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City Council Regular Meeting Minutes • February 8, 2000 Page 13 1 Sparks inquired about the need for a new fire station. Momson responded that the current station 2 is located by the St. Anthony Shopping Center, which is being redeveloped. Although the 3 current fire station meets the needs of the community, the possibility has arisen that a new 4 location for a fire station could be needed and the City is trying to determine if costs would be 5 saved if both the fire station and public works facility was built at the same time. Additionally, 6 Morrison stated that some interest has been expressed by a developer to purchase the site of the 7 current fire station due to the redevelopment of the Shopping Center. 8 Hodson expressed concern whether the developer's interest was bonafide. Morrison said the in- 9 terest is real, but a dollar figure had not been negotiated. 10 Ms. Schultz asked for direction from the Council in regard to the Space Needs Report and the 11 next step. 12 In response to a concern about the total cost of the public works building, Ms. Schultz responded 13 that construction costs continue to rise and are rising at approximately 12%. 14 Sparks asked what could be done to make the project more financially manageable. In other words, would it be possible for the City to provide for an excellent facility, yet be able to reduce 6 the total cost in some areas? 17 Ms. Schultz stated that the recommendation of SEH provides for a building that would last for a 18 - long time and provide for the optimal use and management of the public works department. 19 She further stated that she needs the Council to inform SEH of the total figure that can be funded 20 and then SEH will rework the design and return to the Council with a different plan. 21 Morrison confirmed that the City would request for SEH to suspend the project until the Council 22 could determine the total dollar figure that the City is comfortable with using. 23 In that respect, Cavanaugh directed Mr. Thistle to research options for the City to incorporate a 24 total dollar figure into the budget. 25 Thuesen expressed concern about compromising the building and the City's vision for the public 26 works department by cutting costs. He was apprehensive about ignoring the recommendations of 27 SEH in order to reduce the total dollar figure. 28 Cavanaugh stated that the building is currently providing an opportunity for the Public Works 29 Staff to provide services, but he suggested increasing the base of the current building by a smaller amount than recommended by SEH in the Space Needs Report. Additionally, he recommended resolving the code compliance and storage issues associated with the current 32 building.