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1-14-13 Commission Workshop MINUTES OF THE WORKSHOP OF ATLANTIC BEACH CITY COMMISSION HELD IN THE COMMISSION CHAMBER ON JANUARY 14,2013 AT 4:30 PM City Commission Members present: Mike Borno, Mayor Maria Mark, Mayor Pro Tem Mark Beckenbach, Commissioner Jonathan Daugherty, Commissioner Carolyn Woods, Commissioner Staff present: Jim Hanson, City Manager Michael Classey, Chief of Police Donna Bartle, City Clerk Nancy Bailey, Recording Secretary The meeting, which was held for the purpose of discussing the police building project, including coming to a consensus on the problem to be solved, the major issues and options to solve the problem as well as to discuss the next steps to take, was called to order at 4:35 p.m. by Mayor Borno. Mayor Borno gave the history to date on the issues of the police building. Commissioner Daugherty stated he believes they are all in agreement that the building should not be put on the other side of the creek and that the budget initially proposed is too high. He stated they need to decide whether they want holding cells and what level of services they want for the police department. The Commissioners were all in agreement that there is a problem. Commissioner Mark asked if this Commission is committed to fmd a solution stating, if not, they should not spend any more time or resources on this issue and should let the next Commission address it. Mayor Borno stated their decision is to decide whether to move forward, not to design the whole concept. Commissioner Mark agreed stating they should leave the design up to the experts under the parameters that the Commission feels comfortable and can agree upon within which to work. Commissioner Woods stated they need to come up with a process that needs to be followed that is reasonable and rational and if they don't get to the end product before this Commission changes over, the process is then placed with the next Commission for follow through. She referred to the International Association of Chiefs of Police's Police Facility Planning Guidelines which she believes they should start with. City Manager Jim Hanson stated the next point is to get the major issues listed and they can then start talking about the process. Discussion ensued. Commissioner Beckenbach stated he agrees there should be more space but what he has heard is that the public does not agree with that 14,000 s.f. building that was to go on the west side of the creek. He stated the police have told them what their needs, desires and wants are and now there is a video out that the citizens can watch. He stated they can all agree that there is a certain need Minutes—City Commission Workshop January 14,2012 Page 2 and asked if it is possible that they can narrow it down to moving it over to Mayport Road or renovating this building. Commissioner Woods stated she would like a consensus that they are going to follow this procedure or some other procedure and suggested having a committee of stakeholders with a charge that does not restrain them in their process. Commissioner Daugherty stated we are an elected committee and we have been charged with a job and we should do our job. He stated he believes passing this off to committee again would be a mistake. He stated the citizen input has been done. He stated they should come to an agreement as to what the problem is, decide what levels of service they want and then work together to find a solution. He suggested a three-step phase expansion of the building, which he believes could be done at a reasonably low cost. Mr. Hanson addressed the renovation issues, stating based on the most recent flood determinations the floor elevation is over a foot too low for an emergency facility in Atlantic Beach. He stated they can do some minor additions and interior renovations. He stated the point Building Official Mike Griffin made was that when you start to do a lot of additions and renovations to the building, you trip some Federal regulations and floodplain regulations that say they have to raise the floor elevation. He stated some people have suggested we do a little renovation now and a little later so we can basically get around those regulations. He stated that is the wrong thing to do. He stated we are in charge of trying to make people live up to flood regulations; what kind of example would we be setting if we tried to play a game so we don't have to meet those regulations. He agreed with Commissioner Daugherty that it makes sense to determine what service levels they think we should have and then determine whether they can have those service levels provided in this building. He stated before they start investing money they should determine whether this building is going to serve our purposes or not. He stated they may want to bring in an outside independent architect to assess how far they can go realistically in terms of remodeling while the police department is in this building. He stated if they have to be moved out while it is being remodeled, that is incurring a tremendous cost that might be better invested somewhere else. He stated they don't need to micromanage or design the building themselves but they should look at the service levels and