Item 3A: Approval of City Council Minutes

Home Browse Search

the area’s susceptibility to seismic events. The cessation of steam power was another incentive. She solicited councilors’ questions and comments. Responding to questions from Mr. Poling, Mr. Penwell said that EWEB planned to stop steam service in June 2012; the cost of converting the boilers in City Hall was about $500,000; and the cost of a full building renovation was $30 million to $50 million. Mr. Poling supported a phased approach. It demonstrated that the council was being a good steward of public funds. The proposal also helped the City meet its commitment to leased downtown space. He favored a new city hall that was attractive, economical, and efficient to use and wanted the City to consolidate as many functions as possible in the new facility. Due to the staff analysis, he did not think it would be wise to pursue the EWEB option. He believed that the EWEB site could be redeveloped into something more useful to the community. Mr. Brown also favored the existing site. He did not support the EWEB site because it was outside of downtown and difficult to access. While he liked the idea of renovating the existing building, he supported the staff recommendation. Mr. Brown asked the square footage requirements of the departments that moved out, if they could all be accommodated in the Bennett project, what departments would move back to the new building, their space requirements, and the size of the new city hall. City Manager Ruiz indicated staff would provide that information when planning commenced. Responding to a question from Mr. Brown, Mr. Poticha estimated the design studio proposals for renovating City Hall would cost $30 million to $40 million to construct. Mr. Penwell said soft costs would add an additional 35 percent. Mr. Brown determined from Ms. Hammitt that $6 million remained in the Facility Reserve, and staff proposed to return with a financing plan that identified other one-time funding sources. Mr. Brown asked about the potential of federal grants for seismic retrofitting of City Hall or construction of a new facility. Mr. Penwell said the City watched out for such opportunities. The City had received one such grant to seismically retrofit a fire station and had applied for another grant to help with the costs of retrofitting the new police headquarters. Mr. Clark thanked staff for its hard work and good analysis. He recognized he did not have adequate council support for acquisition of the EWEB site, but based on his conversations with residents and the EWEB commissioners, he believed there was more community support for the site than councilors realized. He did not think the City should give up on the option. Mr. Pryor did not think the EWEB site was a bad idea and might have been a great idea at another time. He thought the current site was simply better. He emphasized the importance of certainty that there would be a new city hall to ensure staff did not remain in temporary space forever. He also wanted to have more conversation about the vision produced by the design studio. Mr. Pryor thought that the full square block on which City Hall was now located, already owned by the City, was the most viable option. He wanted to see the best city hall that was reasonable and prudent built on the site. Ms. Ortiz appreciated Mr. Poticha’s presentation but she was not supportive of a renovated City Hall. She pointed out that things change and past approaches to office space had been discarded in favor of greener spaces that lent themselves to employee collaboration. She was excited about the possibility of a new building that allowed City employees from different services to work together. MINUTES—Eugene City Council March 16, 2011 Page 2 Work Session