HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-11-16; City Council; MinutesMINUTES
SPECIAL MEETING:
DATE OF MEETING:
TIME OF MEETING:
PLACE OF MEETING:
CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP
November 16,2005
11 :00 a.m. - 2:OO p.m.
1635 Faraday Ave, Room 173A
The Mayor called the meeting to order at 11:05A.M. All Council Members were present
as well as the City Manager and City Attorney.
The Mayor called for a discussion on Council Member reports on regional roles and
assignments. Council Member Packard reported that the League of California Cities is
holding an event on Monday, December 12, 2005 at the La Costa Resort and
encouraged Council Members to attend.
The Mayor then called for a discussion of the proposed police/fire/public works center
training facility in the public works center or other alternative locations. The City
Manager introduced the item and introduced Pat Kelley who distributed a memo dated
November 15, 2005 entitled ‘Safety Center Site Plan” (attached) outlining the pros and
cons of using the existing Safety Center site and included other City owned public
properties.
The Mayor emphasized the need for future expansion and long range planning. He
would favorably consider looking at other potential sites to accommodate future
expansion. Mayor Pro Tem Hall explained the need for more information to determine
what the future needs will be. What are the training needs and he noted that they have
changed over the last few years. Before going out and looking for other sites an
analysis and determination of the scope of the needs must first be done. Council
Member Kulchin felt that the recommended action was only to allow staff to look for
other candidate sites and this would be helpful in the Council’s decision-making
process. Council Member Sigafoose explained to need to know more about the existing
and future needs but to also look closely at the existing site and to determine whether or
not it is the most efficient and effective use of the Safety Center site. Council Member
Packard explained that the partnership concept is important and must be explored first
before the Council decides how many acres are needed. There is much value in
partnering with other agencies in safety training and we should attempt to get
commitments from other agencies before we decide where and how much is needed.
The Mayor summarized the discussions as follows:
0 Explore alternatives including their costs
0 Development of a site plan for existing facilities
Explore partnerships with other agencies
The Mayor then called on Chief Zoll who explained there has been much interest in a
jointhegional training facility from other local agencies and the federal government.
Chief Crawford explained that a regional facility would be two to three times larger than
one solely based on the City’s needs and pointed out the fact that the City has been
using the San Marcos facility for some time for training.
The City Manager summarized these discussions and will place the item on the City
Council’s next study session for further discussion.
The Mayor then called for a discussion of the Planning Commission comments and
concerns regarding development processing, procedures and other land use issues.
Planning Commissioner Dominguez joined the City Council and announced that the
Planning Commission had no comments at this time.
The Mayor then called for a further discussion of regional assignments and Mayor Pro
Tem Hall inquired about SANDAG assignments for 2006. The Council then entertained
a discussion of the various possible assignments for Mayor Pro Tem Hall within the
committees or subcommittees reporting to the SANDAG Board of Directors. Council
Member Sigafoose noted that she should be listed as the Carlsbad ConVis
representative.
The Mayor then called for a working lunch and continued discussions. The Mayor
called for the City Manager to review the goal and major project tracking report and
update discussion of the Council goal setting process and a discussion of the capacity
and effectiveness in the delivery of City processes and services. He explained that a
new report was being developed to show progress on priority projects as determined by
the City Council. The City Manager further reported that the Rancho Carlsbad dredging
permits have been applied for on an emergency basis to the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers and the Coastal Commission. Council Member Packard asked whether or
not there were any deadlines for a response and the City Manager explained that there
were none.
The Mayor then called for a discussion of Item No. 6 and there being none then called
for public comment. Kasey Cinciarelli, Lyons Court, Carlsbad commented on the City’s
Open Space Plan, the Proposition C advisory measure and the need to hire a full time
employee for administration of the Habitat Management Plan. She felt that $8 million
was needed for immediate dedicated use for open space to preserve the remaining
natural lands and to put this item on the next City Council agenda for discussion.
Diane Nygaard representing Preserve Calavera passed out a letter dated November 16,
2005 to the Planning Director regarding consistency findings for Robertson Ranch and
other standards area. (On file in the office of the City Clerk).
There being no further public comment, the Mayor thanked all for their full and complete
attention and participation and adjourned the meeting at 12:28 p.m.
Rpipectfully submitted,
RONALD R. BALL, City Attorney
as Clerk Pro Tem for the meeting
Date: November 15,2005
~ ~ ~ Space Need Acres Required
Joint First Responder Training Facility (Police and Fire Training) 5
Public Work Center 12-15
To:
Total Space Needs
Current Safetv Center Land Available (60% of 23 acres)
From:
17-20
14
Assistant City Manager n 92- Building and Code Enforcement Manage
Re: Safety Center Site Plan
The City has identified the need to construct four facilities: a Police Shooting Range, Fire
Training Facility, Public Works Center and a City Training Center. Prior to creating detailed
designs of each facility, it was necessary to perform a needs assessment to determine the space
required to fulfill the needs. The space needed to accommodate the needs is known, and this
memo is intended to give background for the using the Safety Center site in meeting those needs.
Police, Fire, Public Works, Building and others hired a consultant, RRM Design, to study the
suitability of the Safety Center site and other sites for all identified needs. After consultation
with the city departments, RRM developed a proposal that accommodated all three needs on the
Safety Center site. It was determined a City Training Facility for classroom-type training would
be better suited away from the noisier Public Works and Safety training activities.
