Council hears update on bond projects

Waynesboro has submitted an application for financing the $10 million worth of November bond projects through the Virginia Resource Authority’s fall/winter bond sale, according to Interim City Manager Mike Hamp.
During Wednesday’s City Council work session, Hamp delivered a brief, one-page memorandum outlining the status of the approved bond projects – the west end fire station, stormwater improvement projects and a library expansion.
The council in January adopted an ordinance validating a November referendum on the projects.
Hamp said a review of requests for proposals, or RFPs, on the $2.6 million west end fire station had been completed. City staff has also conducted interviews with architectural firms. The city has come up with a “preferred vendor,” he said, pending a final reference, but no contract has been negotiated.
Hamp said site selection is the key in keeping the cost down but there are only a handful of potential sites that would work for the fire station.
“I’m not suggesting that I have a particular, specific list in my mind,” Hamp said. “I have a general view of the geography that we need. I have a general idea of what existing facilities and improvements are in those areas. And I think from there you think about the size and the piece of property that you need, take a look at the topography that exists and the transportation system that’s in place and make some judgements based on that.”
Ward B Councilman Bruce Allen asked why the council wouldn’t find a site first.
Hamp said the city could undertake site selection on its own, but said it is normal to ask the architect assist in the site selection and evaluation.
Vice Mayor Frank Lucente agreed with Hamp’s assessment of potential sites.
“There’s basically pretty much one site that we want,” Lucente said. “But I think the council should have some leeway as to what the fire station should be like prior to the engagement of the architects.”
Ward C Councilwoman Nancy Dowdy said she wants to know how much the project is going to cost the city.
Mayor Tim Williams said he wants to make sure the money is spent wisely.
“I don’t have any objection to getting involved in the process before we engage the architect, but there’s no way to get a cost comparison until we engage the architect,” Williams said.
Hamp said the council could review the scope of the fire station project to come to a consensus and then bring an architect in for further discussions on the project.
Hamp said RFPs for the $6.2 million in stormwater improvements have been developed and is under final review before being issued with the director of purchasing, budget and inventory and the city attorney.
The $1.2 million library expansion is furthest along, Hamp said. RFP review has ended, and interviews with firms had also finished. A proposed contract, Hamp said, is under legal review.
“Once the legal review is complete, the interim city manager can execute a contract and design work for the project can be initiated,” Hamp wrote in his memo.
The council also heard from City Planner Jim Shaw on ideas to reorganize the city’s economic development program, citing initiatives in three Virginia localities.
Shaw said, however, that it “may not be realistic” to think that the city’s Economic Development Authority can achieve total self-sufficiency, but council members were in general in agreement on giving the EDA a greater role in economic development.
Allen said he was neither for or against more EDA self-sufficiency, but said it needed to be more involved in the process.
Hamp proposed a special work session with the two groups.
“I think this is something the council really needs to move on,” Dowdy said.