Minutes - Council Work Session - 01/13/2015

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Mayor Strommen arrived at 5:34 p.m. Fire Chief Kapler stated Fire Station No. 2 will also contain a police substation and garage space for police vehicles. In addition, Allina Transportation has committed to use this as a host site for ambulances. Asst. City Administrator/Economic Development Manager Brama stated staff conducted a Space Needs Analysis in 2006 to determine whether the existing Fire Station building could be renovated or should be demolished and rebuilt on that site. It was determined to not be an effective use of the Old Municipal Center (OMC) site or the building. He noted this is a 21 -acre site so use for municipal services is not the highest and best use of the site. Asst. City Administrator/Economic Development Manager Brama described the purpose of the new building as described by Fire Chief Kapler, and presented the project process that started with the Space Needs Analysis, would use surplus City -owned land, preliminary design stage, final design/bid documents, bidding and award of bid, and construction administration. He explained the project is currently at the bidding/bid award step. It is anticipated the bids would be considered by the Council at its March 24, 2015, meeting. Asst. City Administrator /Economic Development Manager Brama addressed the funding mechanism including issuance of a Government Obligation Bond with a 20 -year term, at a cost of $290,000 annually with payments to begin in August of 2017 and capitalized interest starting in February of 2016. He explained that the bond payments of $140,000 annually for Fire Station #1 will be completed in 2016, meaning it would be about a $100,000 increase to the general levy in 2017 for Fire Station No. 2. Asst. City Administrator /Economic Development Manager Brama described what had changed since the preliminary budget of $4.01 million to a final budget of $4.14 million. He advised of changes made to cut the project costs by $150,000 including reconfiguring the meeting space, elimination of the patio area, cutting two feet from the garage space, and changing landscaping materials. Another $100,000 could be cut if a large portion of the building used a flat roof. However, staff recommends against a flat roof design due to maintenance issues. Bruce Schwartzman, architect with BKV Group, stated they deal with a lot of cities and he found Asst. City Administrator /Economic Development Manager Brama does an excellent job to put together all of the information. Councilmember Riley stated all agree Fire Station No. 2 is needed and asked how staff has assured the City gets what is needed without building a `Taj Mahal.' Fire Chief Kapler explained that over one -half of Ramsey is without municipal water so the City hauls water more often than it connects to a hydrant. Because of that, the Fire Department needs equipment to haul that water. He reviewed the equipment that will be housed in Fire Station No. 2 and noted there will be additional space beyond what the Fire Department needs to house the Police Substation and Allina Ambulance Services. Fire Chief Kapler stated one mistake made City Council Work Session / January 13, 2015 Page 2 of 7