Public Works Director Steve Lanushevsky briefed the council Aug. 19 on a multi‑year effort to find a new maintenance yard and on consultant work evaluating sites for a future civic campus (city hall and police station).

Staff summary: Duval owns four parcels near Big Rock Ball Fields (commonly called the Daisy parcels to the north and the Fink parcels to the south). Consultants and staff recommended the city‑owned southern parcel as the preferred maintenance‑yard site, saying the property clears many site feasibility checks and would accommodate shop bays, equipment storage, covered parking and circulation. Staff said one parcel is roughly five acres of developable yard area and that parcel options under consideration measured approximately 8.25 and 8.54 acres in total.

Costs and infrastructure notes
- Land purchase and grants: staff reported the city’s acquisition and grant funding for park expansion and adjacent property adjustments total about $1.9 million in grant awards for those parcels and that one likely purchase price presented in materials was $850,000 for a parcel discussed as an option. (Staff said those figures reflect revised award adjustments.)
- Utilities and frontage: water service exists nearby (a 12‑inch main on Big Rock Road). The southern yard option would require an extension of sewer to serve the site; staff identified sewer extension and frontage improvements as the primary added costs to site development.

Site‑use and conservation constraints
Consultants and staff noted the parcels have some wetland areas and topographic features. The conservation‑grant terms for some adjacent parcels limit development in sensitive zones and require that trails and passive recreation be prioritized. Staff said that conservation‑funding rules prohibit mountain‑bike‑style trails on the conserved parcels; trail development there would be for passive hiking and walking. A small pump track or children’s bike features were discussed for the larger park area, outside conserved buffers.

Civic campus analysis
Consultants from Makers presented two high‑level options for city hall and police facilities: (1) separate facilities, with city hall located on or near the downtown maintenance‑yard site and the police station at the Big Rock 2‑acre parcel; or (2) a combined civic campus on the Big Rock 2‑acre parcel (either a single combined building or a campus of two adjacent buildings). The consultants noted trade‑offs:
- Combined facility: potential operational efficiencies and shared public spaces, but more complex site circulation and potentially higher construction requirements for an essential facility (police) that could increase construction cost per square foot.
- Campus (co‑located but separate buildings): retains many efficiencies with fewer program conflicts and simpler site circulation but requires a larger site footprint.

Council feedback and next steps
Councilors raised operational questions about long‑term capacity, reuse of the existing maintenance yard and impacts on nearby neighbors. Staff said the intent is to reuse some existing on‑site buildings where feasible, noted the maintenance yard move would relieve off‑site storage pressures (for example at the waste‑water treatment plant), and that neighbors near the southern parcel had signaled support for a maintenance yard over a larger athletic‑fields layout.

Direction to staff
Council signaled support for continuing design and evaluation work and asked staff and consultants to return with a refined cost and funding split analysis (proposed capital‑fund sources versus operating/rate funding), a more detailed wetland constraint report and a community engagement plan before any purchase or final site selection. No purchase or formal site decision was made at the Aug. 19 meeting.