Following the Money - Part Six A - New pool, city hall, expanded service center or public safety complex?
A look at some future projects being considered
In late September the city council was taken on a tour by some of our city staff members to check out potential capital improvement projects (insert numerous dollar signs here). There were a few seats on the bus for nerdy members of the public so of course yours truly signed up.
Capital improvement projects sound boring but in reality, they tend to be “things that will cost a bucket o’ money that we all should know about.” Gulp, there’s a lot. Staff estimates we have over 150 million dollars worth. Keep in mind these are concept plans at this point and illustrate some areas that are in need of repair, expansion or renewal. This isn’t a list of projects we need to do tomorrow but a look at future needs.
As you can see these aren’t the kind of projects we can pay for with a check, plans for funding will be needed. Expect council to be presented with more information soon. They can decide what should be a priority. Some of the projects are recommendations from a $100,000 space study conducted earlier this year.
An example of a past capital project is the Great Outdoors Water Park. Voters approved funding for this project in 2014. I asked Kady Doelling our city administrator for details. Here’s her response. “This series of bonds was issued in 2016 with an original issuance amount of $8,265,000 and will be paid off in 2026. The bonds are funded through a property tax dedicated to servicing the debt and received an AA+ rating from Standard & Poor's. Our annual payment is roughly $1M/year.
Kady”
I’m going to hazard a guess that when this bond is close to being paid off we might see the city ask us to vote to continue it for a new project.
For months City Administrator Doelling has been beating the drum to the council about the need to plan for capital improvements, especially during the budget process. In my report Following the Money - Part Five A: What's coming in for 2025 there is a list of four priorities for the 2025 budget, number three is “Capital Needs – Begin addressing and planning for high-cost capital improvements.”
I’m breaking the projects down into two reports. Let’s take a look at the concepts for the first batch of potential projects.
THE AQUATICS CENTER AT THE BOB BURGER REC CENTER
Concept design
You might recall my recent post about the Rose Lueras Pool and all the issues causing it to be closed for months. At 34 years old it has outdated technology and failing parts. Replacing the water slide would cost $550,000. At this time no replacement is planned. Instead, there are two potential concepts, replace the entire pool keeping the same footprint, or replace and enlarge it. Here’s what the staff report describes.
Project Overview
This project will renovate the 30+ year old Rose Lueras Pool Complex. There are two concept designs with a range of improvements to the Bob L. Burger Recreation Center:
Option A replaces and redesigns the aquatic center, providing a new configuration that is more family friendly, larger slide, warm water pool, indoor whirlpool, and larger lap pool. Option A also includes potential additions of office space, additional fitness space, and administrative space.
Option B provides a complete overhaul of the aquatics center within the current footprint and with the current configuration. Slight modifications would occur to the kiddie pool and whirlpool, and the entire aquatics center infrastructure (ceiling, floor, etc.) would be replaced.
Expenses
· 2024 Revised Budget – $60,000 (pool repairs)
· 2025 Recommended Budget – $0
· Future Expenses (Anticipated) – $17 million to $30 million, depending on the scope
THE SERVICE CENTER
Concept design
This is where some of the city vehicles are stored and maintained. It’s old and worn. There is a new breakroom (nothing fancy) only because a pipe broke over a holiday and when the staff came back the room was flooded.
I was surprised to hear we only have two full-time mechanics charged with handling many of the repairs. If you think about all the police cars, public works and parks vehicles, fire department equipment, and general staff cars and trucks the city has, you can imagine the number that goes through here yearly. Some vehicles are sent out for repair but most are handled here.
Some of the fire engines are so large and the building so old that the bays are not tall enough to handle them and the staff have to do some tricky maneuvering to get to the repairs. We have some giant public works vehicles too and they are stored inside here.
Here’s what the staff report tells us:
The Service Center currently houses the City’s street, fleet, parks, and utility maintenance functions, including snow removal equipment. It is an aging facility that no longer has adequate space or capacity to serve current needs. Some examples of the challenges include:
· Inadequate interior and exterior drainage, resulting in flooding and potential safety and environmental concerns.
· Pipes freezing due to nonexistent or insufficient insulation.
· The building does not meet current code requirements.
· The site does not provide adequate covered parking for crucial City vehicles and equipment, including trucks that respond to utility emergencies and snowplows, resulting in premature weather damage.
· The vehicle maintenance bays do not properly fit all vehicles for repair, including fire engines.
· Insufficient office space to accommodate current and future staff needs.
