assumption was after the ballot measure, but that <br />would be the council's decision. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman said she assumed an incremental approach would mean a smaller bond measure to build a non- <br />consolidated space and would require a second bond measure, which she felt spelled the failure of bond <br />measures and would result in moving forward with only a police station and that had been staff’s preference <br />all along. She pointed out that the public preference was for a City-owned site and not necessarily the <br />current City Hall site. She asked if the County commissioners had taken a position regarding sale of the <br />butterfly lot. Mr. Penwell replied that staff and consultants had met with the County's facilities subcommit- <br />tee, which indicated it was open to proposals. He said that staff had conducted due diligence but would not <br />present a formal proposal unless the council decided to continue pursuing that site. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman asked if calculations of additional costs for relocation were based on an incremental approach. <br />Mr. Cohen said the master plan process being proposed was intended to provide the council with more <br />information to answer many of the questions being raised. He said there were many consolidation options <br />and the council did not have to choose one at this time. He said the council could decide among options once <br />the master planning process had provided details. He said that the other sites had been evaluating using the <br />criteria developed with input from the council and the public and the recommendation for the current City <br />Hall site was based on those criteria. He said an incremental approach was not reflected in estimates of <br />moving and relocation costs and the intent of master planning was to identify with more certainty those <br />costs. He said the math had to be based on a real scenario. <br /> <br />Mr. Penwell said that there was a clear preference for keeping the police patrol facility and City Hall as a <br />consolidated project. <br /> <br />Mr. Pryor remarked that he had always preferred the current City Hall site as the most reasonable and direct <br />approach with a site that met the criteria and maximized options for consolidation. He said many sites had <br />been evaluated and it was time to make a decision. He felt the recommendation was thoughtful, considered <br />and based on experience and facts. He had not heard any councilors indicate a preference for moving <br />forward with only a police station and he did not think a bond measure would fail on the basis of some <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 11, 2007 Page 5 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />