1986-06-26 Special Council mtg minutes City Hall studyPAGE NO.
JUNE 26, 1986
CITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS
DAKOTA COUNTY, MINNESOTA
Minutes of the Special Meeting
Held Thursday, June 26, 1986
Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the special meeting
of the City Council, City of Mendota Heights, was held at
7:30 o'clock P.M. at City Hall, 750 South Plaza Drive,
Mendota Heights, Minnesota.
Mayor Lockwood called the special meeting to order at 7:38
P.M. The following members were present: Mayor Lockwood,
Councilmembers Blesener, Hartmann, and Witt. Councilmember
Cummins was out of town. City Hall Committee members present
included Jerry Morson, Fred Fischer, Lou Brenner, Chair Stan
Gustafson, Dave Zemke, Sharon Koll, and Evelyn Fischer.
Also present were City Administrator Kevin Frazell, Treasurer
Larry Shaughnessy, architects Bob Pierce and Dave Kelly.
Committee Chair Stan Gustafson began by commenting on the
excellent cooperation the committee had received from the
City staff and the architects.
Architect Bob Pierce gave a brief update on the proceedings
of the Committee and the City Hall study. He indicated that
the original staff-generated program was for 22,000 square
feet, but that staff, architects, and the committee had pared
that down to about 18,800 square feet.
As to site selection, Pierce commented that the committee had
originally considered six sites, then through a rating
system, narrowed it down to three, and had finally chosen the
Civic Center site at the northwest corner of TH110 and
Lexington Avenue.
Mr. Pierce also presented the concepts for locating a City
Hall on the west, north, and east portions of the Civic
Center site, along with the advantages and disadvantages of
each.
Architect Dave Kelly commented that in choosing the eastern
portion of the site, it was the intent to orient the building
toward the 110/Lexington intersection. He pointed out how
the Police Department on the lower level has access directly
off Lexington, and that the Police Department attaches
through a series of doors to the main lobby of the rest of
the City Hall.
PAGE NO .
JUNE 26, 1986
Mr. Kelly then presented a brief description of the internal
proposed layout, and concluded by saying that the
professional estimate of cost for construction is $1,394,000,
or about $74.00 per square foot. He added that approximately
$5.00 per square foot of this cost can be attributed to the
expectation that there are bad soil conditions that will have
to be corrected.
Architect Pierce said that the committee had considered the
feasibility of continuing to lease office space versus
building, but ultimately chose the construction option based
on cost considerations, and the ability to tailor space to
City needs.
Mayor Lockwood asked if the 17 years until which time the
City Hall would be less expensive than renting was not a long
waiting time. Committee member Morson responded that he did
not really think so. Stan Gustafson added all of the costing
included operations expense, and that if that were left out,
ownership would look better much sooner than 17 years. He
added that after 20 years the ownership option is much less
expensive. Treasurer Larry Shaughnessy also noted that the
City Hall proposed features that the City could never obtain
in rented space.
Commission member Evelyn Fischer commented that the Police
Department's space is very inefficient, and that there is
probably nothing that could be done to the existing space
that would satisfy the needs.
Mayor Lockwood asked why it was necessary to build
approximately 19,000 square foot right away, versus starting
with a smaller building and expanding later. Committee Chair
Gustafson responded that the City has about half as much
space as it needs right now, and that the City Hall as
proposed includes only about 13,261 square feet of net usable
space.
Councilmember Blesener observed that the proposed space is
all filled up now, and questioned whether there might not be
a need to allow expansion room. Mr. Gustafson responded that
the short wing of the building can be extended, and that the
committee had felt that City operations were not likely to
grow substantially even 20 years into the future. Mayor
Lockwood said that he would feel comfortable with this plan
only if the architects could assure us that it would be
possible to expand in the future without unusual expense.
PAGE NO. r? S
JUNE 26, 1986
Mayor Lockwood said that before letting contracts to an
architect to design a building, he would want to spend a good
deal of time looking at other public buildings around the
Twin Cities. Councilmember Blesener agreed that she would
like to have a look at a number of exterior possibilities.
Chair Gustafson said that he had talked about the City Hall
to approximately 50 people, and had not received one single
negative comment. Rather, he observed that people seemed to
think construction of a City Hall made good sense.
Treasurer Shaughnessy presented his proposal whereby the City
Hall could be financed without a bond referendum through a
leasing arrangement. He added that the way this lease would
be structured, the City would have the option to buy the
building for $1.00 at the end of the lease period. Evelyn
Fischer said that she thought the lack of need for a bond
referendum was a real selling point. Mayor Lockwood agreed
that a referendum has a lot of worry and cost associated with
it that could be avoided by the lease arrangement.
Commission member Sharon Koll said that originally she had
talked to people who felt negatively about the need for a
City Hall, and so she had decided to join the committee.
However, after visiting other city offices and viewing the
current inadequacy of Mendota Heights office space, as well
as the financing implications for owning versus leasing, she
too had become in favor of constructing a City Hall.
Mayor Lockwood asked Chair Gustafson if he would put together
some of his positive comments in a way that they could be
used by the City for public information purposes.
It was agreed by Council that they should begin to let the
citizens know at the ensuing Council meetings that they are
strongly looking at implementing the recommendation of the
Committee to build as soon as possible.
Councilmember Hartmann moved to adjourn the meeting.
Councilmember Witt seconded the motion.
AYES: 4
NAYS: 0
TIME OF ADJOURNMENT: 9:38 o'clock P.M.
ATTEST:
Robert G. Lockwood,Mayor
Kevin D. Frazell, City Administrator