City Council Worksession

South St. Paul JOINT WORKSESSION COUNCIL & EDA SSP City Hall 125 3rd Avenue North Training room Monday, March 11, 2019 7:00 p.m. AGENDA: 1. Update on Clean-Up Day (no attachments) 2. Lifetime Animal Licenses 3. EDA Meeting Times (no attachments) 4. Hardman Triangle Update (no attachments) 5. City Hall Space Repurposing 6. Wentworth Sidewalk Bid Discussion 7. 3rd Avenue Sidewalk Replacement Update 8. National League of Cities Service Line Program 9. Flood Preparation activities (no attachments) 10. 2019 Goal Setting Update 11. Council Comments/Questions A COUNCIL WORKSESSION REPORT DATE: March 11, 2019 5 DEPARTMENT: ADMINISTRATION ADMINISTRATOR: JRH AGENDA ITEM: City Hall Repurposing Options DESIRED MEETING OUTCOMES: Discuss and provide direction regarding retention of an architect to evaluate repurposing options for City Hall to address Police Department space needs, creation of a “one-stop” customer service area on the first floor, renovation of the former HRA office area to accommodate office relocations associated with the first floor project, and possible revisions to conference room and break room layouts OVERVIEW: In a May of 2018 memo prepared by former City Administrator Steve King, a number of the repurposing options were discussed. One addition to those options is the availability of the current License Center space that will occur when they move to their new facility on Southview Boulevard. This area has been discussed for re-use by the Police Department to eliminate current over-crowded work areas. Here is the bulk of Mr. King’s previous memo: Permission for Staff to continue exploring the possible relocation or repurposing of offices and functions within City Hall. It has been well over a decade since the major modernization and remodeling of the City Hall, which came in at a cost of just under $10 million. Other than a few specific targeted projects, there had been no major modifications until the remodeling of the second floor Engineering/City Clerk/Code Enforcement/Licensing area, which was completed about two years ago. Staff believes the time is right for reviewing whether additional modifications might be in order. The purpose of this agenda item is not to recommend a specific menu of changes but instead, to seek Council support for a systematic review of space use needs and opportunities in City Hall. The study could then lead to plans for a mix of relocation, repurposing, and remodeling. The current action step requested of the Council would be to support the search for and retention of contracted services to conduct a space analysis and possible strategies for utilizing opportunities in City Hall that would respond to the space needs. The balance of this memo is a list of factors that seem to converge into a timely opportunity for considering and addressing space needs. They are offered as initial 'food for thought' and no claim is made that they constitute a complete or even polished compilation.  'One stop' counter service. The remodeled City Hall included four separate counters for customer service - Police; Utilities/Finance; Engineering/City Clerk/Licensing /Code Enforcement; and HRA/Planning. There is a growing Staff consensus that a consolidation of some of those functions at an expanded main floor counter would make sense. The notion is that this counter would provide the customer services provided to walk in traffic of various types. A consolidated service counter could better maximize staffing availability and backup support. It could also reduce the need for adding staff for service counter needs. Execution of this concept could include moving the City Clerk and her subordinate employees/functions to the main floor. It could also involve moving the City Administrator, Assistant City Administrator/Human Resources Director, the Finance Director, and the Assistant Finance Director up to the former HRA wing. IT functions could also be relocated to the second floor. A key rationale for these moves to the second floor is that these functions do not generate large volumes of walk-in customers. A one-stop counter area could also be designed to accommodate the early voting crowds that apparently will remain an element of the election process. The second floor HRA space was arguably built with an abundance of space for lobby and front counter purpose. Remodeling would help yield more efficient space for office and other purposes. The transfer of Housing programs to the CDA and concurrent reduction of City Staff has also produced additional space that could be repurposed to meet other City space needs. (Note: CommonBond’s management of the high rise complexes has further reduced personnel in the former HRA area.) A move of the Finance management staff to the second floor, the existence of unused receptionist space adjacent to the current Finance managers' offices and the creation of an expanded one-stop service counter may present an opportunity to rework the small administrative meeting room adjacent to the main floor lobby and could also enable reconnection to the Training Room. One other option that could be consider as part of this effort or independently is revisions to the City Hall parking lot. With the relocation of the License Center, the demand for parking will be reduced. The current lot configuration is less than ideal with spaces too narrow and not long enough to accommodate many vehicles. Widening the spaces and elimination of one of the middle parking rows should resolve these issues in addition to making it easier to navigate through the lot. Our City Engineer should be able to estimate the costs of changes needed to address current conditions. The space needs of the Police Department are already at hand. Having a one-stop counter available for the 2020 Elections would be more efficient for staff in addition to being more convenient for voters. There is