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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/21/2015 Work SessionCity of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY SEPTEMBER 21, 2015 The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday September 21, 2015 at 6:00 p.m., with Mayor Lundberg presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Lundberg and Councilors Wylie, Moore, Ralston, Woodrow and Pishioneri. Also present were City Manager Gino Grimaldi, Assistant City Manager Jeff Towery, City Attorney Mary Bridget Smith, City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff. Councilor VanGordon was absent (excused). 1. City Hall Seismic Study and Retrofit Recommendations. Jeff Paschall, Civil Engineer, and Ken Vogeney, City Engineer, presented the staff report on this item. Springfield -City Hall is at, risk of significant, structural damage in the event of an earthquake that produces moderate to severe shaking at City Hall. Staff has prepared recommendations to incrementally retrofit City Hall to reduce this risk over time. In December 2014, the City contracted with Hohbach-Lewin Inc., Structural Engineers, of Eugene, to perform a structural seismic evaluation of the existing Springfield City Hall building for the purpose of determining structural sufficiency and occupant safety in a seismic event. The evaluation concluded that an earthquake that produces moderate to severe shaking at City Hall will likely cause significant structural damage, thereby rendering the building unusable. In addition, the existing building could experience structural collapse throughout from an earthquake that produces very strong to severe shaking at City Hall. Based upon their conclusions, Hohbach-Lewin, Inc. prepared a set of recommended structural seismic retrofit actions that the City could take to improve City Hall's seismic performance. When these recommendations are fully implemented, the building should experience minimal structural damage from an earthquake that produces moderate shaking at City Hall. However, an earthquake that produces very strong to severe shaking at City Hall will still cause significant structural damage, but the building should not catastrophically collapse. Staff has developed a proposal for implementing the recommended structural seismic retrofits. Some of the recommended retrofits can be accomplished with little disruption to the normal business functions at City Hall. Others will probably require relocating the staff and equipment from part of the building into other locations to accommodate the construction activity, and then moved back again when construction is completed. Staff's proposal includes implementing the recommended retrofits beginning in the current fiscal year and completing them over time as funds become available. Hohbach-Lewin, Inc. included construction cost estimates for their recommended structural seismic retrofits for a total estimated cost of $1,000,000. However, these costs do not include all of the other City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes September 21, 2415 Page 2 work that would be necessary to implement these recommendations, such as repairing walls or installing a new roof membrane or relocating staff and equipment during the construction. Staff estimates that these additional costs will probably exceed $1,000,400, although additional study and design are needed to prepare a complete scope of work and cost estimate. It is important to note that the structural seismic evaluation included the basic building structure only. The evaluation did not consider all of the non-structural components such as furnishings; interior non- structural walls; building utilities such as water, electrical, technology/network equipment, heating and ventilating equipment, etc.; that are necessary to occupy and conduct business from City Hall. Mr. Paschall displayed diagrams showing some of the structural enhancements inside and below City Hall. He noted some of the easier fixes in the proposal and how some could be tied in with other scheduled maintenance projects. Staff recommended going forward with the design for retrofits. The final phase would be the long range facility upgrade and financing plan. Councilor Pishioneri referred to the hazard level in the displayed chart and asked if they could relate a type of event that would cause the building to collapse. He asked about history of such events in this area. Staff responded that an event such as the Cascadia Subduction that occurred in the 1700's was in this location and would have destroyed the building as it is today. The improvements would bring the building up to a recognized safety standard, but the amount of damage would be based on the amount of shaking and movement to the building from an event. Discussion was held regarding the likelihood of a catastrophic event in this area that would impact the building. Mayor Lundberg said the goal was to make the building safe enough for people to get out of the building as safely as possible. Councilor Ralston said tying the beams together was a good idea. He doesn't feel we are facing the large catastrophic events that are being discussed. He supports the simple retrofits. Mr. Vogeney said the life of the building could be extended with good maintenance and with retrofits. He noted the budget for the retrofit and the long-range plans. Mr. Grimaldi said the Council would see the long-range plans before staff moved forward with them. Staff noted that additional consultant work would be needed to determine the exact design and construction of further improvements. Each improvement could be completed independently of other improvements, yet each would improve the safety of the building. In order to continue to keep the building viable for City Hall, other upgrades and maintenance will be needed. Mayor Lundberg said Councilor VanGordon had contacted her and said he was fine going forward with the recommendations. She asked Council for direction. Mr. Grimaldi said once they got more information, they could hold another work session to discuss the projects in the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) list. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes September 21, 2015 Page 3 Councilor Wylie said when it came back, they needed more details about what would be done and at what cost. Council agreed with staff recommendations to move forward with the $200,000 for initial projects and design work, and coming back later to determine what they might add to the CIP. 2. Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) Bylaws Amendment. Emma Newman, Senior Transportation Planner, presented the staff report on this item The Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) has been under the authority of the Committee for Citizen Involvement (CCI). This discussion is to consider amendments to the bylaws that would shift authority to the City Council. The City Council has the authority to amend the BPAC bylaws. Changes to the BPAC bylaws have been proposed. The first element includes amendments to the bylaws that would change the authority from the CCI to the City Council. The second element is rewording the termination section with regards to attendance to match the common language of other city advisory committees. The attached bylaw amendment document shows the details of the proposed changes. Mayor Lundberg referred to page 2, Article 3, Section 4, "The Chair, in consultation with City Staff, may also remove a member -from the Committee if a member is found not to meet the Committee's adopted Code of Conduct". She felt it was awkward for the Committee Chair to be put in that position and would felt it was more appropriate that it be a recommendation to the Council, with the Council making that decision. Councilor Pishioneri noted that in the previous section it states, All Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee appointees serve at the pleasure of the City Council" and changing the wording to a recommendation from the Committee Chair is more in line with that statement. Councilor Woodrow agreed with the change. The Mayor noted that when someone is terminated, there is a letter sent to that member and it is more appropriate for that letter to come from the Mayor rather than the Committee Chair. Staff will review this section and confirm it matches the Council Operating Policies and Procedures. Councilor Pishioneri asked that staff review all committee Bylaws to make sure they are all consistent. Mr. Grimaldi said staff will also be checking to make sure the language matches the Council Operating Policies and Procedures. Because Council is asking for that change, and staff needs to do some research, he suggested pulling this item from the regular meeting and coming back with the additional amendments at the next regular meeting. Ms. Newman asked if Council was comfortable with staff meeting with the current members to touch base and find out if they would like to re -apply for appointment. Mayor Lundberg said that was fine. ADJOURNMENT City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes September 21; 29-1.5 Page 4 The meeting was adjourned at 6:45 p.m. Minutes Recorder — Amy Sowa Christine L. Lundberg Mayor Attest: w !�'�'I Amy Sow City Recorder