HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-01-13 Government Operations Committee Minutes � GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS COMMITTEE
MINUTES
7anuary 13, 2004
Councilors Present: Richard Greene, Peter D'Errico, Anne Allen, Dan Tremble
Staff Present: Bob Farrar, Chief Winslow
Others Present: Mike Pullen, Matt Carter
The meeting convened at 5:00 p.m. �
1. Update on new Police Department Headquarters Building.
Chief Winslow said that we have completed the schematic design phase and are
getting ready to start the design phase of the project. He said that he wanted to
come in with representatives from WBRC Architects/Engineers to brief the
� Committee on progress to date regarding the new Police Station.
Mike Pullen presented the project schematic, which depicts the renovated
existing building, the removal of the radiator shop due to the road
reconfiguration of Cedar Street and the new Police Station. Winslow said that
there was a lot more space in the renovated building than we originally
anticipated and we were able to put more program space in. Pullen said that
they have budget information, a revised schedule and an executive summary.
Carter reviewed the schematic design, and said that Summer and Cedar Street
are going to be reconfigured. He said that the existing building on site is a
garage, which is structurally sound and is perfect for the police station project.
He noted the location of the new three story administrative office and public
relations tower. He said that there would be parking on site. Currently the plan
is for 79 parking spaces. He said that they will be discontinuing May Street and
will be able to pick up additional parking. He said that the main vehicular
entrance would be on the Cedar Street extended side. The public will be parking
in the front lot, with the ability to drive around and drop someone off at the
entrance. He discussed the natural lighting going into the office tower. Carter
said that they want a station with a presence on Main Street, sufficient parking,
yet takes into account the future of the waterfront. Pullen said that]im Ring,
. City Engineer, suggested the discontinuance of the out posts on Main Street
f
which makes our project safer. Carter noted the public entrances and p�rking .
areas, and that there are a number of private/stafF entrances, providing a good
balance between public access and security. Allen wanted to know abo.ut
handicap parking at the front. Carter said that the drop off gallery is fdr the
handicap person to be dropped ofF with the driver going into the parking lot to
park. Pullen noted that the entire building is handicap accessible. Pullen said
that the design really has a presence on Main Street and is a part of the
community, however there is a draw to the waterfront side of the building.
Carter said that this building would be highly visible from various points in the �
City and across the river. Allen wanted to know if there was a jail in this
building. Winslow said that we do not have holding facilities other than the area
for juveniles. All incarcerated individuals are taken to the County Jail. Winslow
said that there are numerous requirements and regulations required to house .
inmates. � �
Tremble said that he had a call from the property owner of the radiator shop,
who wanted to know if the realignment of Cedar Street means that the shop
must be removed. Carter said that the impact of the realignment is such that
removing the radiator shop will allow for more parking spaces; however it is
feasible for the shop to remain. He noted that if the building remains, there are
other layout possibilities.
� Carter discussed the plan for the lower floor of the building. He said that the �
public side of the building has a main lobby as a primary access, a reception area
to meet with the public, and a museum piece to house memorabilia. He said a
member of the community enters the lobby and can access all floors, however
there are secure areas on all floors. He discussed that the physical training room
is available for City employees to use, which creates the need for a secure access
corridor. He discussed the patrol section and its proximity to the command
ofFice. The command office has a view of the patrol, clerical, juvenile holding
and the lobby.
Tremble wanted to know about the workout room and whether it was a new
benefit. Winslow said that it is open for other City staff, however it is not
necessarily open to the public. We sometimes invite agencies for self defense
classes. Allen wanted to know if the holding area is visually separate from the
lobby. Carter replied that it is and discussed that there is an airlock space to get
from the non secure area to the secure area, which access is granted by the
patrol receptionist. Winslow noted that employees would have access cards to
move around the area so that it is not necessary for the area to be manned
100% of the time.
