City Council

CITY OF FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA HON. MARY KATHERINE GREENLAW, MAYOR HON. BRADFORD C. ELLIS, VICE -MAYOR, WARD ONE CITY COUNCIL HON. KERRY P. DEVINE, AT-LARGE HON. MATTHEW J. KELLY, AT-LARGE 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 September 11, 2012 Renovation Options for the General District Court Building Life-Cycle Costs for New Courthouse The Council of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia held a work session on Tuesday, September 11, 2012, beginning at 5:30 p.m. in City Hall Conference Room. Council Present. Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw, Presiding. Vice-Mayor Bradford C. Ellis. Councilors Kerry P. Devine, Matthew J. Kelly, Beatrice R. Paolucci, and George C. Solley. Council Absent. Councilor Frederic N. Howe, III, out of town. Also Present. City Manager Beverly R. Cameron, Assistant City Manager Mark Whitley, City Attorney Kathleen Dooley, Director of Parks, Recreation and Public Facilities Robert Antozzi, Planning Director Ray Ocel, Sheriff Paul Higgs, Lieutenant Nicholas Talbert Clerk of Council Tonya B. Lacey. Others Present. Judge Gordon Willis, Judge David Peterson, William Downey of Downey & Scott, Charles McDuff, Life Cycle Analysis, Lawrence Tressler , On-Site Project Manager, Robert Lee, English Construction-First Choice team member, and Jay Moore, English Construction-First Choice Architect team member, Robert Lee English Construction- First Choice Architect team member. Renovation Options for the General District Court Building. Mr. Downey reviewed a comparison chart on page 11 of Life Cycle Study Report which compared Option 1 and Option 2 of the General District Court Building. In Option 1, the complete renovation would cost $4.8 million. The complete renovations would meet all the program requirements to include the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court (JDR) and Clerk, Juvenile Probation, fully renovate both floors, address major security issues per the U.S. Marshall’s 1 report, add a sallyport for prisoner transfer, small security checkpoint, additional prisoner holding cells, prisoner separation, new electronic security systems, full compliance with ADA, elevators for public staff and prisoners, replace the HVAC, electrical, communications systems and new interior finishes on both floors. The partial renovation would cost $2.8 million with a savings of $2 million. The partial renovations would include space for JDR and the clerk, replacement of the HVAC, electrical and communications systems only. Mr. Moore reviewed the floor plan as currently under contract on the basement level there will be a vehicle sally port, the judges entrance, JDR Court Service Unit, holding cells, staff entry and elevators for staff, judge and prisoners. The upper floor plan will include the JDR court, clerk, Judge’s office, waiting area, security check area, and attorney-client rooms. The Option 2 version, which is scaled back and would not include the addition for the security check point, it would eliminate the additional waiting area space. This plan would also take space from the courts to use for the Clerk’s office space. The basement floor plan would not have any significant renovation and the JDR Court Services Unit would remain in the Executive Plaza. Councilor Solley asked how the prisoners would enter and Mr. Moore explained that they would enter from the back of the building directly from the vehicle into the back door and would be visible to everyone. He also noted that there are only two cells for the prisoners and they would be escorted up and down the stairs because there are no elevators in the building and in Option 2 they do not propose to add elevators. Judge Peterson asked whether the waiting area in Option 2 would be smaller or larger than the current interim waiting area. Mr. Moore said the waiting area would be smaller. Judge Peterson said currently there are days when the waiting room is overfilled. Councilor Ellis asked the size of the waiting area in Option 1. Mr. Downey said it was about the same as the interim waiting area but he did not have the exact measurements. Councilor Paolucci stated that she thought the JDR was going to stay at the Executive Plaza so the money could be saved for renovations at Renwick. She didn’t understand why they were looking at renovations of the General District Court building. Mr. Cameron said that would have to be Option 3, but there are minor renovations that would still need to be done in the General District Court Building especially the HVAC renovations. Mr. Lee said if this building was going to be used the electrical and the mechanical must be done. He said if only 2 the electrical and mechanical were replaced majority of the cost would still be going towards that cost because the current systems have outlived their life cycle. Mr. Downey said the cost would be approximately $1.4 million half of the $2.8 million renovation. Vice-Mayor Ellis said he was also under the impression that no work was going to be done to the General District Court Building. Councilor Kelly asked what staff planned to use the building for if it was not going to be used for courts. He said this was an economic redevelopment opportunity if it was not going to be used for courts. He also asked what would happen to the firing range. Mr. Cameron said the indoor firing range would be decommissioned and the City would continue to use the outdoor firing range with Stafford County. Mayor Greenlaw said the plans were to use the building for JDR, but now Council must decide which cost is more effective for future needs. Councilor Devine agreed that the plan was to move JDR into the General District Court space that was the reason for calling the current space interim JDR court. She said the General District Building was in a great location and it would complement the new courthouse. She does not want to go another 15 years without a permanent home for the JDR. Councilor Solley also agreed that it was the plan to move JDR court into the General District building and the only reason for revisiting it was to find funding for renovating Renwick. He said if JDR court was left in the Executive Plaza more money would have to be spent to do something with the Court. He said council would need to determine if it’s more important to move JDR court now and finally settle the location for JDR or renovate Renwick. He asked City Manager Cameron what all the options were. Mr. Cameron said the original thought was to construct interim space for the JDR court and keep them there until renovations were complete at the General District Court building that was suitable for their needs. Mr. Cameron explained that as part of the comprehensive agreement that step would come immediately after the construction of the new courthouse. He said looking at Option 1 and Option 2 was to determine if Council wanted to postpone the complete renovations of the General District building until a later time and keep JDR in the Executive Plaza. He said they would eventually have to renovate the General District building for JDR. Vice-Mayor Ellis stated that he would prefer to restored Renwick and let General District Court sit and when there is money General District building would be renovated. He felt Renwick was more of a priority. 