This facility was part of the space study project which identified multiple improvements to the site to improve efficiency, functionality, and safety. Some of these improvements include realigning the entrance to secure the site, relocating all maintenance bays into one location to reduce staff interaction with potentially hazardous fumes and noise, expanding staff office and collaboration space, and adding new maintenance bays that accommodate the City’s largest vehicles. Further design work would be necessary to refine the functionality of existing maintenance bays that would not be expanded or relocated as part of this project.
Expenses
· 2024 Revised Budget – $100,000 (space study and concept design)
· 2025 Recommended Budget – $0
· Future Expenses (Anticipated) – $5+ million (design, construction, and other “soft costs”)
NEW CITY HALL
Concept design
A few years back the city purchased land on S. Public Rd for a future city hall. It’s the vacant land between the building where Due South is and the RTD Park and Ride, to the west of Morrell Printing Solutions.
From the staff report:
Project Overview
City Hall was built in 1985 and has had multiple renovations to address emerging needs, most recently in 2021/2022 to improve security and address immediate space constraints. Acknowledging that the current building would not meet long-term needs, the City purchased a vacant lot two blocks north of the current City Hall along South Public Road in 2020 and has worked with an architecture firm to determine future space needs and draft initial concept designs for the site.
The initial concept design provides adequate space to accommodate anticipated staffing growth, improved community meeting spaces, relocated Municipal Court (from the Police Department), and a more energy efficient building. The building would house City Council and Municipal Court Chambers and the following departments: Administration, City Clerk, Communications, Economic Development, Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology, Municipal Court, Planning and Building, Public Works (Administration and Engineering), and Sustainability.
Expenses
· 2024 Revised Budget – $100,000 (space study and concept design)
· 2025 Recommended Budget – $0
· Future Expenses (Anticipated) – $30+ million (design, construction, and other “soft costs”)
PUBLIC SAFETY COMPLEX
Concept design
If you are familiar with the location of our fire and police stations on 111th between Baseline and Arapahoe you can see this is a plan to enlarge the complex.
Historical sidestep, when I moved here in the late 1980s what is now the WOW! Museum on Harrison in Old Town was the fire station staffed by volunteers. The police department and library were in city hall, we had no recreation center.
The staff report tells us:
The City of Lafayette geographically positioned fire stations wisely over the years. However, Fire Station 1 was built as a volunteer station and, after 25+ years of operation, the facility is poorly suited to the current needs of the fire service. With the growth predicted in the comprehensive plan Public Safety needs will continue to grow over the coming years. The property owned by the city adjacent to the Police and Fire Departments is well-suited to be developed to support both departments moving forward. An important aspect to this development is the ability for police officers and firefighters to engage in simulated training without leaving the city.
This proposal includes (a) expanded and updated living spaces at Fire Station #1, (b) an enclosed workout facility for firefighters and police officers, (c) new administrative areas for Fire Department command staff, (d) a new auditorium style training room for citywide use, and (e) expanded secure parking for the Police Department.
Expenses
· 2024 Revised Budget – None for this project, although there were some immediate facility improvements budgeted, such as flooring replacement in the Police Department ($40,000) and various fire station maintenance activities included in the Fire Department’s operating budget.
· 2025 Recommended Budget – The 2025 Recommended Budget includes funds for Fire Station #1 and Police Department paint ($73,000), Fire Station #1 flooring ($50,000), and boiler replacement at the Police Department.
· Future Expenses (Anticipated) – Further design work would be necessary to determine costs associated with the Public Safety Complex, outside of routine maintenance as included in the 2024 Revised Budget and 2025 Recommended Budget.
Stay tuned for my next report on the remainder of the projects!
Want to offer more support? Awesome!
I'd like to know the details, engineering and costs, of these proposed projects because I don't think such projects are within financial standards of "need." I don't think the City Council is capable of assessing these projects properly, as to cost/benefit. So often, projects get proposed, voted and built only to find that they do not pay for themselves, are substandard, or valued only be certain groups within political boundaries. Costs should include financing of future problems deemed within the scope of the project:
Life-cycle costs: This refers to the total cost of ownership over the entire life of an asset or project, including initial investment, operating costs, maintenance, and eventual disposal.
Post-implementation costs: These are specifically the costs incurred after a project is implemented or completed.
Maintenance costs: Ongoing expenses required to keep an asset or project in good working condition.
Future cash outflows: In financial modeling, this term is used to describe any expected future expenses related to a project.
Total cost of ownership (TCO): Similar to life-cycle costs, this includes all direct and indirect costs associated with an asset or project over its entire lifespan.
Karen you are really to be congratulated on how well you get the word out! Thank you again and yet again