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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-27-1992 HCAC Partial Meeting Minutes Cm. Burton questioned how long it would actually be before we widen the street. Mr. Thompson responded that it could be 5 or 6 years. Cm. Burton felt that $5, 000 is a lot of money to move the berm, but the risk of a serious accident is great. It is a serious problem. On motion of Cm. Burton, seconded by Cm. Jeffery, and by unanimous vote, the Council adopted RESOLUTION NO. 52 - 92 AWARDING CONTRACT 92-04 TO EAST BAY EXCAVATING, INC. ($24,940.90) DUBLIN BOULEVARD/SILVERGATE DRIVE MODIFICATION and directed Staff to issue a change order to the contractor to extend the contract to include relocation of the asphalt berm at $5,400. HERITAGE CENTER REPORT (910-40) Recreation Director Lowart presented the Staff Report which gave a history of how this report was requested. Staff was directed to prepare an analysis of the fiscal impact to the City for acquiring, renovating and maintaining the Heritage Center properties. Ms. Lowart advised that the City Attorney determined the procedures which should be following if the City is to acquire the properties. The City would need to: 1) obtain an appraisal; 2) prepare a legal description; 3) prepare a purchase or transfer agreement; and 4) obtain a soils report. Costs were estimated at: Acquisition - $29,400 - $49, 100; Renovation - $257,440; Total one-time costs = $286, 840 - $306, 540. Maintenance & Operation costs were estimated annually at $46,470. With regard to acquisition, Ms. Lowart stated she thought information might be presented this evening identifying that costs could be lower. Ms. Lowart stated the City's Building Department inspected both the church and the school to determine the renovation necessary in order for the buildings to comply with current building, electrical and access codes and to identify those areas in need of repair. The Public Works Department inspected the grounds to determine the initial maintenance costs. Ms. Lowart reviewed the Staff Report which identified detailed information for the old St. Raymond's Church, the old Murray School and the Dublin Cemetery. In summary, Ms. Lowart advised that costs for maintenance and operation of the Heritage Center will vary according to how the buildings and grounds are utilized. The cost estimates do not provide for personnel costs associated with direct programming of historical ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ e ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ e ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ CM - VOL 11 - 169 Regular Meeting April 27, 1992 activities, conducting burials at the cemetery or for the costs associated with Staff support to a historical commission. The maintenance and operation costs could decrease if the City chooses to lease the buildings to a non-profit organization, and increase if the buildings and grounds receive greater use than is currently anticipated. Cm. Jeffery questioned if insurance costs were included. Ms. Lowart stated the property insurance costs would depend on the value placed on the property. Staff did not anticipate any increase in the City's liability coverage at this point. Cm. Moffatt commented that he thought these costs could be spread over a 10 year period so that they could be amortized. Rejuvenation could also take place over a period of time. Ms. Lowart indicated that the sooner the repairs are made, the sooner it will be accessible to the public. Mr. Ambrose reminded everyone that there are also certain Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements which apply to all public buildings. The City had a contractor come out and give us an estimate. Building Inspector White reiterated that the Building Department did not give any estimates, but rather contractors did. Cm. Jeffery clarified that the purpose of this discussion was for the Council to receive a report only and that no recommendation was made beyond receiving the report. Mr. Ambrose stated this was correct as this was the direction of the Council. Cm. Jeffery felt it was appropriate to keep in mind that this must go through the budget process. Mr. Ambrose stated there is extreme concern about the City's financial situation. Staff is concerned about committing to any new costs before it can look at the impacts on existing programs. If the Council proceeds, no final action can be taken until the City Council has reviewed the Budget and Capital Improvement Program this year. Cm. Burton stated we may be able to accomplish some of the costs through the Measure AA grant funds. Guy Houston advised that his background is in real estate development and he felt that some of the costs for acquisition might be cut down. The only property being sold is for $10,700. A second property is a leasehold interest and the third property, the cemetery, would be a gift to the City. It doesn't make sense to do an appraisal. He estimated that an appraisal for the church property would be about $2,500. He distributed information from Chicago Title Company which ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ CM - VOL 11 - 170 Regular Meeting April 27, 1992 • indicated they would charge $500 total for each of the 3 properties. It is not customary to get toxic reports on every piece of property, and he thought this could be dismissed altogether. Gordon Rasmussen, President of DCI felt that most of the costs were exaggerated. They have $1, 060 per year insurance costs and maintenance runs less than $2 , 000 per year. They are not trying to put something onto the City, but trying to make a gift. Staff's figures are disturbing. They know what it costs to take care of the cemetery because they have done it for over 100 years. You do not need a soils report for a cemetery. They do not plan to bring the cemetery out to the road, but rather to end it where it is now. Marie Cronin, President of DHPA, past president of LAVHS and member of the DCI stated the City was to be commended for its interest in pursuing possible acquisition of the Heritage Center. The Staff Report did a good job of covering the many phases, however, the cost breakdowns and financial statement needs major analysis. The costs listed in the report are ridiculous. To throw money away like this would be financially irresponsible. A lot of the more expensive things have already been done. Their annual budget for maintenance has been $1, 500 - $2 , 000. For the school, the insurance costs are about $1, 000. Soils reports are unneeded. She has been involved in the Heritage Center since the late 1950's. Staff's report is riddled with about $200, 000 of overcosts. She recommended that the City Council