Memorandum 13-131 Public Safety Building Site Assessment

Memorandum 13-131
TO:  Mayor Wythe and Homer City Council
THROUGH: Walt Wrede, City Manager
FROM:  Katie Koester, Community and Economic Development Coordinator
DATE:  September 4, 2013
SUBJECT: Public Safety Building Site Assessment
The purpose of this memo is to provide information on the possible site locations for a Public Safety Building.

Things to keep in mind when selecting a site for a Public Safety Building include: ease of ingress and egress , ease of access by the public, ease of access to customer (police,  fire  and EMS incidents), minimum of 1.5 acres, and clearly out of a tsunami zone.

Staff considered 8 possible sites for the location of a new public safety building. After a site visit with the Chiefs on September 3 and closer inspection, 5 sites remained on the list. The three lots that were ruled out and reasons included:
a) Private/CIRI lots along the Sterling Highway west of Petro Express. There is no water and sewer at those lots and space is limited. Lots may be in a tsunami zone.
b) Waddell lot on the corner of Sterling Highway and Main Street. Too valuable of real estate for civic purpose and lot may be in a Tsunami zone.
c) Waddell cabins behind Post Office. Lot is too small.

The remaining lots are divided into two tiers, tier one being the preferred lots. Pros and cons for the various lots are listed on the following pages. Refer to the map Potential Public Safety Building Sites for a visual.
 
 

TIER ONE:

1) HERC Site
This would involve tearing down both structures on the HERC building lot. The demolition cost for that is projected to be $450,000 ($250,000 to remove asbestos and lead based paint and $200,000 for demolition of structures).

PRO CON
City owns the property Have to demo existing structures
Access: direct access to Sterling Hwy and easy access to Pioneer Located at a complicated, busy intersection. Off of Main more ideal. Could mitigate with stop light controls.
Plenty of room. Potential for future growth and/or other City facilities on same lot. Small creek runs through lot (can be mitigated)
Already developed land: limited permitting, utilities are already on location Fire is concerned the distance from the Spit may cause ISO ratings to increase for spit structures
View Too valuable of real estate for a public building?
Could offer two accesses (public could enter off Woodside, fleet could roll onto Sterling on other side of lot).

2) Main Street Site (Town Center)

PRO CON
A civic building could initiate development of Town Center.     Lot needs utilities and road/driveway, however would not have that far to travel
Would clean up an area of town that could use a police presence Added expense of acquiring the lot (maybe a land trade?)
Great access right off Main May have to/want to acquire Homer Cleaning Center lot: could be some remediation issues with dry cleaning chemicals
Would be easy for public to find
Buildable: little elevation gain, cleared 

 
TIER TWO

1) Pioneer Site (Town Center)

PRO CON
A civic building could initiate development of Town Center Extra expense brining infrastructure (utilities and roads) to lot
City owns the property Would have to acquire a private lot in order to develop two access points
Decent grade for building on Would have to clear a lot of trees. Needs a fair amount of dirt work
Does not significantly constrain other possibilities for Town Center Is behind Alice’s the best location for Police/Fire?
Would clean up an area of town that needs a police presence Hidden from public

2) City TC Site (Town Center)  

PRO CON
A civic building could initiate development of Town Center.  Would really open up Town Center. Extra expense of infrastructure. Utilities and road have a long way to travel.
City owns the property  Is Public Safety Building the best use of the most centrally located City lot in Town Center?
Would clean up an area of town that could use a police presence Would have to acquire Homer Cleaning Center or CIRI land for access
May have issues for double entry
Require lots of tree clearing/ dirt work
Some elevation on north side of lot. Could be used as a buffer

3) Hazel Site (Town Center)

PRO CON
A civic building could initiate development of Town Center Extra expense of infrastructure
Would clean up an area of town that could use a police presence Would push police/fire traffic onto Hazel or Poopdeck. No direct access to a main road
Buildable: limited grade, cleared Expense of acquiring property (potential land trade)
Buildable space is small and narrow, especially once E-W Corridor road goes through. May have to split garage space on either side of lot.