Board authorizes project budget for public health and safety building; contract and contingency debated

The Board of Finance voted March 24 to authorize a project budget to begin planning work on a public health and safety building and to allow the administration to create the project using bond proceeds. The board recorded the action as unanimous.

Ashley (Treasurer’s Office) told the board the request would fund a planning contract to help the city analyze site feasibility, program needs and community engagement for a facility that could house police, fire and public-health functions. The administration received seven proposals in response to an RFQ, interviewed four teams and recommended a firm identified in the meeting as Dorm Whittier as the design partner; Ashley said Dorm Whittier’s proposed contract price is about $151,000 and that the administration sought additional project contingency to cover unknowns in the site‑selection and feasibility work.

Why it matters: city leaders described this as a planning step to determine whether a combined building is feasible and to produce programming and site analysis that the city can use in further negotiations with potential development partners for Memorial Block and other downtown properties.

Councilors pressed several points. Councilor Carpenter cautioned against labeling the work “Phase 1” because that language can imply a committed building construction sequence; Carpenter said the current request was for planning and assessment rather than for construction. Councilor Barlow and Councilor Travers expressed concern about approving the full contingency the administration requested and suggested limiting the contingency now and returning to the board if more funding is needed. Multiple councilors said the city should keep open the option of separate facilities for police and fire depending on cost and feasibility.

The administration said the contract itself falls within mayoral procurement thresholds and that capital committee review supported using previously authorized bond draws to establish the project budget. Staff also said the FY24 bond draw must be spent within three years (by 2027) and that securing an allocation now preserves those options while additional details are developed.

The board debated and amended the contingency recommendation in the motion before approving the project budget. The motion on the table authorized the CAO (or designee) to make necessary budget adjustments from bond funds to establish a project budget for the planning work; the record of the meeting shows a motion forwarded to city council with a numeric figure recorded in the transcript that contained inconsistent formatting. The transcript records the board’s vote as unanimous.

Next steps: staff said they will finalize the consultant contract, begin stakeholder interviews and start site-feasibility work and community engagement. Any further funding beyond the consultant contract would come back to the board for additional approvals as needed.