HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-17-2001sp AUBURN CITY COUNCIL
SPECIAL MEETING
PUBLIC SAFETY FACILITIES STUDY
MAY 17, 2001
Minutes
I. INTRODUCTION
Mayor Charles Booth called the special meeting of the Auburn City Council to
order at 4:40 PM in the Council Work Area located in the Mayors Office on the
first floor of Auburn City Hall, 25 West Main Street, Auburn, WA, 98001. Mayor
Booth and the following Councilmembers were present: Rich Wagner, Trish
Borden, Fred Poe, Sue Singer, Pete Lewis and Stacey Brothers.
Councilmember Jeanne Barber arrived at 4:55 PM. Staff members present
included: Planning and Community Development Director Paul Krauss, Principal
Planner David Osaki, Assistant Fire Chief Russ Vandver, Police Chief Jim Kelly,
Jail Manager David O'Dea, Commander Willard Lathrep, Acting Finance Director
Shelley Coleman, and City Clerk Danielle Daskam. Members of the press in
attendance included Mike Archbold of the South County Joumal and Robert
Whale of the Aubum Reporter.
Mayor Booth and Planning and Community Development Director Paul Krauss
explained that the purpose of the meeting is to bring the Council up to date on
the work of the City's consultant (DLR Group with Michael Hildt & Associates)
which facilitated a .study for a public safety building.
Mr. Krauss introduced the consultants, Michael Hildt of Michael Hildt &
Associates and Bill Buursma and Mel Blackstone of DLR Group.
II. PRESENTATION
A. Purpose and Overview.
Mr. Hildt presented the Council with copies of the slide presentation. The
purpose of the meeting is to bring the entire Council up to date on the
progress of the study, identify issues, and begin the process of receiving
Council direction on the size of the project and its financing.
The public safety facilities project consists of a 90,000 square foot public
safety building consisting of a 196-bed municipal jail, a 23,000 square foot
police department, an emergency operations center (shared with a
training room), fire administration, shared support and vehicle sallyyard.
The project includes retrofitting the existing municipal court/police building
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May 17, 2001
Page 2
to accommodate the court, city prosecutor, and probation office. Across
the street from the proposed public safety building (where Mel's Lumber
exists), a parking structure is proposed which would accommodate 340
parking stalls and an indoor firing range.
Mr. Hildt briefly reviewed the five phases of the study. The first is the
planning base comprised of meetings with departments, space standards,
target population, jail bed projection, a preliminary architectural program,
and Committee direction. The next phase, the architectural program,
consists of space needs, adjacencies, space sharing, cost-benefit
analysis, and Committee direction. The third phase is the siting
alternatives phase including development of viable alternatives,
performance of comparative analysis, and Committee direction. The
fourth phase is the financial alternatives phase including development of
viable alternatives and comparative analysis. The final phase consists of
the final report.
B. Major Committee Directions
The Public Safety Facilities Planning Committee comprised of Mayor
Booth, Councilmembers Poe and Wagner, and key staff members
provided the consultant with direction throughout the process. Some of
the major Committee directions included:
1. Changing the planning horizon from 2015 to 2010
2. Adopting lower population projections
3. Plan with King County average incarceration rate of 1.7 per 1,000 for
future population growth rather than Auburn's recent incarceration rate
of 2.5 per 1,000
4. Limit future staffing projections to current staff to population ratios
5. Locate police evidence and property room with the Police Department
6. Locate police workout room in public safety building
7. Locate fire administration and city prosecutor in public safety building
8. Locate firing range in the project rather than retaining current outdoor
range
9. Do not include fire station in the project
10. Design the jail for future expansion
11. Develop a public safety building on the existing police/court site
12. Preserve the "tavern block" site for future commercial use
13. Develop parking garage on Mel's Lumber site
14. Remodel existing police/court building for courts and court-related
functions
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May 17, 2001
Page 3
15. Re-use existing office furnishings wherever possible
C. Parking Garage
Mr. Mel Blackstone presented information on the proposed parking
garage. The parking garage is intended to provide parking to meet the
current parking deficiency (100), additional spaces to accommodate
growth to the year 2010 (125) and spaces for those displaced by the new
public safety building (145) for a total of 370 parking spaces. Pedestrian
stairways and elevators would be located at the corners of the structure.
The first floor of the parking garage would include secured parking for
police.
D. Jail Bed and Staff Projections
Mr. Hildt reviewed the historic and projected jail population for the years
1996 through 2015. Mr. Hildt focused on the planning horizon of the year
2010 where the average daily population is projected at 146. The
average peak population is projected at 174. Using a vacancy
classification adjustment of 1.13, the actual projected capacity is 196 jail
beds. In response to questions from Council, Jail Manager O'Dea
reported that the City currently has 140 inmates; 48 are housed in the
City's jail and the remaining inmates are incarcerated in other jails.
