05-13-1991 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD MAY 13, 1991 ( #16)CITY FACILITIES CONTINUED considering finances, acid the ease in which a site would lend itself to development. Fie said, "I now find myself, as a Councilmember, getting more involved from a historical and more personal standpoint. The fact that City Hall has been here for many, many years, and this is where the citizen's come for City services, seems more important to me now. I would like to know if this site will in fact cost more to develop than the Highway 12 site." Boarman replied, "The cost issue involving development of this site and the sewer plant site, as opposed to the Highway 12 site, is very close to a wash. There are offsetting factors because each site has different development requirements. However, there are o -her criteria to consider, such as, size of the building, and the ability or need to further expand it, which comes back to cost. We developed a :wilding of 15,000 to 17,000 square feet based on the space study to meet the needs of the new administrative /police facility. It is possible to put a. building with that amount of square footage on this site, however, it will have to be two- stories, which will affect the cost issues. If Council agrees to place a one -story building with less square footage on this site, then there would be cost considerations for future expansion. This site would be more expensive •than the Highway 12 si.te if there is a need to expand in the future." Boarman went on to say that it is much more efficient to locate all facilities on one site, as opposed to split sites. It means having only one large parking area, one employee lunch room, better situated and utilized storage space, etc. He also noted that in cases where a public works facility is separated from the main administrative building, it is common for the public works director to have an office in each building. Callahan asked Boarman if in fact it would be possible to put all of the facilities on the existing site. Boarman replied, "No; that is not possible." Callahan said, "In other words, when you talk about comparable costs, you a3re referring to the cost of constructing only the administrative /police facility, to which would be added the public works facility cost. If the existing s_te we-re selected, it may be more expensive than locating all facilities on one site. We would need to either purchase additional property for the public works facility, and /or pay the cost for installing a well and sprinkler system in that building if it is located on the sewer plant property. We would also have the additional cast for a well to sprinkle the administrative /police facility. As I understand it, we can put both facilities on the sewer pi.ant p +_operty, which would .save the cast of a �pos.sible land acquisition and the cost of one well."