CITY OF SHORELINE

SHORELINE CITY COUNCIL
SUMMARY MINUTES OF SPECIAL MEETING

COUNCIL TOUR FOR THE CIVIC CENTER/CITY HALL PROJECT

Monday, April 30, 2007 – 9:00 A.M.
Shoreline City Hall

17544 Midvale Avenue N.

PRESENT:       Mayor Ransom, Deputy Mayor Fimia, Councilmember Gustafson, Councilmember Hansen, Councilmember McGlashan, Councilmember Ryu, and Councilmember Way.

ABSENT:        None

STAFF:            Robert Olander, City Manager; Julie Modrzejewski, Assistant City Manager; Ian Sievers, City Attorney; Joe Tovar, Planning and Development Services Director; Jesus Sanchez, Public Works Operations Manager; Brian Breedan, Roads Maintenance Supervisor; Paul Lanie, Facility and Fleet Coordinator; Bill Angle, City Consultant

City Council and staff left Shoreline City Hall at approximately 9:00am and arrived at 9:30am at Mithun Architect at Pier 56 in Seattle.  We met with Richard Franko who provided a tour of their LEED certified facility.  Mr. Franko provided an overview of the facility - the space is designed for a 200 person integrated design firm.  The space was originally vacant when they remodeled five years ago.  In their remodel they included natural cooling which includes high and low windows that open - with this method they capitalize on cross ventilization, allowing heat to escape from the top windows.  The firm has an open floor plan - everyone has the same exact space, even the CEO - they believe this open floor plan fosters teamwork. 

They were concerned about noise, especially when making private phone calls, due to the hard surfaces.  The ambient noise created by the air system and by providing small rooms for personal calls helps. 

Mithun also had a desire to use recycled materials.  For example, 90% of the carpet comes from recycled materials.  The overall goal is to use less materials so much of the facility keeps the plywood and deck exposed.  Mr. Franko recommends getting samples of materials before selecting the material.  For instance, materials may not be toxic; however, they may have an odor that impacts user satifaction.

For their lighting, Mithun uses fluorescent desk lights and T5s on the “main street” hallway.  They are actively monitoring energy use - their goal is to be carbon-neutral. 

While touring the Mithun facility, samples of the Puyallup City Hall design were featured.  The Puyallap City Hall is designed to be approximately 55,000 square feet and includes retail on the main level and underground parking.  Puyallap also has a design build team: Egis-Kauri-Skansa-Mithun.  The Puyallap City Hall design will feature a demonstration green roof so that the community will have an opportunity to understand the concept.  In addition, the design includes a vertical sisterne which is tied to a computer system that measures the water levels.  The underground sisterne, which includes added capacity for the adjacent housing project, collects water which will be reused to irrigate the softscape.

In addition, Mithun has significant bicycle parking below the building and men and women lockers/showers.  Lastly, for the Mithun facility, the view of the Sound is shared by all staff as part of the employee lounge. 

The second facility that the Council and staff visited was Perkins + Will, an architect firm which achieved the State of Washington’s first LEED Platinum certification.  Amanda Sturgeon, partner, provided the tour.  Perkins + Will disconnected the HVAC system and use naturally ventilated air - they do not use a cooling system (with the exception of their server room); they use outside air from low and high windows (the system monitors carbon dioxide and indicates if the levels are too high for opening the windows).  Ms. Sturgeon stated that they have not been through a summer since they moved in last September; however, they anticipate having to manage through at the most two weeks of very hot weather.  She continued to explain they have solar gain since they have western exposure.  Perkins + Will has mechanical exterior see-thru shades, which have a sensor should the wind trigger it.  Ms. Sturgeon stated that they use 40% less water and power than a typical system.  The interior lights, which use TA florescent bulbs, are automatic - if there is enough light, they shut off.  They are hopeful that they will receive a rebate from their landlord based on their metered electric use. 

In remodeling their office space they aimed to use renewable materials; for instance, 40% of their carpet is recycled and they used all sustainable wood products.  Eighty (80%) percent of the materials they used were from the region, which helped to keep transportation costs down and encouraged local economies. 

The contractor they used was Turner Construction.  Perkins + Will considered their remodel a fast project and the contractor needed to have a great deal of knowledge of the construction products.  For example, they wanted to use recycled aluminum on the windows but could not get them; they had to use virgin material.  Ms. Sturgeon encourages the City to have someone on the construction team dedicated to tracking materials; it’s eventual that materials will get substituted.

She continued by stating that spaces are designed for team breakout spaces; no one owns the window space.  For staff who needs privacy there are small interview rooms available.  Their office furniture is made from waste products with non-toxic finishes.  Finally, they compost food in their employee lounge using a system called NatureMill.

