Capital Bond Exploration

• Bob L. Burger Recreation Center (BBRC): A renovation and expansion of the existing facility which would enhance and expand aquatics, fitness, older adult programming, and other services for community members of all ages.

• Civic Center: A new civic facility on South Public Road to replace the existing City Hall which would provide a more welcoming and accessible public building where residents can engage with municipal services, connect with staff and City Council, and interact in inclusive community spaces.

• Service Center: A renovation of the existing facility which would improve the efficiency, delivery, and sustainability of key City services, including snow plowing, utility repairs, and maintenance of our parks, streets, and open spaces.

Fiscal Responsibility: Ongoing repair and replacement of aging facilities is costly, and critical repairs may be cost-prohibitive. When possible, some improvements may not be the best use of tax-payer dollars and further prolong larger scale improvements that would meet current and future community needs. A more fiscally responsible approach is to modernize the facilities as opposed to continuing the current stop-gap approach. With the City’s current revenues, only between $200,000 and $600,000 can be budgeted annually for ongoing facility maintenance. This level of investment is not sufficient to address mounting capital deficiencies and complex facility project upgrades and repairs. This exploration process seeks to better understand residents’ interest in debt financing and the various methods of increasing revenues to satisfy debt requirements in a fiscally responsible manner.

Sustainability and Environmental Stewardship: Lafayette is committed to fostering a resilient community and building solid sustainability practices into our services and operations. The conditions of these three aging facilities, including the buildings themselves and the equipment used inside, frequently do not allow for sustainable practices or energy efficiency. Further, without one-time debt financing, the City does not have available revenues to meaningfully retrofit existing facilities to meet environmental and sustainability goals identified by the community.

Project Scope	Cost Estimate	Timeline
Expand by approximately 27% and renovate some portions, including the aquatics complex and community programming space	$34 million for design, construction, and other associated costs	1 year of design informed by community input and 18 – 24 months of construction

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The indoor aquatics complex has reached the end of its 35-year lifespan. A six-month closure in 2024 caused by pipe failures and leaks left swimmers with no indoor option for aquatics. The lazy river and water slide are no longer operable due to mechanical failures and safety concerns. The proposed renovation would improve services for residents by replacing and expanding the entire aquatics area and installing a new water slide, a warm water pool for therapeutic aquatics, an indoor whirlpool, and a larger lap pool. It would also include additional space for individual workouts, fitness classes, older adult programming, preschool and after-school programming, and flexible community space.

The current facility will continue to require costly stop-gap repairs to address mechanical failures and leaks resulting in significant water loss. The facility’s outdated design requires significant and damaging work, such as tearing up the pool deck, to reach mechanical equipment and repair leaks. Improved equipment and modern design would not only address current deficiencies but improve the City’s ability to repair leaks and failures in the future.

The current facility leaks water and operates using energy inefficient mechanical equipment. The renovation and replacement would address these concerns as well as improve the building envelope – including walls, windows, doors, foundation, and insulation – to improve overall facility energy efficiency.

Project Scope	Cost Estimate	Timeline
Construct a new 33,000 square-foot building on vacant land owned by the City in Old Town to increase community space for residents, build capacity for future growth, and improve building efficiency	$34 million for design, construction, and other associated costs	1 year of design informed by community input and 18 – 24 months of construction

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A new community-centered Civic Center on South Public Road would provide a more welcoming and inclusive community space and better access to government resources and services. It would also provide a southern anchor along the Old Town corridor, support a variety of Lafayette’s adopted plans to implement the community’s vision, and further activate the South Public Road corridor.

Municipal services have evolved since construction of the current City Hall in 1985. In that time, existing services have expanded or entirely new services have begun based on community interest or regulatory requirements. Examples include communications to increase engagement, economic development to support economic diversification and resiliency, planning and building services to meet demand for development review and inspections, sustainability to implement community climate action goals, and transportation engineering to improve Lafayette’s multimodal transportation options. A new Civic Center would provide the space necessary to meet current and future service needs.

The current City Hall is operating with inefficient building systems and has a multitude of deferred maintenance activities, including needing a new fire suppression system, an entire parking lot and building entrance redesign to meet ADA standards, and a new roof. Constructing a new facility would address these deficiencies while reducing overall operating costs by installing modern equipment and improving the building envelope.

A new Civic Center would utilize modern building codes and construction practices to improve energy efficiency by an estimated 27% from the current City Hall if expanded to meet anticipated growth. These energy efficiency measures come from improving the building envelope and installing new, energy-efficient equipment and lighting systems. The new Civic Center would also allow additional electric vehicle (EV) chargers available for public use, expanding Lafayette’s public EV charging network and satisfying goals outlined in the Climate Action Plan for increasing public EV chargers near transit and low-income communities.

Project Scope	Cost Estimate	Timeline
Restructure and renovate the building interior to improve efficiencies, staff safety, and expand the building’s fleet maintenance bays and storage	$6 million for design, construction, and other associated costs	6 months of design and 12 months of construction

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Although many of the services provided out of the Service Center go unnoticed, they are essential in maintaining a high quality of life, safety, and convenience for all Lafayette residents. The Service Center provides the space, equipment, and materials necessary for maintenance of all utilities, streets, fleet, parks, and open space. Improvements to this facility would:

• Enlarge fleet bay areas to accommodate fire engines, snowplows and large equipment to reduce City vehicle down time for maintenance and repairs.

• Update electrical system to provide electrification for EV vehicles, diagnostic equipment, HVAC, lighting, and additional technology.

• Expand personnel areas such as showers, bathrooms, and cleaning stations for staff working in unsanitary conditions to provide employees, which only promotes employee health, safety, and retention.

• Modernize basic work, office, and breakroom spaces.

• Expand storage space to avoid outdoor storage and extend lifespan of equipment stored at the site, including snowplows.

Facility improvements would reduce building operating costs by improving energy efficiency, reduce premature damage to equipment currently stored outside, and increase operational efficiencies by co-locating similar maintenance functions currently located throughout the city.

In its current condition, the Service Center lacks basic energy efficiency and environmental stewardship measures. Portions of the building do not have insulation, the aging building systems consistently fail, and the site suffers from poor interior and exterior drainage, resulting in building flooding and potential safety and environmental concerns. Additionally, the City is currently transitioning to an EV fleet for non-specialized vehicles and equipment, but the transition is limited by electrical capacity at the Service Center, which is the central hub for fleet operations. The proposed renovations include right-sizing the electrical capacity serving the site to further support the transition to EVs.

The projected cost of these projects is $74 million, and the CIty is exploring debt financing through a bond measure and property tax increase. Lafayette's estimated property tax addition would be $48 per $100,000 of residential home value or $296 on the average residential home valued at $685,500.

Capital Improvement Project	Estimated Annual Debt Service Needed	Mill Levy Required	Tax Increase per $100,000 Residential*	Tax Increase per $685,500 Residential **
Total	$5.9M	$6.98M	$48	$296

*Does not include $55,000 value adjustment
**Average home price for Lafayette;includes $55,000 value adjustment