At City Council’s direction, considerable work has been done to assess project goals and needs, and to revisit existing space needs and site analyses. Here is a recap of the work that has been completed to date, as well as a snapshot of what the community can expect in the coming months.
On December 11, 2018, staff shared an update on the project with City Council, which included changes to the project team, a financial forecast overview, and a discussion of project options. Ultimately, the City Council requested that staff perform a deeper analysis on project options for some version of a Public Safety and City Hall Facilities project and return with these options for review. Council formed an Ad Hoc Committee consisting of Vice Mayor Scott Sedgley and Councilmember Mary Luros to work directly with staff, and also directed staff to prioritize communication with the community and City employees.
On March 5, 2019, staff returned to City Council to review project goals set forth by the City Council when the original project request for proposals was issued in 2017. Council carefully reviewed and affirmed each goal, added two additional goals - which were to increase communication and community involvement and develop a project that is within the City’s financial capacity to support - and unanimously committed to moving forward with finding solutions for updating public safety and City Hall facilities.
With the City Council’s direction in mind, and with a commitment to take a measured approach, the project team will:
• Assess the condition of current facilities that are in need of repair or upgrades and lack current technology, then determine the best way to address these issues
• Engage the community and staff in the project planning process
• Consider community needs when it comes to accessing City services
• Address staff needs for delivering accessible and efficient service to the community every day and especially during emergencies
• Evaluate the City’s current financial forecast to better understand what options will be affordable and how best to balance the costs associated with either maintaining or upgrading current facilities, and/or building new facilities
• Analyze potentially feasible project sites for the proposed project, within a geographical boundary approved by Council
On May 30, 2019, the community was invited to the first in a new series of workshops to gather additional feedback and input on the Public Safety and City Hall Facilities Project. In this first workshop, the community was asked to share how they currently access and utilize City services, as well as how they would like to see services offered in the future. This information helped us establish a baseline for customer service and work flow.
At the July 23, 2019 City Council meeting, the Council directed staff to further research two different site areas for potential project locations.
On September 17, 2019, the Project Delivery Team presented their additional analysis, findings and recommendations on these two sites to the City Council. The presentation included an in-depth breakdown of the criteria used to research each site, such as flood considerations, estimated site preparation costs, estimated swing space impacts, and more.
Direction was given from the City Council to move forward with preparing project alternatives for Site Area A with costs, pros and cons and other key considerations, to be brought back to the City Council once again in late fall. Staff also continued to look at all options, from current baseline conditions to renovating/expanding to all new facilities. This ongoing analysis, which included the facility condition inspections that began in early fall, was used as the guiding design framework for any improvements and investment in future facilities.
At the November 19, 2019 City Council meeting, Council reviewed potential site alternatives and financing options for the proposed campus and gave direction to staff on next steps.
On Tuesday, January 21st, 2019, City Council will review staff recommendations on project alternatives and financial plans and recommend next steps for the project.