. �
� Carter said that most police staff would be entering the building from the back,
as is the vehicle entrance. He discussed the location of staff locker rooms,
evidence process and storage area, parking employees' area, and tempered
garage area for those vehicles that need special storage. Carter discussed the
separate area for the crime scene van, and the separate area for the evidence
technicians to perform their work with exclusive access. He discussed the
multiple levels of security throughout the building.
Allen wanted to know the purpose of placing a firing range in the middle of the
garage area. Carter said that it was a challenge to place the range into an
existing building. Originally it was going to placed in a newly constructed annex
building. He discussed the areas and reasons why it could not be placed in other
areas. Winslow said that it works very well in this location. Pullen said that one
plan was to place it under office space, however due to the sound transference
issue, this would not have been a preferred location. Winslow said that the plan
originally was for six lanes, but due to the cost factor, the lanes were reduced to
four. Greene noted that the range extends beyond the end of the building.
Allen wanted to know the length of the range, to which Carter replied 100 feet.
He said that the required range is 75 feet with room at the firing end to set up,
and space at the end for the bullet stop.
� D'Errico wanted to know why we wanted the public to come to the building.
Winslow described various reasons for the public to visit the police station such
as meeting with detectives to follow up on a case, paying parking tickets, getting
copies of accident reports, to report incidents, etc. He said that there is usually
a steady stream of people up to 10:00 p.m. and then some throughout the night.
Carter discussed the public side lobby on the second floor as well as a public
training room. He said the rest of the space on the second floor is mainly office
support office space. Some offices are for the Dare Officer, special teams and
their equipment storage, IT, IT evidence lab and equipment, and the special fire
suppression system. Winslow noted that IT evidence is a forensics lab for
computers as part of the detective division. Tremble wanted to know if we are
currently outsourcing this to the state. Winslow said that there is a task force in
Lewiston that conducts this now for us.
Carter said that the third floor provides workspace and interviewing space for the
Criminal Investigation Division (CID) and the police department administration.
He noted that there is a public lobby and a waiting area for the public. He said
that the interview area is separated to allow privacy. He said that there is a
polygraph room, offices for the commanding officers, a monitor room, open
office space for staff, utility space, and on the opposite side of the floor is the
• administrative space. He indicated that there is space for a future deputy chief,
the current deputy chief, the chief's office and administrative support, and •
special enforcement office. Winslow said that one of the advantages of moving
to the 240 Main Street is to be able to gain some of the program space back and
remain within budget. He said that this building takes into consideration 20-30
years into the future. He said that the first level locker room is intended to
accommodate another 10-12 officers, the detective division has room for 4-5
more detectives, and an extra commanding ofFicers ofFice on the CID floor, and
an extra administrative ofFice. Allen wanted to know why we didn't put the
administrative office space overlooking the river. Carter said is because the
design of this building is centered around people and stafF, so that if you are
working in this building, we wanted to provide as much light as possible. He
noted that conference rooms are typically empty, and those in attendance are
not usually paying attention to the outside. Pullen said that their firm likes to
bring in light from the outside as much as possible, and conference rooms are
typically core centers.
D'Errico asked about energy conservation. Pullen said that they usually go a
little bit beyond what is required so the walls are designed to be R20 and the
requirement is R15. He said that the building is set up to allow natural light. In
terms of inechanical systems, he referenced the executive summary letter. The
option that seems to be the best is the water source heat pumps with a cooling
tower. Normally one side of a building is warmer than the other in the morning .
and in order to regulate the heat so that the side is not too warm in the
afternoon, this system will allow the heat to be transferred to the area that it is
needed the most. Carter said that the building design includes an environmental
feature, a sunshade that goes around the building. Pullen said that we intend to
wrap the existing building to form an insulated shell. Carter said that we are
examining alternative fuel sources. He said that right now, gas seems to be the
frontrunner. Allen wanted to know if we would have a problem with the Cedar
Street entrance. Pullen said that the site line includes the realignment of
Summer Street, so that will mean a lot_more traffic through Summer Street, and
that is why the City Engineer recommended entering the site at the midblock
locations. Carter discussed the various entrances for the public and police
personnel to use. Allen wanted to know about a vehicle entrance off Main
Street. Carter replied that this is one idea that they are considering along with
Merrill Bank and the future owner of the current Bedworks building is to access
from Main Street. Tremble asked about the public parking area's proximity to
the entrance. Pullen noted that people would come in under a protected canopy
and walk into the building approximately 200 feet.
