HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 2010-05-24MIleTUTE
~o~TK, S~~ SPECIAL MEETING
o ~ CITY COUNCIL
~' ~ OF THE
Ham' ° CITY OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO
c'~LIFOR~~~ P.O. Box 711 (City Hall, 400 Grand Avenue)
South San Francisco, California 94083
CITY HALL
LARGE CONFERENCE ROOM
400 GRAND AVENUE
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94080
MONDAY, MAY 24, 2010
1. Call to Order. Time: 6:36 p.m,.
2. Roll Call. Present: Counci.lmembers Garbarino,
Gonzalez;, Matsumoto, Vice Mayor Mullin*,
Mayor Addiego
*Vice Mayor Mullin arrived at 6:37 p.m.
Absent: None.
3. Agenda Review.
None.
4. Public Comments -comments were limited to items on the Special Meeting Agenda.
None.
5. Study Session: Status of the rehabilitation and seismic upgrades for Fire Station
63.
Fire Chief White, with assistance from Public Works Director White, was present to update
Council on the proposed seismic upgrades to Fire Station 6:3. Mahvash Harms of Biggs Cardosa
Associates Inc. was also present to answer any questions.
On April 28`h 2009 structural engineering firm Biggs Cardosa Associates conducted a
preliminary seismic evaluation of the Municipal Services Building ("MSB") at 33 Arroyo Drive
for the purpose of determining its compliance with the Immediate Occupancy Seismic
Requirements. In general the MSB was in good condition as a primary result of maintenance
provided by public works. Based on the evaluation, however., recommendations were made to
address the several deficiencies present that may prevent Fire Station 63, located in the MSB,
from meeting Immediate Occupancy Requirements. Estimated construction cost to improve the
Station was $2,500,000 with the caveat the actual costs could vary substantially pending review.
On December 24, 2009 the Fire Department was awarded over $1.8 million for the rehabilitation
of Fire Station 63 located at the MSB from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
("ARRA"). The Department's application was one (1) of tl7e 150 selected out of 6000
submissions. Goals included: improving the survivability following an earthquake, increasing
clearances in the station's apparatus bay to accommodate ne;w rescue and fire engines and
improving living conditions. Station 63 is the City's busiest and due to its location, responds to
all first alarm fires.
On April 5, 2010 the .City's Engineering Department receivf;d proposals from architectural and
engineering firms. The proposals identified additional issuers. Accordingly, an additional
$300,000 was requested from FEMA to address these concerns. Should the request be denied,
the money needed for the additional items would be redirected from other planned improvements
to the Station.
In response to a question from Mayor Addiego, staff clarified that the last time a soil study was
conducted was in 1969 when the Station was built.
Chief White stated that under advice from Biggs Cardona Associates, Inc., the Department would
like to have all of the work completed at once, though this does not have to be the case. At this
time, the Department was not requesting further funding. Lastly, the Chief noted additional
upgrades maybe identified anal reiterated costs may vary greatly depending on the physical
review.
Councilwoman Matsumoto posed a question for Director ofd Economic and Community
Development Van Duyn as to when the study for the northern half of the El Camino would come
to Council for comment and approval.
Director Van Duyn responded the initiation of environmental documents would probably be
within the next month and was anticipating approximately Fright (8) months before it would be
brought to Council. Realistically, given the current marketplace, it would be five (5) years before
seeing actual improvements.
Councilwoman Matsumoto and Mayor Addiego expressed concern over the various investment
commitments being made given this time line.
Director Van Duyn questioned if Council wanted to look at providing a more aggressive civic
presence in the area.
Councilwoman Matsumoto stated that is where she wanted to be. The Civic Plaza was the bigger
picture in that area and potentially included a new library. Councilwoman Matsumoto next
expressed concern as to whether the additional $300,000 for improvements to Station 63 didn't
come through.
SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING MAY 24, 2010
MINUTES PAGE 2
Director White noted the ARRA grant was a no match grant. He suggested Council consider an
interim solution providing the flexibility needed to realize visions based on what would work
best for that area of town. The improvements were justified and would not lock Council into
other parts. The Department had good grant writing capabilities and resources available for a
joint approach to other spaces such as the Police Department. He also noted the improvements
made on the strengthening of the walls would greatly improve the seismic resistance above;
essentially every dollar spent downstairs in the Fire Station would provide huge dividends
upstairs.
Mahvash Harms provided a summary of Biggs Cardosa Associates, Ines findings. Her review
included information on the following: structural items requiring strengthening, building
description, building condition, design criteria, Tier One (1) and Two (2) deficiencies, analysis
using the 2007 Building Code, proposed modifications, preliminary engineer's estimate of
probable costs and limitations of the review.
Councilwoman Matsumoto noted the atrium was fragile and questioned whether there would be a
way to guarantee damage would not be done during construction.
Ms. Harms stated monitoring of vibration would be done during construction.
Chief White added the construction site was approximately 100 ft. plus from the atrium and the
skylight element.
Councilman Gonzalez expressed apprehension about the expense of the project but understood
the necessity. He also noted the first two (2) options presented did not show the MSB social hall.
Chief White explained whether or not the additional money was received, the seismic
reinforcement would take place.
