TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THRU: Tom Kisela, City Manager
FROM: Christopher Cash, Public Works Director
1. Subject
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Approval of plans and specifications for the demolition of the Old Fire Station Headquarters as part of the Grand Street Parking Lot Project; authorization to advertise for bids; and finding of CEQA exemption.
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2. Summary
Plans and specifications have been completed, and the project is ready to be advertised for bids.
3. Recommended Action
recommendation
1. Approve plans and specifications and authorize advertising for Bid No. 23-24.30 (SP-4282).
2. Find the proposed project is categorically exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) per State CEQA Guidelines 15332 (Class 32 - In-Fill Development Projects).
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4. Fiscal Impact
Funds are currently budgeted in the Capital Bonds Proceeds (553) fund. Once bids have been opened and construction costs determined, staff will return to the City Council to request additional funds should there be a need.
5. Strategic Plan Goals
Goal 1: Provide for a safe community
b: Provide and maintain infrastructure necessary to ensure the safety of the public.
Goal 4: Provide outstanding public service
b: Provide facilities and services to meet customer expectations.
6. Discussion and Background
With the relocation of Fire Station No. 1 and Headquarters (Fire HQ) to the new location on Water Street, the old Fire HQ currently sits empty. The former Fire HQ building is more than 50 years old and is seismically deficient. The City completed a historic resource assessment in April 2022 and found the Fire HQ building does not have historic significance and is not a contributor to an existing or future historic district. Its original utilitarian use as a fire station is not economically feasible for other commercial uses. The City had previously created a capital improvement project in anticipation of utilizing the former Fire HQ site, along with the adjacent existing public parking areas, for a bigger parking lot. The study of the site utilization as a consolidated parking lot is now complete and staff is seeking approval to demolish the existing Fire HQ building now and to proceed with finalizing the plan for parking lot expansion later this spring.
The project site encompasses most of the west side of Grand Street from Almond Avenue to the public parking lot just south of the city owned apartment building. The proposed parking lot improvements will be completed in 2 phases for the Grand Street site. Phase I will be the demolition of the Fire HQ building. During Phase I staff will, on a parallel track, finalize the plan for the proposed parking lot expansion (Phase II). The proposed parking lot will have a total of 119 parking spaces, which is a gain of 77 parking spaces from the existing city parking lot just north of the Fire HQ site. Another four on-street parking spaces will also be added due to the consolidation of driveway approaches along Grand Street. This project will maximize parking space and overall circulation of the Grand Street Parking Lot. The additional parking spaces created will increase parking availability for the Old Towne/Plaza area.
The expanded parking lot will require demolition of the Old Fire Headquarters building including the basement (Phase I). The engineer’s estimate for the construction is about $650,000 including contingency and construction engineering cost.
7. environmental review
The proposed project is categorically exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) per State CEQA Guidelines 15332 (Class 32 - In-Fill Development Projects) in that it involves demolition of an existing non-historic building on a city right-of-way site less than five acres and has no impact on endangered, rare, or threatened species. No public review is required.
8. ATTACHMENTS
• Parking Lot Layout