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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/14/2003 Meeting Minutes January 14, 2003 Town of Los Altos Hills City Council Special Meeting Tuesday, January 14, 2003 7:00 P.M. Town Hall, 26379 Fremont Road 1. CALL TO ORDER,ROLL CALL,AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Councilmember Kerr called the Special Meeting of the City Council to order at 7:10 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Town Hall. Present: Councilmembers Kerr, O'Malley and Warshawsky, Planning Commissioner Kerns, Committee Members Downey, Radford and Whaley Absent: Planning Commissioner Cottrell, Committee Members Mordo and Oldberg Staff: City Manager Maureen Cassingham, and City Clerk Karen Jost • Press: Scott Wong, Los Altos Town Crier 2. NEW BUSINESS 2.1 Project Status Report and Brown Act Overview City Manager Maureen Cassingham explained the requirements of the Brown Act as it pertains to Special City Council Meetings. Due to the participation of three Councilmembers on the Committee for the New Town Hall, all meeting requirements that are applicable to City Council Meetings must be fulfilled. Meetings must be noticed 24 hours in advance, agendas must be posted, all five Councilmembers informed, the press notified and public attendance accommodated. To take final action on budget items, all three Councilmembers must vote in the affirmative or the request returns to the Council as a whole for action. If the Committee establishes subcommittees, it has been recommended by the City Attorney that one Councilmember be a member. Cassingham reviewed the history of the Town Hall project for the Committee. She joined Los Altos Hills in 2001 and in May of that year was directed by Council to develop the RFP for architectural services. Five firms were interviewed by Council and ultimately John Goldman was selected for the project. His initial agreement was signed in August 2001 for the conceptual development of a building program and preliminary design services. Additional amendments to his contract, called for the development of a • schematic with design elements and construction bid documents. Goldman and his firm were engaged for architectural services and to coordinate and hire all sub-consultants for 1 January 14,2003 Special City Council Meeting • the project. To date, the Town has spent $357,000 on the Town Hall project with $153,000 paid to Goldman and $204,000 to the sub-consultants. On November 6, 2002 John Goldman was directed to cease all work on the new Town Hall project. 2.2 Committee Objectives, Milestones and Timeline PASSED BY CONSENSUS: • To revisit the design of the New Town Hall and include Mission, Craftsman,Rural and Sustainable Architecture as options. • To consider the public's comments regarding style, cost and site orientation expressed during the previous process. • To limit the total project cost to $3.5 Million as a goal. This amount would be designated as the working budget. Donations as a means of financing the project will not be included. However, they will be considered to pay for special items, such as design features or landscaping that are above the budget limit. • To invite the residents of Los Altos Hills to participate in the selection of the Town Hall design by voting on the four design renderings posted on the Town website and included in a town-wide mailing. Residents would • have a choice of either downloading a ballot from the website and mailing it or returning a reply card from the mailer. A brief description of the design would be included with the renderings. There would be one vote per household. • To revisit specific building requirements and staffing needs at a future meeting to ensure the building is functional. Possible future site visits to public buildings maybe scheduled for the Committee. • To maintain Purrissima Hills Water District as a separate building on the site. The construction of their new building should be compatible with the Town Hall design. • To include space for the Sheriff substation in the facility. This would be advantageous for security and emergency purposes. • To retain the Heritage House. The building could potentially serve as a meeting hall and offices for Councilmembers. • To complete architectural renderings to be completed in thirty days. • 2 January 14,2003 Special City Council Meeting • 2.3 Budget 2.3.1 Revised and New Architect Renderings Following discussion, the Committee agreed to a budget of$2,000 for each of to each of the four selected architects for renderings. ($8,000). This item will be returned to the City Council as a whole for consideration at their January 16, 2003 Regular City Council Meeting. 2.3.2 Communications to Residents (mailings, web site) Following discussion, the Committee agreed to budget of $12,000 for mailings and website enhancements This item will be returned to the City Council as a whole for consideration at their January 16, 2003 Regular City Council Meeting. 2.3.3 Construction Cost Estimates for Various Designs The construction cost of the new Town Hall was of significant interest to the public during the last project. Costs will be closely watched and revisited to ensure the project is constructed within budget spending constraints. 2.4 Financing of New Town Hall Budget • Councilmember O'Malley distributed a cost category analysis of the previous Town Hall Project. He noted for the members that if the earlier budget had been reduced by cost saving measures: i.e., reduce the footprint to less than 7100 square feet, reduce the height, use less expensive materials, the savings would not have been substantial. The projected expense was roughly $5.1 Million and with the modifications, the cost would be approximately $4.8 Million. Councilmember O'Malley expressed his desire to set spending restraints, adding that a less costly design is not the solution to reducing substantially the cost of a new Town Hall. Councilmember O'Malley outlined the Town's finances and discussed the alternatives for financing a new facility. There is approximately +/- $6 Million available in the General Fund to build the new Town Hall. There is a concern over the State's budget deficit and its impact on the Town. It is prudent to keep one year's worth of expenditures as reserve for emergencies. O'Malley added that he would favor long-term financing for either part or the entire project. 2.5 Committee Assignments PASSED BY ACCLAMATION: To elect Councilmember Kerr as Chairman and Al Waley as Vice Chairman of the Committee. The Architectural Subcommittee of Kerr, Radford and Downey was established. Their primary charge is to contact architects for the initial style renderings. • 3 January 14,2003 Special City Council Meeting 2.5.1 Public Relations • Item continued to a future meeting. 2.5.2 Other No report on this item. 2.6 Additional Architects Selection Process PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To solicit renderings from architects for four specific design styles—Rural, Mission, Craftsman and Sustainable. Chairman Kerr and Committee Members Radford and Downey were each assigned specific architects to contact. The architects will be asked to design a Town Hall, which will meet all Town site development code requirements for a single-family home and be approximately 8,000 square feet (approximate cost $300 per sq. ft). Site orientation should be from Fremont Road. The architects will be paid (not to exceed) $2000 for their renderings. The City Manager noted that she has spoken with John Goldman about this process and he is agreeable to participating with a reimbursement of his out-of-pocket expenses for renderings. Following discussion, the Committee agreed to permit Goldman to represent the Mission style at this stage of the style selection. • 2.7 Future Meeting Schedule The next Committee meeting was scheduled for Tuesday, February 4, 2003 at 7:00 p.m. in Council Chambers. It will be noticed as a Special Council Meeting. 3. PRESENTATIONS FROM THE FLOOR Duffy Price, stated she had been against donations for the substructure but thinks the addition of bricks recognizing donations would be acceptable. She would like to see the cupola that is an intricate part of the Town's logo and history included in the new design. Price added, the community has spoken and they don't like the Mission style for the Town Hall. Maurice Johnson, Los Altos Hills resident, expressed his opposition to John Goldman being retained as the architect for the project. John Harpootlian, 26435 Anacapa Drive, questioned what the dollar profit to John Goldman from the previous project has been. • 4 January 14,2003 Special City Council Meeting • 4. ADJOURNMENT There being no further new or old business to discuss, the Special Meeting of the City Council New Town Hall Committee was adjourned at 10:00 p.m. Res ectfully submitted, Karen Jo City Cler The minutes of the January 14, 2003 Special City Council Meeting were approved as amended at the February 4, 2003 Special City Council Meeting. • • 5 January 14,2003 Special City Council Meeting