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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 7.1 Library Food Beverage Study~~~~ Off' nU~~~ /ii ~ 111 L~~ - ~ ~~~ DATE: TO: FROM: SUBJECT STAFF REPORT CITY COUNCIL CITY CLERK File #220-20 May 15, 2012 Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers ~~ Joni Pattillo, City Manager ° ~' Dublin Library Food and Beverage Service Study Prepared by Paul McCreary, Parks and Community Services Director EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: One of the City Council's Key Initiatives for Fiscal Year 2011-2012 is to explore the feasibility of installation of a coffee /snack area at the Dublin Library through the initiation of a Library Building Program Update. The study has been completed and a conceptual plan has been prepared that provides an area for food and beverage service when the Library expansion area opens to the public in the future. FINANCIAL IMPACT: The cost of the improvements to open the expansion spaces for public use, estimated at $1.65 million, will be paid for by Public Facility Fees generated by new development. Adding an area for food and beverage service to the expansion space would add $179,000 to the total project budget, which would exceed the estimated Public Facility Fees that will be collected for the Library expansion. The added cost would need to be funded from the General Fund. This project is currently beyond the five-year timeframe of the current Capital Improvement Program as there is currently insufficient funding. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends the City Council receive the report and provide direction to Staff on whether to include a cafe with vending services in the future Library expansion project, and whether in the interim to secure a vendor to provide food and beverage service from aself-contained cart outside the Library. . ;~ Submitted B Reviewed By Director of Park~and Assistant City Manager Community Services Page 1 of 5 ITEM NO. 7.1 DESCRIPTION: One of the City Council's Key Initiatives for Fiscal Year 2011-2012 is to explore the feasibility of installation of a coffee /snack area at the Dublin Library through the initiation of a Library Building Program Update. As a result, a consultant services agreement with Page +Moris to test the Library Building Program Master Plan to determine the feasibility of adding food and beverage service at the Library was approved by the City Council in November 2011. The Study was equally funded by the City of Dublin and Alameda County Library. Page +Moris worked with a committee to complete the study, which was made up of Staff from the Parks and Community Services Department, Dublin Public Library and Alameda County Library System. The scope of the study included a review of the current facility space usage, as well as an investigation into the feasibility of incorporating an informal food concession within the facility. Background The original Building Program prepared in 2000 identified the space needs and other requirements of the new public library facility for the City of Dublin. The study summarized the space needs and provided a complete portrait of the new facility which was then used by the library architect in developing the final building design, layout and phasing plan. It was decided to build the entire building envelope of 37,000 square feet in the first phase to provide the total amount of space that would be needed at build-out of the City. However, only 30,000 square feet of interior space was finished off in the first phase and opened to the public in 2003. There are two areas in the existing building totaling 7,000 square feet that will be used to expand the library when the City gets closer to its build-out population. The original Building Program identified the program, spaces and amenities that would be included in the future expansion spaces. The Committee reviewed the Building Program in order to determine if adding a food and beverage component to the building could be accommodated without impacting or reducing other Library spaces that will be needed in the future. Now that the Dublin Public Library has been open for nine years, the Committee reviewed actual usage patterns since the 2003 opening to identify effective ways to use the expansion space built into the library design. Using space planning techniques, the study tested the feasibility of including a "cafe" service within the building plan. Additionally research was conducted on operating models used by other libraries in evaluating the feasibility of providing food or beverage service at the Dublin Public Library. Potential Space for Food and Beverage Service The Consultants reviewed a variety of areas within the existing Library area and expansion areas to determine feasible alternatives for locating food and beverage services. The criteria that were used to select the location included: • Improvements take advantage or existing building infrastructure to minimize costs • Ease of access to electric, water and sewer utilities • Access for a vendor to service the food/beverage area with minimal disruptions in the Library area • Adjacency to adult collection It was determined that the room in the larger expansion space that was planned to be a quiet study room would be the optimal location for the food and beverage service area. Page 2 of 5 This area is adjacent to the Library Staff Break Room, which has water and sewer connections, making it the location with the lowest cost for utility work. A door could be installed between the Break Room and Food/Beverage area to create a service entrance so the vendor could re-stock and service the concession without having to drag supplies and equipment through the main library area. This room is also adjacent to the area that is planned for a variety of attractive, mobile "merchandise display units" for comfortable browsing of books and media by adult patrons. The addition of an area for food/beverage service and cafe seating near this browsing area would create the feel of a Barnes and Noble, rather than locating the cafe near the more traditional "stacks" of the adult collection. The quiet study room that was planned for this space could be relocated to the current group study room. Anew enclosed space would need to be constructed in the existing Library space to support group study and collaboration. This space would be adjacent to the back window wall in the southwest corner of the existing Library space as shown on Attachment 1. Operational Model In addition to the space planning done by the Consultant, Staff conducted research on feasible operational models for food and beverage service at the Dublin Public Library. A survey was completed of Libraries that have food or beverage service to determine best practices. Staff also reviewed the market of each, reviewing the geographic location within the community and adjacent uses, as well as the circulation data to see how each compares with Dublin. One common theme that was observed was that none of the cafes are money making ventures to help offset Library costs; all are provided for the convenience of the public. A majority of the Libraries offer only pre-packaged foods as this simplifies the complexity of the operations and the skill level required for the cafe employees, and minimizes the capital outlay needed to install equipment necessary to meet restaurant requirements for preparing food onsite. The operational models varied slightly but