decide if they want a lower service level for our police department. Commissioner Woods asked if they have the option of inviting an array of different architectural firms to come in and assess the situation and give us their ideas so they have more than one option to pick from. Mr. Hanson stated he did not believe they would get a tremendous amount of work out of architects who are not being paid to do it; they would get some proposals. Commissioner Mark stated before they ask anyone to come in, they should decide on the location, i.e. whether Mayport Road is a feasible option. Discussion ensued on the feasibility of a Mayport Road location versus renovating the existing building. Mayor Borno asked whether they want to consider Mayport Road or renovating the existing building as priority one. It was the consensus of the Commission to consider Mayport Road. Mr. Hanson stated they could bring in an outside totally independent architect, but one that has been involved in major renovations of existing commercial, industrial properties, who could tell Minutes—City Commission Workshop January 14,2012 Page 3 us about the pros and cons of renovating and expanding this building, given the State and Federal regulations and the size we are trying to get it to. He stated they could even tell that architect they are not going to design the ultimate building so they would have no incentive to lean it in one direction or another. He stated if they want to do that, it could be a viable wake-up call to say here's what we are really looking at long-term. Commissioner Woods stated they had the architect who designed this building volunteer to do exactly that. They called Melody Bishop to the podium. Melody Bishop, who worked with the company who did the original design, stated what she said was it made sense to do a quick workshop to look at the plans and study them, if they had the plans. She stated, related to the earlier comment that was made, they couldn't put it out and just ask someone to give them a bunch of designs for that; it would be difficult unless they were going to do it as a competition and everybody got a stipend and then they would get some neat designs. She stated they could also couple the design build concept with the contractor because they would be absorbing the cost. She stated she believes a workshop would be best so they could look at the plans and the various options that would help them decide if they are going to expand and bring it up to FEMA Codes, etc. Mayor Borno asked if the original designs could be requested from the firm she worked for. She volunteered to call Gee and Jensen in Palm Beach to see if they have the plans. Mayor Borno stated he would get with her during the break and give her the City Manager's number so they can coordinate this. Mayor Borno stated they all agreed to look at Mayport Road and asked if they want to make that the first priority or do they want to evaluate the current building and make a decision about it and consider the second thing Mayport Road. It was the consensus of the Commission to determine the viability of renovating the existing building to meet code, as a first priority. They agreed to get the original plans and have a workshop to discuss. Melody Bishop explained that if what they want to do is to determine whether they can expand the building, they will need to discuss the ramifications and what would they do, what would it cost, how will people be phased, etc. She stated she will need the original structural drawings for the workshop. Mr. Hanson stated they need to get the plans and then tell Ms. Bishop what the needs are, have her look them over and then sit down and talk about whether they can do this and what kind of money they are talking about. Ms. Bishop stated she would be happy to do this to a certain point, as far as she can logically. Mayor Borno opened the Courtesy of the Floor to Visitors. Art Corsano, 2314 Ocean Walk Drive W., member of the police building committee, stated there are basically two options. He stated the committee recommended having another appraisal of the building done because that kicks in the Codes of how much renovation versus elevating the building. He stated he believes elevating the building is an impossible start and is economically unfeasible. He stated rather than building up they could expand in the area between the current building and the chamber building, up to 4,900 s.f. He stated building up on that building can also become cost prohibitive. He further discussed the option of Mayport Road. Minutes—City Commission Workshop January 14,2012 Page 4 Lou Keith, 1845 Tierra Verde Drive, suggested having two locations, one for administration and one for patrol and ACOs. Mark Tomaski, 448 Snapping Turtle Court West, stated he believes doing this in a stepwise fashion is wonderful, you eliminate one piece next door and then move forward to Mayport Road. He also stated he likes the workshops. No one else from the audience spoke so Mayor Borno closed the Courtesy of the Floor to visitors. There being no further discussion by the City Commission, Mayor Borno declared the meeting adjourned at 6:00 p.m. &L. /6,1A-44,0 Mike Borno Mayor Qs7'G'yt,CLr (srdaAtee, Donna L. Bartle, CMC City Clerk