City of Gonzales
PUBLIC WORKS / CITY ENGINEER DEPARTMENT
STAFF REPORT
TO: Honorable Mayor Rios and City Council
DATE: August 21, 2023
FROM: Patrick Dobbins, Public Works Director/City Engineer THROUGH: Carmen Gil, City Manager
SUBJECT: Progress Report on Community Center Design
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council receive a progress report on delivery of the Community Center Complex Project and provide staff with comments and feedback.
BACKGROUND
With the passage of Measure X in the November 2020 election, the city began delivery of the Community Center Complex on city-owned property at Fifth Street/Gabilan Court. The City Council has taken the following actions to advance the design and construction of this very significant project:
1. At the March 1, 2021 Council Meeting, the Council concurred with staff’s recommendation and authorized the use of Design/Build Delivery for the project.
2. At the February 22, 2022 Council Meeting, the Design Criteria Documents (prepared by Group 4 Architects) were approved and the three top ranked Design/Build teams out of the seven teams that submitted Statement of Qualifications were “short-listed” to receive the project Request for Proposal. The Design Criteria Documents are comprised of 98 sheets of plans, a three-volume set of technical specifications and other guidance documents.
3. At the January 17, 2023 Council Meeting, staff provided an update on the project funding and staff was directed to issue Request for Proposal to the three short-listed Design/Build teams.
4. At the June 5, 2023 Council meeting, the Design/Build contract was awarded to Otto Construction/WRNS Studios and the Council authorized issuance of the Notice to Proceed with Design Services for Phases 1 and 2 at a not-to-exceed amount of $4,900,446.
AGENDA
ITEM
17 The DBE Agreement with Otto Construction was executed and the Notice to Proceed with Design Services for Phases 1 and 2 was issued effective June 16, 2023. Phase 1 is the Teen Innovation Center, County Library, meeting rooms, restrooms, courtyard including amphitheater and site improvements (new driveway, wet/dry utilities, parking lot and landscaping). Phase 2 is the Community Center including the Community Hall, Fitness Center, commercial kitchen, meeting rooms and restrooms.
REVIEW AND ANALYSIS
This staff report is comprised of the following sections:
• Funding/Financing Updates
• Site Design, Building layout and Schedule
FUNDING/FINANCING UPDATES
The Community Center Complex is estimated to cost $34,800,000 for the Base Project consisting of the Community Center, Teen Innovation Center, County Library, and all site work. Design & construction of this significant project will be funded by a variety of sources including the following:
• Measure X (local sales tax)
• $5.0 M State grant secured by State Senator Anna Caballero • Community Development Block Grant (CDBG FY 2022/23 and FY 2023/24) • $1.8M County contribution to relocate existing library from the Gonzales Shopping Center • Various grants
• Capital Campaign with a $10.0 million goal
Details on these funding sources is as follows:
Local Sales Tax Measures - Measure X is the local 0.5% sales tax approved by Gonzales voters in November 2020 that will provide $7,500,000 of project funding. $5.0M State grant secured by State Senator Anna Caballero – This grant is for the Teen Innovation Center. The grant agreement was executed last December.
Grants – To date, staff with support from Swinerton staff submitted applications on five grant opportunities and the City received approval on the following two grants:
• Electric Vehicle Charging Station Grant from the California Energy Commission - $400,000 of the $1,041,955 grant is for the Community Center, the remaining grant funds are for EV charge stations at City Hall and 5th Street/US 101 Shopping Strip. This grant was approved at last December’s California Energy Commission Board Meeting • Building Forward Library Infrastructure Grant Program – Last September the project was approved for a $1.07M grant from the Building Forward Library Infrastructure Grant Program.
The current funding for the project is in the below table:
SECURED FUNDING
1 Teen Innovation Center Grant (State funding) $5,000,000 2 Measure X (local sales tax measure) $7,500,000
3 Community Development Block Grant (Federal monies) $800,000 4 County Library Contribution $1,800,000
5 Electric Vehicle Charging Station Grant $400,000
6 Building Forward Library Grant Program $1,067,430
7 Capital Campaign Contribution (private contributions and pledges) $6,800,000 Total Funds available as of 8/15/2023 = $23,367,430
Base Project Cost Estimate = $34,800,000
Funding Gap = $11,432,570
Capital Campaign/Private Contributions
Over the last 18 months, city staff and Armanasco Public Relations have been working on a Capital Campaign with a goal of raising $10 million. Several significant contributions have been made and the campaign was publicly launched on 12/08/2022. To date, the city has received pledges or contributions totaling $6.6 million.
