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order to assist the City in planning for future needs. He stated that the consultant has information <br />such as the turning radius of public works vehicles, would ensure that the flow of property works <br />well, and that bay and ancillary needs are met. He noted that staff might not use certain items <br />today that will be used in the future and therefore would not think to plan for that. He stated that <br />the consultant would bring a wealth of knowledge in terms of future needs that staff would not <br />have. He stated that the City should be rational throughout this process to ensure that needs are <br />met and in order to prevent mistakes and costly retrofitting. <br />Mayor Strommen noted that the space needs analysis is in format that translates into the design <br />process. She noted that staff can provide some of that information but would not be able to <br />package the information in a manner that translates to the next step. <br />Councilmember Riley stated that this could possibly be on the CIP for the next five years and <br />questioned if it would then make sense to do this now and budget for the preliminary design in <br />three years if this is not going to move forward in that timeframe. <br />Asst. City Administrator/Economic Development Manager Brama explained the process from <br />the space needs analysis, to preliminary design and final design, noting that is a 3.5 to four year <br />process. He stated that the CIP is a planning document used for guiding and is flexible under the <br />direction of the City Council. <br />Mayor Strommen stated that this is a similar situation to the fire station and noted that you <br />cannot plan for the expenditure without knowing what that expenditure will be. She stated that <br />there will be a cost in order to gain the necessary information. <br />City Administrator Ulrich stated that another element would be to determine the magnitude of <br />cost, which will make a difference in the CIP and planning for the future as well as the timing of <br />the project. <br />Councilmember Kuzma stated that his opinion is that if the process is started tonight that would <br />commit the Council to keep moving through the process. He stated that he is not ready to make <br />that commitment tonight. He did not disagree that more space would be needed and a campus <br />would eventually be needed, but recognized that the City has a number of projects underway and <br />would prefer to wait until the funding is known and some of the other projects are completed. <br />He stated that he would like to have more tax revenue coming in before he would commit to <br />additional debt. <br />Mayor Strommen agreed that was a good point but stated that the City does not know the <br />magnitude of the expenditure until the space needs analysis is done. She stated that it would be <br />hard to know when the right time is until this first step is completed. She noted this is a small <br />investment in order to gain the additional knowledge that can be used for planning purposes. <br />She questioned why the budget item was proposed for direction as the budget process has not <br />begun and questioned why that is not brought forward at that time. <br />City Administrator Ulrich stated that the budget process will still need to be followed but that <br />was simply brought forward in order to provide direction as to whether or not that should be <br />City Council / June 9, 2015 <br />Page 9of18 <br />