City Council

CITY OF FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA HON. THOMAS J. TOMZAK, MAYOR HON. MARY KATHERINE GREENLAW, VICE MAYOR CITY COUNCIL HON. KERRY P. DEVINE, AT-LARGE HON. BRADFORD C. ELLIS, WARD ONE HON. GEORGE C. SOLLEY, WARD TWO HON. FREDERIC N. HOWE, III, WARD THREE Council Chambers, 715 Princess Anne Street HON. BEATRICE R. PAOLUCCI, WARD FOUR Fredericksburg, Virginia 22401 Council Work Session March 15, 2011 Courthouse PPEA Presentations The Council of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia held a work session on Tuesday, March 15, 2011, beginning at 6:00 p.m. in City Hall Council Chambers. Council Present. Mayor Thomas J. Tomzak, presiding. Vice-Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw. Councilors Kerry P. Devine, Bradford C. Ellis, Frederic N. Howe, III, and Beatrice R. Paolucci. Council Absent. Councilor George C. Solley, business trip. Also Present. City Manager Beverly Cameron, Assistant City Manager Mark Whitley, City Attorney Kathleen Dooley, Director of Parks, Recreation and Public Facilities Robert Antozzi, Planning Director Ray Ocel, Fire Chief Eddie Allen and Clerk of Council Tonya B. Lacey. Others Present – Warren Walker, consultant ARCADIS. Pledge of Allegiance. Council was led in the Pledge of Allegiance led by Mayor Tomzak. Auxiliary Officer Recognized. Mayor Tomzak recognized the presence of Officer Chirs Urguhart at this evening’s meeting. City Manager Cameron on behalf of City Council thanked the design-build teams for their work. He also introduced City Council and staff to the teams and reviewed the rules for the presentations. Mr. Cameron stated that a public hearing would be held prior to determining the short list and comments could be made to courtproposalcomments@fredericksburgva.gov. He also noted that the presentations would be aired on the Government channel. Mr. Cameron introduced Mr. Warren Walker, the City’s consultant from ARCADIS. 1  Mr. Walker reviewed the agenda and stated that the firms were selected at random to give their presentations. He said that he would be following the City’s Public-Private Educational Facilities Infrastructure Act (PPEA) guidelines as well as the State PPEA Regulations. He explained the PPEA process as follows: a Request for Proposals (RFP) was issued on November 29, 2010, March 1, 2011 the City received five concept proposals, and each will be evaluated. In the RFP package was the evaluation factors which were: qualifications and experience, project financing, project characteristics, project benefits and compatibility and citizen and government comments, reputation, local contractors, etc. After completion of the evaluation detailed proposals will be requested from the shortlist firms and a final selection will be made. He noted that any prices given during the presentations were preliminary. He said they asked that design-build teams propose fixed fees for design and general contracting, but construction cost are intended to be an open book process to get as much competition as possible to control cost. Hensel Phelps Design Build Team – Mr. Brent Helmandollar, Hensel Phelps presented stating that the proposed cost for their project was $35 million and it would take approximately 25 months to complete. He introduced his team as Stan Wendzel of BioRealty, Inc., Brian Chaffee and Steve Kunin of Fentress Architects, Dana and Raymond Herlong of Herlong Associates, Inc. Stig Owens of sēkivsolutions, Theron Peacock of Woods Peacock Engineering, Don Posson of Vanderweil Engineers, Don Troupe of Froehling & Robertson and Kerri Barile of Dovetail. Hensel Phelps team presented a video. In the video, they stated that they extended the courthouse need to 50 years. The courthouse would have five active courtrooms with growth of up to eight courtrooms to meet the long-term needs. It explained the purpose for stacking the courtrooms. The team did a site comparison of 3 potential sites, Fire Station, Juvenile & Domestic Relations Court (J&DR) and Executive Plaza. The Executive Plaza site was selected by the team. They developed 2 potential solutions, a seven story building and a five story building. The team decided to use the five story design. Security would be a prime design feature of the new courthouse; there would be a separate entrance for the judges, detainees and the public would be isolated from restricted areas. The parking garage would be used as a support to the courthouse. The team also developed a cost log for the four buildings that would become vacant after completion of the new courthouse. The renovations would include the Renwick building, which would be used for the City Manager’s office and the Mayor’s office, 2 and the Council Chambers would be located on the second floor. The old jail would be renovated as the achieves and research center. The General District Court would become City office space and the J&DR space would be used for community use. The Hensel Phelps team stated that they advanced solutions beyond the RFP’s request by confirming the best options, proving the concepts are functional, uncovered issues that might affect cost or approvals, developed options for vacant buildings, and assured the accuracy of the cost of the project. As a result of these efforts the Hensel Phelps team believes their solution is a sound, long-range, comprehensive and consolidated court solution. Mr. Helmandollar stated that they do a great deal of design-build work with interest architects across the country and he has found that the level of detail has allowed their cost estimates to be pretty