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HomeMy WebLinkAbout9/21/1982 - MINUTES CITY OF PALM SPRINGS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES SEPTEMBER 21 , 1982 An Adjourned Regular Meeting of the City Council was called to order by Mayor Bogert, in the Large Conference Room, City Hall , 3200 Tahquitz-McCallum Way, on Tuesday, September 21 , 1982, at: 4 p.m. ROLL CALL: Present: Councilmembers Doyle, Foster, Ortner, Maryanov and Mayor Bogert Absent: None LEGISLATIVE ACTION: 1 . CONVENTION-CULTURAL CENTER Recommendation: Cultural/Convention Center Consultant Selection Committee recommended that the Council approve an agreement for a feasibility analysis with MKGK, Incorporated, in an amount of $25,711 . City Manager reported, as follows: a) The methodology of the Laventhal Report was by analogy, and concluded that there would be a small surplus once revenues and expenditures were considered; it did not deal with location, acreage, cost of land, acquisition, cost of construction, or marketing data; b) A committee was formed to deal with tha total cost of the facility and to base its conclusion on the original components on which the Laventhal Report was based, including cost, size, acreage, some options on location and phasing, aid some y impact on taxes; it reached conclusiour that (139) there would be a, negative balance; it did not deal with market data, financial alternao',fives, or overall feasibility; c) Council reviewed the committee' s conc hisions in June, and looked at possibility of a firm which could tie the data together, along with providing additional data deemed necessary to _+ fill in the gaps, and to provide a clear "yes" or "no" basis, and if yes, how that could be done; d) Selection committee to review the RFP +.vas not conceived of as a result of specific Council action, but there was discussion that a committee should include the Council as much as possible; Councilmembers Doyle and Maryanov were appointed by the Mayor; at some point, chairmen of the Planning Commission and DDAC, as well as member from the community at-large were added to the committee; Housing and Economic Development Director requested staff with expertise to also sit on the committee, which included Finance , Director, Assistant City Manager, and Redevelop- ment Director; S Council Minutes 9-21-82 Page 2 1 . CONVENTION-CULTURAL CENTER (Continued) e) The recommendation of the committee was split by a 5-4 vote, as follows 1-1 Council 1-1 Commissioners 3-1 Staff 0--1 Member-at-large Housing and Economic Development Director reviewed his report, dated September 21 , 1982, noting differ- ences between the two proposals, and committee recommendation that a steering committee be formed to direct and oversee the work, and to appropriate an additional $3,000 for contingencies. Councilman Doyle stated that the Committee' s charge was to look at who could do the best job, and to consider cost as a last review; that iv1KGK proposes to take existing reports, do some additional .;ork, and then make a report to the Council whether the project should go or not go; that Touche-s;oss probably would not discard the initial data; but would do more of a feasibility study on its own ; that 'there would be someone on-site, in-house com­ pu'ter available, and steering committee would be (139) used in developing final recommendation to the ' Council ; that he was impressed with the Touche, IWss - presentation, the resumes of -those who will be involved, and work which it has done in the conven- tion center business in the country; that he supports the concept of a steering committee, in any event; that he disagreed with the majority; that inference was made that Touche-Ross would only give a "maybe" or "no" answer, however, he felt that since the RFP response indicated "whether and under ^,-,,hat circumstances" that it was clear as to yes or no; that his assumption is that a go or no go would be addressed in -the first phase and the consul`tl tan't could not proceed to the second phase without 'that determination. Councilwoman Ortner stated that the first reports were skimpy and questioned their value, considering the amount of time which has lapsed; and questioned the basis for the committee to support_ one proposal vs. the other. Councilman Foster stated that it was his ueider- standing that, MKGK proposed using old materials, and it was not enthusiastic about working with a steering committee, but it would do so through • one member of the committee working with one member of its staff, and that such an approach caused him concern. Mayor requested that the committee members state their reasons for their support of one consultant vs. the other (Note: Comments represent a pro or con position, and are not attributable to persons or titles as listed, respectively; Planning Comrnis- sion committee member Curtis not in attendance) I 114 Council Minutes 9-21-82 Page 3 1 . CULTURAL-CONVENTION CENTER (Continued) Touche-Ross Proponents (Bruder, DDAC/Stewart, Finance Director) : a) Decision based on meeting Following criteria: total background in 'type of project; depth and qualifications of personnel who would do the study; and Yogic of presentation; b) T-R has great amount of experience in these types of projects, e. g. , Las Vegas Cultural- Convention Center; steering committee concept was T-R idea and format was developed based on experience and good results ; T-R only works with a steering committee in place; philosophy is that people involved from the start assures success and that nothing gets missed ; c) MKGK did not have steering committee idea to begin with, and when advised that committee favored on-site process, it shied away from that and treated it with a great deal less importance than T-R; (139) d) T-R had great amount of interest in ultimate responsibility it would have to the City. e) Have worked with T-R in the past, understand its language - not over-committing; an indepen- dent group is needed and one which is accustomed to working in that manner; it is used to receiving weighted input and to putting that in context; T-R has manpower to do competent job. f) MKGK appeared to be wholly-qualified; stretched too thin; operates with a few Ivey personnel ; left with feeling that it might paraphrase its Baton-Rouge project into Palm Springs ; are too overdependent on computer model and over-emphasized its use and under-emphasized data that would be needed to put into the com- puter whether the project will or will not work. g) MKGK had the least number of personnel assigned to the project; it intended to rely on existing studies - question Pf 'those are good, bad or otherwise; questioned feasibility of conducting a long-range study from an out-of-town office. MKGK Proponents (Redevelopment Director, Councilman Maryanov, Assistant City Manager, and Housing and ' Economic Director): a) Initially felt strong affinity to T-R, it made dramatic presentation; MKGK getting into project and looking for creative ways to come 'to grips with the project; staffing level small because