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Home My WebLink AboutAGENDA REPORT 2021 1011 CCSA SPC JNT ITEM 05ACITY OF MOORPARK,  CALIFORNIA City Council Meeting of October 11, 2021 ACTION APPROVED STAFF RECOMMENDATION, INCLUDING ADOPTION OF RESOLUTION NO. 2021-4047. (ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS). BY B. Garza. A. Consider Purchase of 323 Science Drive (APN 512-0-240-275) for Use as a City Hall and Resolution Amending Fiscal Year 2021/22 Budget to Fund Purchase. Staff Recommendation: 1) Approve purchase of 323 Science Drive and authorize City Manager to sign all purchase agreement and related documents; 2) Authorize City Clerk to execute Certificate of Acceptance for the grant deed for the property; and 3) Adopt Resolution No. 2021-4047, amending the Fiscal Year 2021/22 Budget by allocating $5,750,000 from the Special Projects Fund (3004) to City Hall Improvement Fund (3001) project C0012 to fund the purchase of 323 Science Drive. (ROLL CALL VOTE REQUIRED) (Staff: Troy Brown, City Manager) Item: 5.A. 12853-0001\2582146v2.doc MOORPARK CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT TO: Honorable City Council FROM: Troy Brown, City Manager DATE: 10/11/2021 Special Joint Meeting SUBJECT: Consider Purchase of 323 Science Drive (APN 512-0-240-275) for Use as a City Hall and Resolution Amending Fiscal Year 2021/22 Budget to Fund Purchase SUMMARY On June 2, 2021, the City Council approved an agreement with Lee & Associates – LA/North/Ventura, Inc. (Lee & Associates) for an Exclusive Right to Represent the City for the Purchase or Lease of Real Property to relocate City Hall. On September 1, 2021, the City Council conferred with Mike Tingus, President of Lee & Associates, as the City’s chief negotiator regarding price and terms for a potential acquisition of all or a portion of the property located at 323 Science Drive in Moorpark for this purpose. Mr. Tingus has continued his efforts in identifying potential sites for a City Hall and has reached agreement on terms for the sale of 323 Science Drive to the City. In order to obtain the right to acquire the building, a Purchase and Sale Agreement (PSA) is needed to be approved by the City Council and then executed. BACKGROUND As noted in the June 2, 2021 staff report to authorize Lee & Associates to represent the City in identifying a potential new City Hall, for the past two decades, the City has worked on creating a new Civic Center campus, including a new City Library and City Hall at its current location northwest of High Street and Moorpark Avenue. Developing a new Civic Center was originally initiated because City operations were outgrowing the existing City Hall buildings, significant maintenance costs were being incurred, and extensive renovation work would be required to bring the buildings up to current Building Code standards. The Community Center was the first structure built by the County of Ventura in 1980 and served as the first office space for City staff after the City’s incorporation in 1983. In 1987, the Administration building was built. The Active Adult Center buildout and kitchen addition were completed in 1989. Sometime in the mid to late 1990’s the City Item: 5.A. 1 Honorable City Council 10/11/2021 Special Joint Meeting Page 2 12853-0001\2582146v2.doc added a triple wide modular unit, which currently houses the Information Technology staff and storage areas. In 2006, the office space at City Hall was further expanded by leasing additional temporary modular office buildings to accommodate the Community Development and Public Works Departments, and the relocated public counter, as well as an expanded breakroom and file storage space. In 2010, in recognition of the fact that the need for the modular buildings would exceed the initial lease term, the City purchased the modular office buildings. Over the years, due to the economy and other City priorities, a new Civic Center campus was never developed. In 2018, the City Council directed staff to complete a comprehensive Civic Center Master Plan to determine the location and orientation of the City Hall buildings to occupy the site. This Master Plan process was undertaken as the location for the new Library was also being determined. To that end, staff entered into an agreement with CWA AIA, Inc. (CWA) for the design of a new Library and creation of the Civic Center Master Plan. The Civic Center Master Plan process began in January 2019 with a detailed site analysis and space needs study. CWA gathered data regarding the Civic Center site by reviewing building plans for the existing Civic Center buildings, historical reports of the site and surrounding developments, and