Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 06/21/2022 - SECOND READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 066, 2022, APPROPR Agenda Item 2 Item # 2 Page 1 AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY June 21, 2022 City Council STAFF Brian Hergott, Facilities Project Manager Tracy Ochsner, Assistant Operations Services Director Jill Hueser, Chief Judge Ingrid Decker, Legal SUBJECT Second Reading of Ordinance No. 066, 2022, Appropriating Prior Year Reserves and Authorizing Transfers of Appropriations for the 215 North Mason Street Renovation for Municipal Court and the City Attorney’s Office and Related Art in Public Places. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This Ordinance, unanimously adopted on First Reading on June 7, 2022, appropriates $700,000 from General Fund Reserves to address urgent renovation needs on the first floor at 215 North Mason Street. Municipal Court and the City Attorney’s Office are jointly requesting this appropriation. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends adoption of the Ordinance on Second Reading. ATTACHMENTS 1. First Reading Agenda Item Summary, June 7, 2022 (w/o attachments) (PDF) 2. Ordinance No. 066, 2022 (PDF) Agenda Item 9 Item # 9 Page 1 AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY June 7, 2022 City Council STAFF Brian Hergott, Facilities Project Manager Tracy Ochsner, Assistant Operations Services Director Jill Hueser, Chief Judge Ingrid Decker, Legal SUBJECT First Reading of Ordinance No. 066, 2022, Appropriating Prior Year Reserves and Authorizing Transfers of Appropriations for the 215 North Mason Street Renovation for Municipal Court and the City Attorney’s Office and Related Art in Public Places. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The purpose of this item is to request $700,000 in appropriations from General Fund Reserves to address urgent renovation needs on the first floor at 215 North Mason Street. Municipal Court and the City Attorney’s Office are jointly requesting this appropriation. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends adoption of the Ordinance on First Reading. BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION Municipal Court was moved into its current location at 215 North Mason in 2007 when the Justice Center became over-crowded and required the court to vacate the space. This location was available at the time, was empty and could provide a temporary court space with minimal renovations. There have been limited space changes since 2007 to address the most severe safety and security needs, but little to address changes in staffing and operations. The City has spent a total of $637,350 over the last 15 years (including initial move-in costs), but court caseloads have continued to grow and programming has expanded over the years. The Court and the City Attorney’s Office (which is responsible for the prosecution function and needs office/work space at Municipal Court) have hired more staff to handle these caseloads and new programs. Municipal Court has submitted BFO offers in the past to address these issues, but no funding has been recommended or approved. Staff again plans to submit two new offers in the 2023-2024 BFO process, requesting funding for a plan that would address projected space needs for Municipal Court and related operations for a 15- or 30-year time horizon. Both options would require more than doubling the current space and will be multimillion dollar projects. While staff continues work on the long-term plan, there are urgently needed modifications to enable the court in the interim to provide a higher standard of public access and service, meet current hearing schedules, and provide appropriate space for the increased staff. As it stands, both the Court and the City Attorney’s Office have staff funded and ready to onboard who do have a workspace, and there is not adequate space for defendants to discuss their cases with prosecutors without their conversations being overheard. Staff continues to address the safety and security needs for employees and the public. In 2021, Clark Enersen completed a thorough study of the Court’s current space and future space needs. They ATTACHMENT 1 COPY Agenda Item 9 Item # 9 Page 2 identified the current space size and its limitations and developed both 15-year and 30-year plans addressing standard space requirements for courts. This funding request will address the urgent needs for an interim period while phasing and final plans are approved and can move forward. The planned renovations to be completed with these funds are aligned with the plans from Clark Enersen so that they will be incorporated into the final plan. However, they do not address any renovations to the courtroom. CITY FINANCIAL IMPACTS The $700,000 funding will come from General Fund Reserves. $693,000 will be expensed in the General Fund for the renovation and $7,000 will be transferred to the Cultural Services & Facilities Fund for Art in Public Places. BOARD / COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION This request was presented to Council Finance on May 4, 2022, and the Committee expressed support for bringing this item to Council to request the necessary funding. PUBLIC OUTREACH No specific public outreach was done, but the Courts do receive complaints from the public about the current process and inadequate space to meet with attorneys regarding their cases. ATTACHMENTS 1. Council Finance Committee Minutes (PDF) 2. First Floor Demo Plan (PDF) 3. Floor Plan (PDF) 4. Renovation Cost Estimate (PDF) COPY -1- ORDINANCE NO. 066, 2022 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS APPROPRIATING PRIOR YEAR RESERVES AND AUTHORIZING TRANSFERS OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE 215 NORTH MASON STREET RENOVATION FOR MUNICIPAL COURT AND THE CITY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE AND RELATED ART IN PUBLIC PLACES WHEREAS, Fort Collins Municipal Court moved into its current location on the first floor of the City’s office building at 215 North Mason Street in 2007 when the space the Court formerly occupied in the Justice Center at 201 LaPorte Avenue was needed for use by the Colorado Judicial Department; WHEREAS, since 2007, minimal improvements to the space have been made to address