US Department of Agriculture loan
To obtain debt financing for the project, the City project team applied with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) for a 38-year loan to be secured by long term City revenue sources. The USDA loan program is available to rural communities and offers the lowest interest rate as well as the longest repayment period, both of which are advantageous for the city.
The formal application was submitted to USDA staff at their Salinas office on 7/05/2023. Over the last five weeks, USDA staff requested additional financial information and documents demonstrating the city’s financial capability to repay the loan. City staff provided the requested materials and is waiting to hear that local USDA staff has completed reviewing the city’s formal application and forwarded it to National USDA staff for their concurrence.
SITE DESIGN, BUILDING LAYOUT AND SCHEDULE
There are four primary phases to design and construct the Community Center Complex:
1. Design Development
2. Preparation of Construction Documents
3. Obtaining a city building permit and getting final bids from Otto Construction’s subcontractors.
4. Construction
Over the last six weeks the Project has been moving through the Design Development Phase. WRNS has advanced the design based on city staff feedback received at weekly progress meetings. In addition to the weekly meetings, the Design/Build Team held the following meetings:
• On August 2 the Design/Build team met with the GYC Summer Immersion group to present the initial layout of the Teen Innovation Center and received their feedback and thoughts about the use of the center.
• Also, on August 2 the Design/Build team met with the staff with different city departments to present and get feedback on Security, Facilities Maintenance • On August 3, the Design/Build team met with the County Library staff and discussed the library layout and associated restrooms.
• On August 8, the Design/Build team met with the contract Building Official and discussed compliance with the required restrooms and parking spaces. Also discussed coordination for building code review during preparation of the Construction Documents.
The current layout is attached, and WRNS will step through the building and site layout as part of the presentation at the Council meeting.
The city is assembling the following users groups for the project and the current assignments are:
User Group Current Participants
Teen Innovation Center Gonzales Youth Council and other youth County Library County Library staff (Hillary Theyer and Kris Amaral) Community Hall City Recreation staff, Emily Rios, Koly McBride and other interested volunteers
Commercial Kitchen Ben Velez of Luigi's, Maury Treleven and other interested volunteers
Security Police Dept staff
Fitness Center City Recreation staff
Facility Maintenance Public Works staff
Staff is seeking additional participants for the Community Hall and Commercial Kitchen user groups.
The presentation at the Council meeting will include additional details and efforts regarding the Design Development phase of the project.
How Recommendation Supports the Vision
Gonzales will continue to be a safe, clean, family-friendly community, diverse in its heritage, and committed to working collaboratively to preserve and retain its small-town charm.
Explain: Constructing a Community Center will provide residents with a multi-use facility for a wide variety of public and private functions, recreation programs and other activities which will enhance the quality of life of Gonzales residents.
Explain how the Recommendation Directly Implements the Mission The City Council and Staff of the City of Gonzales will realize our Vision by providing the leadership, commitment and resources necessary to provide excellent services that enhance the quality of life of our diverse community. X Yes ____ No____ N/A
Explain: Please see explanation above for the Mission.
City services will be delivered in a cost-effective, respectful and friendly manner to insure the safety and well-being of the residents and the promotion of business, recreational, housing and employment opportunities in an environmentally sustainable manner. X Yes ____No ____ N/A Explain: See Vision explanation above.
Strong fiscal policies allow us to provide appropriate infrastructure for:
• Public Safety Yes X No N/A
• Housing Yes X No N/A
• Recreation X Yes No N/A
• Environment X Yes No N/A
• Education X Yes No N/A
ALTERNATIVES
No alternatives to consider as part of this staff report as this is a progress report.
BUDGET IMPACT
There isn’t a budget impact related to this staff report and presentation.
CONCLUSION
It is recommended that the City Council receive a progress report on delivery of the Community Center Complex Project and provide staff with comments and feedback.
Attachments:
1. Slide Deck with Schedule, Site Plan w/ Building Layout