approve the concept of acquisition of the Heritage Center for Dublin's 10 year anniversary. Val Hatheway stated everyone had talked about the costs, but no one talks about the value. You can't replace an original item. Year by year, deterioration has taken place and items, one by one, disappear. If the historical value means anything to the people, now is the time to act. People need to think of the value. Dorothy Maddox stated she had been a teacher for over 20 years. One of the best ways for children to learn is to learn about the history of their community. She has taken her classes there year after year. Tom McCormick, 7170 Emerald Avenue, Vice President of DHPA thanked the City Council for bringing this project this far. It is essential to support preservation and we need to move forward with this. He has experience in preparing budgets and has major budget responsibilities and stated he felt the report is grossly exaggerated. He had never seen such estimates in his whole life. The budget needs to be completely reworked. People in the community who have budget experience could help out. He found it unbelievable that no revenue was included in the budget. He is constantly being asked by people who want to use the church for weddings. Some realistic figures, plus revenue could give the City something they could live with. This budget is a disgrace. It's time to approve acquisition of the properties. Cm. Jeffery questioned the fact that revenue could support the facility. e e ® ® ® ® ® ® ■ • • ® • • • ® e s ® e • e ® ■ e • e ® o e ® CM - VOL 11 - 171 Regular Meeting April 27, 1992 Mr. McCormick clarified that he did not say that revenue could support the total program, but it could help. Zev Kahn stated he found problems with the proposal from Staff. He felt what could facilitate this whole thing would be to bring all the groups together. When you recommend code compliance and areas of concern, you need to identify this. A lot of the issues are not code issues. The City could coordinate all the items. Corporations could help. He agreed that we are financially strapped and it will take some innovative thought to make this work. Everyone could benefit from this and there would be pride that the community could do some of the work. A lot of the items seem to be cleanliness items rather than code. A lot of the work could be done on a volunteer basis and a task force could deal with a lot of this. Pete Hegarty stated he has been involved as past president of DHPA. The Heritage Center is a very rich resource to the community. They also have 1 1/2 acres on the other side of the creek, which does have value and does have use. He highly recommended that the City go forward with this. There has always been a dispute over who donated the property and has always been a fly in the ointment. Unless we act, we are going to lose this. Putting a plaque here and there is not the same. The community will supply a lot of what is needed. Luke Seeger, on the Board of DCI, requested that the City Council take time and sit down and get estimates. There are people and companies in this community who care. Fund raisers could be held. Large corporations such as Hexcel bend over backwards to help restore the damaged headstones. If people knew what was going on, they might be willing to jump in and help to take some of the burden off our shoulders. Mayor Snyder advised that this will be discussed at some length at budget time. If someone knows a better source for obtaining estimates they can come forward. He stated he took umbridge with criticism of Staff's report. It is not Staff's place to make decisions regarding such things as volunteers. Cm. Jeffery stated the issue is not support or non support at all. There is not a person on the City Council who does not support this, but rather differences are how it should be done. She was interested in looking at the best way to do it. Cm. Burton thanked everyone for coming. On motion of Cm. Burton, seconded by Cm. Howard, and by majority vote, the Council referred the budget and acqusition papers to the already established task force to prepare documents prior to budget time and to clarify some of the figures with the understanding that the task force is to pursue acquisition. The task force was instructed to prepare purchase agreements, clarify the budget and make a presentation to the Park & Recreation Commission. Cm. Jeffery and Mayor Snyder voted against this motion. ■ ® s IS ® • e v ■ IN o ® o u e • ■ o • • ■ e ® ® ® ® ® • IN • NI ® • CM - VOL 11 - 172 Regular Meeting April 27, 1992 Cm. Jeffery stated she felt this action was inappropriate at this time. Anything that is going into the budget needs to be considered all together. TEN YEAR CITYHOOD CELEBRATION (950-40) Recreation Director Lowart presented the Staff Report related to plans for the July 4th Family Picnic, one component of the Ten-Year Cityhood Celebration. The event would be scheduled at the Dublin Sports Grounds on Saturday, July 4th and would be from 12 : 00 noon to 4 : 00 p.m. Activities would include games, contests, entertainment and a barbecue lunch to be prepared by "celebrity chefs". The preliminary budget is $7, 500; with $2, 000 to be expended during the current Fiscal Year and the remaining $5, 500 to be included in the 1992-93 budget. Ms. Lowart advised that the planning committee also looked at the possibility of having an evening event with a laser light show. Cm. Moffatt asked if the activity could be scaled down to fit the budget. - Ms. Lowart stated she would need to know exactly what this meant. Cm. Howard pointed out that the money is already budgeted. Mayor Snyder stated if you don't use the money in the designated fiscal year, it goes back into the General Fund. Cm. Burton stated he thought it would be a lot worse if it failed to be a successful event. We are on a conservative budget right now. He liked the idea of a celebration, but we have already spent $14 , 000. Cm. Howard stated she felt that most people go out of town at that time. Cm. Moffatt stated he hoped this wouldn't interfere with the tree lighting ceremony in December. Mayor Snyder stated there was no need to spend time working on this if it isn't supported by a majority, which it doesn't appear to be. Cm. Howard didn't feel there was enough time left to plan this event. Cm. Burton suggested that this celebration be dropped, but Staff could come back with something more modest. On motion of Cm. Burton, seconded by Cm. Moffatt, and by majority vote, the Council cancelled the 4th of July community picnic event. Cm. Jeffery voted against this motion. * * * * E • • • • s • • ■ s • ® • e • • w • e • s M E N E M II • o ■ • • ■ • CM - VOL 11 - 173 Regular Meeting April 27, 1992