accurate and he said they would be committed to doing the project for the cost and schedule they proposed. He reviewed the proposed schedule and explained the relocation of the current tenants of the Executive Plaza to other city building while the demolition takes place. He stated that if they were awarded the job in June they could be completed by July of 2013. Stan Wendzel discussed the financing of the project. He discussed logical options that most city’s look at. Those options were the City funding the project itself by issuing a general obligation bond and modified lease revenue bond, which the City could make a partial down payment or a modified term. He discussed how cost could translate into rent proposals. He said any direct savings to the project would be passed on directly to the City and a direct savings to the rent the City would pay. 100 percent of all payments would go directly to the revenue bonds. He also stated that any renovations to the Renwick building, and the old City Jail could also be wrapped in the rental rate. Finally, they answered questions they thought the citizens would want answered. What are the cash-flow and profits made by the development team? There is zero cash-flow, 100 percent of the cash-flow off the net lease rentals will apply to the debt service. There will not be any cash-flow to the developer. In addition, it will be set up to be owned by a nominal owner that is an affiliate of Hensel Phelps and could be bought back for $1.00. Who will own the facilities/properties at the end of the 30-year lease term? The City would own the property after 30-years after paying $1.00. How quickly can the project be delivered and guaranteed? Mr. Helmandollar stated that they are prepared to assess themselves liquidated damages to meet the dates and times. He said they will go through that financial risk to get the project 3 completed. How long will the proposed facility meet our needs? The project is expected to meet the needs of the courts for 50 years and beyond. Does the proposal support the City Council’s desire to get rid of the Executive Plaza and does it retain contributing historic properties? The proposal does remove the Executive Plaza and it does not remove or demolish any historic aspects in the City scape. Compare the height of your proposed building to the Executive Plaza. Mr. Herlong stated that the buildings footprint is two and a half times larger than the executive plaza. The height of the Executive Plaza is 90 feet tall on the Caroline Street front and 96 feet tall on Wolfe Street. The proposed building is 72 feet tall on the Caroline Street front and 88 feet tall on the Wolfe Street side. He said they have pulled parts and pieces throughout the City to make the project fit within the City. Mr. Chaffee said this building should express its strong civic presence and the proposed building does. It is going to be built rich in architectural materials, granite base, limestone, handset brick and a lighter material at the top. This building will be 107,000 square feet, it will last 50 years and beyond and born out of architectural material from historic Fredericksburg. Mayor Tomzak stated that the material was very informative and detailed presentation. He said the building was very stately, but he wanted to know why they had to purchase 611 and 613 Caroline Street. Mr. Helmandollar stated they needed the square footage at the back of the properties to achieve all the programs in the RFP without adding an additional floor. He said they would like to purchase the properties, and then subdivide them and retain them by the city to issue ground lease terms on them. Vice-Mayor Greenlaw asked a question for Councilor Solley who was out of town. He asked if they thought the Mosley report projections were accurate and if updated what would the projection be. Mr. Chaffee stated that you really can’t project the future, but the project must be flexible in order to expand. Councilor Ellis asked what is the projected year to meet capacity, has the team worked together in the past and what is the percent of their design build projects exceeding the estimated cost? Mr. Helmandollar stated that he had not performed a project with the Herlong Associates, but they have a lot of local knowledge which is valuable to the project, Fentress Architects have performed about 90 or so design-build projects with Hensel Phelps, he has also worked with the other members. Most of the design-build projects, which were mostly federal, have not exceeded the estimated costs. He said they project the courthouse would reach capacity in year 2060. 4  Councilor Howe wanted to know with the consolidated courthouse and everything having to be built before exercising the options; he wanted to know how they envision exercising the options other than at the end during the move in process. Mr. Helmandollar stated that they could do some design work to come up with an option. He said they wanted to leave it flexible. Vice-Mayor Greenlaw noted her compliments and gratitude and she said she was overwhelmed with the superior work. In closing Mr. Helmandollar said they are committed to doing the work for the proposed cost and schedule. He said they are willing to take those risks. He said they are willing to change the design to meet the needs of the City and keep it within the desired cost of Council. (See attachments for more details). First Choice Design Build Team – Mr. Jay Moore, Vice-President of Moseley Architects one of the partners in the First Choice Private Partners began by explaining the team organization and