Mr. Hildt reviewed the proposed staffing schedule for the jail. The current
ratio will go from one staff member per four inmates to one staff member
per five inmates because of the efficiencies of the facility.
E. Site Layout/Urban Design
Mr. Buursma presented a site layout identified as Option "B" 'which
includes a parking garage with firing range on the Mel's Lumber site. The
parking garage would be designed with a ramp in the middle with two-way
traffic. The court facility would be integrated into the public safety
complex. The facility would include a public space and a lobby to serve
the courts, fire, and the police department. The ground level includes the
courts, police front office and administrative, jail support, and a sallyport
and a contained area for moving offenders.
The second floor of the public safety building would include the police
department. The third floor of the building includes the jail. The jail
portion is designed with double stacked housing pods each with its own
security container and an indirect staff position. The layout enables
reduced staff during the swing and graveyard shifts. Some of the pods
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May 17, 2001
Page 4
would be dormitory style while others would be single cells. Some pods
would be used for higher security inmates. The third floor also includes
an inmate recreation court and jail support and administration areas.
Skylights would be utilized for the day rooms and housing pods rather
than windows. The cells would receive borrowed light, which is an
accepted practice according to the national standards.
Site layout identified as Option "C" rearranges the vehicular sallyport to
access both the police area and the jail. The layout also allows additional
police parking on the public safety facility site. The parking garage would
remain unchanged. The second and third floors of the public safety
building remain the same as Option B. There is additional area over the
sallyport for future expansion of the jail.
F. Project Cost Estimate
Mr. Blackstone presented information on the construction of the public
safety building and the parking garage. The estimated construction costs
were obtained from an independent cost estimator who developed the
costs based on drawings and program information. The structures will be
constructed using pilings rather than conventional footings based on
geotechnical analysis. Because the facilities will be constructed in the
downtown area and due to the size of the facilities and multi-story
construction, there are additional costs associated with elevators and exit
stairs. The public safety building construction costs are approximately
$15 million. The retro~tting of the existing court/police building is
estimated to be $1.7 million. The existing court/police building will remain
operational during the construction 'phase, which also increases the cost
of construction.
Mr. Blackstone explained that construction costs are only part of the
project. On a public project, it can be assumed that soft costs will range
from 35% to 60% of the construction costs. Site acquisition costs for the
public safety building alone is estimated at $518,000. Financing costs are
estimated at 1-1/2% of the project costs. Environmental costs are
estimated at $40,000 for removal of underground storage tanks.
Architectural and engineering costs are based on the state fee schedule
and are calculated at $1,356,000. Loose furnishings are estimated at
$650,000. Sales tax is calculated at $1,485,000. Project costs include a
two-year inflation factor of 3.5% per year and an owner's contingency of
10% of the total. Other project costs relate to surveying and soils
engineering, advertisement, printing and reimbursable expenses, permit
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May 17, 2001
Page 5
costs, construction testing, clerk of the works, and cost estimates. The
total project cost for the public safety building is estimated at $25 million.
Mr. Blackstone presented projects costs associated with the parking
garage and firing range. The indoor firing range project costs are
estimated at $850,000. Site acquisition for the parking structure is
estimated at $850,000. Financing costs are estimated at $109,946 and
architectural and engineering costs are $358,000. Environmental costs
are estimated to be $75,000. Construction costs are estimated at
$4,362,618 plus sales tax, a two year inflation factor and owner's
contingency. Other project costs relate to surveying and soils
engineering, advertisement, printing and reimbursable expenses, permit
costs, construction testing, clerk of the works, cost estimates, and loose
furnishings. The total project cost for the parking garage is estimated at
$7.5 million.
G. Financing Alternatives
Mr. Hildt provided alternative analysis and financing alternatives for the
Council's information. He projected that by the year 2010 the City would
realize a savings of approximately $1 million by constructing a new jail
compared to doing nothing. A savings of approximately $16 million would
be realized over the full life cycle of the facility.
Financing alternatives include bond issues, lease-purchase agreements,
and a certificate of participation (COP). Proposed bond issues could be
either non-voted or voted. Non-voted bond issues include limited general
obligation bonds and councilmanic bonds. Voted bond issues include
several different scenarios including 30 and 20 year level debt service, a
9-year levy lid lift, and a 20 year level tax rate. The City currently has
approximately $50 million in non-voted debt capacity and $87 million for
voted bonds.