conducting group and individual interviews with the City Manager and Department Heads regarding their departmental functions. Through the space needs study, CWA determined that a future City Hall building should be approximately 22,000 square-feet in size to accommodate current and future staffing needs, as well as a City Council meeting chamber. Various concepts of a Civic Center Master Plan were presented by CWA to the City Council on July 15, 2020, and the City Council approved the final Civic Center Master Plan design with a determination made on the location of the new Library. As part of that approval, a phased approach to construct the new Library prior to construction of a new City Hall building was also approved. This phased approach would allow staff an opportunity to evaluate funding options to build a new Civic Center campus. In seeing no immediate funding source to construct both the Library and City Hall, it now makes more sense to focus on the Library in the next three to five years while moving staff in the short term to an alternate location until such time that a new Civic Center site can be built, purchased, or leased and/or the existing site can be potentially developed for other uses. There are approximately 19 employees currently working in the modular office buildings, which includes Community Development and Public Works staff, Building and Safety contract staff, and Information Systems employees. Four members of the Parks, Recreation & Community Services Department were already relocated to the Moorpark Public Services Facility (Yard) during this past year to allow for social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In summary, the existing City Hall facilities have outlived their useful life. DISCUSSION In an effort to identify locations for the relocation of City Hall functions, on June 2, 2021, the City Council approved an agreement with Lee & Associates. Based on the findings 2 Honorable City Council 10/11/2021 Special Joint Meeting Page 3 12853-0001\2582146v2.doc of Lee & Associates, there is a total of 279,000 square feet (sq. ft.) of office space currently constructed in the city, with only four (4) buildings having consolidated square footage of 20,000 sq. ft. or more. This indicates a very small inventory in which to choose a location that could accommodate staff housed in the buildings located at 799 Moorpark Avenue. Two buildings in Moorpark are greater than 20,000 sq. ft. and are available for acquisition by the City. One of those properties is located at 323 Science Dr. (22,464 sq. ft.) and was listed for lease; however, through negotiations, the owner has indicated a willingness to sell the building to the City. Lee & Associates has been conducting good faith negotiations on price and terms of the building and property, and a price of $300.00 per sq. ft., ($6,739,200) has been negotiated. This 22,464 sq. ft. free-standing building meets the City’s size requirements. The subject property is an office building offering an ideal image and location. A portion of the building is ideally suited for conversion to a City Council meeting chamber. Improvements will be required to configure the interior of the building to accommodate city hall functions. Although the City, through Lee & Associates, has been in good faith negotiations regarding the terms of a PSA, the owner has nevertheless listed the building on the open market for sale. This underscores the need for the City to quickly decide whether it wants to approve and sign the PSA, so that it can be presented to the seller for execution, and thereby bind the seller to sell to the City. Even if the seller signs the PSA, additional steps will be required to be completed prior to the City closing escrow on the purchase. A tenant currently occupies a portion of the property, and its lease is set to expire on December 31, 2021. If the tenant holds over, then the seller will need to have them removed prior to closing. In addition, the Planning Commission will need to make a finding of consistency with the General Plan per Government Code 65402, and the City will need to make findings supporting a CEQA exemption or otherwise comply with CEQA. The property is currently zoned M-1 which requires the City to process and approve a Conditional Use Permit to occupy the site for City operations. In addition, the completion of requisite environmental/hazmat report, physical inspection, title review and other normal due diligence will need to be completed, and any material due diligence issues brought back to the City Council for approval. Consequently, there may be additional matters to be approved by the City Council before