ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: December 23, 1997

Author/Local: C. Hosein/7616

CC File No. 1805

TO:	Vancouver City Council
FROM:	Manager, Facilities Development
SUBJECT:	10th Avenue Annex - Award of Contracts for Information Technology Office Project

RECOMMENDATION

A. THAT Council approve the budget for the Information Technology replacement project as detailed in this report and the allocation of funding of $736,000 from the City Hall Precinct category of the 1997-1999 Capital Plan in advance.

B.THAT Novacom Construction Ltd. be awarded the construction contract for the renovation of the second floor, 10th Avenue Annex and Main Building for IT’s new offices in the amount of $170,821 plus GST.

C.THAT Heritage Office Furnishings be awarded the contract for the supply of modular furniture for IT’s new offices in the amount of $365,007 plus GST.

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

The General Manager of Corporate Services and Director of Information Technology RECOMMENDS approval of A, B and C.

DIRECTOR OF FINANCE COMMENTS

It is unusual for Council to be asked to approve capital projects funded from Capital from Revenue in advance of the annual Operating and Capital Budgets. However, the Director of Finance agrees that this approval is appropriate because it provides for an orderly transfer of city departments to the 10th Avenue Annex. Should this funding approval create difficulties as Council goes through the Operating Budget process, alternative financing arrangements can be made.

COUNCIL POLICY

·710·Construction contracts over $300,000 require the approval of Council.·710

·710·Allocation of Capital Plan funding to specific projects require the approval of Council.·710

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to present an update on the status of the capital projects, under Capital Plan Funding, request Council’s approval to relocate Information Technology (IT) from the subground of the Main Building to 10th Avenue Annex (former VanCity Building) and seek approval to award construction and furniture contracts for the new offices.

BACKGROUND

The 1997-1999 Capital Plan included $1.6 million for a variety of office capital projects as set out in Appendix "A."

In 1996 Council approved in principle a general space plan for the Main Building which included:

-relocation of Council’s secretariat to the then Committee Room No. 3;

-the conversion of the secretariat space to Committee Room No. 3;

-the relocation of IT offices from the subground level to the 10th Avenue Annex;

-the creation of a large 250-seat committee room in the space vacated by IT;

-consolidation of Revenue and Treasury on the ground floor; and

-the creation of a "one-stop" public information centre on the ground floor.

The secretarial new offices; new Committee Room No. 3 and the consolidation of the Revenue and Treasury projects have been completed.

In April 1997 Council approved the transfer of the former VanCity Building (10th Avenue Annex) from the PEF to the Capital Fund, the relocation of City departments to the former VanCity Building upon the expiration of their present leases and the investigation of development options for the City-owned block immediately north of City Hall between Broadway and 10th Avenue. The study of the 10th Avenue/Broadway site is currently underway.

DISCUSSION

The Information Technology Department is currently housed in various areas of the subground of City Hall in a converted parking garage, constructed to its present state in the late 1970's. It lacks sufficient capacity to carry increasing computer equipment loads and is in need of general renovation. The original plan by the previous director called for the relocation of 46 of 70 staff in approximately 7,500 SF of space in the 10th Avenue Annex at an estimated cost of $360,000.

With the growth in use of information technology and heavy demand for training and support services, the size of the department has grown substantially and has become physically fragmented. In order to better address the new needs of the City with respect to information technology, the Department has proposed a consolidated plan which will accommodate the projected growth. The proposed plan now envisions relocating approximately 87 staff, including 11 new staff which is the subject of a separate report, in approximately 13,000 SF or twice the size of the originally contemplated space (see the sketch included in Appendix "B").

This new space includes a computer training area to instruct City staff in systems use. Although not all of the Department will be moved, the effect of consolidation will be significant. The existing main frame computer and its 12 support staff will remain in renovated space in the subground level. The space vacated by IT will be used over the next twelve months as a training centre for the SAP Core Financial System project, currently underway, until funding at an appropriate level can be set aside for a fully furnished multi-purpose room.

