Potential Project #1: Parks and Public Works Service Center
What we have and what is recommended
In my report “Potential $ ballot question for 2025,” I told you there might be a ballot question this year asking voters for a tax increase to fund the improvement and redesign of two current city facilities and to build a new civic center. The city plans to provide information about the projects and conduct a poll to gauge resident support. Info about three upcoming city meetings can be found at the bottom of this report.
Possible project number one is the redesign and expansion of the city’s Parks and Public Works Service Center. It’s located on Avalon, south of S. Boulder Rd.
The center was built in 1973 when Lafayette was a much smaller city. As time went on and the city grew, it was expanded to accommodate more staff and maintenance needs. It’s 24,300 sq ft.
This is the hub for vehicle maintenance and fueling for public works, the parks department, and all the other city departments, including police and fire. It’s the equipment supply yard, and where many vehicles are stored including snow removal trucks.
The bays were designed to handle vehicles much smaller than some of our fire trucks, and the mechanics have devised some fancy methods to handle the required maintenance. (I am kidding about the fancy part.)
There is little to no insulation, and staff have returned after a weekend to find broken pipes and floods. (see the slides below).
We have the facilities and the open space departments in another location, this redesign will bring them all into one building.
The estimated cost is $6 million.
Some slides from a presentation to the council:
More info from a staff memo:
“The preliminary design proposes to combine the two existing fleet maintenance areas into one and relocate them away from staff offices and shared spaces, add a new fleet maintenance bay to the rear of the building to accommodate the City’s largest vehicles, add storage and office space to relocate Facilities and Open Space staff to the Service Center, completely renovate the shared spaces to improve staff wellbeing and collaboration, and construct standardized offices and workstations. The estimated cost for this project is up to approximately $6 million, inclusive of additional design necessary for the project.”
COMMUNITY INFORMATION SESSIONS
Live streaming will be available at lafayetteco.gov/StreamingVideo or on the City’s YouTube Channel.
Wednesday, April 2: This session will focus on Quality Service Delivery
6-7pm
City Hall | 1290 S. Public Road
Wednesday, April 30: This session will focus on Fiscal Responsibility
6-7pm
City Hall | 1290 S. Public Road
Thursday, May 15: This session will focus on Sustainability and Environmental Stewardship
6-7pm
City Hall | 1290 S. Public Road
Want to offer more support? Awesome!
Karen you and I are on the same page our employees in the service center deserve a much better facility and nowhere in the Civic Center is there any kind of pain and discomfort at this level we can put the Civic Center off for another 5 years.
Consider that the cost of water has doubled in the last 4 years homeowner insurance rates have doubled in the last four years Excel rates are going to go up significantly in order to decommission the Pueblo number three coal furnace we need a little austerity here.
And in all fairness the Bob Burger facility is absolutely inadequate for our community
Karen... I have written a detailed email to city council urging them to separate city hall project and defer it on the basis that the future economic climate when combined with the past trends in cost of living will be more than many can bear. I share with council how difficult their message is to hear when combined with the pressing layoffs and liss of federal and state funding that supports many Lafayeyte households.
I will let you know if I hear anything back