the purchase of the property actually closes. FISCAL IMPACT The total funding requirement for this acquisition is $6,739,200. City Hall Improvement Fund (3001) includes a line-item budget totaling $1,468,813.90 under Capital Improvement Project (CIP) C0012. A budget amendment in the amount of $5,750,000 is 3 Honorable City Council 10/11/2021 Special Joint Meeting Page 4 12853-0001\2582146v2.doc requested from the Special Projects Fund (3004) to cover both the acquisition and closing costs to finalize the purchase in escrow. COUNCIL GOAL COMPLIANCE This action is consistent with City Council Economic Development Strategy, Goal 3, Objective 3.12: “Identify and transition to temporary City Hall location (2022)”. STAFF RECOMMENDATION (ROLL CALL VOTE REQUIRED) Staff Recommendation: 1) Approve purchase of 323 Science Drive and authorize City Manager to sign all purchase agreement and related documents; 2) Authorize City Clerk to execute Certificate of Acceptance for the grant deed for the property; and 3) Adopt Resolution No. 2021-_____, amending the Fiscal Year 2021/22 Budget by allocating $5,750,000 from the Special Projects Fund (3004) to City Hall Improvement Fund (3001) project C0012 to fund the purchase of 323 Science Drive. Attachments: Attachment 1 - Draft Resolution No. 2021-________ Attachment 2 - 323 Science Drive Property Narrative 4 RESOLUTION NO. 2021-_____ A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MOORPARK, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING THE FISCAL YEAR 2021/22 BUDGET BY APPROPRIATING $5,750,000 FROM THE SPECIAL PROJECTS FUND (3004) TO FUND ACQUISITION OF 323 SCIENCE DRIVE WHEREAS, on June 16, 2021, the City Council adopted the Operating and Capital Improvement Projects budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021/22; and WHEREAS, over the years, there have been many discussions about building and/or acquiring a new City Hall. For this endeavor, a dedicated fund, capital improvement project number, various funding sources to assist with funding, and some budget appropriations were established. However, for this current acquisition, only the City Hall Improvement Fund (3001) and Special Projects Fund (3004) will be utilized as funding sources; and WHEREAS, a staff report has been presented to the City Council requesting a budget amendment in the amount of $5,750,000 from the Special Projects Fund (3004) to fund the acquisition of 323 Science Drive to serve as a City Hall housing municipal operations; and WHEREAS, Exhibit “A”, attached hereto and made a part hereof, describes said budget amendment and the resultant impact to the budget line items. NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MOORPARK DOES HEREBY RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. A budget amendment in the amount of $5,750,000 from the Special Projects Fund (3004), as more particularly described in Exhibit “A”, attached hereto, is hereby approved. SECTION 2. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this resolution and shall cause a certified resolution to be filed in the book of original resolutions. PASSED AND ADOPTED this 11th day of October, 2021. ______________________________ Janice S. Parvin, Mayor ATTEST: ________________________________ Ky Spangler, City Clerk Attachment: Exhibit A – Budget Amendment ATTACHMENT 1 5 FUND BALANCE ALLOCATION: Fund-Account Number Amount 3004-000-00000-33990 5,750,000.00$ CITY HALL IMPROVEMENT FUND 3001-000-00000-33990 (5,750,000.00)$ Total -$ TRANSFER ALLOCATION: Account Number Current Budget Revision Amended Budget 3004-000-00000-59010 -$ 5,750,000.00$ 5,750,000.00$ 3001-000-00000-49010 -$ (5,750,000.00)$ (5,750,000.00)$ Total -$ -$ -$ EXPENDITURE APPROPRIATION: Account Number Current Budget Revision Amended Budget 3001-120-C0012-55210 1,468,813.90$ 5,750,000.00$ 7,218,813.90$ Total 1,468,813.90$ 5,750,000.00$ 7,218,813.90$ Fund Title SPECIAL PROJECTS FUND EXHIBIT A BUDGET AMENDMENT FOR CITY HALL IMPROVEMENT FUND (3001) FY 2021/22 FOR ACQUISITION OF 323 SCIENCE DRIVE FOR USE AS CITY HALL 6 Lee & Associates® - LA North/Ventura, Inc.•5707 Corsa Ave., Ste 200 , Westlake VilllageCity of Moorpark323 Science Drive¹ĺĿƙȃȃɈȅȇȅƙƐƭîƑĚĲūūƥĲƑĚĚɠƙƥîŠēĿŠĳċƭĿŕēĿŠĳŞĚĚƥƙƥĺĚČĿƥǋɫƙƙĿǕĚƑĚƐƭĿƑĚŞĚŠƥɍ¹ĺĚƙƭċŏĚČƥƎƑūƎĚƑƥǋĿƙîĲƑĚĚɠƙƥîŠēĿŠĳūĲǶČĚċƭĿŕēĿŠĳoffering outstanding image and location. A portion of the building is ideally suited for conversion to a council chamber. Minor amount of improvements may be required. Although the property is offered for lease, it may be potentially purchased.NARRATIVE:SPECIFICATIONS:Size: 22,464 square feet¡îƑŒĿŠĳɇ ȈȆ¬ƥîŕŕƙ¡ƑūƎĚƑƥǋ¹ǋƎĚɇ ~ĲǶČĚElevator:YesFree-Standing: YesFloor: First & Second ATTACHMENT 27