Carter mentioned that there are certain restrictions in construction due to some
potential underground pollution. So the best place for the building is as it is
designed, with a southern entrance and view of the waterfront. Tremble said �
� that, as a consumer there is a perception that we are more concerned about the
employees getting into the building versus the public. Pullen discussed the
reasons for the entrance and parking lot and how it addresses Main Street.
Tremble agreed but wanted to know if we could use the Cedar Street side for
public parking. Pullen said that it became a zone that we wanted to limit to staff
use.
Greene said that the pushout from the building seems very close to the road,
and wanted to know if it meets the setback requirement. Pullen said that it
does. Greene asked if the heating system was geo thermal and required a well.
Carter said that it was not a geo thermal. Greene wanted to know if additional
office space could be added to the existing one level building if needed in the
future. Carter said that the soil under the building is not sufficient to build up.
Greene asked for an explanation of the soil contamination. Carter said that there
is a depth of soil that ranges to 12 feet. The contamination may stem from
some gas or petroleum in the vicinity. He said that as long as we don't dig into
the soils, we don't have to do anything, and this is why we are building on
grade. This site advantage is that the site is flat, whereas the B13 site had the
same soil contamination, and was not flat.
Allen wanted a definition for people being under cover when entering the
� building. Carter said that along that side of the building, there would be a
colonnade, or covered sidewalk. She asked if this could be enclosed, and Carter
said that we could however the cost would be increased. Pullen said that we are
trying to be very sensitive to the budget, and with this design, we have met the
, challenge of being under the $6.5 million. Carter discussed the budget, including
construction costs, administrative costs and reserves, and fees and services
totaling $6,497,682. Tremble asked if the Police Department has to pay the
same fees as a department of the City for permitting, to which Carter replied yes.
Winslow noted that the new telephone system costs, $25,000, have not been
included in the budget. Pullen noted that the Furniture Fixtures and Equipment
(FF&E) section assumes that a lot of equipment from the old location will be
used at the new location. Winslow said that we have updated a lot of the
workstations and will bring them with us, however that may be a low estimate.
He said that the evidence lockers would be funded by a grant. Allen wanted to
know if we could take more advantage of grant programs. Winslow said that
grants and funding are very limited for bricks and mortar.
Greene clarified that we currently have a rifle range. Winslow said that we do;
however due to ventilation problems it is closed. Greene wanted to know if
there were federal funds to construct a new one. Winslow said that we can try
again, however we have recently researched this and most funds are going
• toward homeland security. Greene asked about the bid and construction
contingencies if not used. Pullen cautioned that this fund would probably be �
used up regardless for little changes. Allen wanted to know if the cost of the
telephone system could be included into the infrastructure of this construction.
Carter said that the infrastructure is already included, however the $25,000 is for
the installation of wires, etc. He noted that this is a schematic design only, and
once into the actual construction phase, the costs can be more fine-tuned.
Greene clarified that the surface covering on the existing structure is foam
insulation, similar to the JO-ANN Fabrics building. Carter said that it is a
combination of concrete and plaster and more resistant to damage. He
explained the design plan as it relates to the new building.
Pullen said that the road realignment project is not a part of this design, and
taking the existing radiator shop building are not a part of this project, although
it does impact the project. He discussed the Cedar Street project versus this
project and the timeline. Barrett said that we are trying to get state approval for
funds for the Cedar Street project, and to relocate the radiator shop. Barr.ett said
that the ideal situation would be to have these situations taken care of. Pullen
said that some portion of the parking area would not be used until this was
taken care of. Barrett expressed his approval of the design.
Greene thanked Matthew and Mike for coming down to share the details of the �
design.
The meeting adjourned at 6:30 p.m.
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