Minutes 2012/10/25SPECIAL MEETING
City Council and Arts Community Roundtable
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2012
6:00 P.M.
I. OPENING
A. Call to Order and Roll Call
Mayor Pinheiro called the special meeting to order at 6:04 p.m.
Roll Call:
Present: Council Member Peter Arellano MD; Council Member Dion Bracco;
Council Member Bob Dillon; Council Member Peter Leroe- Munoz; Mayor Pro
Tempore Cat Tucker; Council Member Perry Woodward; Mayor Al Pinheiro
Absent: Council Member Dion Bracco; Council Member Peter Leroe -Munoz
Mayor Pinheiro explained that the City Administrator was not present due to a family
emergency.
Maddy Scarriot, Carol Harris, Louise Shields, Sherri Stuart, Dia Hoshida, Sharon Albert,
Kevin Heath and Bruce Morasca of the Gilroy Arts Alliance introduced themselves.
II. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
A. Building Occupancy Structural Upgrade Cost Analysis for a City Building
Located at 7341 Monterey Street for Interim Use by the Gilroy Arts Alliance
III. NEW BUSINESS
B. Discussion of Arts Funding Requests
The staff report was presented by City Engineer Smelser.
Council Member Peter Leroe -Munoz joined the meeting at 6:15 p.m.
Council Member Dillon asked for clarification on order of magnitude.
City Engineer Smelser explained that the contingency built into a project could be
reduced with further review by upwards of $110,000. He then stated that he was
hopeful that it could be reduced explaining that estimates were typically on the
conservative side.
Council Member Arellano spoke on the cost estimates, asking if they were on the higher
end.
City Engineer Smelser explained that the recommendation was to move forward to look
at the building more closely to determine if the costs could be reduced.
Sherri Stuart mentioned that one of the existing bathrooms was fully ADA accessible.
City Engineer stated that the ADA bathrooms would not apply to the requirements for
occupancy of 300.
Mayor Pro Tempore Tucker asked if it was the city code, or state code requirements
that were being used with the determination.
City Engineer Smelser explained that they were state requirements.
Community Development Director Abrams stated that state building codes requirement
was to have separate sex bathrooms.
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Mayor Pinheiro asked how the occupancy of 300 could be accomplished.
City Engineer Smelser explained that as occupancy was increased, more items became
triggered such as fire related issues.
Mayor Pinheiro asked if the fire rating for an occupancy was based on square footage
asking if the city knew the number already.
Fire Marshal Bretschneider spoke on public assembly use in the state health and safety
code explaining that recreation purpose uses changed the occupancy category. She
went on to explain the occupancy load factors per square feet per person and explained
that trigger points caused for more controls.
Senior Plan Check Engineer Chung spoke on the use of the building, exiting issues,
and occupant load.
Community Development Director Abrams spoke on size of exits and types of uses.
She explained that lowering the occupancy to 200 would not decrease the structural
costs due to the type of use, and explained that width of the exit and location also
impacted the costs for needed improvements.
Sharon Albert spoke on the choice of occupancy for the Arts Alliance. She then asked if
the group could work backwards from the costs of the structural upgrade to determine
their preferred occupancy.
Mayor Pinheiro explained that the big number would not change as the required
upgrades were needed regardless of the suggested occupancy.
Senior Plan Check Engineer Chung spoke on the type of assembly use speaking on
bathrooms and exiting.
Sherri Stuart spoke on site lines and issues with positioning with theater productions.
Council Member Bracco joined the meeting at 6:45 p.m.
Mayor Pinheiro spoke on the purchase of the land and vision for the Arts Center. He
spoke on the prioritization and dedication of monies for the center by a previous City
Council suggesting that the master planning be looked at again as the vision had
changed since it had initially been drafted. He explained that it would take 23 years to
have the $7 million from the city's budget projections. He suggested that an interim plan
be developed and suggested that the Arts Alliance develop a business plan to continue
to fund their operations within the building.
Council Member Arellano suggested looking at the use of the building at the current
time, suggesting that monies be solicited from businesses to fund renovations to
maximize the use of the existing building.
Sherri Stuart asked if Council Member Arellano was suggesting simultaneous master
planning and use of the existing building.
Council Member Leroe -Munoz stated that speeding the process up was not a good idea
stating that the city didn't want to rush the process as the arts community needed to be
built with a long vision. He explained that taking an extra 6 -8 months to get the decision
right was a worthwhile use of the city's time and resources.
Mayor Pro Tempore Tucker spoke on the master planning efforts put into the existing
plan stating that times had changed and a future council could change the vision to the
year 2020 instead of 2035, explaining that it could be done sooner if the community
came forward. She explained that she wasn't in support of a new master plan
explaining that she didn't want to step back.
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Council Member Woodward spoke on the need for revenues to fund the project stating
that the master planning process took money and time.
Mayor Pinheiro stated that he was looking for an updated vision from the arts
community as he also didn't want it to take a long time.
Council Member Arellano stated that improvements to the building was the main issue
asking if the Council wanted to use the options provided to determine which
improvements should be made.
Mayor Pinheiro asked if the Council wanted to spend $600,000 on renovations without
a business plan from the Arts community to ensure the building would be utilized
thereafter.
Council Member Arellano explained that the larger venue use would raise more monies
for the arts groups.
Sharon Albert spoke on her years involved in the planning for the arts facility, explaining
that she fully understood that the Arts Alliance did need a business plan to be able to
say they could sustain the use of the facility. She explained that the roundtable
discussions with the Council were very beneficial for the Arts Alliance towards that
focus.
Sherri Stuart spoke on the priority list of needs that had previously been given to
Council, speaking on the initial use of the building when the occupancy restrictions had
not been recognized explaining that the group had been very successful with larger
public participation. She then spoke on the planning the Arts Alliance functions.
Mayor Pinheiro stated that he planned to be a part in the planning for the arts building
and explained that visioning with a business plan for the sustainability of the arts was
necessary to assist the Council with the decisions that were going to be made. He
explained that the Silicon Valley Foundation had recently given the Arts Alliance great
guidance on looking at the project from the business perspective.
Mayor Pro Tempore Tucker asked if a financial contributor could help pay the $30,000.
to look at the full costs to renovate the building.
Council Member Arellano suggested that the city pay for the additional report explaining
that the city provided the downtown association and other organizations with financial
support.
Council Member Woodward spoke on the pending election, explaining that there was
the possibility that 4 new Council Members could be in office within the next month.
Sherri Stuart asked that the Arts Alliance requests for help with operations staffing be
looked at within the previous request for needs stating that the support during the first
few years was essential to assist the Arts Alliance to grow.
Council Member Leroe -Munoz explained that it was part of the visioning process to
really take the time to flush out the dialog to move forward.
III. NEW BUSINESS
A. Discussion of Endowment for Public Art
Mayor Pro Tempore Tucker spoke on her request for the development of an endowment
for public art explaining that sponsorships had been going on and the arts community had
asked for the city to put initial seed money into such a fund, suggesting that $5000. be put
in the next years fiscal budget.
Council Member Woodward suggested parameters be set for the use of the endowment.
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Sherri Stuart suggested that if the city had stepped forward with a financial commitment,
donators were much more likely to fund the endowment.
Council gave direction to staff to put the item on the January goal setting agenda.
IV. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 7:18 p.m.
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City Clerk
City Council Special Meeting Minutes
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