CC Minutes - 04/08/02 Work Session

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Ms. Nathanson asked about the potential of working with the Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) on joint land acquisition and development, should the utility be relocating from its site. She thought the two agencies had similar needs and questioned whether there were efficiencies to be gained from a joint development approach. Mr. Carlson said it was possible, noting that EWEB recently exercised an option to purchase a 25-acre site at 1st Avenue and Seneca Road. He believed that the Public Works master planning indicated that the department needed the entire Roosevelt site. Mr. Corey concurred. Mr. Kelly said that even if the council acted tonight, construction would be two years out. He was surprised that there was no commercial tilt-up space on the market to which staff could be temporarily moved for $100,000. He requested further exploration of the possibility. Responding to a question from Mr. Kelly, Mr. Svendsen clarified that the building was not proposed to be built at essential services level 4; it was at level 3. Ms. Taylor believed the purview of the Police Commission was policy rather than such expenditures. She determined from Mr. Svendsen that staff worked full-time in the basement. She agreed with Mr. Rayor that the proposal was premature and the council should postpone action until after the election in May 2002. Ms. Taylor said if the City Council was going to consider the use of Fire Station 1 for the functions under discussion, it would have to wait until after the election. She liked the idea of temporary facilities and liked the idea of collocation. Mayor Torrey said the council should give the staff an answer quickly. Mr. Rayor liked Scheme A, and suggested a potential phasing approach over 20 years using the layout of that scheme. He advised that the remaining schemes be discarded. Ms. Bettman was interested in establishing a cost cap for any new construction. She wanted to move all staff out the basement and use it for storage only. She suggested that the functions now in the basement be relocated to the City-owned Sears building on a temporary basis. Regarding the issue of temporary space, Mr. Svendsen said that the problem with that approach was the extremely high level of construction detail to completely separate the lab functions and stations from each other. It was not cost-effective to find generic space. Regarding the Sears building, Mr. Penwell added that staff estimated it would cost $7 million to $10 million to renovate the Sears building, and noted that staff had presented that analysis to the City Council previously. There are mechanical and electrical requirements needed for the forensics component of use, and the building would have to be gutted and rebuilt as it did not have an up-to-date functioning mechanical and electrical system. Mr. Meisner opposed the staff-suggested motion as being premature. He did not want to send the voters a fire bond if the City had money available to build the forensics facility. He liked Mr. Farr's suggestion to acquire a land bank site for single-wide trailers. He also liked the idea of temporary space as suggested by Mr. Kelly, and questioned if staff had looked into modular buildings. Mr. Meisner was not enthusiastic about the Sears building for this use. The meeting adjourned at 7:53 p.m. Respectfully submitted, MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 8, 2002 Page 10 Work Session