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 16, 2011 Courthouse PPEA Presentations The Council of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia held a work session on Tuesday, March 16, 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, 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 Kevin Capach at this evening’s meeting. Mr. Walker explained that the presentations would begin with the W.M. Jordan Team followed by the Donely Team. W.M. Jordan Design Build Team – Skip Smith of the W.M. Jordan Company introduced his team as Tim Groover, President and CEO and Randy Vaughn, Principle and Lead Architect both of Wiley|Wilson, James McGhee, of James O. McGhee Architects, a local architect with a lot of local and historical downtown experience. Other members of the team are Troutman Sanders and Ellis–Gibson development consultants. He said they are the team 1 that would help with the development of the Executive Plaza. He also has historic and compatibility consultants and they are JMA Architects, James O. McGhee Architects and REI Engineering, Inc. The Civil and Court consultants are BCA Associates, The Center for Legal and Court Technology and the Protection Engineering Group. The Primary members of the team are W.M. Jordan and the Wiley|Wilson Company they have been working together since 1987. They both have a lot of experience with court projects and design-build projects in the last five years they have but over $150 million in design-build projects together in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The proposal presented will not require the purchase of land, they will not need to build a new fire station and they will not need city variances. The team proposes is to build a new Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court (J&DR) and General District Court on the existing General District Court site and build a new Circuit Court building on the existing J&DR site then they would renovate the Renwick building. This plan would require the J&DR court to move two times and the Circuit Court would have to move once. The cost of this project is estimated to cost $32.7 million. The project would take approximately 31 months to complete. Mr. Groover stated that the design would be similar to the stacked designs present on Tuesday. He said there were four main goals that needed to be met starting with the need for space, security and technology, it must also be compatible and improve downtown Fredericksburg, and it must be cost effective in the initial construction phase and after for the operations. Mr. Vaughn and Mr. McGhee worked on a design that would make this building compatible with Fredericksburg. The design includes vaulted roofs, gables, natural light going into the courtrooms, offices and public entries. In the design, they also reflect the early historical stage of judicial facilities in Virginia in both detail and scale. He said both buildings would be self sufficient consolidated buildings. The Circuit Court building would have room for expansion. The General District Court and the J&DR Court Building does not allow for expansion, but if the need arised he said the fire station site could be considered. In both buildings there would be the typical stacking of floor plans so that the middle could be used for delivering detainees. The scale of the proposed Circuit Court building has a match line with City Hall. He said the scales were very appropriate compared to other buildings in the area. Mr. Groover said the Renwick building would be fully renovated and taken over by the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office and the courtroom space would be suited for public 2 meetings such as the City Council meetings or other public meetings. This is included in the costs. The building highlights that are featured are the public access focal points on Princess Anne and Charlotte Streets, the gables, high ceilings, natural light in the courtrooms, defined security separations, economical and compatible materials and massing and energy efficient design and construction (LEED certified). Mr. Smith said in the first move J&DR would have to make is to the Executive Plaza building and those costs were included to upgrade that space. Secondly, the General District Court would move into the J&DR space, they would then demolish the General District Court, construct the new General District, J&DR and Regional Drug court building, demolish the existing J&DR Court building, construct the new Circuit Court building and finally renovate the Renwick building. The proposed costs are $32,662,700. The schedule would take 31 months for the new buildings and an additional year to renovate the Renwick building. Mayor Tomzak asked if there was a plan to replace the restrooms at the old J&DR Court. Mr. Vaughn said they could be worked in. 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. Vaughn said they had reviewed the reports and believes they are adequate to meet the caseloads. She thanked them for their work. Councilor Kerry asked for an explanation of the vegetative roof and the benefits of having it and how it’s maintained. Mr. Vaughn said it is part of the LEED incorporation and it was being used to offset some of the loss of green space and to address the stormwater issues on the site and to help meet the 15 percent open space. The roof is not to be accessed by employees and usually a maintenance company is hired to come in and they mow it once a year. They are becoming more prevalent. Councilor Ellis asked how many total courtrooms were in the plan and if they thought securing two buildings would place an undue burden on the Sheriff’s office and increase the operational costs. Mr. Smith said there are 5 courthouses proposed. Mr. Vaughn said it would require two sally ports, but they could both be monitored from one location through electronics. He said the courtrooms have to have a required ratio for staff to detainees so he didn’t think it would be an undue burden, but it may need a little more study. 