City Council Minutes 08-20-1984 SpecialMINUTES
SPECIAL MEETING - MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL
August 20, 1984 - 4:30 P.M.
Members Present: Arve A. Grimsmo, Jack Maxwell, Fran Fair,
Dan Blonigen, Ken Maus.
Members Absent: None.
A special meeting of the City Council was duly held at 4:30 P.M.
on Monday, August 20, 1984, in the City Council Chambers for
the purpose of interviewing four firms as potential architects
for a proposed Fire Hall.
1. The Mayor called the meeting to order and requested that Eidem
explain the process. Eidem indicated that four firms had been
invited by the Council and that he had notified each of them
that they would have approximately 20-30 minutes for their interview
of which the first 10-15 minutes would be available for the
firm's presentation, followed by questions. Representing the
firm of Carlson Mjorud Architecture Ltd. were Al Mjorud, Bruce
Carlson, and William Rova. They began their presentation with
a slide show introducing their firm and a brief discussion of
how they would prepare the information requested. As an example,
they discussed a fire hall design for the City of Golden Valley
and when questioned indicated they anticipated current cost
would be in the range of $60.00 to $65.00 per square foot.
Councilmember Blonigen asked them to address their experience
with energy conservation and specifically with radiant heat
systems. Mr. Carlson indicated that they were, in fact, familiar
with those systems and that they held energy conservation as
an important factor in any building design. Mayor Grimsmo indicated
to the firm that the site selection process had taken a rather
different turn, and the City was now considering the existing
Fire Hall location. The representatives of the firm indicated
that they had assumed that evaluation of the existing site would
be part of the overall process. CMA indicated their pleasure
at being selected for an interview and stated that they hoped
they would be chosen to do the project. There being no further
questions, the CMA was excused.
2. Toltz, King, Duvall, Anderson and Associates was the next firm
to be interviewed. Representing TKDA was Duane Kasma and Wes
Hendrickson. Mr. Kasma and Mr. Hendrickson utilized the first
15-20 minutes to introduce their firm, which they indicate is
a complete shop housing architecture, engineering, land use
planning, etc., and has been in operations for 75 years. Mr.
Hendrickson indicated that he would be the project manager on
the Monticello project and gave a brief presentation on energy
systems and conservation. He indicated that energy conservation
Council Minutes - Special Meeting - 8/20/84
was a crucial aspect to their design. TKDA also presented a
brief slide show. When opened for questions, Councilmember
Maus asked the typical cost of the most recent fire station
they had built. Their response was that it was approximately
$60 per square foot. Eidem asked the question as to what was
the corporate philosophy of the utility of a building versus
the aesthetics of a building. Mr. Hendrickson responded that
there are three aspects to building construction, those being
function, image, and cost. He stated that function is generally
clearly defined and that the image projected by the City would
have to conform to the cost or the budget stipulated by the
City. He stated that their philosophy of image or aesthetics
versus functional utility is defined by the City's philosophy
of image and function. Councilmember Blonigen asked what percentage
of total project cost comes in as change orders to the project.
Mr. Kasma responded that their history has indicated that 1%
or less is in change order cost. There being no further questions,
Mr. Kasma provided some closing comments and indicated that
TKDA felt competent to address the needs of Monticello and would
very much like to be selected. Eidem asked what percentage of project cost
would be their fee for Phase 2. They stated 611% - 7%.
3. Don Granholm and Jack Boarman of Boarman Architects came before
the Council for the third interview of the evening. Mr. Boarman,
the owner and president of Boarman Architects, indicated that
he would be the project manager on the Monticello job. He provided
approximately 10-15 minutes of introduction to the firm, noting
that the consulting engineer that they would utilize would be
Bakke Kopp Ballou & McFarlin. He stated that their firm had
done substantial research into successful bond issue and had
assimilated that into a formula and process that had been successful.
Mr. Boarman indicated that they had designed 57 buildings since
1978, and that only one came in over budget. Mr. Boarman volunteered
the information that the average change orders are less than
one-half of 1% of project cost. Mr. Boarman noted that his
standard contract provides that the architect redraws all plans
and specifications at his cost if bids come in over the established
budget. Mr. Boarman then provided some examples of fire halls
that they had designed and built. He spent considerable time
discussing energy conservation methods and why he had adapted
certain methods from his experience in Alaskan design. Doug
Pitt, representing the Fire Department, noticed that one of
Boarman's designs, the Chanhassen Fire Hall, was built with
a gable roof. He wanted to know if that was something that
Boarman used in all their designs, or was it unique to Chanhassen.