a sense of urgency from the Elections standpoint given impacts will start in March of 2020 with the Super Tuesday primary. Therefore, staff is recommending we retain an architect to help us with the initial evaluation including cost estimates that will enable us to better evaluate our options. SOURCE OF FUNDS: $30,000 was included in the CIP Budget for Consultant Services for this purpose. A COUNCIL WORKSESSION REPORT DATE: March 11, 2019 6 DEPARTMENT: Engineering ADMINISTRATOR: JRH AGENDA ITEM: Wentworth Sidewalk Bids Discussion ACTION TO BE CONSIDERED: Information only: for input and discussion OVERVIEW: On January 22, 2019, the City Council ordered in the Wentworth Sidewalk Improvements and bids were opened on February 28, 2019. The results were as follows: Contractor: Base Bid McNamara Contracting $ 636,275.00 Pember Companies, Inc. $ 692,385.90 GL Contracting Inc. $ 789,909.70 Urban Companies $ 790,804.00 The Engineer's OPC at the time of bidding was $476,641.25. Staff has reviewed and tabulated the bid proposals and the lowest responsible bidder is McNamara Contracting in the amount of $636,275.00. After review of the bid results, several factors have been identified that contributed to the difference between the low bid and the engineer’s Opinion of Probable Cost (OPC) as prepared by Kimley-Horn. The engineer’s OPC was developed using comparable unit prices based on recent bid results from similar projects; however the low bid unit prices for common excavation, modular block retaining wall, and concrete walk were more than anticipated which could be a result of the project’s proximity to residential properties and inefficient nature of expected construction. In addition, it also appears that bid prices in the area have generally been trending higher than expected based on recently received results from projects within Dakota County. The project did receive four competitive bids that were within a reasonable spread that could be expected on this type of project. The table below highlights the major cost differences between the low base bid results and the engineer’s OPC. Bid Item Cost Difference Mobilization $19,000 Common Excavation $42,560 Modular Block Retaining Wall $44,000 Concrete Walk $22,860 Total $128,420 Other factors to be considered in the determination to move forward with the project is the availability of federal funds for reimbursement and the temporary construction easements that have been obtained for the project. The current temporary easements expire in October of 2019 so a delay in construction will require that the easement term be extended, likely at some additional cost to the project. While the federal funds were originally programed for reimbursement to the Council Worksession Report – Wentworth Sidewalk Bid Discussion March 11, 2019 Page 2 of 2 City in 2020, the City has requested those funds be advanced to 2019. At this time, MnDOT is indicating that they would be available in 2019. SOURCE OF FUNDS: The funding for this project will be a combination of federal funds, Dakota County funds, and City CIP funds. The federal funds for the project are capped at $287,200, the remainder of the project costs are split between Dakota County (55%) and South St. Paul (45%). The City’s 2019 budget included Capital Improvement Funds of $97,550 for the completion of the Wentworth Sidewalk project. Based on the low bid and an estimate of the construction administration costs for delivering the project, we estimate the City’s share of the cost will be $188,600. The City does have CIP funds available to cover the overage, but that is a negative impact to the fund. A COUNCIL WORKSESSION REPORT DATE: March 11, 2019 7 DEPARTMENT: Engineering ADMINISTRATOR: JRH AGENDA ITEM: 3rd Avenue Sidewalk Replacement Update ACTION TO BE CONSIDERED: Information only: for input and discussion OVERVIEW: In 2018, the City prepared a plan for the replacement of the paver sidewalk areas along 3rd Avenue and Grand Avenue between Marie Avenue and Concord Exchange due to deterioration, settlement, and general unevenness of the surface for pedestrian use. A Joint Powers Agreement was also executed with the County for sharing of the project costs. The replacement work was unable to be completed in 2018, but temporary bituminous patching and leveling was done as a temporary fix to address the uneven conditions. The County recently approached the City regarding their intent to complete a mill and overlay project on this section of roadway in 2019. Part of that project would include upgrading the pedestrian ramps to meet current ADA requirements. When they approached the City regarding their plan, we indicated that we would like to add the replacement of the paver sidewalk areas to the project as well. Staff has completed the necessary plan sheets for the work and will be providing them to Dakota County to be included in their project. The County also inquired about the colored concrete crossings that currently exist at City Hall, 2nd Street N., and Grand Avenue. These colored crossing were likely installed to designate pedestrian crossing areas, however we feel this could be done just as effectively with striping. The concrete crossings are in various degrees of deterioration with some requiring full replacement at this time. Due to the project proposed we would recommend that all the concrete crossings within the project area be removed and replaced with bituminous at this time and the crossing areas be designated by striping. Before proceeding, we would like Council input on that matter. SOURCE OF FUNDS: The latest project estimate for the sidewalk work is $200,000. The City’s 2019-2023 CIP includes Capital Program Funds of $90,000 for the sidewalk replacement along 3rd and Grand and the existing JPA outlines a cost split of County (55%) and City (45% or $90,000 based on the current estimate) would be applied to the sidewalk work.