HomeMy WebLinkAboutA003 - Memo to Mayor & Council dated February 13, 2001 - time frame a
Memo
City Manager's Office
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TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Steven L. Schainker, City Manager
DATE: February 13, 2001
SUBJECT: Fire Station 43 Time Frame
At the conclusion of your review of the Capital Improvements Plan on January 23rd, the City Council
asked staff to develop a time line for scheduling a bond referendum by April, 2001. In order to
accomplish this assignment, I thought it would be helpful to outline for you below the total project from
start to finish.
PHASE DESCRIPTION TIME REQUIREMENT
Council Resolution The City Council must pass a 1 day
resolution specifying the date of
the election, the description of
the project, and the amount of
bonds to be authorized.
Notification Phase The County Auditor must be 32 days
notified prior to the proposed
election of the City Council's
approval of the authorizing
resolution.
Public Information Phase City funds can be used to Approximately 2 Months
educate the public about the
proposed bond election. The
City Council must decide how
long this effort should take and
how much money should be
earmarked for this initiative.
2
Bond Election Phase A bond election authorizing the 1 Day
issuance of bonds to fund the
construction and equipping of
the fire station must be held.
Architect Selection Phase The City must follow our 3 Months
established procedure for
selecting an architectural firm to
design the station, administer
the bidding process, and
monitor construction.
Design Phase The architectural firms requires 5 Months
time to prepare construction
documents.
Bidding Phase Time is needed to prepare bid 4 Months
documents and administer the
bidding process
Construction Phase This is the time from the award Approximately 12 Months
of bid until the City occupies
the Fire Station.
ESTIMATED TIME Some of the processes can run 20 Months if project is
REQUIRED concurrently. coordinated with construction
season
It appears even if we started the process immediately, the soonest we could hold a bond election would
be in May.
While I am very supportive of this project and prepared to move forward immediately, I do not
believe it would be prudent to do so at this time. Remember that the operating costs associated
with the additional fire station are estimated to be approximately $250,000 in the first year. Given
the fact that the State Legislature is seriously considering shackling local governments with a
property tax limitation,I cannot support moving ahead with project this until the fate of this
onerous legislation has been determined. It seems ill-advised to assume an additional financial
responsibility in the Fire Department when we might be forced to drastically reduce spending in this
same department in the near future.
Hopefully, this legislation will be defeated no later than April. This would still allow us to proceed with
a June special election.