3  Councilor Howe asked what level of restoration at the Renwick building was built into the price. Mr. Smith said they would upgrade the windows by sealing and making them weather tight, new mechanical systems and completely gutting the first level. He also asked if the proposal considered any parking and Mr. Smith said it did not. Lastly, he asked if they would accept liquidated damages and he asked about the length of the schedule. Mr. Smith said they do accept liquidated damages. He said the schedule does go out to 2015 and the price includes escalation throughout construction. He explained that in his proposal he had given the City a month to move each time. The schedule also includes 60 days for the demolitions, which can be taken down in 30. He said the schedule could be tightened, but they used worst case scenario. Mr. Smith closed stating that they would use City owned land, the fire station would remain, there are no variances required, its compatible with the downtown area, and the team strived to give a cost effective design. In clarification of Councilor Howe’s question, Mr. Smith said they intend to completely renovate the inside of the Renwick building. They will take the sheet rock off the interior walls to the exterior structure and rebuild from the exterior inward. This would include all the offices on the first floor and they plan to only do cosmetic renovations to second floor. (See attachments for more details). Donley’s Design Build Team – Mr. Mike Biesiada, of Donley’s presented the team qualifications. Donley’s would be the team leader and design-builder. Donley’s has been in the City for 7 or 8 years. The first project they constructed was the PPEA Parking Deck which won four industry awards for the partnering between Donley’s and the City. He said their most recent project completed was the Eagle Village project. He said not only does the firm have courthouse experience, but the people who build the buildings have experience. They have constructed five courthouses and three were with Donely’s. Mr. Biesiada said the reason they picked HDR Architecture was because of their rating as the number 1 criminal justice design firm in North America, but also because they have completed 63 court projects over the last 46 years and 200 of their key members are located in Alexandria, Virginia. John Milner Architects is an associate of HDR they are the largest firm on the east coast they specialize in restoration and adaption of historic buildings. RRMM Architects specialize in fire stations and an option for the Executive Plaza. Webb & Associates are local Civil Engineers that know the local area. Christian P. Kaila and Associates who was also a partner 4 on the first PPEA project, the parking deck. Mr. Kaila will play a similar role with this project. Finally, Echelon Resources, the development partner for the Renwick Building. Echelon specializes in historic renovations. Anike Traverick presented the design approach and they focused on the key criteria’s as the operational configuration, expansion capacity, security and accessibility, and continuity of operations. They are also looking at a stacked courtroom with the possibility of expansion. He said they started with five sites and they added two additional sites, but they selected three for full development. The three chosen were Scheme 5/ Fire Station, Executive Plaza and Sophia Street. All the schemes have functional courtrooms and court-set orientations, proper stacking, separate circulation for public, judges, detainees and deliveries, secure judges parking, space above flood plain for two of the sites, flexibility of expansion, clear entry, architectural language and they looked at the programs that could be separated from the courthouse. Scheme 5/ Fire Station would call for the renovation of General District court, J&DR court, and the Renwick buildings and the demolition of the fire station. Mr. Traverick said they had identified two sites where the fire department could be located. In Scheme 5, the building would consist of the Circuit and General District Courts, J&DR would be placed in the newly renovated General District building and Commonwealth Attorney and jury assembly along with Council Chambers would be in the renovated Renwick building. He pointed out that the jury assembly could also be in the proposed courthouse as could any of the other functions. He showed that each of the courtrooms have space for expansion. He described in detail the architecture for Scheme 5 and he offered to meet with Council to make any changes. Mr. Traverick stated there were several advantages to Scheme 5, it had a larger footprint for placement of the program, flexibility for growth, minimizes court personnel relocation, allows security controls for 100% of its perimeter, limited property purchase, current General District Court building renovated and utilized, court location maintained on Princess Anne Street, pre-negotiated optional sites for fire station and the replacement of the fire station that does not meet current or future capacity and functional requirements. Executive Plaza site would call for the renovation of General District Court and the Renwick buildings and the redevelopment of the J&DR building. This scheme would also require the acquisition of two properties to the left of the Executive Plaza. After the demolition of the Executive Plaza and the two properties they would construct a courthouse that would house all court programs, the drug court