To: Board of Supervisors
From: County Administrative Office
Agenda Section: Departmental
SUBJECT:
title
Update on County Facility Master Planning Efforts
end
RECOMMENDATION(S):
Recommendation
That the Board of Supervisors:
1. Receive the staff report on facility master planning efforts; and
2. Take other action as appropriate.
Body
SOURCE OF FUNDING:
All County Funds
DISCUSSION:
The County of Humboldt provides services to more than 130,000 residents through 220 facilities, 140 of which are owned by the county and 80 leased. The majority of these facilities are located in the City of Eureka, as well as a majority of the county’s 2,400 staff. While the majority of public services are concentrated in Eureka, many of the facilities are disconnected from each other, forcing residents to travel across town to access related services. In order to relieve some of these pressures and work towards improving strategic placement of these services, your Board in the spring of 2018 directed county staff to begin facility master planning efforts.
On March 13, 2018, your Board approved the professional services agreement with The KPA Group for facility assessment and master planning services. The purpose of developing a facilities master plan is to improve resident services, mitigate impact on the community, reduce operational costs and improve the overall condition of county-owned facilities. This planning process includes an 18-month analysis of the county’s 220 facilities, which will lead to specific project recommendations designed to meet current and future needs. So far, the facility master planning efforts have included: physical inspection and analysis of buildings, discussions with county staff, providing and receiving surveys from county staff, and review of facility photos and reports. It has also involved identifying facilities the county should retain and renovate, as well as facilities that either are too expensive, too difficult or too inefficient to renovate to serve future needs. Co-location of services is also being reviewed. Cost projections for each proposed project will be estimated and summaries prepared.
On April 16, 2019, your Board authorized additional facility master planning services. These services included:
• planning for a Clark Complex/One-Stop and administration/facility,
• conducting online department surveys,
• master plans for Garberville, One-Stop Permitting and Willow Creek,
• master plan visualization map/model,
• continued facilities assessments,
• initial stakeholder goals investigation,
• develop project cost studies,
• coordination with stakeholders, and
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) transition planning services.
Feedback and analysis of each of these will be included in preparing a draft facilities master plan for your Board to consider.
Status of Facilities Master Plan
To date, the draft facilities master plan has identified county-owned facilities as generally in poor condition. County facilities are at various levels of deterioration largely due to lack of maintenance and Humboldt County’s harsh environmental conditions. The county’s 80 leased facilities also require significant improvements, mostly due to the ADA facility requirements. The dispersion of county employees among disparate facilities is not ideal and there are many instances of overcrowding and lack of efficient work spaces. Co-locating services would improve service delivery to the public and could provide increased work efficiency and collaboration for employees. In addition, access to services for the public is likely to be improved with co-location.
It is likely that the master planning process will conclude there is a need to construct new facilities, and will detail potential locations of proposed new facilities, and associated time frames.
It should be noted that the county continues to invest in a wide range of projects to provide ADA-compliant facilities, programs, services and activities at various locations throughout the county. The ADA Transition Plan, which will guide the county’s ADA-related work after it is out of the consent decree with the US Department of Justice, was added to the facilities master planning efforts by your Board on April 26, 2019. Currently, the draft ADA Transition Plan is estimated at $35 million.
Early Look at Potential Co-Located Services
As staff work with The KPA Group to bring a proposed facilities master plan to your Board there will be possible co-location options to explore, as noted above. These possible options include:
• Administrative Complex: Assessor, Auditor Controller, Board of Supervisors, Clerk of the Board Clerk-Recorder, County Administrative Office (including Economic Development and County IT), County Counsel, Human Resources, and Treasurer Tax Collector (excluding Revenue Recovery)
• One-Stop Permitting: DHHS - Environmental Health, Planning and Building, and Public Works - Land Use
• Law & Justice Center (Courthouse): Conflict Counsel, District Attorney, Probation (adult), Public Defender, Sheriff, DHHS - Mental Health, Superior Court
• Southern Humboldt Campus: Board of Supervisor Office, DHHS, Library, Permitting Services, Sheriff, Superior Court, and Veterans
• Eastern Humboldt Campus: Board of Supervisor Office, DHHS, Library, and Sheriff
Potential Site Locations
The KPA Group and staff are also working on identifying possible building site locations for the co-location of services and therefore creating campuses. Possible building site locations, and updates on their progress are as follows:
4th Street Properties, Eureka
• Phase 1, Acquire 4th street properties (3 parcels, County currently owns Public Defender Building property)
• Phase 2, Paved parking lot to meet the needs of displaced parking due to the SB 863 (Humboldt County Correction Reentry Resource Center) project.
