| | MANAGER'S REPORT:
This ordinance would send a bond package to the voters to consider in the municipal election on October 4, 2022. This ordinance would send one general obligation bond proposition of up to $35 million for the construction and equipment of a new city hall. The total project cost, with underground parking, is currently estimated at $41.3 million, and the Assembly has already appropriated $6.3 million of general funds.
The new city hall would be built on Whittier Avenue, across the street from the state museum. A new facility would have a number of positive attributes for the City and our citizens, including the following: an end to office space rent payments in excess of $800,000 annually, the freeing up of historical apartment spaces, and the ability for customers and employees to do municipal business in a more efficient manner as CBJ offices would be located in one place, instead of five different locations. Additionally, a new structure would be more economical to maintain; the existing City Hall is one of our most expensive municipal buildings to maintain.
The Committee of the Whole selected 450 Whittier Avenue as the preferred site for a new city hall during the April 11, 2022 meeting. The Assembly requested staff draft an ordinance to submit a proposition to the voters on the October 4, 2022 election ballot during the June 6, 2022 Committee of the Whole meeting. The Systemic Racism Review Committee reviewed this request at the July 12, 2022 meeting and forwarded it to the full Assembly for public hearing. | |