3  Mayor Greenlaw asked what other funding would be available to renovate Renwick and whether both could be renovated. Mr. Cameron said he would need to know what was being renovated for. He said a recommendation was made 6 months ago to move the City Manager, the City Attorney and the Clerk of Council’s offices to the first floor and renovate the court room as the new Council Chamber but the cost was around $6 million. Vice-Mayor Ellis said that’s what he recalled and why they came up with the savings from the General District building renovations. Councilor Solley stated that he disagreed that Renwick would sit empty and that it was not a good assumption that if renovations were not done now then it would sit empty. Councilor Devine agreed and said she though the process was to renovate General District and move JDR in so that the Executive Plaza could become available to put on the market at some point. She expressed her concerns that if the renovations were not completed that Council would not be addressing the security issues and not having the prison holding cells that are needed. Councilor Paolucci said it was her belief that a consolidated court was to be built to take care of all the court needs, but that never happened. She also said $1.5 had been spent at the Executive Plaza for the JDR court, and the Registrar and the Commonwealth Attorney offices have been relocated there as well and she could not see the City getting rid of the build because of the amount of money that has been spent on the building. It was her understanding that Council would move forward with building the new Courthouse to house Circuit Court and General District Court and discuss the possibility to leave JDR in the Executive Plaza and use the funds saved from the General District Building renovations toward Renwick. She said it was more important to renovate Renwick before doing anything with the General District Court building. Councilor Solley stated that he understood the desire to renovate Renwick and he said no one on Council has the desire to let it sit. He said if Council wanted to make it the number one priority they could at the Council retreat. He also asked judge Peterson’s opinion on all the options. Judge Peterson stated that he was not in favor of the current courts option; he felt all the courts should have been in one building. He said it sends a message to the children, families and the community that a hand-me-down court was good enough for them, again. He agreed to the plan because he was a team player and he knew how deeply the community needed a new 4 court facility. He said as a taxpayer he was aware of the politics and the money situation. He felt as though there was a bait and switch on the behalf of the justice system and the children and families of the City. He said he agreed to move into the interim facility for 2½ years based on a promise that the General District Court building would be renovated into good space for JDR, but he said was now hearing the that the children and families of the City were less of a priority than adults and historic buildings. He said a building that does not have the proper safety, access and utilities was not an option. Councilor Devine said she is surprised to hear that some wish to have all facilities in one building. That plan was not an option because it was too expensive. She said once Council backed away from that they decided to build the current proposed building and decided to renovate General District Court building. She wanted to know why some of Council seem to be changing course instead of honoring the commitment. Councilor Paolucci said she recalled two options to have consolidated courts but they were voted down. Vice-Mayor Ellis stated that option 2 was not an option, he felt if the renovations were going to be made they needed to be done the proper way. He said there should ultimately be a new court for JDR but the question is should it be done right now or five years from now and he didn’t think that would be changing the course. He said delaying JDR would be a way to solve Renwick. Mayor Greenlaw stated that the $2 million does not cover the costs of Renwick but what does solve the Renwick issue is the willingness of Council to do it. She said Council has the option to say whether that is what they want to do and when they want to do it. Additional funding will be needed to resolve Renwick. Councilor Paolucci addressed Judge Peterson and said she did not mean to imply that Renwick was more important than the families and children. She asked when a decision was needed on the General District Court building. Mr. Downey stated he would like to have a decision by November. The life cycle cost presentation compartmentalizes the two options and defines the overall process. The life cycle also looks at all four building that need addressing: Renwick, General District Court building, Executive Plaza and the new courthouse. Councilor Kelly stated that this project was going to cause additional tax increases and the citizens cannot afford to have many more increases. He said it’s time the City started 5 looking at the big picture of what the needs are and begin looking into shared services with the Counties. Life-Cycle Cost for New Courthouse. Mr. Downey introduced Mr. Charles McDuff. Mr. McDuff presented a PowerPoint which included the definitions of Net Present Value (NPV), time value of money, operating cost and maintenance cost. He also discussed what the Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCC) was and what it tell us. He said based on the LCC the renovations at the General District Court should be carried out in full and the benefits would provide a state of the art facility, reduce future renovation cost, and reduce the annual operating and maintenance costs. He also reviewed the Life Cycle Cost Study Report. Vice-Mayor Ellis stated that he would like to see the life cycle cost that its time phased in current year dollars and then-year dollars. Mr. McDuff said this was a tool that would need revision every year, but it was not recommended to go out too far on those costs. (See documents for additional information). Councilor Kelly asked if there could be a closed session to discuss the security, technology and communications that would be going into the buildings and what the cost are going to be. He would also like to see the Sheriff and IT departments in the meeting. Adjournment. There being no further business to come before the Council at this time, Mayor Greenlaw declared the work session officially adjourned at 6:48 p.m. Tonya B. Lacey Tonya B. Lacey Clerk of Council City of Fredericksburg 6