• Phase 3, Demolition of the Public Defender Building
• Phase 4, New construction to house county services, sub-level parking, programs that could be located here:
ü Admin Complex with One-Stop Permitting
ü One-Stop Permitting
ü One-Stop Permitting with Public Works (excluding motor pool)
ü Public Works (Administration, Environmental Services, Facilities Management and Roads)
2nd Street Properties, Eureka 900 block of 2nd Street (between J & K Streets, Facility Maintenance and Materials Lab is currently located at this site)
• Phase 1 May need to purchase, swap or otherwise obtain adjacent properties and finalize relocation plan for Facility Maintenance
• Phase 2 Relocate Facility Maintenance
• Phase 3 New construction, sub-level parking, programs that could be located here:
ü Admin Complex with One-Stop Permitting
Willow Creek
• Phase 1 Appraise property located at 39171 Hwy 299, Willow Creek (5,768 sf building/.88 acre site)
• Phase 2 Purchase property located at 39171 Hwy 299, Willow Creek (5,768 sf building/.88 acre site)
• Phase 3 Renovation of property, programs that could be located here: Board of Supervisor Office, Health and Human Services, Library, and Sheriff
Projects in Progress
In addition, there are a number of projects that are already in progress. These projects include:
SB 863 - Humboldt County Correction Reentry Resource Center Project:
The gravel lot, east of the Humboldt County Correctional Facility, currently used for parking, will be utilized for the Correction Reentry Resource Center project, a (44 beds - 28 male, 10 female, and 6 mental health) minimum security in-custody, program-oriented, custody unit that focuses on preparing inmates to successfully re-enter society. This program would also house the Sheriff’s Work Alternative Program (SWAP) and the Probation Day Reporting Center. Also incorporated in the facility would be intense case management, evidence-based programs, mental health, and substance abuse services. The State of California awarded $20 million in funding to Humboldt County for this project. Total project cost is estimated at $23 million.
In a letter dated Jan. 4, 2018 the Judicial Council of California expressed concerns over the loss of parking in the gravel lot (see attached letter). County staff is exploring opportunities to replace this lost parking, as well as alternate modes of transportation.
Garberville Mini-Campus:
Your Board approved design services for the Garberville Mini-Complex Project on Nov. 13, 2018. This project consists of the demolition of two existing buildings and construction of a new modular mini-complex to be located at 715 Cedar Street, Garberville. Currently there are two structures located on the parcel; a modular facility housing the Garberville branch of the Humboldt County Library and a stick framed structure housing the Second District Supervisor’s Office. Once the existing buildings have been razed, a new modular building will be placed on the property that will house the Garberville branch of the Humboldt County Library, the Garberville Sheriff’s Sub-Station, and a multi-departmental conference room that can be utilized for a variety of purposes including but not limited to a meeting location for the Garberville Veterans as well as other county programs that require a meeting space in the Southern Humboldt region. The complex will have:
• centralized, public, ADA-accessible restrooms sized appropriately for the intended occupancy,
• private single user ADA compliant restrooms for the Sheriff’s Substation,
• new parking lot,
• site lighting, and
• site improvements complete with fully accessible parking stalls and an accessible path of travel linking the public right of way to site amenities.
Site utilities such as electrical, back-up power generation, water, gas, and waste water are also critical design elements to the project. Staff anticipates bringing an item to your Board on Oct. 1, 2019 to approve project plans and specifications and authorize for bid. The project will go out to bid upon Board authorization. This project is estimated to begin on Oct. 29, 2019 and estimated completion date is April 14, 2020.
PG&E Trailers
Pacific Gas & Electric in 2017 donated seven construction trailers to the Betty Kwan Chinn Homeless Foundation (BKCHF) to be used for low-income housing. Since that time, BKCHF has been seeking a lot to place the trailers on, and has communicated with the City of Eureka and the county to further understand regulatory processes around using the trailers for housing. On Jan. 23, 2018 your Board approved allocating $100,000 from the General Fund as a contribution to the City of Eureka to assisting with this project. This funding has been “rolled forward,” or saved, in the fiscal year 2019-20 budget and will continue to be rolled forward until there is an appropriate project to be funded.
Summary
There are many configurations and opportunities for co-location of services, as well as site locations for new facilities. Regardless of the final product, a thoughtful and well-executed facilities master plan can provide significant improvement to county services, residents and staff. The information contained in this report is only a small sampling of what the facilities master plan will offer to your Board. In order to complete the facilities master plan county staff will be reaching out to the community to provide input into master planning efforts during the fall and winter of 2019.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Staff as well as consultant costs to assist with facilities master planning efforts have been included in the fiscal year 2019-20 budget. Specific estimated project costs will be contained in the proposed facilities master plan that will come before your Board after public input is received.
STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK:
This action supports your Board’s Strategic Framework by providing for and maintaining infrastructure .
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
All County Departments, City of Eureka.
ALTERNATIVES TO STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS:
Board discretion.
ATTACHMENTS:
18-01-04 Courts Gravel Lot Parking
PREVIOUS ACTION/REFERRAL:
Board Order No.: N/A
Meeting of: N/A
File No.: N/A