MSO staff gave the Municipal Services & Operations Commission an update on construction progress at the MSO campus at Venture Park and said officials will seek a guaranteed‑maximum price amendment for phase 2 in October.

MSO staffer Melinda, the presenter on the item, said phase 1 broke ground in December and is "on track, for completion next summer, move in, by August." She said the first building will consolidate administration, technology and asset management, engineering, construction management, transportation planning and field operations such as collection, distribution, traffic and stormwater.

The update described work completed and under way: structural steel, concrete slabs and roof decking are in place; mechanical, electrical and plumbing rough‑ins have started; the locker rooms include a hardened area intended for storm shelter protection; a separate salt‑and‑sand storage building has footings and foundations complete; and storm and sanitary utilities are installed. Staff said precast exterior wall panels will arrive within about a month to speed exterior enclosure.

Melinda said phase 2 is in design and "we'll be taking a guaranteed max price amendment for phase 2 for the second building, which is solid waste and central maintenance garage to the commission in October." She added that substantial site clearing and on‑site rock crushing have already begun for the phase 2 footprint.

The presentation noted the campus location at Venture Park near O'Connell and Nineteenth Street and described the city’s plan to vacate and remove some existing facilities currently in the floodway, including sites at Eleventh and Haskell. Melinda said buildings in the floodway will be demolished, underground fuel storage removed, and sites cleaned as required before disposition; vacated facilities not in the floodway are expected to be offered for sale.

Commission members asked whether the city could use an RFP to solicit redevelopment (for example, affordable housing) for vacated parcels. Staff said redevelopment options will be shaped by upcoming planning work, including the North Lawrence comprehensive corridor study, and by finding willing purchasers and developers.

No final decisions on redevelopment were made at the meeting. Staff characterized next steps as bringing the phase 2 guaranteed‑maximum price amendment to the commission for approval in October and continuing design submittals for both buildings. The city’s sustainable capital projects policy was cited as guiding the project’s design.

Staff said the vacated facilities’ remediation will include removing underground fuel tanks where present and addressing floodplain constraints; a staff member noted recent interior flooding in those facilities, saying some sites had "6 inches plus water in it in the last month and a half." The commission requested that the MSO project webpages and the project fact sheet (on the city's website) be kept available for location maps and additional detail.

Next steps: staff will complete remaining phase 1 construction, deliver precast panels, finalize the phase 2 GMP for the commission, and continue coordination with planning staff on future uses of vacated properties.