RES 77211 - Laserfiche WebLink

Construction of New Council Chambers. The existing Council Chamber and City Attorney's office are leased at a current annual cost of $14,800. Construction of a new Council Chamber on the Civic Center site and the addition to City Hall mentioned in c above would avoid these lease payments. A new and larger facility would also be available for use by the community and would help satisfy those space needs. 4. The City's current and future financial capability is a very important consideration-and is addressed more specifically later in this report. The impact of implementation of the Civic Center concept on the community is an important consideration. While it is difficult to do more than speculate in this regard, a fully developed Civic Center may serve as an "anchor" for the downtown area and hold and attract business and commer- cial development to the area. A final major consideration is determining the future use of any existing facilities vacated. In the case of Fire Station ~¢o and the Council Chamber and City Attorney's office, this is not a significant considera- tion. Construction of a new Police Building and the resulting vacation of the existing facility is a valid consideration. If the existing building were vacated it should never-the-less be preserved due to its historical significance. The building could be secured and grounds main- tained while appropriate uses were considered. In addition to these major considerations there may well be others of equal importance not the least of which might be appearance or the intangible re- action to public building projects. Other considerations will no doubt be identified in our discussion of this subject. A Complete Building Program The building needs that are the subject of your review and this report are all necessary and can be Justified. It may be possible financially to schedule implementation of all building needs for this year; whether or not that occurs is obvieusly open to question and must be considered in light of other City needs and the level of the tax rate for 1977-78. This section of the report outlines the general impact of meeting all building needs, or at least initiating action, during the current fiscal year. By out- lining a total and complete building program any variations can be easily de- rived from that base. Prior to describing a complete building, one important factor should be pointed out; the cost estimates are very general and probably come within the range of "guesstimates". With regard to a new Police Building, we have not progressed beyond the realization that a new facility is necessary, the exact size and configuration must be determined at the appropriate time.