SALEM POLICE FACILITY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 11-01-2013.pdf

8/14/2019 SALEM POLICE FACILITY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 11-01-2013.pdf

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CITY OF SALEM: THE $85M BOND ISSUE, OR THE $40M BOND ISSUE ? POLICE FACILITY: $20M?MANY QUESTIONS AS TO WHERE ?CIVIC CENTER: $20M?MANY QUESTIONS AS TO WHETHER LIBRARY IS INCLUDED ?

Salem Community Vision [email protected] "Salem Community Vision" on Facebook.com

SCV is Salem Community Vision. SCV is made up of community leaders, neighborhood chairs, civicgroups, and was formed after violations from the ULI Plan were observed, and citizen involvement is

progressively and effectively excluded from much of City of Salem planning and visioning.SCV COMMENTS The following document appeared on the City of Salem website about October 15,and was subsequently updated on October 31, with the Public Library now added, but the Bond Issuedollar total did not increase, except the narrative does say that it "is low", so will increase

from $70

millionto what ?

Inserted into the document therefore are many questions, from SCV Salem Community Vision, when thecity supplied information and sketches are found to be incomplete, insufficient, or incorrect. The publicwould like answers to all these questions. Comments and questions in italics are from SCV.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSOctober 31, 2013Public Safety Facility, Civic Center Seismic Improvements

1. Why are we talking about a new Public Safety facility?The Civic Center was built in 1972 when our population was half what it is today. The space is inadequate for the Police Departments 24 hour a day, seven days a week operations and their needexceeds available space. Some critical operations are currently housed offsite in 15,000 square feet ofleased space. In April 2009, the evidence lab was moved from the Civic Center for safety reasons toanother City facility with a suitable laboratory testing space. Recognizing this need for improvement, thePublic Safety Facility was the subject of a Council goal in 200911 and again in 201315. The currentfacility does not meet state and federal seismic standards for critical emergency response facilities.Oregon law requires such a facility be designed to withstand greater seismic forces than commercial orresidential structures so that emergency response is uninterrupted.

SCV COMMENT: The public seems to indeed support a new Police Facility. But which one of 30 sites ?

2. Wasnt there a group of students from University of Oregon working on designs a few yearsago?

As part of the Citys yearlong collaboration with the University of Oregons Sustainable Cities Initiative, in201011, Architecture students worked with our Police Department, a Council Subcommittee, and a localarchitect to fit the Departments space needs in a new building on the Civic Center Campus. For more, see SCI web link. We learned that the facility could fit on the Civic Center campus and that the facilityneeds to be three stories to make the best sense for Police operations.

SCV COMMENT: The public seem to support a new Police Facility, but to rely on Eugene students forimportant advice seems bizarre, when the people of Salem were kept in the dark.

3. Whats happened since?With the onset of the recession, Council looked to 2014 for a possible bond measure to support theproposed new public safety facility and Civic Center seismic improvements. In June 2013, City Councildirected staff to begin community outreach in order to fulfill a 201315 Council Goal to pursue a bondmeasures for a new public safety facility and seismic improvements to the Civic Center. Staff were alsodirected to continue developing a preliminary concept for the proposed new public safety facility.


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SCV COMMENT: The public seem to support a new Police Facility.Only question is WHERE in Salemshould it be located.

4. About how big would the building need to be?

A right

sized and properly designed Public Safety facility for our community needs to be about 75,000 square feet in size spread over no more than three floors to function best in keeping Salem safe. At thissize, the critical functions located in offsite leased spaces can return to a centralized facility. A modernpublic safety facility would provide adequate interview rooms, evidence storage and processing stations,storage for officer equipment, K9 kennels, prisoner holding facilities and office space for detectives andinvestigators to add to the efficiency and safety for officers, staff and citizens.

SCV QUESTION: Should not the correct figure be 60,000 sq.ft. ? i.e. the Police Dept would grow from itsovercrowded 28,000 sq.ft. ? Is the other 15,000 sq.ft. for Courts, Public Works, and Council Chambers(because you need police parking where Chambers is now ?)

5. Where would it be?

The Civic Center campus was designed to allow expansion. Based on the student designs andrefinements of a local design team, the Council Subcommittee recommended the best place on the CivicCenter site for a new public safety facility to be on Commercial Street between Mirror Pond and theexisting driveway for parking access. In this concept, the existing parking garage is rebuilt to alleviateseismic concerns with the structure and the new garage would be secured for Police Department access.Public parking would be distributed around the site with surface parking in several more visible and easilyaccessed locations.

SCV QUESTION: So you arrived at this location because of a Eugene student ? Were the people ofSalem involved ? Are you not aware that there is NO expansion capacity in the Civic Center at areasonable cost, without building on a lake, or a peace plaza ? Are you not aware that your commissioned

study by ULI shows civic center expansion being on adjacent property they refer to as Civic Center West.i.e. should not the police wing be constructed where they park their SWAT vehicles now ?A representative of your "local design team" attended the SCV public meeting October 18 and apparentlyhis office is in Portland? We understand they were paid $54,000 for these crude and inaccurate sketches.Was a legal procurement RFP process used in selection of the "local" Portland firm ?

