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HomeMy WebLinkAboutagenda.council.worksession.20140804 CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION August 04, 2014 5:00 PM, City Council Chambers MEETING AGENDA I. Old Power House RFQ Draft and Committee Selection II. Immediate Space Needs Page 1 of 10 MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: R. Barry Crook, Assistant City Manager Mitzi Rapkin, Community Relations Director Scott Miller, Capital Asset Director Chris Bendon, Director of Community Development DATE OF MEMO: August 1, 2014 MEETING DATE: August 4, 2014 RE: Draft RFQ for new use for Old Power House and Recommendations for RFQ Review Committee REQUEST OF COUNCIL: This work session is to go over the draft RFQ for the Old Power House and get Council’s approval to issue it. Council will also receive the recommended appointments to an advisory committee to review those RFQ proposals and to recommend finalists to Council who will submit more detailed proposals. PREVIOUS COUNCIL ACTION: Council has a top ten goal to determine a use for the Old Power House that results in the greatest benefit to the community. Council had a visionary work session to discuss values around the project on January 21, 2014 and a second work session to fine tune members’ goals for the project on April 8, 2014. In addition Council has received public feedback in an open house (January 23), work session (June 3) and online forum (open since February 2013). On July 15th Council met in a work session with a goal to review a draft of an RFP document soliciting new users for the Old Power House building and property. Council opted rather than to issue this RFP immediately to issue an “Expression of Interest” application, which is essentially a Request for Qualifications or RFQ. Council opted to have more general questions related to a group’s finances and maintain the general nature of the other questions as far as getting information on who the group is and what their vision is for the future use of the building. Council directed staff to draft an RFQ, which is meant to get the basics from all interested parties and also vet those that will be invited to move on to a more detailed and rigorous RFP. Council also asked that staff assemble a citizen/staff committee to vet the applications with a total of 5-7 people. The plan is to come back to Council with suggested names for the committee and a draft of the RFQ. P1 I. Page 2 of 10 BACKGROUND: The Aspen Art Museum is set to move into its new facility this summer, but has a lease on the Old Powerhouse facility until August 15, 2015. Since this is a City owned facility, it is up to City Council to determine a future use for the property. It is Council’s wish to go through a Request for Qualifications/Request for Proposal process to solicit ideas for a new use and a new tenant(s) for the Old Power House building. DISCUSSION: The draft of the RFQ for the Old Power House (see Attachment) is based on discussions with Council and the public regarding their desires, aspirations and values for this property. Council directed staff to solicit interest from community members in participating on a review committee which would review the RFQ proposals and recommend a group of finalists who will respond to a more detailed Request for Proposals – which will be reviewed by Council before they determine who they wish to enter into contract discussions with for the use of the Old Powerhouse after the Art Museum has vacated the premises. RFQ Review Committee The following people submitted an interest in being named to the RFQ Review Committee: Georgina Levey Robin Hamill Stan Clauson Nina Zale Lara Whitley Rachel Goodman William Carpenter Catherine Lutz Pete Louras Lee Mulcahy Marie Kelly Shae Singer Oliver Sharpe Kathryn Koch Stacey Gardener Soraya Hanak Lucas Franze Barbara Conviser Charles Curtis Jim DeFrancia Michael Regan Torre Karen Wenzel Anita Rayburn Pam Moore Roger Moyer Recommendations for the Committee Membership Peter Louras Kathryn Koch Catherine Lutz Robin Hamill and three staff members: Barry Crook Chris Bendon Jeff Woods P2 I. Page 3 of 10 FINANCIAL/BUDGET IMPACTS: At this point there are no budget impacts for issuing the RFQ. There will be financial choices to make regarding money City wants to put into the building or project later in the process. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS: None. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Council offers direction on how and if staff should edit the RFQ. Council should also determine who it wants on the RFQ Review Committee. CITY MANAGER COMMENTS: ATTACHMENTS: Attachment A: Draft RFQ P3 I. Page 4 of 10 P4 I. Page 5 of 10 Attachment A: Request for Qualifications for the use of the Old Powerhouse Building P5 I. Page 6 of 10 P6 I. Page 7 of 10 City of Aspen Request for Qualifications Old Power House – New Use DATE AND TIME: ________________________________ PLACE: City of Aspen Purchasing Office, 130 S. Galena Street, Aspen, Colorado 81612 CONTACT: Rebecca Hodgson, City of Aspen Purchasing Officer Rebecca.Hodgson@cityofaspen.com or 970-920-5079 Introduction The City of Aspen is requesting qualifications from interested parties to propose a new use and how they would administer/manage that use for the Old Power House property at 590 N. Mill Street, Aspen, Colorado 81611. Background The Old Power House was originally built in 1888 and served at the Hunter Creek Power Plant. Then it became the headquarters for the Roaring Fork Electric Light and Power Company. It was vacant for a time and then taken over by Holy Cross Electric and used as a warehouse. The City of Aspen purchased the property in 1976 and leased it to the Aspen Art Museum in 1979. The Aspen Art Museum is slated to move out this summer and then has a full year on its lease before it must vacate the property. P7 I. Page 8 of 10 Basic information about the site is as follows: • 7200+ square foot building, 2 floors • Building designated historic structure