To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
From: Art Morales, Fire Chief
Title
Discussion/Direction: Public Safety Training Campus Development [1259 Park Street]
Body
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Executive Summary
This concept was presented to Town Council for information only at the May 16th 2017 Council Meeting. Council appreciated the concept and directed Town staff to present the Public Safety Training Campus for Council consideration and direction at the June 6th Town Council meeting. This document and subsequent presentation is the result of that Council direction.
The need for a permanent public safety training facility (PSTF) has been pursued since 2006. Financial limitations and challenges faced by the Town have prevented the project from moving forward on several occasions. In 2014 Council supported the PSTF concept by funding the lease and re-model of the building located at 1335 Park Street in order to meet the training space needs of the Police and Fire departments. It was understood that this was an interim step until a permanent facility could be built or purchased. The initial lease was for two years, with an additional year extension possible upon request. The current owner of the property is now reluctant to renew the lease and has agreed to extend for one last year. The Town pays $6700 per month rent for the PSTF.
With the future of the PSTF lease uncertain, the search began for a solution that could meet the needs of the public safety departments. A space needs study was completed by HB&A to determine the actual needs.
It was determined that a permanent public safety training facility would need to have four major components:
1. A fire training burn building
2. A classroom building with multiple training rooms
3. A warm vehicle storage building with a large training room
4. Adequate parking for training attendees
The original vision for the PSTF was centered around the existing fire live burn tower (Building 1) that was built in 2002.
With this vision in mind, the property adjacent to the burn tower was purchased to construct the warm storage building. A dedicated classroom building has increased in priority due to the tenuous nature of the current lease.
The solution to the training needs of both the Fire and Police departments for the next decade is to proceed with the completion of the essential components of the Public Safety Training Facility plan as identified in the Town space study. The needed classroom building can be resolved with the purchase of the Tripp Construction building, located across the street from Building 1.
In November of 2016, the Fire Department was approached by the owners of Tripp Construction in regards to the potential sale of their building at 1259 Park Street. This building meets the needs of the classroom building and can serve the needs of the warm storage building on a temporary basis until the warm storage building (Building 3) is constructed.
The appraiser hired by the Town, David Kilty, placed the value of the property at $1,690,000. The owners of the property, Kyle and Jennifer Tripp, have agreed verbally to sell the property for the appraised price.
As the building is not fully ADA compliant, an elevator will need to be installed, and remodeling of the north 5 office suite into a large classroom will need to be completed. The building will also need a fire protection sprinkler system installed. The estimated costs for the improvements to the building are $300,000.
The construction of the warm storage/training space building on the existing town owned site would be the final component of the PSTF that would need to be completed to fully meet the needs of the Public Safety departments. As this is projected to be a steel Butler type building, the cost of the building and subsequent site improvements is estimated to be $1 million.
Building a new facility that would meet the needs of both of the proposed buildings, and necessitate the relocation of the fire burn building was estimated to cost approximately $6 million if a Town owned site could be located. In comparison, a similar building, constructed by the Water Department cost $5.5 million on the Town owned Kellogg site.
At this time Town Staff would like Town Council permission to move forward with the solution to the long standing needs of the Police and Fire Departments by authorizing the process to purchase the Tripp Building, and by funding the construction of the warm storage building (Building 3) at an estimated cost of $1 million. Town Staff will prepare the necessary budget amendments, and purchase contract to be presented to Council for Council approval in a future meeting.
Notification and Outreach Efforts
The Public Safety Commission was advised of the purchase opportunity of the Tripp Building. The commission was very encouraged with the purchase opportunity, and voted unanimously to support the purchase of the building with Council approval.
History of Past Town Council, Boards & Commissions, or Other Discussions
The space needs of the Town departments have been acknowledged by Council through the approval of the 2014 Space Study. Town council demonstrated its support of a permanent public safety training facility by approving the current facility improvements, and allowing the Town to go into a lease contract for the current building. Council understood that the lease was a temporary solution until a permanent solution could be developed. The Public Safety Commission has continuously supported resolution of the training space needs of both the Police and Fire Departments.
Discussion
The Town commitment to fire department training began in 2002 with the construction of the Fire Live Burn Training tower located at 303 Malibu Street in Castle Rock. Though this building has served the department well, it lacks rest room facilities, a class room, or any way to conduct training out of the weather. Class room training was conducted at the small training room located at Fire Headquarters. As the Department grew, the training room became less suitable for larger department training events, and parking for attendees became an increasing challenge.
A Town wide space study was completed in 2005, and the necessity of additional training space for Police and Fire was identified. With this in mind, the Fire Chief proposed the construction of a training building that included a training room and warm storage for reserve fire equipment. Town Council approved the purchase of the lot adjacent to the Burn Tower for construction of the building. Design work for the building was commenced, but funding for the project was withdrawn due to financial constraints of the Town.