Tenders

On the basis of invited tenders, the following prices were obtained:

(a)Construction of the 10th Avenue and City Hall Projects

Turn-Key Construction Inc.$364,368

Alexander Construction Ltd$265,754

Tri-power Construction Ltd$226,298

Westport Construction Group Inc.$213,600

Novacom Construction Ltd.$170,821

(b)Modular Furniture for 10th Avenue, City Hall Projects and Future Expansion Workstations

Catalyst Contract Furnishings$427,809⁽¹⁾

Brooks Corning Company Ltd$377,437

Heritage Office Furnishings$365,007

⁽¹⁾Did not include a bid security causing the tender to be rejected.

Proposed Budget

On the basis of tenders for the expanded scope of work the revised budget (GST excluded) is as follows:

1.10th Avenue Annex:

Office Renovation$169,000

Communication (tel/data) - In-House100,000

Furniture (76 stations)305,000

Building Locker Room / Showers30,000

Building Transformer and Mechanical Work42,000

Design and Management 19,000

Total 10th Avenue Annex$ 655,000

2.Main Building - Subground

Office Renovation $10,000

Furniture 34,000

Design and Management Fee 1,000

Total Main Building$46,000

3.10th Avenue Annex - Expansion

11 Future Workstations $35,000

The separate price of $35,000 for 11 workstations to accommodate new staff, will be the subject of a separate report. This amount will only be expended if the request for new staff is approved by Council.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

With the transfer of the 10th Avenue Annex from the Property Endowment Fund to the Capital Fund, funding for fit-up work and dealing with building system deficiencies (mechanical and electrical) will have to be provided from existing Capital Budgets. This applies to the proposed relocation of Information Technology from City Hall to the Annex.

The 1997-1999 Capital Plan provided $1.6 million in funding, for upgrading of City Hall Precinct offices, including $360,000 for the IT relocation and $320,000 for the redevelopment of the subground space at City Hall to a new multipurpose meeting room. However, the space vacated by IT will be required for a training centre for the SAP project for a year or more, hence it is very unlikely that work or a multi-purpose room will commence before the next Capital Plan period. It is therefore recommended that the $360,000 allocated for the IT project and $30,000 for the VanCity lockers be supplemented by funding from the deferred Multi-purpose Committee Room and other Consolidated Projects (Appendix "A") in order to fund this relocation project.

Funding for the City Hall Precinct of the Capital Plan is provided from the Operating Budget (Capital from Revenue). It is unusual for Council to be asked to approve projects funded from this prior to approval of the Operating Budget and consideration of the other demands on this source of funding in the Capital Budget. However, in order to accommodate the relocation plans outlined at the time of the transfer of the 10th Avenue Annex to the Capital Fund, approval is appropriate at this time. The Director of Finance notes that should provision of this funding in advance of the Operating Budget create difficulties as Council goes through the budget process, alternative financing arrangements will be investigated.

Funding for relocating offices from City Square to 10th Avenue Annex will be subject of a follow-up report.

* * * * *

APPENDIX "A"

PROPOSED CAPITAL PROJECTS

	Item	Total	Amount Committed
1.	Main Building Multi-purpose Room	$320,000	On Hold
2.	Information Technology Offices	360,000	The subject of this report
3.	Showers / Lockers (VanCity and City Hall)	70,000	The subject of this report
4.	Accessibility Improvements	150,000	50,000
5.	Central Public Services, Main Building	175,000	Under Study
6.	Main Building Window Repair	185,000	185,000
7.	Wayfinding Signage	70,000	70,000
8.	General Offices	25,000	25,000
9.	Consolidated Staff Area	80,000	106,000
10.	East Wing - Electrical / LAN	165,000	165,000
11.	Law Office Expansion	50,000	50,000
	TOTAL	$1,650,000	$651,000

(c) 1997 City of Vancouver