A 30-year level debt service bond issue would cost the taxpayer $0.56 per
$1,000 and would decline over time because of an increasing total
assessed tax base. A 20-year level tax rate would cost the taxpayer
$0.57 per $1,000. Mr. Hildt presented a table containing a tax impact
analysis of the gross property increase for the bonds, assuming a $32.3
million bond issue for a 30-year level debt service at an interest rate of
5.75%. The table included an analysis of the next tax increase by income
tax bracket after the income tax deduction. For example, the gross
property tax increase on a $150,000 property would be $83.37; assuming
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May 17,2001
Page 6
a 28% ~deralincometax bmcketthe net pmpertytaxincrease would be
$60.02.
Mr. Hildt briefly explained the workings of a lease-purchase agreement
and its advantages and disadvantages. A lease-purchase agreement
does not require voter approval, the investor assumes construction risks,
and the City has less project administration and management costs.
Some of the disadvantages of a lease-purchase arrangement include
burdensome lease payments that may require an increase in property
taxes or bonds and it still counts as debt. Mr. Hildt briefly discussed
certificates of participation. He did not recommend a lease-purchase
agreement or a COP for the public safety building project.
Mr. Hildt presented incarceration rate scenarios for the jail and their
related annual cost savings. Scenario A assumes an incarceration rate of
2.5 per 1,000 population for existing Auburn population and 1.73 per
1,000 for population growth beyond year 2000. The average annual cost
savings for Scenario A is $932,642. Scenario B assumes no action and
the existing jail continues and there is no cost savings. Scenario C
assumes that by 2010 the actual incarceration rates are 15% lower than
the projections. The average annual costs savings for Scenario C is
$1,532,936. Scenario D assumes that the projected incarceration rates
are low and the actual incarceration rate by 2010 is 15% higher. The
average annual cost savings for Scenario D is $207,835.
Mr. Hildt proposed additional cost management alternatives to reduce the
amount of a proposed bond issue. For the jail, the alternatives include
purchasing the required site property with City funds, retaining the
evidence-property function in City Hall, retaining the existing workout
room in the City Hall basement, seeking an alternative location for fire
administration and City Prosecutor, and funding a portion of soft costs
with City funds or councilmanic bonds or a general obligation bond issue
supported by a portion of jail savings. For the parking garage/firing range,
the alternatives include purchasing required property with City funds,
funding the firing range as a separate future project, and funding a portion
with City funds or a general obligation bond issue supported by a portion
of jail savings.
III. DISCUSSION
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May 17, 2001
Page 7
There was discussion regarding the status of the existing outdoor police
firing range and the advantages of an outdoor range versus an indoor
range. As development has occurred on the west hill, the existing range
has become closer to homes and noise and safety are a concern.
Councilmember Wagner also proposed making the new firing range
available to the public and other law enforcement jurisdictions to help fund
the cost of the facility. Planning and Community Development Director
Krauss proposed charging employees for the use of the parking garage.
Mr. Krauss also proposed placing the land acquisition and construction of
a third fire station on the bond issue proposal.
In response to questions from Councilmembers for information on
communities that have successfully marketed a proposed public safety
bond issue, Mr. Blackstone and Mr. Buursma stated that their firm offers a
guide for a successful voted bond issue campaign. The cities of Mount
Vernon and Issaquah recently passed bond issues for public safety
facilities.
There was discussion regarding the amount of reserves that could be
used towards the project. Mr. Krauss explained that Council would
discuss the issue of reserves at the Council's budget workshop meeting.
Councilmember Lewis questioned whether demolition of the existing
court/police building was an option. Mr. Blackstone explained demolition
would require temporarily relocating the municipal court and police
department. Mr. Blackstone stated that complete demolition would be
more desirable from a design standpoint. A more functional building could
be designed if the whole site was available for design. DLR agreed to
provide a cost comparison for a design including demolition of the existing
court/police building.
It was consensus of the Council to delay implementing the public
information component of the DLR contract until later in the planning
process since the bond issue proposal is not anticipated until March 2002.
Councilmember Poe spoke in favor of including the fire station
construction and site acquisition on the same bond issue proposal. It was
consensus of Council to pursue an amendment to the DLR consultant
contract for design a fire station. Planning and Community Development
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May 17, 2001
Page 8
Director Krauss urged the Council to consider purchasing land for the
project sites as soon as possible.
IV. ADJOURNMENT
There being no further discussion, the meeting adjourned at 6:43 PM.
APPROVED THIS/<P/~' DAY OF ~ ,2001.
Charles A. Booth, Mayor elle Daskam, City Clerk