introducing the team which included: Ray Booth, English Construction- First Choice Project Coordinator, Allen Hamblen, English Construction, Randy Holmes, Glavé & Holmes Architecture, and Andrew Moore, Glavé & Holmes. He stated that the City had come a long way on the courthouse project. He worked with the City as Moseley Architects in 2006 and 2007. In 2009, the Post Office site was evaluated and ruled out and in 2010 Glavé Holmes participated in the preparation of Scheme 2 the J&DR site and Scheme 5 the current fire station site. Mr. Holmes addressed the key principles that were important while working through the process and the first is that the courthouse needs to be an icon, the second principle is stewardship of community character, meaning the design must be sensitive to the character, scale and proportion of downtown Fredericksburg. Fredericksburg has rich detail which is also very important to the design of the building. First Choice offered two options for the proposed courthouse Scheme 2 J&DR site and Scheme 5 firehouse site. Mr. Holmes stated that there are two distinct districts: commercial (retail buildings along Caroline Street) and civic (government buildings, cultural institutions along Princess Anne Street). This is the reason for selecting Princess Anne Street for the location of the courthouse. In Scheme 2, the courthouse would be constructed adjacent to City Hall at the current site of the existing J&DR Court. The General District Court would be renovated and the two would be connected by an underground tunnel. In order to implement 5 this plan there would have to be phasing involved. The occupants on the first floor of the Executive Plaza would need to be relocated so that the first floor would be renovated as a temporary J&DR Court. They would also need to acquire 707 Princess Anne Street. First Choice has acquired an option in writing to acquire that property and would transfer that to the City. Once the facility has been constructed at Executive Plaza, the construction of the new facility would begin and the the renovations would follow on the General District Court building for the J&DR Court. He stated that the temporary facilities at the Executive Plaza would be very basic, but it would have everything J&DR Courts needed to function. There would be separate entrances for judges, detainees and public. Mr. Holmes explained the floor plan of the new court facility which would be occupied by the General District Court and the Circuit Court. Mr. A. Moore discussed the architectural language for Fredericksburg such as the windows and fenestration, cupolas and vertical elements or cupolas, cornices, brick detailing, arches and lintels, paving materials, building materials, informal passages, steps and street- scapes. In Scheme 2, they wanted to try to tie into the adjacent buildings by lining the cornice of City Hall with the cornice of the proposed building. The appearance of the building would be two stories, but it will have a three story mass. The base of the proposed building would be stone along Charlotte Street. Mr. Holmes stated that with Scheme 5 there would involve construction of a new fire station and renovation of the current General District court building for use by J&DR court. This option would also require phasing. He said they have exclusive rights to purchase property on Amelia Street a location where the fire station could be built. Once the fire station is built then construction could begin on the new courthouse and renovations to the current General District Court building. The property for the fire station is located near the Free Lance-Star fronting on Amelia at Winchester Street. It would be a four bay building, space to build fire administration offices and double loaded vehicle bays. The Phase 5 design is similar in concept as Phase 2, but different in detail. Mr. A. Moore gave a detailed description of the architectural look of Phase 5. He noted that on this design they were able to include public steps for public gatherings. Mr. Booth presented the schedules and costs. He said Scheme 2 would take approximately 30 months and Scheme 5 would take 36 months because the fire station would have to be constructed first. The cost for both schemes will include hard cost, soft cost, 6 furniture, fixtures and equipment and it also include roughly $3.5 million in contingency in which $500,000 is contingency for City use and the $3 million balance is for use in case of any unforeseen changes if they are not use they would be shared back with the City. Scheme 2 is estimated to cost $35 million and Scheme 5 is about $1.8 million higher due to the fire station being a little larger than envisioned and the land being more expensive. He stated that all costs would be bid out and they expect that the bids would be lower than what they are proposing this would also include property acquisitions. They propose that the HVAC system be design- build by Southern Air and the cost would be verified by the City’s consultant. Mr. Booth stated that they have done four successful PPEA with the City and they would use the same concept as they used for the other projects. He said they did not propose any specific finance option other than using general obligation bonds as the primary option. There has been roughly 100 PPEA done in Virginia and English and First Choice has done more than any other contractor unit, and private financing was done in one of those hundred and they were involved in that one. He said no one can borrow money as cheap as the local government, but he was willing to provide