the most significant safety and security needs, but little has been done to space needs due to increased caseloads, changes in staffing and operations and expanded programming; and WHEREAS, work has been underway to thoroughly study the Court’s current space and future space needs and the staff and consultant team has developed a 15-year and a 30-year preliminary plan addressing standard space requirements for the Court and other needs for Court- related programs and functions and for the City’s Attorney’s Office municipal prosecutors; and WHEREAS, funding for longer-term improvements for Municipal Court and related functions will be considered as part of the 2023-2024 Budgeting for Outcomes (“BFO”) process; and WHEREAS, while next steps on a long-term plan for Court improvements continue, it is necessary to address urgent needs so that the Court and the municipal prosecutors can provide a higher standard of public access and service, meet current hearing schedules, provide appropriate space for increased staff, provide adequate space for defendants to discuss their cases with prosecutors in private, and address safety and security needs for employees and the public; and WHEREAS, this appropriation will address the urgent needs for an interim period while phasing and final plans are approved; and WHEREAS, the planned renovations to be completed with these funds (the “Project”) are aligned with the plans that have been developed, so they will be in furtherance of and incorporated into the final plan; and WHEREAS, this appropriation benefits the public health, safety and welfare of the residents of Fort Collins and serves the public purpose of providing adequate space and security needs for employees and the public; and WHEREAS, this Project involves construction estimated to cost more than $250,000 and, as such, City Code Section 23-304 requires one percent of these appropriations to be transferred to the Cultural Services and Facilities Fund for a contribution to the Art in Public Places program (“APP Program”); and -2- WHEREAS, Article V, Section 9 of the City Charter permits the City Council, upon the recommendation of the City Manager, to make supplemental appropriations by ordinance at any time during the fiscal year such funds for expenditure as may be available from reserves accumulated in prior years, notwithstanding that such reserves were not previously appropriated; and WHEREAS, the Interim City Manager has recommended the appropriations described herein and determined that these appropriations are available and previously unappropriated from the General Fund and will not cause the total amount appropriated in the General Fund to exceed the current estimate of actual and anticipated revenues and all other funds to be received in these funds during this fiscal year; and WHEREAS, Article V, Section 10 of the City Charter authorizes the City Council, upon recommendation by the City Manager, to transfer by ordinance any unexpended and unencumbered appropriated amount or portion thereof from one fund or capital project to another fund or capital project, provided that the purpose for which the transferred funds are to be expended remains unchanged, the purpose for which the funds were initially appropriated no longer exists, or the proposed transfer is from a fund or capital project in which the amount appropriated exceeds the amount needed to accomplish the purpose specified in the appropriation ordinance; and WHEREAS, the Interim City Manager has recommended the transfer of $7,000 from the General Fund to the Cultural Services & Facilities Fund and determined that the purpose for which the transferred funds are to be expended remains unchanged; and WHEREAS, Article V, Section 11 of the City Charter authorizes the City Council to designate in the ordinance when appropriating funds for a capital project that such appropriation shall not lapse at the end of the fiscal year in which the appropriation is made but continue until the completion of the capital project; and WHEREAS, the City Council wishes to designate the appropriation herein for the renovation at 215 North Mason for Municipal Court and the City Attorney’s Office as an appropriation that shall not lapse until the completion of the project. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS as follows: Section 1. That the City Council hereby makes and adopts the determinations and findings contained in the recitals set forth above. Section 2. That there is hereby appropriated from prior year reserves in the General Fund the sum of SEVEN HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS ($700,000) to be expended in the General Fund for the renovation at 215 North Mason for Municipal Court and the City Attorney’s Office. -3- Section 3. That the unexpended and unencumbered appropriated amount of FIVE THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED SIXTY DOLLARS (5,460) in the General Fund is hereby authorized for transfer to the Cultural Services and Facilities Fund and appropriated and expended therein to fund art projects under the APP Program. Section 4. That the unexpended and unencumbered appropriated amount of ONE THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS ($1,400) in the General Fund is authorized for transfer to the Cultural Services and Facilities Fund and appropriated and expended therein for the operation costs of the APP Program. Section 5. That the unexpended and unencumbered appropriated amount of ONE HUNDRED FORTY DOLLARS ($140) in the General Fund is authorized for transfer to the Cultural Services and Facilities Fund and appropriated and expended therein for the maintenance costs of the APP Program. Section 6. That the appropriation herein for the renovation at 215 North Mason for Municipal Court and the City Attorney’s Office is hereby designated, as authorized in Article V, Section 11 of the City Charter, as an appropriation that shall not lapse at the end of this fiscal year but continue until the completion of the project. Introduced, considered favorably on first reading and ordered published this 7th day of June, A.D. 2022, and to be presented for final passage on the 21st day of June, A.D. 2022. Mayor ATTEST: City Clerk Passed and adopted on final reading this 21st day of June, A.D. 2022. Mayor ATTEST: City Clerk