Council Approves Design Plans for New City Hall

BY BILL KOENEKER

The Malibu City Council on a 4-1 vote, with Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich dissenting, approved the final plans for the new City Hall, but not before Mayor Sharon Barovsky apologized for how city officials originally envisioned use of the building and its revenue producing potential.

Council candidates have made an issue out of the ever evolving, changing plans for the new city hall, which municipal officials insisted should also function as a community serving building.

Some candidates have gone as far as to say the city had not done due diligence on assessing the building and its infrastructure, because council members were too busy touting the acquisition of the structure at an outstanding price for $15 million at an auction.

“I apologize. We were working on a set of assumptions, but should not have made those statements,” said Barovsky, referring to some of the initial comments about how the city was going to turn nearly half the building into a money making machine.

Councilmember John Sibert said the firm the city picked are very good at acoustics “and that wasn’t going to work here.”

Sibert said since it was an auction the city was not able to assess the state and quality of the building before it acquired it. “We have new facts. We have a new position. Details arise and can surprise you. We tried to make it serve multiple functions, but number one is a working city hall,” he said.

Those revelations came after public comments when again some council hopefuls took the council to task.

Candidate Harold Greene said there was not enough public input. “This is going to be your city hall not our city hall,” he said.

Council hopeful Matthew Katz said the council should just wait awhile and not spend any more money. He said municipal officials still do not know the cost for eliminating mold which he claimed is throughout the building, and the ultimate price for wastewater and sewage. “There are expenditures that cannot be anticipated,” he added.

That was the reason the council had formed an ad hoc committee to figure out cost saving measures since the estimated figures slowly grew over time. Original estimates placed the cost of improvements under $2 million, but the council was later greeted with a nearly $7 million price tag for improvements.

The architects, who presented the council with the final plan and budget, explained where and how the money would be spent.

To slurry the parking lot was estimated to cost $100,000. There would have to be improvements to meet the ADA code. To implement a water conservation plan will cost $200,000.

The installation of an emergency generator to run the computers and keep the building functional during a disaster or emergency is another $100,000, according to the designers. The cooling tower and boiler are in disrepair and will have to be replaced due to the salt air with marine grade units, 45 new heating pumps are required.

The lighting system required by law, according to the architects, will cost $1 million.

LEEDs certification, to gain a certain environmental rating, will cost another $100,000, which was already approved by the council.

The theater will require reconfiguration and a reduction in size, there will be a new banquet room, the recording studio will be kept intact, there will be an Emergency Operations Center and EOC office, several community rooms and meeting rooms for staff, and an art gallery will be built to make a vestibule for the theater and council chambers.

The council was told plan check submittal starts May 15, approval should come late June, bidding starts in July, construction begins in August with an estimated completion next February and a ribbon cutting in March, 2011.

The building cost $15 million, the Certificates of Participation to finance the acquisition will cost a total of $20 million and the COPs used to finance improvements will cost a total of nearly $7 million.