the options if Council desired. They also offered other option to keep cost down such as delaying the renovation of the General District Court and leave the J&DR court in the interim court facility at the Plaza. Mr. J. Moore presented the option of renovating the existing Circuit Court building for City Manager’s Office, City Attorney, Mayor and Clerk of Council and Council Chambers. This would vacate space in City Hall and he proposed using the former City Manager’s space for Public Works and or Building and Development and the Council Chambers could be renovated for the Voter Registrar. He said they talked to the Registrar to see what her space needs were and he feels that the Chamber could meet those needs. He stated that they worked with NVRetail, Inc. an active retail development company in the area. He proposes that the City transfer ownership of the Executive Plaza to NVRetail, they will demolish and construct a three-story building at no cost to the City. NVRetail will want a lease commitment by the City and this would eliminate maintenance and repair costs to the City. He described the space that would be available in the building. Another option offered was to replace Fire Station I at its current location. The team has identified spaces within a mile to lease until the facility is constructed. Mr. J. Moore explained the advantage of using FirstChoice as the Design-Build team. He said they have completed 19 PPEA projects in Virginia, 60 or more design-build projects teamwide, FirstChoice has completed 6 PPEA projects in Virginia, three of which were in the 7 City and they have substantial local construction experience and commitment to local contractors and supplies. He said they also have in-depth knowledge of the court facility needs and they have already resolved acquisition issues. FirstChoice also has Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) expertise and experience, they have more than 120 LEED accredited professionals on their team. The teams has completed 24 LEED certified projects, more than 60 LEED registered projects in progress and two LEED registered court facility projects in Virginia. Other advantages are Moseley Architects has 60 plus court facility planning and design projects in Virginia and Glavé & Holmes Architecture has a strong track record designing successfully for historically sensitive locations. Mr. Holmes also stated that they wanted to find contextual design that would fit in the City. He said he has used this in many areas like Williamsburg, Charlottesville, Lexington, Old Salem, N.C. and many other areas. Mr. J. Moore explained that FirstChoice is comprised of English Construction, Moseley Architects and Glavé & Holmes. Vice-Mayor Greenlaw asked a question for Councilor Solley who was out of town. He asked if they thought the Mosley report projections were accurate and if updated what would the projection be. Mr. J. Moore said he feels the estimates are solid through 2030. He said he did not think it was possible to project out to 2060, but thought it was a good idea to prepare for expansion. He said the proposal given is in direct response to the criteria laid out in the RFP. It doubles the courtrooms space available today and should last a long time. Councilor Devine asked what the plans for expansion would be for both schemes. He explained that it is possible to construct two new courtrooms in both schemes on the lower level, but the Circuit Court Clerk would need to find a new space. The other option would be to relocate the J&DR court and build a bigger facility on that site. Councilor Howe asked if the team was willing to accept liquidated damages and how they were addressing the parking under the RFP requirements since the courts were not being located next to the parking garage. Mr. Booth stated that they have always accepted liquidated damages in all their PPEA projects. Mr. J. Moore said they did not address the parking because that was not a part of the RFP, but he said the newly constructed courthouse would not increase the level of activity more than it is today, but as the courts are used more in years to come the City will be required to address parking at that time. 8  In closing, Mr. J. Moore said they were not here because the City issued an RFP, but because they City and FirstChoice have established a relationship on three prior projects. He said they would like to continue the relationship by working on this project. (See attachments for more details). Clancy & Theys – Mr. William Goggins, Vice-President & CEO of Clancy & Theys introduced the Clancy & Theys team as Phil Johns, AES Consulting Civil Engineers, Phil Saunders, H&A Architects and Engineering, Bill Hargrove, Chairman of the Board for HBA Architecture Interior Design, Tom Wack, President of Wack Construction General Contractors, Don Harberg, Court Consultant from Williamsburg, Joe Miller, Project Manager for HBA Architecture Interior Design, and Ken Morris, Clancy & Theys. Mr. Goggins stated that Clancy & Thays has been working with HBA on the Courthouse in Portsmouth. Portsmouth was in a similar situation as the City. HBA put a plan together to meet their needs. The project will be delivered on time and on budget. Mr. Goggins noted some of the project that Clancy & Theys have worked on with the other members of the team. He said they worked with HBA on a large manufacturing facility for Cannon, USA. They have worked with H&A on one of the most complicated PPEA project in Virginia, the Performing Arts facility in Virginia Beach. H&A and Clancy & Theys have worked together over the