Item 3: Public Hearing on City Hall Complex

Home Browse Search

ringing success if construction has begun within five years. Completion of the City Hall Complex will take some number of years depending on phasing, timing, and the success of financing efforts. C. Progress to Date The expansion or replacement of City Hall has been a major project for the council since 1999, when council was presented with the possibility of selling City Hall to the Federal government as a site for the new Federal Courthouse. In 2001, council adopted a policy statement that called for the replace- ment of City Hall with one or more new buildings by 2010. At that same time, council also adopted a policy to reduce the level of reinvestment in City Hall and the Public Works Building to provide for an expected 8 to 10 years of remaining use. On September 19, 2001, council addressed near-term and long-term projects that were required to achieve the goal of replacing City Hall. Council directed that relocation of EPD personnel from the basement of City Hall and relocation of Fire Station #1 should be the first priority projects in the Downtown Space Plan. (The 9-1-1 Center had previously been relocated from City Hall to a new nd building at the 2 and Chambers Emergency Services Complex.) The construction of a new Police Building and City Hall were the next project priorities, with design for the Police Building originally projected to begin in FY05, and a replacement of City Hall was targeted to begin design in FY08. Over the past several years, council has been setting aside funds to pay for this project. As of the FY06 budget, it is anticipated that there will be over $25 million in the Facility Reserve for this pur- pose. On July 26, 2004, council placed a $6.79 million bond measure to fund civic center elements related to a Community Safety Building on the November 2004 ballot. The measure was to fund social service agency space, police headquarters expansion space, improvements to the parks blocks, and th improvements to make 8 Avenue a “Great Civic Street.” On November 2, 2004, voters rejected ballot measure 20-88 by a margin of 60% to 40%. Since November, 2004, council has been considering initiation of a City Hall Master Plan process to develop a strategy for addressing both the Police and City Hall projects in a single vision. D. Action Plan The action plan will have three phases that will lead to adoption by council of a City Hall Complex Implementation Plan by the end of calendar year 2007. The successful adoption of the Implementa- tion Plan will be followed by a fourth phase, the design and construction of the City Hall Complex. Phase One – Policy Advisement Phase one of the action plan will begin with the selection of a consultant team through an open Re- quest for Proposals (RFQ) process. The consultant team will likely have an architectural firm in the lead role, but will need to include mechanical and electrical engineers, a landscape architect, a cost estimator, and an expert in strategic planning facilitation. The first task for the consultant team will be to review relevant background information including adopted plans, policies, committee reports and recommendations, and council action history related to City office space, Police facilities, and downtown. The consultant team will also need to meet with staff to form as complete a picture as possible of the current status of the City Hall/Police Building issue prior to meeting with council. The main task in phase one is for council to participate in a facilitated session to identify and provide direction on policy issues relevant to the City Hall/Police Building question. Council can group these policy issues according to the following three categories: 1) those issues for which council has clear L:\CMO\2005 Council Agendas\M050912\S0509123.doc