6. Did you look at other sites?We looked at 30 potential sites. In 2011, a Council Subcommittee considered nine of these sitesrangingfrom bare land locations to existing buildings. The Subcommittee recommended building on the CivicCenter campus, despite its slightly higher initial cost related to underground parking. This initial cost wouldbe offset by land acquisition costs, loss of property tax revenue by building on a nonCity owned site, andadditional travel and labor costs associated with the Police Department being away from the Civic Center.

While surface parking is less expensive at the outset, the parking area would require fencing to securePolice vehicles. This type of use may not fit well with adjacent uses, area neighbors and local businesses,and may not provide adequate security for police vehicles. If another site is selected for the public safety facility, the City must still fund repairs to the existing CivicCenter parking structure, upgrades to the facility to meet current seismic standards (including removal ofatrium canopy and removal and replacement of the Council Chambers and second municipal court), andrenovations to the floor vacated by the Police Department.


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SCV QUESTION: Please provide the public with a detailed report on each of these 30 sites, and makeavailable the detailed criteria and analysis and report. In the council minutes only 4 sites are shown, andthey all claim to be in the range of $55M to $60M. So it makes City Hall look artificially competitive, eventhough comments from the consultants point out that it is expensive. This exercise looks extremelysuspect, and city staff will need to vindicate themselves from the current fierce suspicion, if this exercise isto be taken seriously. Basement parking spaces are typically $20,000 per space. Surface spaces can be$2000.

7. Does a centralized facility or precinct operations make more sense?A centralized police department allows for the efficient exchange of information, and immediateinteraction among different department units or divisions that need to work together to keep ourcommunity safe. Adjacencies and work flow are critical to that mission and do not currently exist due tothe limitations of Salems existing Police facility. The 911 call center has been moved into offsite leasedspace due to constraints at the existing Police facility. Critical equipment, such as the SWAT armoredvehicle and Bomb Squad trucks are housed away from the department. The evidence lab is 6.5milesaway. It is also more expensive to operate multiple facilities simultaneously, and difficult to staff precincts

or substations and keep them open while officers respond to calls.

SCV QUESTION: The Eugene Police Chief is very pleased with his $17 million new 65,000 sq.ft. buildingand his 210 secure parking spaces. He says on YouTube it "is a perfect solution". Look it up. He said"ideally they would be downtown" but that would be "twice the cost to achieve". So do we want the $30million wing plus a $30 million underground parking structure, all the way under a demolished PeacePlaza? Actually 200 basement parking spaces cost $20,000 per space so you should use $40 million foryour garage you propose to extend all the way from Mirror Pond to right under our Peace Plaza.

8. What happens to the Civic Center if the Police Department moves to a new facility?Moving the Police Department to a new Public Safety Facility frees up space in the Civic Center for otherCity functions that are currently housed in offsite leased space. This would save the City about a halfmillion dollars in off-site lease costs annually.

SCV QUESTION: This actually makes sense, but should not the Police Facility be in a $17 million facilitylike Eugene did and calls "the perfect solution". Make that $20M for inflation to 2015 construction prices.

9. Why are we including the Civic Center in the discussion?As early as 1997, we identified water leaks from the concrete deck above the parking garage at the CivicCenter. In 2005, we learned that the leaking had worsened to a point of concern and, along with a seismicassessment, determined that the parking garage would need to be repaired at a cost of about $2 million.The seismic assessment also identified concerns with the atrium canopy and Council Chambers.

At the time, we didnt want to invest in the facility without a better master plan for the site, as a whole.

Reinforcing the facility to a fire and life safety standard (Category 3) could allow those in the facility toevacuate in an earthquake and add which is 4050 years to the life of the Civic Center building. Anothergroup of architecture students looked at how to improve the Civic Center visitors experience and betterorganize departments for efficiencies. And, the students confirmed what weve heard: its hard to find theCivic Center, the Civic Center campus doesnt have adequate parking for visitors, and its difficult to findwhat youre looking for at CityHall.

SCV QUESTION: Your rendering shows just 35 public parking spaces on the roof of the police parkinggarage. Why 200 for police and so few for the people of Salem ? Or do you discourage visitors ? SCV


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supports both the seismic reinforcement, and a new police facilitysomewherebut you should haveincluded the Library reinforcement from the outset. Are not the lives of the children as important as

planners and public works people ? How much is the new total ? $85,000,000 ?

10. How much is all of this likely to cost?Our most recent cost estimate for the Civic Center seismic improvements and Public Safety building is$70M. We think this estimate is low, because were still refining the project and havent yet completed anassessment of the Library structure. The concept planning level estimate for the 74,000 square foot PublicSafety building includes repair and expansion of the parking garage, a share of site improvements andsoft cost, and is about half the cost of the total project.

SCV QUESTION: So you would propose to promote a Bond issue without a real cost estimate ?Is it $85M with the Library ?

11. What about the Library?We recently learned that the central branch of the Salem Public Library may have similar seismic needs.