Mr. Boarman responded that that design was a result of three
conditions; namely, they had to meet a reduced budget, there
were time limitations and winter construction, and the site
location was highly residential and, consequently, legislated
a building that would blend into the neighborhood. Eidem asked
Mr. Boarman his position with utility versus aesthetics. Mr.
Boarman responded that design talent was the key to the aesthetics
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of a building. He stated in his opinion that a building does
not have to cost a great deal or be lavishly designed to still
be a source of pride to the community. Councilmember Maus asked
Mr. Boarman to expand on their background in site selection.
Mr. Boarman indicated that he engaged Damon Farber, Land Use
Planner, to assist in the site selection and that Mr. Farber
had established an objective method of determining base criteria
when doing a site evaluation. Councilmember Blonigen, referring
again to the Chanhassen Fire Hall, asked if there was a problem
of building fire halls out of wood, that he had been led to
believe fire halls were always masonry. Mr. Boarman indicated
that wood fire halls were perfectly acceptable and that for
energy reasons, they would sometimes even be preferable. Councilmember
Fair asked if Boarman had an in-house engineer or utilized a
consultant. Mr. Boarman re -affirmed his earlier comment that
they utilized Bakke Kopp Ballou & McFarlin as a consulting firm,
but that he was the sole individual responsible for design and
follow-up. There being no further questions, the interview
was concluded.
4. The last party to appear for an interview was Zack Johnson of
the Zack Johnson Group. Mr. Johnson provided approximately
10-15 minutes of introduction to his firm and a discussion of
design principles. He indicated that in various cities he had
assisted with the selling of a referendum and felt that he had
a competent method for selling the Monticello referendum. Mr.
Johnson also noted that he would wish to identify previous architects
for the City and the problems the City may have had with those
architects and buildings so as to avoid them from the very beginning.
At the conclusion of Mr. Johnson's introductory presentation,
Councilmember Fair asked about the amount of time that would
be spent on site inspecting construction. Mr. Johnson indicated
that on a job of this size approximately 200 of their overall
time would be spent or 2-3 times per week. Again Eidem asked
the question about aesthetics versus utility. Mr. Johnson responded
that he felt that the aesthetics and the utility of a building
went hand-in-hand; that there was an obligation on the City
to present both a positive image but to stay within budget showing
that they both were concerned for the image as well as the business
aspects of the construction. He went on to say that in his
estimation, every city construction project makes a statement,
and that he feels the statement should be positive. Before
closing, Mr. Johnson discussed his strong opinion that life
cycle costing is far more crucial to design than is up -front
construction cost. After his closing comments, the interviews
were concluded.
Discussion was held amongst the Council members relating to
site preference. Councilmember Fair indicated that her preference
still lies with Block 15 on the north edge of the cemetery.
Her preference for that site, she indicated, had to do with
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the possibility of developing both the Fire Hall and perhaps
some open green areas that would front on 25. Other members
of the Council acknowledged that that site, while very low,
should be investigated to determine whether or not it is physically
developable without undue expense. Mayor Grimsmo noted that
that was a site that he had also liked from the beginning and
that there were substantial growth limitations to developing
on the existing site. Motion by Fair, second by Maus, and carried
unanimously to direct staff to further investigate the feasibility
of constructing a Fire Hall on Block 15, said investigation
to include soil borings and discussions with Mr. Eck over the
possible acquisition of his property.
Each Council member then ranked the four firms that were interviewed,
with the individual rankings then being tallied up with the
final results as follows: 1st choice, TKDA; 2nd, Boarman Architecture;
3rd, CMA; and 4th, Zack Johnson Group. Motion by Maus, second
by Maxwell, to engage TKDA as the Architectural Consulting Firm
for the construction of the proposed Monticello Fire Hall.
Voting in favor: Maxwell, Maus, Grimsmo, Fair. Voting in opposition:
Blonigen.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
Thomas A. Eid m
City Administrator
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