HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-07-2012 c10cityhallentrystepsMeeting Date
August 7, 201 2
Item Number
C1 0
counci lj acenda uEpou t
C I T Y O F S A N L U I S O B I S P O
FROM :
Carrie Mattingly, Interim Director of Public Work s
Prepared By :
Matt Horn, Supervising Civil Enginee r
SUBJECT : CITY HALL ENTRY STEPS, SPECIFICATION NUMBER 9110 7
AUTHORIZATION TO ADVERTIS E
RECOMMENDATION
1.As recommended by the Cultural Heritage Committee, approve plans and specifications fo r
the City Hall Entry Steps, Specification No . 91107 .
2.Authorize staff to advertise for bids and authorize the City Manager to award the contract i f
the lowest responsive bid is within the Engineer's Estimate .
DISCUSSION
City Hall was constructed in 1951 and was added to the City's Master List of historic resource s
in 1996 . The building is listed because of its architectural significance as a Mediterranean styl e
public building with Italianate and Mission Revival influences . In addition, the Architect,
William Decker Holdridge, made significant contributions to the City . The property is within th e
Downtown Historic District .
The original concrete front entry steps at Palm Street have been showing signs of wear wit h
surface cracks and stains . With the adoption of the 2011-13 Capital Improvement Plan, a projec t
to replace the concrete entry steps and landing in front of City Hall was approved . Constructio n
funding for this work became available in July 2012 . The City was also approached by a citize n
regarding the possible addition of a flag pole at City Hall to hold a City flag . Staff reviewed th e
possibility and developed some concepts to be considered in the context of the stair replacemen t
project .
In July 2011, a topographical survey of the area was completed and two replacement option s
developed . The first matches the concrete color and groove pattern . The second option replace s
the steps with the same configuration, but uses adobe colored concrete, the same color that i s
used in the City's Mission Style sidewalk, and adds a border of brick (see Attachment 1). Thi s
second option ties the two sets of stairs together, connects them to the brick entrance features ,
and will connect the stairs visually to the sidewalk when it is replaced with Mission Style in th e
future . Additionally, this plan shows a revised flag pole arrangement in order to add a third flag
pole to the front of City Hall .
In March 2012 these concepts went before the Cultural Heritage Committee (CHC) for review
and guidance . The CHC recommended the project move forward with the concrete replacement
work only, not including flag pole work or the addition of brick edging, using adobe colore d
concrete . The CHC recommended that any flag pole work should move forward as part of a
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City Hall Entry Steps,Specification Number 91107 Page 2
future landscape enhancement project . Based on CHC's guidance, the City Hall Entry Step s
concept was finalized (see Attachment 2 for display and Attachment 3 for meeting minutes), an d
plans and specifications were completed .
The project consists of the complete demolition of the concrete entry steps from the sidewalk o n
Palm Street up to the upper landing at the front of City Hall, but not including this upper landing .
The existing handrails are proposed to be removed, cleaned, powder coated, and reinstalled . Th e
proposed concrete is a smooth brushed finish adobe colored similar to the color and finish of th e
existing concrete stairs . A drainage system is to be installed to keep water from weeping out o f
the new concrete walkway . The upper landing is excluded due to the complex nature of it s
replacement, as it is also the roof of the electrical room in the basement .
The plans and specifications for this work are complete . Pending Council authorization, staff
will submit plans for a building permit and advertise the project for bids .
Based on Council guidance, additional items of work can be added to the base project . Staff
envisions Council giving additional guidance on the upper most landing area as well as flag pol e
work .
ADA Upgrade Work
The nature of this work requires the City to provide some Americans With Disabilities Ac t
(ADA) upgrades to the City Hall building . The City is required to expend a minimum of 20% o f
the budget toward that effort . To comply with the requirements, a door assist mechanism is
currently being installed at the rear door of City Hall to provide assisted access to the building .
The upstairs area was considered the more significant of the two levels due to the presence of th e
Council Chambers .
CONCURRENCE S
The CHC concurs with the base project, without the inclusion of work to the upper landing o r
addition of a flag pole .
The project was found to be exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA )
based on Section 15331 of the CEQA guidelines . This section describes that maintenance an d
repair projects carried out in a manner consistent with the Secretary of Interior Standards ar e
exempt from the provisions of CEQA . The CHC found the step replacement project to b e
consistent with the Secretary of Interior Standards .