top people do the evaluation. Council Minutes 9-21-82 Page 4 1 . CONVENTION-CULTURAL CENTER (Continued) b) Has developed creative financing in connection with housing in the City; possible it can untangle and find solution to the project; believe it will question base data before input- ting to computer; if large number of community involved before determination is made whether project will proceed, a false expectation could - be setup; working with public not as crucial at this point as will be later; c) MKGK knows the community and has a good, success- ful experience with it; approach is to look at what is needed, how it can be paid for, and how it can be made to happen; MKGK has - success rate of making things happen; d) User study underway, results of which will be new data for consultant; impressed with independence of the consultant; e) Unclear where idea came from that consultant should be based in the community; is a determina- tion of economic facts and not a community survey; timing is important; need to have facts to bring to the community; f) Laventhal , et al is one of the most respected (139) firms of the hotel community; were some things ' lacking in its report; lacked distance - too closely allied to the community; T-R came .with 5 people and overhead projectors, etc. , to make presentation - potentially indicative of why study would cost so much; T-R was clear that by the end of the first phase, it could only give a maybe or no answer and not a yes answer; highly improbable that it would come up with a No, therefore it would be maybe; g) Comment was made that it would be helpful to use T-R name in trying to sell bonds - would agree, but has been said thus far that selling bonds is not the way to go. h) Need to find out if it can happen, then go to the community to find out how to make it happen. i ) MKGK will determine if project is feasible and viable in the community; major distinction is that T-R wanted to start over and MKGK willing to take off from some of the studies already done; it is familiar with, some of the problems ' of the Laventhal Report; will supplement with own data research; will rely on marketing data being done; from total perspective will get a yes or no answer. 'SIG Council Minutes 9=-21-82 Page 5 1 . CONVENTION-CULTURAL CENTER (Continued) j) T-R key person with the project would have one year' s experience, where the two people with MKGK have 60 years between them; k) When answering questions by consultants prior to submitting RFP, those of MKGK were the most in-depth, comprehensive and analytical ; both firms were highly recommended; MKGK' s experience is more in-depth; believe MKGK to be most crea- tive in approaching key questions of Council ; recognize data collected todate is not enough, MKGK will collect more and analyze all of it. Mayor expressed concerns about the possibility of a "maybe" or "no" reponse by T-R; and stated that a yes or no is needed, and the City cannot continue to spend funds for studies on how it can be done. Councilman Maryanov stated that the "maybe" or "no" answer would be in connection with phase I only (about $40,000) and a full yes or no would be after phase II (5 months and full cost of $160,000. ) Councilman Doyle stated that he believed it important to bring the community on-board at the beginning, in order to develop a support group in the event it is a go-ahead situation; and that the community has reacted and wants to be involved from the start. ' Councilman Maryanov stated that he believed that the community must be involved, otherwise the project will not succeed, but that the issue at stake is (139) whether there is something to present to the com- munity; that facts are needed to be brought to the community; that "facts" equate to projections; that -if MKGK were not familiar with the City, he would be uncomfortable about it writing a report from somewhere outside of the City; that he would be uncomfortable spending $160,000, at this point; and that if MKGK 'indicates a clear "yes," he is not wed to it for the second phase. In answer to questions by Council , staff stated i that MKGK fully expects to deal with a steering committee, but wants to focus on a staff person initially for coordination ; and that MKGK made strong pitch about getting hotels/developers involved if the project gets to the financing stage, since it views developers as the key to financing. Mr. Bruder stated that his impression was that MKGK was willing to work with a steering committee, ' but considered it wasteful to have a person on-site, and he did not see any commitment to that; that public bid proposal may result in driving away potential market; T-R contacts in the hotel industry are not equaled by many in the world; and that he viewed MKGK' s comment about public bidding as naive. Assistant City Manager stated that cost for MKGK to participate in bonding is estimated by it at $25,000, but that would have to be negotiated if the Council proceeds with the second phase. Council Minutes 9-21-82 Page 6 1 . CONVENTION-CULTURAL CENTER (Continued) In answer to questions by Council , staff sia+.ted that "plus expenses" in connection with the T-R proposal would be about 15% more; that there was _ a third proposal , but it was the weakest of the three, when considering financial experience; that two additional reports are in the mill , i .e. , the user survey and redevelopment financing; that if it became necessary for WGK to totally redo informa- tion in the Laventhal Report, -it would be an a.dcii- tio;nal cost of approximately $3,000, which is recom- mended to be appropriated; and that T-R Indic,-Led it did not like to rely on information of of-hers, that it will evaluate it, but will not rely on it. Mr. Bruder stated that the user study is i;eing based on a small sample, and some of the committee felt it would not be adequate to begin with. Discussion ensued as to the possibility of deferring this matter in order to enable the full Ccnicil to hear the consultant' s presentations and to address questions of the Council . Potential dates were suggested, depending on availability of consultorrts, and suggestion made that the Council have specific questions ready which it wishes to be addressed. It was moved by Ortner, seconded by Doyle; and unanimously carried, that the two consultania be invited to make presentations and respond' to questions of the full Council . (139) 2. COMMISSION APPOINTMENTS Council committee recommendations having previously been reported, Mayor announced his appoiru;,,rient of Jeanette Hardenburg to the Rent Review Commission, and the reappointment of John Stiles, Ken T .,rin and Tom Kieley, III, to the CVB Board of Direci:ors; (60) after which it was moved by Bogert, second,<ld by Doyle, and moved by Bogert, seconded by Maryanov, and unanimously carried, respectively, that said appointments be approved. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Mayor declared the meeting adjourned to Tuesday, September 28, 1982, at Noon, in the Large Conference Room, City Hall . HDIT SUMICH City Clerk