in 1978 • New development would require review by Historic Preservation Commission • More than half of property is in the 100-year floodplain • 20 foot grade difference from Gibson to river • Two public trails that cut through the middle of the property • Vehicular entrance is confusing and dangerous • Parking for 22 vehicles Submission Requirements Proposer(s) must submit four (4) paper copies and one (1) electronic copy on a thumb drive combined into a single PDF document on or before TBD DATE, at the City of Aspen Purchasing Department, 130 S. Galena Street, Aspen, Colorado 81611. The City cannot accept late, emailed, or faxed proposals. Proposals must be submitted in a sealed envelope clearly marked on the outside “Qualifications for the use of the Old Power House 2014”. Proposers must answer all questions below and follow the format as outlined. Failure to do may result in disqualification. Section 1 Introduction of Organization, staff, and general purpose of the building you propose 1.1 Tell us who you are. 1.2 What is your proposal? 1.3 Provide the most current annual income statement and balance sheet for your organization if available. Section 2 Proposed use of the building and grounds. 2.1 Describe how your proposal – and what a visitor’s would see, feel, hear, touch, learn, etc. – would produce a “memory-making” experience that would have a visitor relating that visit to others in an enthusiastic way. 2.2 Describe how your proposed use of the building/grounds would provide a unique experience – unduplicated by any other venue in Aspen or the valley. 2.3 Would you be willing to partner with other organizations to create a multi- use building? Section 3 Community 3.1 Describe how your proposal creates a “center of community” for those who live here, work here and visit here. 3.2 Explain if/how your plan might partner with other organizations? P8 I. Page 9 of 10 Section 4 Financials 4.1 Describe how you propose to finance the capital investment necessary to prepare the building for your use and the annual operating expenses associated with that use. What portion do you expect the City to pay for? Timelines and Schedules Pre- Proposal Meeting/Site Visit ___________________ Question and Answer period Closes ___________________ Proposals Due ___________________ The pre-proposal meeting/site visit is not mandatory, but is strongly suggested for all potential proposers. Failure to join the meeting and site visit may result in a proposal that is ill-informed and unlikely to be selected for further consideration. The City reserves the right to modify the timeline if necessary. Evaluation An evaluation committee of staff and community members will recommend a number of the RFQ proposers to the City Council for consideration of moving into the RFP round. A more detailed Request for Proposals will be issued sometime in the Fall/Winter and those proposals will be evaluated by the Aspen City Council who will make the final decision about who will be invited to negotiate a contract for use of the building. If those negotiations are successful, a contract for the use of the building will be approved and the proposer may go forward making their proposal a reality. Questions and Answers All questions related to this Request for Qualifications must be submitted in writing to the Purchasing department via email to Rebecca.hodgson@cityofaspen.com. Q&As will be posted on the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing website for all interested parties to review. Proposers are responsible for checking the website regularly for updates. Legal Proposers are prohibited from contacting members of the review committee on this topic other than pursuant to a formal request of the committee itself. Failure to abide by such prohibition may result in disqualification. Proposers are also requested to refrain from communicating with Council during this process. Pursuant to the Colorado Open Records Act, C.R.S. Section 24-72-200.1 (CORA), any and all of the documents that are submitted to the City of Aspen may be deemed public records subject to P9 I. Page 10 of 10 examination and inspection by third parties. The City of Aspen reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to release for inspection or copying any document, plan, specification, proposal or other writing submitted pursuant to an appropriately filed CORA request. The City reserves the right to reject any or all RFQ proposers or move forward into the RFP round any Proposer who, in its sole judgment, is in the best interest of the City. The City further reserves the right, in the best interest of the City, to waive any technical defects or irregularities in any and all proposals submitted. The cost of the Qualification proposal preparation shall be borne solely by the persons or entities submitting proposals. P10 I. Memo To: Mayor, & City Council Thru: Richard Pryor, Steve Barwick, From: Jack Wheeler, Capital Asset Date: August 4, 2014 RE: Police Department - Immediate Space Needs ____________________________________________________________________________ Request of Council: This request recommends that council approve the relocation of a portion of the Aspen Police Department (APD) operations to 1222 square foot leased office space at 101 Founders Pl. Suite 104 Obermeyer Place. Previous Council Action: Staff updated council on the basic space needs of the APD on April 8, 2014 during the Facility Master Plan project update. Background: When visiting the police department customers/victims/witnesses/suspects are all being treated in a manner unbefitting modern policing standards. The police department currently has NO appropriate meeting spaces, interview space, waiting spaces, and evidence processing spaces. While police customer service levels have been rated by the community as very high, the quality of service being provided is severely impacted by the lack of the spaces mentioned above. Three months ago (subsequent to the recent homicide) the police department conducted