FISCAL IMPAC T
This project is identified in the 2011-13 Financial Plan, Appendix B, Capital Improvement Plan ,
pages 3-298 through 3-300 with $10,000 for design and $130,000 for construction an d
construction management .
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City Hall Entry Steps, Specification Number 91107
Engineer's Estimat e
Construction :$80,00 0
Contingencies :$8,00 0
Total for Construction :$88,00 0
Printing :$50 0
Materials Testing :$5,00 0
Total Other Costs :$5,50 0
Total Cost :$93,500
ALTERNATIVE S
1.Include upper landing work with base project.The upper landing area adjacent to th e
front entry doors to City Hall can be included with this project . The landing area also serve s
as City Hall's electrical room roof and is a structural part of the building . This landing can
be removed and replaced, but will be temporarily invasive and may pose some risk o f
cracking the interior tile floor adjacent to the building's entry doors . If Council wishes t o
include this portion of work with the project, a structural design and shoring plan will need t o
be completed at an estimated cost of $7,500 . The estimated construction cost for this work i s
$45,000 . In order to support this additional $52,000 of landing work, an additional $20,00 0
of project funding will be required . If Council chooses this alternative, staff recommend s
bidding this landing work as an additive alternate, and making the determination at the tim e
of contract award whether to include the landing or not and determine the funding source .
Staff does not recommend this alternative because of the high cost, disruption to services
provided by City Hall staff and risk of damaging other portions of the building .
2.Provide a location for an additional flag pole .The proposed flag pole addition for a Cit y
flag was envisioned as a donation project . Consideration of alternatives is in the context o f
appearance and accommodation with the project, rather than expenditure . Staff does not
recommend contemplating an additional flag pole at this time as it is not supported by th e
CHC and should be considered in the context of a larger plan . Flag pole installation work a s
shown in Attachment 1 could be included with this project . This work includes th e
relocation of one existing flag pole and the installation of one new flag pole on one side o f
the walkway creating a grouping of three poles . The estimated donation needed fo r
construction funding is $35,000 . Alternatively, Council could provide direction on a differen t
location for a City flag pole which has an estimated cost for construction funding of $17,000 .
ATTACHMENT S
1.First design displa y
2.CHC recommended desig n
3.CHC Meeting Minutes — March 26, 2012
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Page3
CityHall Entry Steps,Specification Number 91107 Page 4
AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW IN THE COUNCIL OFFIC E
Plans and Specification s
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k''-'
SAN LUIS OBISP O
CULTURAL HERITAGE COMMITTEE MINUTE S
March 26, 201 2
ROLL CALL :
Present :Committee Members Hemalata Dandekar, Jaime Hill, Buzz Kalkowski, Bo b
Pavlik, Vice-Chair Enrica Costello, Chair — Position Vacan t
Absent :Committee Member John Fowle r
Staff:Senior Planner Phil Dunsmor e
ACCEPTANCE OF THE AGENDA :The agenda was accepted as presented .
MINUTES :Minutes of February 27, 2012, were approved as amended .
PUBLIC COMMENTS ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS :
There were no comments made from the public .
PUBLIC HEARING ITEMS :
1 .117Longview Lane .CHC 25-12 ; Review of nomination for historic listing ; R-1
zone ; Cultural Heritage Committee, applicant .(Phil Dunsmore )
Phil Dunsmore, Senior Planner, presented subject property, recommending the Cultura l
Heritage Committee continue consideration of the nomination following completion of a
Historic Context Statement .
Committee Member Kalkowski presented reasoning for qualifications for 117 Longview .
Amy Sinclair, property owner, expressed support for the listing of the property .
PUBLIC COMMENTS :
There were no comments made from the public .
COMMITTEE COMMENTS :
Committee Member Hill compared subject property to Nit Wit Ridge in Cambria bu t
noted "on-the-fence" for historic listing .
Vice-Chair Costello noted house works with the site architecturally and its architectura l
uniqueness merits historic listing .
Committee Member Pavlik discussed need for fifty-year-old age criteria for histori c
properties and a need for a Historic Context Statement .
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CHC Minute s
March 26, 201 2
Page 2
Committee Member Dandekar agreed with Committee Member Pavlik that Committe e
should wait on a Historic Context Statement of subject property .
There were no further comments made from the Committee .
On motion by Committee Member Pavlik, seconded by Committee Member Dandekar ,
to continue with direction to staff .
AYES :Committee Members Dandekar, Hill, and Pavli k
NOES :Committee Members Kalkowski and Costell o
RECUSED :Non e
ABSENT :Committee Member Fowle r
The motion passed on a 3 :2 vote .