The next facility that we visited was the Federal Way City Hall.  We met with Neal Beets, City Manager, and Iwen Wang, Management Services Director.  The building they purchased was originally owned by Weyerhauser.  The City of Federal Way was the general contractor for the remodel.  They started by gutting and rebuilding the inside of the building.  The facility is 88,000 square feet, 81,000 square feet of which is usable. 

The City started looking at a new city hall building in 1997.  The staff analysis projected needing 100,000 square feet by 2025.  The projected need is 70,000 square feet.  The City Council used a citizen committee who discussed the pros and cons.  One of their recommendations was to purchase an existing building and renovate it.  They considered this the most cost-effective.  They reviewed six sites and the preference was to locate in the downtown but it was too cost prohibitive.  The cost estimates for a building downtown was $20-25 million.  The building they purchased in a business park area was $7.3 million and included two vacant land parcels (three acres) which they have used for additional parking and for an evidence building.  Federal Way has a full service Police Department and Court, which are located onsite; they have three courtrooms and two judges.  While Federal Way has separate taxing districts, they did invite them to locate at their Permit Center.  The Fire Department is located onsite and the utility district will locate in city hall later this year.

Federal Way paid for city hall with a 1997 Police Facility Bond and it will be paid off this year.  They used councilmatic bonds backed by utility tax to put together a $16 million package to include a theatre and park. 

The building already had 180 parking spaces, but they added 280 spaces in new lots across the street.  They added a number of meeting rooms and they have two empty spaces for future growth.  They moved in August 2004. 

When asked what they would have liked to include they stated automatic lights; having all visitors go to one area instead of multiple reception areas; and additional restrooms.  The Council Chambers are used for other meetings, such as School District meetings.  Each Councilmember has their own desk (shared in two offices). 

Federal Way has an off-site records center (police and court manage their own record contracts separately); the records that are onsite are on a mobile unit built on a track.  When asked if employees are satisfied with adequate storage space; the response was it depends on who you ask.  They had expanded more than the architect initially envisioned.  They have a generator which powers the entire building for four hours (they are expanding that to 72 hours). 

The final site we visited was the Lakewood City Hall.  Mayor Claudia Thomas and Bill Larkin, Public Works Director (who was the project manager) met with us.  Mayor Thomas stated that they wanted a city hall that made a statement; it will be a 50+ year structure.  Mayor Thomas continued by adding that the people who challenged them were the businesses and if she had it to do over again, she would not have voted for a 5% reduction in the building.  She would have had more dialogue for why they needed the space; she stated that they have already outgrown it.  Mayor Thomas continued by saying that it is cheaper to build it now than later. 

The Mayor said they used different focus groups and the architecture came from citizens, and they wanted a Pacific-rim design (Asian inspired look).  The citizen committee looked at different locations.  At the time they were looking at the new mall, but the developer went bankrupt.  They are now located in their new town center, and in fact, their building was a catalyst for the town center development. 

The back panel of the Council Chamber opens completely, which makes it very functional- this adds more space when they need it for receptions or large meetings.  The lighting on the building matches the street lights - this provides good continuity.  They have lots of public use out of the building, including non-profit groups.  There is a conference room and kitchenette off of the Council Chambers.  Mayor Thomas said that the building belongs to the community; different organizations may meet there by simply making a meeting request.  If outside groups want to use the communications, then they have to pay for a staff person to be present.  She continued by stating that she wished that they could add round tables in their chambers, but the chairs are fixed.  They currently do not televise their meetings so cable technology was not built into the building but could be added. 

The building is 62,000 square feet and they purchased the land and constructed the project for a total of $11.3 million.  They have a limited parking garage under the building with 27-25 spaces.  They moved into the building in 2001.  Again, the Mayor stated that she wished they had not sacrificed the size of the building - they need more room for growth.  Likewise, she wished they had more meeting rooms for large groups to meet.

The Police Department is not located in the city hall.  A new Police Department will be constructed approximately 1.5 miles from city hall, and they will break ground this fall.  They stated that this is not optimum for teamwork. 

Overall their project was 13% over budget.  They were on the fast track for design and this cost them more (they were in a hurry because they were leasing space all over town and they did not want to extend leases).  Bill Larkin stated that their biggest mistake was being in such a hurry; he would have checked the plans more thoroughly and corrected them before going to bid (e.g., ADA requirements in the chamber were missed).  Since there were code issues they received reimbursements from the architect.  Their largest additional cost was A/V and alarm-system - it was designed pro bono and so the design was incomplete when it went out to bid.  .  He stated that it is important to have someone who knows all elements of construction.  They were lucky in that they had a good contractor, but they did have trouble with some of the subcontractors.  He encouraged us to involve staff in design.

The tour ended at approximately 2:30 p.m. City Councilmembers and staff arrived back at Shoreline City Hall at 3:00 p.m.

/S/ Julie Modrzejewski, Assistant City Manager