As a result, weve engaged an engineering firm to look into the Library structure in more detail. This willhelp us understand the scope of the Librarys seismic need and inform future Council andcommunitydecisions about whether to include the Librarys seismic need in a future bond measure related to thepublic safety facility and civic center seismic improvements.

SCV QUESTION: So you only just learned about the library condition, the building code, the expected 9.5earthquake, and you have (so far) excluded protection of the library users from your $70M figure ?

12. If you remove Council Chambers and dedicate the existing parking area for exclusive Policeuse, where will Council Chambers be and where will residents park?

Visitors to the Civic Center would park in about 100 spaces located atgrade or on the street level on both

the Liberty Street and Commercial Street side of Civic Center adjacent to the Library, Peace Plaza andMirror Pond area. Our current thinking is to replace the Council Chambers/Municipal Court in a newbuilding with counters for services residents use frequently at the Civic Center.

SCV QUESTION: Your drawings indicate 35 on roof of police parking, and 20 where the maple trees areremoved at Peace Plaza west. How does this compute to 100 ? What if the public came to city council toadvise you, where would they park ? In the $30M police garage, or is that locked up?

13. What will happen to Peace Plaza?The concept were working with now shows a new building to the east of Peace Plaza, at the street level. Parking for this building, which is likely to house convenient places for residents to pay bills and do otherCity business, would probably be at street level in front of the new building. There are no plans for

changes to Peace Plaza. There may be opportunities, however, to fix the concrete that is breaking aparton the surface of the Plaza, retrofit the fountain to meet water filtration requirements, and make otherimprovements in consultation with Peace Plaza stakeholders and the community to help reinforce andstrengthen this focal point of the Civic Center and important community gathering place.

SCV QUESTION: So why do your sketches all contradict your statements? You say you are building apolice garage under Peace Plaza and you will remove the concrete plaza and sculpture. Your sketchesshow two huge walls that constrict what is left of the Plaza, wipe out the grand staircase, the murals, the

plaques, the sculpture, and ALL the mature trees. But you say "there are no plans for changes".


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14. Why propose changes to Mirror Pond?

Mirror Pond is manmade and relies on a pump system to keep water flowing. Periodically ,the pondfills with algae and requires maintenance. Since the area was constructed, there are new storm water

detention and treatment standards. With a few changes, we can keep the connecting walking paths in andaround Mirror Pond while accomplishing our storm water treatment requirements.

SCV QUESTION: So our Mirror Pond needs periodic maintenance. That is what we pay our taxes for.The sketches are ALL inconsistent, showing the Mirror Pond progressively disappearing under a threestory new building wing, plus acres of new paving, and becoming a mere puddle in the last sketch.

15. How much have you spent todate on this concept?In 2009, Council authorized the City to participate in the University of Oregons Sustainable Cities Program with the understanding that two architecture courses would examine opportunities for placing anew public safety facility on the Civic Center campus and for reallocating existing services in existingspace to better serve visitors and the public. These two courses cost about $30,000.

In advance of the student design work, in 2009 through a competitive process, the City awarded acontract to a local design firm to prepare an assessment of space needs for the Police Department andother Civic Center functions. The design consultant developed the working concept to support the CouncilSubcommittee. In addition, to inform Council Subcommittees discussion, we completed a structuralevaluation of the Civic Center, geotechnical analysis of the soils and an environmental site assessment ofthe campus. Through December 2011, about $86,500 has been spent. In June 2013, Council authorizedadditional outreach and minor work on the concept.\

SCV QUESTION: So this was not a legal RFP process that local architects and the public were aware of?We have obtained cost figures from your local Portland firm that dispute the claimed numbers. Which$100,000+ budget did this come out of ? Urban Renewal (it's not in a URA)? General Fund ? Public

Works Engineering ? Do the Budget Committee know about these un-budgeted expenditures ?

16. What are the next steps?Next steps are contingent on Council deciding whether to pursue a bond measure, after extensivecommunity dialogue. If Council and the community are interested in pursuing this project, a bond measureon the ballot of a future election passes, then work would begin on the design and engineering for a newpublic safety facility and improvements to the Civic Center campus. Construction would follow a year anda half to two years later.

SCV QUESTION: Aren't you missing an important step ? It's called democracy, or citizen involvement ?When will the public have a say on where the police facility might be located? Please provide a copy ofthe detailed report on the 30 sites, with their pros and cons, and accurate costs (not contrived costs).

At this time the public sentiment seems to agree that YES, a new police facility is indeed needed, burwhere? Certainly NOT at our civic center if you propose to mess with our Peace Plaza, our Mirror Pond,or our Council Chambersbecause you need to accommodate 210 police car spaces in an expensivebelow grade garage, at $20,000 per space (rule of thumb). The way the City has mishandled this abond issue will fail dramatically.Judging by comments at public meetings, and at civic groups, a bond issue for a new $20 mil l ion p ol icefaci l i tyon a sensible site, plus a $20 mil l ion seism ic retrof i tof the City Hall and Library would indeedPASS. However messing with our Peace Plaza, our Mirror Pond, and our Council Chambers, at agrowing price tag of $85 million? means that excessive bond issue would surely FAIL .

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SALEM POLICE FACILITY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 11-01-2013.pdf