The basic space need for a Joint First Responder Training Facility (Police and Fire Training) is
about 5 acres. These two Safety work groups training together should be considered as very
important to the City’s emergency preparedness. There is true synergy in sharing a Safety
training facility and some practical construction efficiencies. A Public Works Center needs
between 12 and 15 acres. Public Works operations will be much more efficient when their
resources are joined in one location and resources may be readily shared.
It should be pointed out that considerable effort was made to determine the ultimate, build-out
needs for each use, including a factor for normal departmental growth. This space analysis
assumes at-grade parking for regular passenger vehicles and pick-ups. The existing Safety Center
site is 23 acres, although that site is currently about 40% developed with other permanent uses.
To summarize these needs in comparison to the space available at the Safety Center, the
following table is provided:
I Space Deficit @ Safety Center I 3-6 acres
RRM calculated that if all three uses were placed at the Safety Center, a four level parking
structure would be needed to accommodate regular passenger vehicles and pick-ups
(Approximately 600 spaces) at a cost of about $5 to $6 million. Without the parking structure,
the Safety Center site cannot accommodate all proposed uses. An acre of land can accommodate
between 90 and 120 parking passenger vehicle spaces landscape dependent. Hence the need for
about 3-6 acres of additional land in lieu of the parking structure. This land space estimate
should be qualified as needing more refinement, but should be considered sufficiently accurate
for basic site planning purposes. The current site design scenario could be refined to yield more
space, however it will not yield 3-6 acres of additional space.
PRO
In addition, this scenario does not include space for any hture unknown expansion of the City’s
current services. In other words, if at some future point, the City is required to add a distinct
service area (such as when the City had to begin enforcing regionally mandated storm water
regulations), there will clearly be no space available at this location. Basically, there is no room
for unforeseen growth in this all-in-one scenario.
CON
As with any design that considers multiple possibilities, each concept has advantages and
disadvantages. The table below summarizes the Pros and Cons of co-locating all three identified
needs at the Safety Center site:
I required.
Entire Public Works organization would be
on one site.
Safety training at one site provides for cross
training and dual use of facilities.
First responders (PD, FD, and PW) shared I resources and training omortunities
.
margin for unforeseen new missions.
Parking structure (if needed) - high cost, high-
maintenance depreciable asset
Traffic circulation issues
Skate Park use incongruent wl government uses
“Good Neighbors” - better location wl
minimal neighbor complaints
Does not use land zoned for commercial or
industrial uses as non-revenue generating
~~ A variety of uses that do not necessarily Wend” -
maintenance operations versus safety
May require relocation of current services if space is
needed in the future.
government use.
Good site security for all tenants
Consistent with zoning/vision
The primary issue with the Safety Center site is the limited amount of space available. The site
is constrained, and any significant unforeseen program growth in any of the uses proposed for
the site will result in serious space complications. If the intent is to plan, design, and construct
the last Fire, Police and Public Works facilities the City will need, this scenario requires a four-
level parking structure to accommodate passenger vehicles. One of the primary benefits of this
concept is that no additional land would need to be acquired, resulting in a current, short-term
cost savings. If however the expansion space is needed, that land would have to be purchased at
a fbture cost yet to be estimated or some facility would have to be moved off site. (i.e. the
Skateboard Park or the Fleet Maintenance Facility.
The options are to either co-locate all three identified needs at the Safety Center site by using a
parking structure at a cost of $5 to $6 million or request that stafT look into purchasing additional
land. This second option would save the cost of the parking structure but adds the cost of
purchasing additional land. Staff has also considered the use of other currently owned City
property and whether any of these uses are compatible with these locations. The following table
lists some of the City’s property assets for which there is no future identified use:
Property Description
Greenwood House (Parks Maintenance Yard)
Buena Vista Reservoir
Location Approx. Acreage Surrounding Uses
Carlsbad Village Drive 1 .O Acres Civic / Commercial
@ Pi0 Pic0
Arland Rd @ Buena Vista Drive 3.16 Acres Residential
Calaveras Treatment Plant Tamarack Ave 4.55 Acres Residential
(east of Pontiac ‘Drive)
Public Works Maintenance Yard
(Streets and Facilities)
Due to the nature of the proposed City uses, it is not recommended that they be placed adjacent
to residential or downtown commercial developments. The 405 Oak site is too small for joint
training and would not be an advisable use of that property due to the property’s location in the
Downtown Village, the Coastal Rail Trail, and the Barrio. The former CMWD property,
although large enough, could not be used as a joint safety training facility as it would likely be
considered disruptive to airport flight operations.
405 Oak St 1.35 Acres Commercial Mixed Use
The Safety Center site has adequate room only if a four-level parking structure is built. It
remains staffs recommendation to not place all three of these facilities in this very constrained
site. If there were any additional service demands place on the City requiring additional
personnel and equipment, this combined site would not accommodate the use without moving
something else from the site. Staff would recommend investigation of acquiring other suitable
properties for these uses in order to provide for future, unforeseen growth needs of the City
organization.
Maintenance and Operations Offices (formerly CMWD Operations)
C: City Manager, Public Works Director, Police Chief, Fire Chief, Community Development
Director
5800 El Camino Real 6.09 Acres Office / Planned Industrial /
Airport Influence Area