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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05.24.04 Work Session Council Workshop Minutes City Hall Facility Transportation Issues May 24, 2004 Mayor Ristow called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The meeting then recessed until the HRA Meeting was completed. Present: Absent: Also Present: Ristow, Cordes, Fitch, Fogarty, Soderberg None David Urbia, City Administrator; Kevin Carroll, Community Development Director; Cynthia Muller, Executive Assistant Mike Cox and John McNamara, Wold Architects The meeting reconvened at 7:32 p.m. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Cordes to approve the agenda. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. City Hall Facilitv Mr. Cox presented options for the Council Room and blending conference rooms with the Council Room. The first option was for 1800 sq. ft. which would have 84-person seating and the second option was for 2400 sq. ft. which would have 128-person seating. Both options showed the presenter in the middle or off to the side and showed conference rooms with glass walls to allow a view into the Council Room. Drapes could be used for privacy. Councilmember Cordes preferred the 128- person seating. Sitting in a smaller room, such as the conference rooms in option 1, you do not feel part of the meeting. Councilmember Soderberg also liked the 128-person seating. He noticed the diagram showed a 7-person Council. Mr. Cox stated they were thinking of other Commission meetings. The adjacent Conference Rooms are 300 sq. ft. and could be used by Council to meet with residents. Councilmember Fogarty agreed with the 128-person seating. She would like the presenter to be off to the side to make it more inviting. In the middle, the presenter has their back to the audience. Regarding the 7-person Council table she suggested raising the middle 5 seats and have the seats on each end lower. The end seats could be used by the City Administrator and the City Attorney. Mayor Ristow liked the 128-person seating, but he did not like having staff mixed with Council at the Council table. As the city grows, the Conference Rooms could be removed to enlarge the Council Room. Mr. Cox agreed, however Conference Rooms are needed. Councilmember Fitch also liked the 128-person seating. Council reached a consensus on the second option. Council Workshop Minutes May 24, 2004 Page 2 Council discussed having the video screen behind them and having individual monitors and the location of TV monitors. Mr. Cox stated a decision could be made later in the process. Mr. Cox then showed a diagram of the entire City Hall so Council could see how the Council Room will fit in. Wold has interviewed each department and received their input. The number of staff required was projected to 2020. The building would be 36,000 sq. ft. which includes a future space of 1500 sq. ft. and 2500 sq. ft. to lease out. The remainder would be divided up between departments. Conference Rooms will be in each department which could become office space. Mayor Ristow suggested from past experience, labeling the lease space as storage. The site diagram showed a 2-story building with nothing above the Council Room. The Council room becomes taller than normal office space. The area provides for 54 stalls of parking on the west side and 10 stalls on 3rd Street. During the day there are 5 people visiting at one time, so that was doubled. After that there would be staff parking. There are growth areas with surrounding lots. The diagram showed a round-about at the intersection of 3rd and Spruce. Entries to the building are from the east and the west. The design would carry through with the streetscape idea. Councilmember Fogarty thought the round-about was fabulous and it brings great character. The Council Room ceiling height would be 12-14 ft. There would be a walkway through the building from front to back and a lobby with an open space to the second floor. Departments on the first floor would be reception, Community Development and Engineering. Community Development and Engineering would be next to each other. There would also be storage on the first floor. They are currently studying the water table to see if a basement would be possible. The second floor would be Parks and Recreation, Human Resources, Finance and Administration. There would be ways staff can move from floor to floor without going into public areas. There would be a service area, like a garage stall to hold equipment. Mayor Ristow asked if Administration should be on the first floor. Council felt Administration has the least amount of traffic and the City Administrator could come down to the first floor conference rooms. Community Development has the most traffic. Councilmember Cordes felt Parks and Recreation should not be on the second floor. The service area, equipment needs, hauling things in and out, Parks and Recreation does more of that than Engineering. Any storage for Engineering should be at the Maintenance Facility. Mr. Cox stated once they showed a diagram of everything they would like to do, you end up with no parking because everyone is on the first floor. Something has to give. There was considerable interest in keeping Community Development and Engineering together because of their interaction. Councilmember Fogarty asked about removing the lease space which could be done. Councilmember Soderberg noticed there is a basement under a small portion, if there is going to be a basement, it should be under the whole building and it could be used for parking. Mr. Cox stated that would require ventilation. A basement does cost money. Having the lease space on the first floor could depend on what it will be used for. Ifused for a liquor store, it should be on the first floor. Ifused as office space, it could be on the second floor. Councilmember Fitch asked about security. Mr. Cox stated security suggests a single entry to be used as a check point. The entry could then be along Spruce Street. Councilmember Fitch would like to control who gets back into the departments. Councilmember Cordes stated Rosemount has service windows Council Workshop Minutes May 24, 2004 Page 3 for the departments. Councilmember Fitch felt it was fine to have access to the corridors, but not to the departments. There could also be a security button at the reception desk. Mr. Cox then discussed the budget. He presented costs only for the construction. It does not reflect the financing and how it affects the taxpayers. That information will be part of the CIP presentation on June 9. The costs are based on $ 160/sq. ft. for a building similar in nature to the Police Facility. Total construction cost is $5.7 million. Total project costs are $1.87 million for a grand total of$7.6 million. To reduce this amount would be the sale of the existing City Hall. Councilmember Fogarty asked about the demolition at 3rd and Spruce and ifthere was hazardous waste. There was a small amount of asbestos, but not extensive. Mayor Ristow did not think the Blaha building could be demolished for $35,000. Wold will firm up that cost. This does not include any soil clean-up. The budget includes a contingency of$575,000. That should cover any geotechnical items. Phone systems and cubicles would fall under equipment and furniture. TransDortation Issues Community Development Director Carroll stated staff had a meeting with Shelly Johnson, Traffic Engineer to discuss the Thoroughfare Plan. An area east of Akin Road, south of 195th Street, north of 208th Street, and west of the railroad tracks contains no transportation routes. As the MUSA process moves forward, development in this area is being considered to help out with the completion of 195th Street or 208th Street. That will be complicated if the Thoroughfare Plan does not identify some major north-south and east-west routes in the area. The Traffic Engineer recommended staff proceed as quickly as possible to update the Thoroughfare Plan in this area. Staff wanted to advise Council that work is in progress on this. Some property owners along Akin Road have an easement containing a road on property owned by Mr. Murphy. The owners are considering splitting up their lots for developing. Staff has recommended they proceed cautiously and to wait until the Thoroughfare Plan update is done. One ofthe east-west connections might come along those properties. The owners are willing to wait for awhile. 203rd Street is the only major road between Akin and Pilot Knob to go straight across. This issue will go the Planning Commission for their comments and to Council the 2nd meeting in June or 1 st meeting in July. Once this area is developed, based on the volumes of traffic predicted, there could be three connections to Akin Road to handle the traffic. Council agreed 208th Street needs to go through. Staffwill need to review the railroad crossing. MOTION by Cordes, second by Soderberg to adjourn at 8:42 p.m. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, ~~~~ ?-r7~kf~ Cynthia Muller Executive Assistant