Award of Bid - Civic Center Project

On March 6, 2019, the City Council awarded the bid for the Civic Center Project to S.J. Amoroso Construction, Inc. for $44,177,000. The Council also selected the Add Alternate for the Project to construct the Council Chambers/Emergency Operations Center at $2,900,000. 

The Project consists of two separate facilities - the new Library and Renovated Historic Town Hall and the new Administrative, Community Development and Police Building with a new Council Chambers/Emergency Operations Center. The total project cost was awarded at $47,077,000. The Engineer's Estimate for the project, as awarded was $50,155,000. It is anticipated that construction of the project will occur over three to four fiscal years, including the current fiscal year. Ground breaking for the project will occur toward the end of April 2019 with work beginning in May 2019. Assuming the project moves along as anticipated, the Project will open at the end of FY 2020/21 or beginning of FY 2021/22.  

The Library portion of the Project is funded entirely from Library Funds. The estimated cost of the Library portion of the Project is approximately $15,148,000 million. The Town will have approximately $14.6 million in Library funds on hand at the end of FY 2018/19 and anticipates an additional $1.5 million at the conclusion of FY 2019/20 and another $1.5 million at the conclusion of FY 2020/21. There are sufficient funds anticipated during the project years to fully fund the Library portion of the Project. 

The Admin/CDD/PD portion of the Project is funded primarily from the Town's General Fund. Approximately 83% of the Project, total design, project management and construction, will ultimately be funded by the Town's Capital Project savings over the past few years and anticipated revenues during the course of the project. The remaining 17% of the overall project cost has been funded through generous commitments and donations from the community via Atherton Now. Atherton Now has raised approximately $6.5 million in total donations, pledges, and commitments toward the Project.  

The estimated construction-only cost of the Admin/CDD/PD portion of the project is approximately $31,929,000. The Town has approximately $20.5 million remaining, saved from the Town's General and Capital Project Funds. Atherton Now has contributed $1.7 million toward design of the Project and has approximately $4.6 million in remaining commitments and pledges toward the Project. As with the Library portion of the project, the Town anticipates an additional $2.2 million per year in revenue opportunities during the course of the project (approximately $8.8 million). All in, there are sufficient funds anticipated to fully fund the Admin/CDD/PD portion of the project; nevertheless, the Town continues to accept any additional donations and pledges toward this community project. The Civic Center Project is the Town's highest priority project over the next few years and it represents the single-largest project undertaken by the Town since its incorporation. It is anticipated to endure through multiple generations of the community as the civic heart of the Town. 

However, because of the way the Town receives its revenues - major revenues are only received twice per year (December and April) - the City Council will consider the use of a Certificate of Participation (COP) funding tool to assist with cash flow during the course of the Project. A COP will allow the Town to use a consistent stream of funds for the project and use its periodic revenue stream to pay the necessary debt service on the COP. 

Next Steps

Now that the contract for construction has been awarded, work begins on relocating Administration, Building & Planning, Finance, and the Post Office to temporary facilities during construction. Like the Library, these functions will be housed in temporary trailers offsite in the Park. Police Operations will remain at their current location during the course of the project as will Public Works Operations. Temporary facilities will be relocated to the North Meadow Parking lot. In anticipation of the relocation, there will be temporary shut down of operations on a couple of days prior to the move. Full services will resume at the Park. 

Project Site Closure

At this time, we anticipate that the project site will be closed off in its entirety at Maple, Ashfield and Fair Oaks once construction begins. The Project Site will be fenced off just beyond the Library Temporary Facility at Maple. Dinkelspiel/Station Lane will be closed to through traffic at that location as well as at Ashfield and Fair Oaks. The site will be fenced at Ashfield at the Library; but public parking and access will remain in front of the Police Department since Police Operations will remain. The Atherton Train Station will also remain operational and the parking along the rail tracks will remain open for public use, accessed via Fair Oaks only.

SJ Amoroso anticipates construction to begin in May 2019. The Administration, Post Office, and Building and Planning Offices will be demolished once relocated to the Park. In advance of construction work, the Town's Tree Services will enter the site and remove non-protected trees prior to construction start. The contractor will protect all remaining onsite trees during construction. Initial work by the contractor will be demolition work of the old facilities (historic Town Hall will remain and be renovated for Library use). Once demolition and site clearing is complete, the contractor will move to utilities and foundations. The contractor may work on both buildings simultaneously or may construct in phases. Construction will occur Monday through Friday from 8 am to 5 pm. Consistent with other major projects in Town, permission may be granted occasionally for monolith concrete pours or other necessary activity on the occasional Saturday. Consideration of after-hours utility work will also be given to utility shut-offs that affect the surrounding neighborhood to limit inconvenience.