a brief tabletop to simulate a major case investigation within the City of Aspen. It confirmed, immediately, the complete lack of operational space resources to deal with the operations and management of any major investigation or incident. The lack of space dictates; that a witness will often be interviewed in a busy non secure public hallway with other pedestrians walking by, a victim will sit crying in the same public hallway awaiting an officer to arrive, an employee will have to vacate an office so as to allow for a private interview space, meetings are held in the patrol room while patrol officers are attempting to type reports, make phone calls, or eat lunch, or that an office is locked off to provide for temporary evidence storage and processing. The space proposed to lease will allow the APD to address their admin needs and provide a limited amount of private interview space. The ongoing Facility Master Plan process that is one of Council top ten goals for 2014 has identified a shortfall of APD operating space of about 12000 square feet. While the long term solution to this shortfall is a priority of the City Asset Department we know that the solution will take time to plan and execute. The needs that we are addressing with this leased space request are immediate needs that should be addressed now to allow the APD to deliver the best possible service to our community in the interim. P11 II. Discussion In April 2014 the APD requested the Asset Department research some alternatives for increasing police space, with the goal of providing the some of the needed spaces listed above. Staff had discussions with some council members one on one, and the manager’s office to gain some insight to the direction the council thought we should take to responsibly address the immediate needs that Chief Pryor has requested. It seemed that with the Facility Master Plan project ongoing and incomplete that we needed a temp solution until long term solutions could be presented and planned for. The asset department researched a number of alternatives to include, leasing space, use of the house on the Zupancis lot, temporary modular office trailers set up on the Zupancis lot and use of the Rio Grande Building. These alternatives presented a number of logistical challenges ranging from dealing with outside tenants and uses such as Tasters and the Rio Grande meeting room, to relocating departments such as Parking without having our Facility Master Plan complete. We also think that temp facilities such as trailers present a unique set of maintenance and accessibility challenges such as requiring a snow removal plan for roofs that are not designed for local snow loads, running temporary plumbing and electric service and ADA accessibility requirements. Staff can meet all of these challenges but it would cost about $16,000.00 more than leasing over the three year lease period. This figure does not take into account the issues outlined that will be unforeseen with operating a temporary modular facility. The space at Obermeyer is located in the same area as all the other alternatives that we identified and is ready for occupancy immediately. As shown in the table below leasing space for a period of three years is less expensive than the temporary trailer option and allows us to address the APD immediate needs without the risks and management of a temporary facility. The current zoning at Obermeyer place is “SCI” and we are working with Chris Bendon on a temporary land use application with required review by City Council. City Council may grant the temporary use for three years, with annual check-ins to extend the use thereafter. No other land use reviews are required. The Owner of the unit has stated that he has talked with Wally Obermeyer and he thinks the use as APD admin offices is an appropriate use for the space. This use is in line with 2014 Goal 10 as stated in the work program. “In April 2013 staff presented various options to City Council regarding rewriting or rezoning the SCI properties. This would enable SCI spaces within Obermeyer to house a broader range of businesses, including offices.” Financial Impacts 2014 costs would be charged to police departmental carry forward savings. This would be between $30-40,000 depending on final lease negotiations as well as moving costs, IT setup and insurance. The stairs connection is currently budgeted in the Galena Plaza project. The ongoing supplemental request would then be included in the 2015 budget for the remainder of the funding. This would be between $60-70,000 per annum. P12 II. OPTION 1 - Move 9 APD FTE from Courthouse to new office trailers on Zupancis. Parking remains in Zupancis. Most of APD operations remain in Courthouse. Planning approvals and permit costs $15,000.00 Crane to set trailers $4,500.00 Side walk prep and site grading (Gravel sidewalk) $2,500.00 Water line $3,000.00 Sewer line $3,000.00 Electric service $3,000.00 IT set up $5,000.00 ADA ramp and stairs $5,500.00 Snow removal plan 3 years $15,000.00 Parking and way finding $1,000.00 Set up trailers $35,000.00 Stair connection to Courthouse/Jail Plaza $10,000.00 Insurance $3,000.00 APD Move $2,500.00 Budget total $108,000.00 Ongoing rental for trailers per month 36 months @3500 per month $126,000.00 TOTAL $234,000.00 OPTION 2 - Lease space at Obermeyer 1222 SF Stair connection to Courthouse/Jail Plaza $10,000.00 APD move $2,500.00 Insurance $3,000.00 IT set up in new space $5,000.00 Monthly rent 36 months at $5500.00 $198,000.00 TOTAL $218,500.00 Recommendation Staff recommend that Council approve the police department leasing the 1222 square foot, Suite 104 at 101 Founders Pl. Obermeyer Place to accommodate the immediate APD operational needs to better serve the public. Staff would issue the space owner a letter of intent to enter into a lease agreement conditional on Council approval of the lease agreement and the temp land use approval. Lease would be submitted on consent agenda after the temporary land use review. P13 II.