and the tenants from the Executive Plaza would be in 5 the current General District Court building and the Commonwealth Attorney and the jury assembly would be in the Renwick building. The most obvious advantages to the Executive Plaza site is that it eliminates the existing Executive Plaza, and it has an abundance of parking next door. The Sophia Street Scheme would require the redevelopment of the General District Court building and renovation to the J&DR and the Renwick buildings and the acquisition of properties on Sophia Street. The Sophia Street scheme would consist of all court programs, Drug Court would be placed in the J&DR building and Commonwealth Attorney and jury assembly would be in the Renwick building. The layouts of all the court option are similar with the stacking of the courtrooms. Mr. Traverick said the strong advantages of the Sophia Street option is the design flexibility and additional capacity for future growth and the bridging of the Princess Anne- Caroline Downtown corridor with Riverfront development along Sophia, it also minimizes the disruption of Court and it’s very close to parking. Mr. Biesiada explained the plan for continuing use of the Renwick Building. He said they would use a master lease/lease back through a private developer, Echelon Resources willcapture the historic tax credit. Echelon would renovate and take advantage of the tax credit while the City continues ownership, but would lease space for the Commonwealth Attorney. The two new proposed fire station locations are 1917 Princess Anne Street and 115 Young Street. Mr. Biesiada showed a site plan for both locations and they were both expandable to four bays. The advantages of a new station would be the consolidation of the facility into one location, it provides a three shift capacity and it provides for future expansion. For the two options that do not address the Executive Plaza, Donley’s offered privatization to a developer, conversion to a mixed use condominium and or office/retail space. They also offered a sample of what the condominiums would consist of. He said they have already talked to four interested developers. Mr. Biesiada addressed the site acquisitions needed for each of the schemes. Donely’s stated that they have options on all properties needed in each of the schemes and they have the ability to buy those properties. Mr. Ken Hendershot, the project executive stated that he has constructed 5 courthouses and he lead the teams through the projects. Most recently he completed the Eagle Village project on time and on budget. The Sophia Street option including the renovations at the 6 Renwick building is proposed to take 37 months to completion. The Executive Plaza option to include the renovation of the General District Court is proposed to take 38 months and Scheme 5 to include the new fire station, and the renovations at the General District Court are proposed to take 45 months. The cost each of the schemes are nearly the same, Scheme 5 is estimated $34,324,700, the Executive Plaza Scheme $34,399,200 and the Sophia Street scheme cost $34,634,100. Vice-Mayor Greenlaw thanked the team for the amount of work and time taken on this project. She asked the question for Mr. Solley on whether they thought the Mosley report projections were accurate and if updated what would the projection be. Mr. Richard Lasden, HDR said the they tried to reproduce the projections they came up with, but were unable to do so successfully and they found that the City was progressing at a faster rate than what was envisioned. He said because of this, expansion needs to be dealt with. He said he believes the proposed schemes would go beyond 2035. Councilor Devine asked if the public restrooms would be affected in the renovation of the existing J&DR court location. Mr. Traverick said he did not for see any renovations needed to the restrooms, they would remain open. Councilor Ellis asked what provisions were being made for the fire station option. Mr. Biesiada said parking is within one and a half blocks and he didn’t think it was required, but he was willing to look into it if there was a need. He also asked what the number of maximum capacity of courtrooms for each option. On Scheme 5 there are potentially 7 courtrooms, in Executive Plaza scheme there are potentially 6 and on the Sophia scheme it could expand to 8 courtrooms. Councilor Howe asked if the team would accept liquidated damages. The team does accept them and they stated that they have never assessed liquidated damages on any of their projects. He also asked how long each of the schemes would take to complete, Sophia Street would take 36 months, Executive Plaza 37 months and Scheme 5 would take 44 months. (See attachments for more details). Finally he asked what level of restoration would be taking place at the Renwick building. A member of the team said it was a tenant driven renovation and most comparable is $149.00 per square foot. He said he would really need to talk to the tenant to see what is needed. Councilor Ellis asked that based on experience whether there was a benefit to consolidating the courthouses. They said it’s based on preference. 7  In closing, Mr. Biesiada said Donely’s-HDR team has a proven success partnering with the City and they have a proven commitment to analyze all the option and provide the best possible value. He said they were trying to be true partners by giving many options for the project. He said the team has proven leaders in Courthouse design with creative pro-active problem solvers for the City. Adjournment. There being no further business to come before the Council at this time, the meeting was declared officially adjourned at 7:51 p.m. ___Tonya B. Lacey__ Tonya B. Lacey Clerk of Council City of Fredericksburg 8