08-28-1991 Council Minutes City Facilites Public Hearing

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PUBLIC HEARING FOR PROPOSED CITY FACILITIES — AUGUST 28, 1991 footage is 16,500 s.f. Peterson wanted to know why are we building so big compared to all other cities surveyed. Jabbour noted that his comments in the past have not fallen on deaf ears. He felt that Peterson should concentrate on helping the Council. Jabbour noted that there are flaws in his scenario including services provided that have not been listed. He noted that the Council has labored on the design and has cut space by rearranging hallways, not cutting staff. He urged Mr. Peterson to come to the Design Committee meeting on Tuesday. A. Peterson explained that he brought his graph in to show how far away from Orono these cities which are relatively the same in size are. Goetten noted that the Design Committee has been meeting every week on Tuesdays, and she questioned if he thought they had nothing better to do with their time than recheck every square footage. She noted that everything has been gone over and that the Council does not want to tax any more than possible because they are taxing themselves at the same time. She also noted that there are many issues before the City at this time and the Council has devoted many hours to these issues: Goetten explained that the Council has looked at addressing the needs of the staff now and in the future. Jabbour asked where these cities are in the cycle of growth. He felt that if others used Orono in a comparison at this time, they would look very bad because Orono has relatively no space at the present time. A. Peterson said that he was not arguing the fact that new facilities were needed, but felt that Orono's proposed buildings were way over sized. Bill Miller, 2691 Casco Point Road, commended the Council on the efforts they have put forth and he noted that the facilities are needed as•the.•current• ones .are inadequate in-size.. .He.-felt _ that to compare to other cities was inappropriate.- -He asked if the construction manager was to act as a general contractor. Jabbour explained the preliminary bid for construction manager was 3% of the total cost of the building only. Goetten noted that is why they want to get the cost down. Jabbour explained that the construction manager will help in obtaining the general contractor through bids. He is also assisting the City with the engineering. Miller wanted to know how the tax proration was figured. He asked if it was calculated by mill rate, and why is it going millage vs. same cost to everyone. 8