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PRIORITY ISSUE: Conclude Discussion on City Hall Complex <br />Contact: Jim Carlson, Executive Director, Central Services, 682-5336 <br />Mike Penwell, Staff Lead, 682-5547 <br />Reporting period: October -December 2005 <br />Completed in 1964, the existing City Hall building is nearing the end of its useful life without major <br />capital reinvestment. In addition to being expensive to operate and maintain, the building is <br />functionally inadequate-especially for Municipal Courts and Police-while structural deficiencies <br />leave the building vulnerable to catastrophic damage from an earthquake. At the same time, various <br />City functions once housed in City Hall are now operating out of a variety of City-owned and leased <br />space downtown. Resolution of this priority issue will need to address such policy-level questions as <br />whether City Hall should be renovated or replaced, what level of City service consolidation should be <br />planned for, and how any desired improvements should be financed. <br />OUTCOMES <br />Resolve the outstanding issues related to the future of City Hall so the use of capital <br />resources can be targeted effectively. <br />Build consensus within the community regarding the City Hall Complex. <br />• Identify and approve financing for design and construction of the first phase of the City Hall <br />Complex Implementation Plan. <br />PROGRESS SINCE LAST REPORT <br />On October 19, 2005, a consultant team led by Thomas Hacker Architects facilitated a council <br />workshop for the purpose of identifying and providing direction on policy issues relevant to the City <br />Hall Complex. Based on pre-workshop interviews with the Mayor and councilors, six project values <br />were presented by the consultant team; three additional project values were proposed by elected <br />officials during the workshop. In addition, eight key issues and five sub-issues emerged from pre- <br />workshop interviews with the Mayor and councilors, and were presented during the workshop. <br />On November 23, 2005, nine project values were adopted by the City Council to serve as a basis for <br />future decision making. In addition, position statements on the four issues with the highest degree of <br />consensus were adopted by the council during the work session. <br />At the December 14, 2005, work session, the City Council directed the City Manager to proceed with <br />Phase 2-the Development Plan Phase-of the City Hall Complex Action Plan for $1,135,000. This <br />phase includes the technical work and public input required to generate an overall development plan <br />for the City Hall Complex action plan. This phase will also resolve the remaining policy issues from <br />Phase 1 and result in a concept plan for the City Hall Complex. <br />CHALLENGES <br />The sub-issues within this priority issue are numerous and highly interrelated, making resolution <br />complicated and time-consuming. Also, both the technical work needed for informed decision <br />making and the public involvement desired for consensus-building is likely to be time-consuming and <br />expensive. Finally, it will be a challenge to adhere to the aggressive schedule identified for resolution <br />of this priority issue. However, timely decision making is needed in order to avoid making expensive <br />-3- <br />