Ms. Harm concurred with Chief White as far as having sufficient money to conduct the retrofit.
Chief White added that even though the building was built according to the best standards at the
time, more had been learned about what a building needs to survive a seismic event. The
difference in what was being asked for today versus other seismic upgrades was the need for
higher standards. Instead of just holding together to allow Escape, it would need to remain
standing to support continued operations.
Councilwoman Matsumoto asked whether in an emergency operations could be handled from
Station 61.
Chief White responded operations could be conducted wherever the need maybe, but, for
extended operations, having sanitation and food preparation areas would be necessary. Positives
of the retrofit included immediate tangible benefits for the f;ntire building without money coming
from the general fund.
Vice Mayor Mullin applauded the plan and the Department's aggressiveness in securing federal
dollars and hoped the same could happen with the Police Department.
SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING MAY 24, 2010
MINUTES PAGE 3
Councilman Garbarino requested the anticipated time of completion.
Public Works Director Terry White noted the Engineering Department would control the project.
Production of proper options within the plan and a presentation to Council were hoped to be
possible by the end of the year. Multiple options would be looked at in order to come up with the
ultimate plan that would fit available funding.
Mayor Addiego asked Chief White if the proposed location best served the community.
Chief White felt it was a good location. He noted it was a compromise, but provided good access
to Arroyo and El Camino Real ("ECR") and was non-obtrusive.
6. Study Session: Outsourcing Employees Benefits Administration.
Senior Human Resources Analyst Mich Mercado presented the staff report and noted the Human
Resources department ("HR") had always tried to administer benefits the best it could given the
present infrastructure, i.e. staffing, technology systems, etc. However, the existing benefits
administration systems needed to be redesigned to reduce the risk of human error and increase
efficiency. She clarified that a total outsourcing of HR services was not being considered, simply
outsourcing the busy work. This would increase functionality and streamline many of the
processes, allowing HR to reallocate resources and focus on risk management, worker's
compensation issues and other important areas. She explained the sophisticated nature of
benefits administration and the Department's desire to harnc;ss the current technology. Having
all the information in one place would make it easier to find. errors/discrepancies. Currently, the
City used multiple administrators for the different benefits, which was cumbersome to track and
prevented the Department from achieving savings from consolidation.
After preliminary interviews, five (5) vendors were narrowed to two (2). The process was looked
at from two (2) fronts, the HR/Finance side and the employee/retiree side. With outsourcing,
there would be less human error, greater efficiency and enhanced services. Employees would be
able to have 24/7 access to their information, make W4 and deferred compensation changes, and
conduct paycheck modeling to see the difference changes would make to their bottom line.
People find this information extremely beneficial before making the actual changes. For retirees,
many of whom do not use computers, there is a central call center available. Currently, if they
were to call HR about last check information, they would be directed to Finance, experiencing a
ping pong type of service. Outsourcing would provide them, with one (1) general location for
accessing all of their information. HR was considering a particular vendor based on their
experience with multiple cities, counties and retirees. HR untended to help employees and
retirees through the transition, orienting them to the online and phone systems, thus allowing the
department to focus on more complex issues and save costs'..
Councilwoman Matsumoto noted the issues that had occurred during her experience in HR with
SamTrans, namely coordinating the HR system against payroll and finance. Was she correct in
assuming the selected vendor would have the updated system needed to avoiding costly errors?
SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING MAY 24, 2010
MINUTES PAGE 4
Analyst Mercado noted the system being considered had been developed to cater around the
employer's requirements and they would design the interface accordingly. This was a benefit of
waiting to get involved with such technology.
Councilman Garbarino understood the need to do this, and even though it was slightly
impersonal, he felt it was the best use of resources.
Councilman Gonzalez had been concerned but was pleased that the system would not displace
any employees. He suggested a presentation on how to navigate the new system would be
beneficial to employees and retirees.
Mayor Addiego opined outsourcing would allow employees to work smarter and harder. He
noted retirees were extremely pleased with the services provided by HR and suggested a KIOSK
available in the HR Department might help smooth their transition.
Analyst Mercado stated a lot of the City's 300 plus retirees were becoming more comfortable
with online payments, banking etc. and demanding more real time information. She also noted
some may have their children helping them with these types of services. Orienting the users to
the new system was a priority and primary criteria for selecting the correct vendor.
7. Closed Session:
Conference with Legal Counsel- Anticipated Litigation
(pursuant to Government Code section 54956.9(c)
Initiation of Litigation- one case.
Time entered Closed Session: 7:43p.m.
Open Session resumed: 8:45 p.m.
Report out of Closed Session: Direction given, no reportable action taken.
8. Closed Session:
(Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957)
Public Employee Performance Evaluation Position: City Attorney.
Report out of Closed Session: Direction given, no reportable action taken.
9. Adjournment.
Being no further business, Mayor Addiego adjourned the meeting at 8:45 p.m.
Submitted:
.r` ,~
f`,
`~ ~x`'i~'ta -tine i
City Clerk, City San Francisco
Approved:
Mark ~ Addi~.go
Mayor, City of South San Fra isco
SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING
MINUTES
MAY 24, 2010
PAGE 5