past 20 years. AES has also worked on several projects with Clancy & Theys including some Cannon projects. Mr. Harberg also worked with them on several projects. He was an early consultant for the Portsmouth Court Facility. He is a recognized leader in the Commonwealth of Virginia in courthouse planning. He wrote the facilities guideline for the state and also helped in planning several courthouses in Virginia, the United States and Canada. Mr. Goggins said he wanted to have a local connection and they looked for a local contractor and they reached out to Tom Wack Company. Mr. Wack explained the scheme that was chosen as a modified Scheme 5 located at the firehouse site. He said they have a contract on the old jail site on Lafayette Boulevard to construct the new 60,000 square foot fire station which would also include fire administration. He said a unique feature was that the fire station would have access to two city rights-of-way so that the trucks would not have to back in or out of the facility. Mr. Harberg described the setup of the facilities. The new facility would be a three story building, 2 above ground and one below ground. He said it would be more cost effective to combine all courts into the new facility. The current General District Court facility would 9 be used for Commonwealth Attorney’s office, Rappahannock Regional Drug Court and J&DR Court Services Unit. He stated that if there was a need for more space later another building could be built on the current General District court building site. This would give an additional 36,000 square feet of space. He said the proposed building would meet all the height requirements. The building would be constructed in a white cast stone, a heavy cornice, and sculptured planters will be on the Wolfe Street side of the building. Mr. Goggins explained the plans to make the building a silver certified sustainable building. He said the team came up with a plan to filter the water off the roof, they have made the building energy efficient, and the building would bring in a lot of natural light. He said the design team has forty or more LEED AP’s on the team and they have completed over thirty LEED projects. Mr. Goggins present the schedule which would require nine months to design the project after design it will take 24 months to complete the construction of the building, then renovations of the General District Court building would begin. He stated that no courts would have to be relocated during the process. He said they are ready to start the design of the fire station and have that project off the ground within a year of being awarded the contract. The cost for the project is estimated at $30,874,747. He said because of their project in Portsmouth they have a good handle on the cost of the Courts. Mr. Saunders reviewed the team’s plan to meet all of Council’s needs by not disrupting any of the court services. He said there would be room for future expansion of 6 courtrooms, the courts will be state-of-the-art, efficient, safe and secure, convenient and the fire station would be relocated without interruption to the Courts. J&DR and the Executive Plaza buildings would be made available for redevelopment. Vice-Mayor Greenlaw asked a question for Councilor Solley who was out of town. He asked if they thought the Mosley report projections were accurate and if updated what would the projection be. Mr. Harberg stated that the Moseley report was reasonable for a City the size of Fredericksburg. He said he had not done a forecast for Fredericksburg, but he had looked at the caseloads and he didn’t see any problems with staying in the Court for 20-30 years. Mr. Harberg stated that he did not this it was really possible to project 50 or more years on the court facilities. Vice-Mayor Greenlaw stated that the pricing did not include the acquisition of land and construction for the fire station and she wanted to know if a projection had been made on the 10 cost to do that. Mr. Wack said for a 21,000 square foot building on that site would cost in the range of $5.5-$6 million. Councilor Devine asked for clarification on whether the cost included the renovation of the General District Court building and Mr. Goggins said they did, it was estimated at $125.00/sq. ft. He said it was a very healthy allowance. Councilor Ellis inquired what the projected year is that the courts would meet their capacity. Mr. Saunders said the plans are for 5 courtrooms, but the space on the first floor that is for J&DR Clerk could be used for another courtroom and there was also the option of converting the old General District Court building into an additional 6 courtrooms. He also asked what previous experience Glancy & Theys has had on design-build courthouses. Mr. Saunders said they were currently working on the Portsmouth Courthouse. Councilor Ellis also asked whether the cost included any renovations at the Renwick building and he said it did not. Councilor Howe asked if the team was willing to contract for liquidated damages and Mr. Saunders said they have no problems with that. He said that is something they currently do. He also asked if there were any accommodations for parking. Mr. Saunders said they had anticipated using existing parking and when they read the RFP they thought there was sufficient parking for the court facility. (See attachments for more details). Adjournment. There being no further business to come before the Council at this time, the meeting was declared officially adjourned at 9:00 p.m. ___Tonya B. Lacey__ Tonya B. Lacey Clerk of Council City of Fredericksburg 11