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08/05/2020 Council Work Session Meeting Minutes August 5, 2020 City of Clearwater Main Library- Council Chambers 100 N. Osceola Avenue Clearwater, FL 33755 m ap ® e Meeting Minutes Wednesday, August 5, 2020 2:00 PM Special Meeting / City Hall Site Selection Main Library - Council Chambers Council Work Session Page 1 City of Clearwater Council Work Session Meeting Minutes August 5, 2020 To ensure public safety and comply with the Governor's Safer at Home order in response to the COVID-19 virus, the Clearwater City Council will hold a public meeting on Wednesday, August 5, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. using communications media technology. Pursuant to Executive Order No. 20-69, issued by the Office of Governor Ron DeSantis on March 20, 2020, municipalities may conduct meetings of their governing boards without having a quorum of its members present physically or at any specific location, and utilizing communications media technology such as telephonic or video conferencing, as provided by Section 120.54(5)(b)2, Florida Statutes. Rollcall Present 5 - Mayor Frank Hibbard, Vice Mayor David Allbritton, Councilmember Hoyt Hamilton, Councilmember Kathleen Beckman, and Councilmember Mark Bunker Also Present: William B. Horne II — City Manager, Micah Maxwell —Assistant City Manager, Michael Delk—Assistant City Manager, Pamela K. Akin City Attorney, Rosemarie Call — City Clerk, and Nicole Sprague — Deputy City Clerk. To provide continuity for research, items are listed in agenda order although not necessarily discussed in that order. 1. Call to Order— Mayor Hibbard The meeting was called to order at 2:00 p.m. using communications media technology. 2. City Manager Verbal Reports 2.1 Discuss future of City Hall. At the July Council meeting, staff presented its recommended site for the new City Hall based on selection criteria approved by the previous City Council. Based on the comments and questions from the meeting it was apparent that the priorities of the new City Council may require a shift in the criteria used to evaluate site selection. Staff has provided Council with the criteria previously used and a document highlighting significant actions related to the City Hall replacement discussion over the last 15 years. At this meeting, staff would like to discuss what the council priorities are for City Hall and have an interactive discussion about what implementing those priorities look like so that staff can provide a recommendation on how to best achieve the priorities of the Council. In response to inquiries about City Hall moving into the Main Library, staff did a Page 2 City of Clearwater Council Work Session Meeting Minutes August 5, 2020 cursory review of City Hall being located within the Main Library and it is believed that renovations would be possible and would likely fall within the current $6.3 million-dollar budget. To help guide a discussion, about where City Hall should be located, staff requests to discuss the following topics: • How important is the visibility, accessibility, and architecture of City Hall? • Does Council have expectations about City Hall being a standalone facility or a multi-use facility? • What are the City Council's expectations related to when a City Hall should be completed? Assistant City Manager Michael Delk provided a PowerPoint presentation. Staff will not make a specific recommendation. As the project is moving quickly into the construction phase, a decision needs to be made whether or not city hall is moved into the library. If city hall is not moved into the library, staff will continue to work with the lease and negotiate an extension. Discussion ensued with comments made that a new city hall has not been a council priority for some time, that an iconic structure or location for a new city hall is not needed, and that the function and use of the Main Library would be impacted if city hall was integrated into the library. There was no council consensus to integrate city hall into the Main Library. There was no council support for combining city hall and the Municipal Services Building. In response to questions, Mr. Delk said the design of the first floor of the Main Library is not an alteration of the use or function of the library. The design reallocates and re-prioritizes space, re-orienting the entryways, stairwell, and public areas. He said active first floor uses in urban downtowns is a good thing, but that has not been the direction given to the design team. Staff will need to be given that direction so the change can be followed-up in a timely manner with the consulting team. Library Director Jennifer Obermaier said the first floor of the Main Library will still feel like a library, the modifications will allow for smaller meeting rooms and decrease the size of the cafe area. The modifications will not change the hours of operation, the Main Library is open seven days a week. Page 3 City of Clearwater Council Work Session Meeting Minutes August 5, 2020 Planning and Development Director Gina Clayton and CRA Executive Director Amanda Thompson provided a PowerPoint presentation. In response to questions, Ms. Clayton said staff considered land acquisition as part of potential costs, if the City or the CRA owned the parcel it was given greater weight. The new PSTA buses are cleaner but staff is not aware of their associated noise levels. There are noise levels associated with bus transfer stations but a building could be constructed to mitigate some of the noise. Ms. Thompson said a civic presence creates a greater perception of safety. According to the Colliers report, bus transportation by the private market is considered less desirable than train; a public-private partnership to redevelop the land will less likely occur. Currently, there is minimal safety measures designed at the site, a redeveloped site would have the opportunity to design visible safety measures from the ground up. Ms. Clayton said the Myrtle Avenue/Court Street site is located adjacent to the Pinellas Trail, which is an advantage for pedestrians, and provides a safe place for movement in that general area. Option 81 has the city hall located on the corner parcel with some on-site parking and on-street parking, another option incudes a combined government center with a private redevelopment opportunity. She said the former fire station site on Pierce Street was not considered because at the time the RFP for the redevelopment of the site was issued and the site is not large enough for a city hall. The information provided by Williamson and Dacar and Associates recommended approximately 2 acres is needed. The old CMA site was not considered because it is part of the Imagine Clearwater's vision. Ms. Clayton said staff did not believe having a bus transfer station at the entry of the Downtown (Court Street and Myrtle Avenue) core was the best entry point for the Downtown core, staff recommended having city hall on that site. Engineering Director Tara Kivett said staff believed the speed and one-way traffic on Court Street would create some challenges for PSTA. The City Manager said the City and PSTA were not on the same page regarding the location of a bus transfer station. He said where city hall is located will ultimately drive where the bus transfer station will go. The County has suggested that if the City wanted to use the county parking lot, the City would have to purchase it since it owned by a county utility fund. The Vice Mayor presented a conceptual for a mixed-used city hall building on Ft. Harrison Avenue at Pierce Street. Page 4 City of Clearwater Council Work Session Meeting Minutes August 5, 2020 In response to questions, the City Attorney said the lease for the current city hall offices has a 5-year extension available. The City must provide 9-months notice for a lease extension. The City Manager said Penny funds have not been identified for a stand-alone city hall. The county parking lot/PSTA transfer station was supported by the previous council but it was then suggested to consider an iconic city hall at another location. From the administration's perspective, a 700-parking space garage was going to be built at the PSTA bus station in order support the Imagine Clearwater and downtown commercial parking needs. Ms. Kivett said there was approximately$10 million in the parking fund for the parking garage. Discussion ensued with support expressed to have a multi-use site, if possible, and that the site at Ft. Harrison Avenue with the county and PSTA was preferred. A concern was expressed with having a city hall site next to the bus transfer station. There was consensus to consider the combined PSTA Ft. Harrison site or the area south of the MSB. 3. City Attorney Verbal Reports — None. 4. New Business (items not on the agenda may be brought up asking they be scheduled for subsequent meetings or work sessions in accordance with Rule 1, Paragraph 2). — None. 5. Adjourn The meeting adjourned at 4:04 p.m. Page 5 City of Clearwater