most of the cafes were operated through a concession agreement with a private vendor, or through a partnership with a non-profit organization. One library operates its own cafe; however the employees at the branch indicate it takes too much time and the operations barely break even. Staff would not recommend this model in Dublin. Another option is to enter into a concession agreement with a private business. While the Dublin Public Library is a busy branch, Staff is concerned that, due to the location, there is not enough synergy in the area with adjacent businesses to create sufficient foot traffic to make a traditional cafe profitable for a private vendor to operate. There simply would not be enough profit in it for a business to set up a cafe and staff it during Library hours. A secondary option that may be more viable would be to partner with anon-profit organization in the area to operate the cafe. This is similar to the model used at the Castro Valley branch, which is a partnership with Alameda County and Aramark Food Services to offer job training for at risk youth. Staff checked with the County to determine if there would be interest in working with Dublin if a cafe is pursued by the City. At this time Alameda County does not foresee an opportunity to expand this service to Dublin. Additionally the employees at the Castro Valley Branch indicated the service has been somewhat problematic. They indicated that there needs to be good training for the youth workers. If the young people who are doing a poor job it reflects poorly on the Library. Since the Library doesn't supervise the employees it complicates the matter. Page 3 of 5 A third option would be to enter into a concession agreement with a vendor to stock and manage high quality, self-service, vending machines in the cafe area. This operational model would allow for the sale of hot and cold beverages, pre-packaged foods, as well as freshly prepared foods from local vendors that are pre-packaged for sale in a vending machine. Staff recommends this option as it minimizes operating and staffing costs for the vendor, increasing the viability for a vendor to sustain the cafe operations. Staff has found many alternatives for modern, aesthetically pleasing, vending machines that would complement the Library aesthetics and cafe experience. In addition to traditional vending machine options for snacks, sodas and waters, a machine could be installed to offer fresh sandwiches and salads prepared by local businesses. Staff would pursue an agreement with one of the many national coffee vendors that are providing high-end machines that brew a quality cup of coffee, and other specialty beverages. A machine could also be installed to provide unique iced drinks. Another advantage to starting with a vending option is it allows the City to determine the actual demand for food and beverage service before investing money in construction of afull-fledged cafe. If the cafe was not viable, those improvements would be thrown away and there would be an additional cost to retrofit the space for another use. Conversely, if after operating the vending machines it was determined that there was sufficient demand to open a cafe, then the vending area could more easily be converted for a full cafe operation. Capital Outlay and Ongoing Operational Costs The cost to open the expansion spaces for public use, which is estimated at $1.65 million, will be paid for by Public Facility Fees generated by new development. This Library expansion project is currently beyond the five-year timeframe of the current Capital Improvement Program as there is currently insufficient funding. Adding an area for food and beverage vending machines to the expansion space would add $179,000 to the total project budget, which would exceed the estimated Public Facility Fees that will be collected. This assumes the vending machines are provided by the concessionaire, and not purchased by the City. The added construction costs would need to be funded from an alternate funding source other than Public Facility Fees. Adding the vending machines would increase the annual utility costs. A refrigerated vending machine operates 24 hours, seven days per week. In addition to consuming 2,500 to 4,400 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy per year, vending machines add to cooling loads to the spaces they occupy. With average electricity costs of about $0.18/kWh, that amounts to $450 to $790 per year in operating costs not including increased cooling loads. Energy consumption and cost will vary depending on type and size of each vending machine. It also does not account for water and sewer costs for beverage preparation, which are difficult to estimate without knowing the demand for the service. It is estimated the Library cafe would include four vending machines, which would increase utility costs by approximately $1,800 to $3,160 per year. Atypical vending concession agreement would provide the City with a commission of 15% of gross sales. Therefore, in order for the City to provide the service in acost-neutral manner, the vendor would need to have gross sales of at least $12,000 to $21,100 annually. Otherwise the City would be subsidizing the service unless language was built into the concession agreement. Page 4 of 5 Summary As directed, Staff has prepared an analysis of the feasibility of locating and operating food and beverage service at the Dublin Public Library. Based on the study, the optimum location for the cafe area is in the area that was planned for a quiet study area in the large expansion space. Finishing this space off for use as a cafe would require the construction of a new quiet study space in the existing Library space, and increase the project costs by $179,000. This additional cost would need to be funded by a source other than Public Facility Fees. It is currently unknown when the expansion of the Library will occur as it is not in the five-year CIP and there is insufficient funding to move forward at this time. The Library has 30,300 square feet of space in use now which, based on current population projections, is sufficient to meet the needs of the City's population over the next five years. Staff is seeking direction from the City Council on whether or not to pursue the construction of a cafe with vending services when the expansion space is opened in the future,. If the City Council wishes to pursue food or beverage service prior to the opening of the expansion space, one alternative would be to find a vendor to provide food and/or beverages from aself-contained vending cart. There is not room in the existing Library or lobby spaces for such a cart; however one could be located outdoors at the entrance to the Library. If the City Council was favorable to this idea, Staff would prepare and circulate a Request for Proposals during Fiscal Year 2013 to determine if there is interest in providing this service on a seasonal basis. NOTICING REQUIREMENTS/PUBLIC OUTREACH: A copy of the Staff Report was distributed to Page + Moris and the Alameda County Librarian. ATTACHMENTS: 1. Conceptual Space Plan with Food and Beverage Service Page 5 of 5 D I I 0 0 0 0 I 0 I i I I I II I I I I I ! I I I I I - I ~ I DIIIIDlllmDIDI19DI III1 I B ; I B ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ i~ ~ ~ ~ < J II I I ! P hili ~ I I II II j o o o "'ll :... N (I) ~ "U "U ~ 3: iil i~ ~.~ m q ~ DUBLIN LIBRARY SPACE PLAN SCHEME 2 130__ t480 SIll FnncIooo, CA 84104 n41I1277.11lIlI P:41U77.flIIt