Over the past month, there has been renewed community interest regarding the City offices project. In May, the Council unanimously voted to build City offices downtown on the Civic Center site (in the current parking lot across from the Council Chambers). This article serves to recap the considerations, process and reasons by which the City Council came to this decision.

As background, the City currently leases 24,341 feet of office space at 75 Rowland Way at a cost of approximately $700,000 per year. This lease expires in September 2013. Given the impending end of the lease and the desire to eliminate the significant lease payments as part of our fiscal sustainability strategy, the Council to take action on a City-owned, long term location for its offices.

In addition to these considerations, the City also had other interests as sites were considered. The first was to find a property that made sense financially. The second was to select a site that was centrally located within the community and accessible to pedestrians, bicycles, public transit along with other means of transportation.

Working with a commercial construction firm, staff analyzed over 20 properties throughout the community. The analysis focused on the costs of the various options and included variables such as building condition, renovation potential, site conditions and feasibility. In the initial stages, it was thought that the best option would be to purchase an existing building and upgrade it. The final analysis demonstrated that this option would not be a good long-term investment due to the limitations of existing buildings as well as the increased costs of rehabilitating the structures (many of which were 25 years or older). This finding caused staff to look at constructing a new facility.

On December 6, 2010, the City entered a feasibility period to explore the costs, timing and impacts of building City offices downtown in the City-owned parking lot off Machin Avenue next to the Community House. An update on the feasibility study was presented to the community at the February 15, 2011 Council meeting. Additional meetings were held in April and early May to outline potential building schemes and present results of a parking study.

At its May 10 meeting, the Council considered three final sites:

1. The 75 Rowland Way site
2. The McPhail site at the intersection of Highways 37 and 101
3. The Civic Center site

The 75 Rowland Way site was dismissed due the fact that the City did not need a building of this size and the fact that this building was the most expensive option.

The McPhail site was dismissed for different reasons. While the location was the most inexpensive option (ranging from $7.5-$7.9 million), the site is significantly constrained by its location. The site's only access is from Highway 37 and has no secondary public access. The site is not served by public transportation nor is the site accessible to pedestrians. Therefore, although, the site was the least expensive, the City decided not to pursue this option.

The Council approved the Civic Center site due to its proximity to the Police Station and Council Chambers, its continuation of improvements to the larger Civic Center area and its historic location. In addition, the cost of constructing the building (ranging from $12.3 to $15.3 million) was significantly less than the 75 Rowland site.

This approval of building of City offices downtown was the culmination of two years of research and public consideration. A number of sites were considered with the ultimate goal of creating a long-term home for City offices that was cost effective and accessible to the community.

The City has created a page on the City's website regarding the project. This site contains staff reports and presentations since April 2010. Please visit the page here.

At the August 11^th meeting, the City Council considered the future of the Novato Redevelopment Agency. Under two bills (AB X1 26 and AB X1 27) approved by the state Legislature and signed into law by the Governor in June, all redevelopment agencies are eliminated as of October 1^st, 2011 unless the city agrees to make remittance payments to the Marin County Auditor-Controller for disbursement to local schools and special districts. AB X1 26 specifically terminates redevelopment agencies and AB X1 27 outlines the payments and other actions cities must follow to continue the Agency.

Redevelopment has served as an important tool in revitalizing certain areas of the community. The City has utilized redevelopment to rehabilitate blighted areas, foster economic development and facilitate affordable housing development. The City does not want to lose the ability to utilize redevelopment. However, the remittance payments required by the state legislation are significant.

The purpose of the August 11^th meeting was to present the pros and cons of continuing the agency and dissolving the agency to the community. Staff presented the financial and policy considerations associated with the two options and responded to questions from the Council and the community.

Ultimately, the Council decided to take the first step in the process to make the remittance payments and continue the Agency. However, Councilmembers specified that this action was not a final decision. The Council wanted to provide additional time for the community to review the options and the financial details before taking a definitive action. The Council will consider taking additional actions at its next meeting on August 23^rd.

The City has developed a page on the City's website with all redevelopment-related information. The City encourages residents to review this information and provide feedback. The redevelopment page can be located here.