2 .990 Palm Street .CHC 7-12 ; Request to modify entry steps to City Hall ; PF-H zone ;
City of San Luis Obispo – Public Works Dept ., applicant .(Phil Dunsmore)
Phil Dunsmore, Senior Planner, presented images of City Hall steps, recommending th e
Community Development Director approve the project subject to findings and condition s
which he outlined .
PUBLIC COMMENTS :
Joe Cartenuti, San Luis Obispo, questioned why there is no City flag in front of City Hall .
He discussed in 1976 the City adopted flag and history of City Hall .
Dean Miller, San Luis Obispo, agreed with third flagpole . He stated the view from th e
corner of Palm and Osos needs improvements . He stated if the steps are going to b e
repaired, other landscaping features need improvements also .
John Ashbaugh, San Luis Obispo, discussed location of third flagpole, accessibilit y
improvements, and support for City Hall steps improvements . A letter from Craig Smit h
was circulated .
Matt Horn, San Luis Obispo Public Works Department, noted the project requires a
twenty percent match for accessibility . The accessibility requirement will b e
accommodated by the use of buttons to open doors on the Mill Street entrance of th e
building .
There were no further comments made from the public .
COMMITTEE COMMENTS :
Vice-Chair Costello discussed symmetry of flagpoles and suggested the use of materia l
other than lawn that is more sustainable .
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CHC Minutes
March 26, 201 2
Page 3
Committee Member Hill suggested flagpole topic should be discussed with large r
landscape project .
Committee Member Kalkowski questioned if lawn should be replaced with drought -
tolerant landscaping .
Committee Member Pavlik notes steps are a character-defining feature and symmetry i s
important . He questioned if the City considered whether repair is an option .
Committee Member Dandekar stated the project should be viewed as maintenance an d
should replace existing only .
There were no further comments made from the Committee .
On motion by Committee Member Hill, seconded by Committee Member Pavlik, to
approve concrete replacement but to maintain existinq flaqpoles with no brick work t o
be added at sides . The Committee requested to examine larger landscape planan d
flaqpoles at a later date . The color and finish is to match original as close as possibl e
and use of sustainable and drought-tolerant landscape should be examined .
AYES :Committee Members Dandekar, Hill, Kalkowski, Pavlik, and Costell o
NOES :Non e
RECUSED :Non e
ABSENT :Committee Member Fowle r
The motion passed on a 5 :0 vote .
City-wide .CHC 31-12 ; Consideration of a Grant Request through the Certifie d
Local Government Program to fund the preparation of a Historic Context Statement ;
City of San Luis Obispo – Community Development Dept ., applicant .(Phil
Dunsmore)
Phil Dunsmore, Senior Planner, presented the staff report, recommending the Cultura l
Heritage Committee endorse a grant request through the CLG program to fund th e
preparation of a Citywide Historic Context Statement and assign a sub-committee t o
work with staff on the application .
PUBLIC COMMENTS :
There were no comments made from the public .
COMMITTEE COMMENTS :
Committee Member Dandekar questioned if a Cal Poly studio class could assist wit h
work on this subject .
There were no further comments made from the Committee .
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CHC Minutes
March 26, 201 2
Page 4
On motion by Committee Member Pavlik, seconded by Committee Member Kalkowski ,
to utilize Cal Poly studio class for assistance .
AYES :Committee Members Dandekar, Hill, Kalkowski, Pavlik, and Costell o
NOES :Non e
RECUSED :Non e
ABSENT :Committee Member Fowle r
The motion passed on a 5 :0 vote .
City-wide .CHC 48-11 ; Continued review of updates to the Historic Resource s
Inventory ; City of San Luis Obispo, applicant .(Continued from February 27, 2012 ,
meeting)(Phil Dunsmore)
Phil Dunsmore, Senior Planner, discussed on-going survey, recommending to continu e
the item to the regular April CHC hearing pending additional research .
PUBLIC COMMENTS :
There were no comments made from the public .
COMMITTEE COMMENTS :
There were no comments made from the Committee .No motion needed .
COMMENT AND DISCUSSION :
Staff
a . Agenda Forecas t
Committee
ADJOURNMENT :The meeting was adjourned at 8 :25 p .m .
Respectfully submitted by ,
Phil Dunsmor e
Recording Secretar y
Approved by the Cultural Heritage Committee on April 23, 2012 .
Ryan Bet z
Supervising Administrative Assistant
C10-10 .