Town Council also approved the expenditure of $100,000 to perform an environmental study of the abandoned waste water treatment plant at the north end of Caprice Street, for a possible fire training facility. Though the site was ideal, the cost to build a facility in this location would exceed $5.5 million, and would necessitate the moving of the fire burn tower, bringing the cost to over $6 million. With the anticipated construction of Station 152 in Crystal Valley, the Fire Capital Fund would be depleted. As no additional funding was available, the project was abandoned, and more affordable options were explored.
The most viable option was to find an existing building suitable for the public safety training needs of the Town. While these options were being explored, the need for additional training space near the burn tower became more critical due to growth of both the Fire and Police departments.
The Police and Fire departments decided to combine efforts to secure a training facility shortly after the arrival of Chief Cauley. The concept of a joint Public Safety Training Facility was presented to Council in June of 2014, and the lease of the current building located at 1335 Park Street was approved as a stopgap measure until a permanent location could be identified.
In 2016, the owner of the current PSTF has been reluctant to renew the lease due to a desire to expand his business, but was convinced to renew the lease on a short term basis while a more permanent site was pursued. Though the immediate situation has been temporarily averted, the locating of a permanent facility in the very near future is critical.
A public safety space study was conducted by HB&A for the Town, and it determined that a permanent public safety training facility would need to have four major components:
1. A fire training burn building (Building 1)
2. A classroom building with multiple training rooms (Building 2)
3. A warm vehicle storage building with a large training room for hands on types of training like technical rescue and combatives. (Building 3)
4. Adequate parking for training attendees
In late 2016 the owners of the Tripp Construction building (Kyle and Jennifer Tripp) approached the Fire Department about the possible sale of their building due to a desire to re-locate. After viewing the building, and noting that it met many of the needs identified in the HB&A analysis, a tour was arranged for the Town Management team and Chief Cauley. It was determined that the building was a viable opportunity, and that an appraisal should be obtained. The appraisal identified the building as being well built, and that it could not be constructed for the appraised price. The appraised value of the building was set at $1.69 million. The Tripps have agreed verbally to sell the building to the Town for use as a Public Safety Training Facility for the appraised price pending Council approval.
The Tripp building sits on a .61 acre site and has two main floors with a center mezzanine. The building area is 6,115 square feet. The upper floor has ten separate offices, conference room, rest rooms, and a break room. The center mezzanine is largely for storage with 588 square feet of available space. The ground floor has two large vehicle bays and one small vehicle bay. A small classroom and restroom are also on this floor. As the building is not fully ADA compliant, an elevator will need to be installed, and remodeling of the north 5 office suites into a large classroom will need to be completed. The second story mezzanines will be used for storage, and will be accessible via the elevator and a stairway. The building will also need a fire protection sprinkler system installed. The estimated costs for the improvements to the building are $300,000. The owner, Kyle Tripp, has offered to complete the re-model prior to the completion of the sale if the Town can cover the costs for the re-model prior to the final purchase. The owners of the building would like the remodel and sale of the building to be complete by mid-summer of 2017 if possible.
It would be possible to build a new building to the lot that the town owns between the burn tower and the current leased PSTF. A single building that would meet the needs of both departments would cost approximately $5.5 million, but would not leave adequate space on the site for parking.
With the purchase of the Tripp building, a smaller warm storage building would meet the needs of both departments, and leave space for adequate facility parking. The cost for the Tripp building including needed remodeling would be $1.99 million. The estimated cost for the warm storage building would be $1 million. This would bring the entire project cost to $2.99 million, over $2.5 million less than a new building that does not meet the parking needs of the facility.
As the Police and Fire Capital Funds are depleted with the remodel of Police Headquarters, and the construction of Station 152 in Crystal Valley, the general fund will need to cover the cost of the overall project through the use of unobligated reserves. The Finance Department has been included in the development of this proposal, and believes that funding for the project is available.
The purchase of the Tripp building would be a significant stride in meeting the training room space requirements of both the Police and Fire Departments. Additionally, it will provide temporary space to make repairs on fire vehicles until Building 3 is completed sometime in 2018.
At this time we would like Town Council permission to move forward with the process to purchase the Tripp Building by preparing the necessary budget amendments, and purchase contract to be presented to Council for Council approval.
Budget Impact
The purchase of the Tripp Building is not budgeted and would require a budget amendment from the general fund. The impact to the general fund would be $1.69 million for the purchase plus and additional $300,000 for remodeling, the fire suppression system, and the elevator. The estimated cost for the warm storage building would be $1 million. This would bring the entire project cost to $2.99 million
Staff Recommendation
Staff recommends approval of the process to purchase of the Tripp Building for permanent use as a Public Safety Training Facility, and for funding of the warm storage building to meet the Public Safety Training needs of the Town.
Proposed Motion
I move to direct staff to proceed with preparation of necessary property acquisition agreement and related documents for future Council consideration and approve Public Safety Training campus plan and budget as presented by staff.
Attachments
Attachment A: Training Campus diagram
Attachment B: Summary Appraisal 1259 Park Street