Victoria MN Newspaper-City Scoop

ARCHITECTS TO BE INTERVIEWED

TO DESIGN NEW P.W. AND CITY HALL BUILDINGS

City Manager Don Uram reported August 12th that Architectural Alliance resigned as the city's architect for the new Public Works building and City Hall. "With that resignation, we need to secure architectural services for both projects," he said.

Mr. Uram was directed that evening to send out RFP's to five architectural firms. He received three back. At a special council meeting that lasted more than four hours on Wednesday, August 21st, it was decided to bring in the three architectural firms to interview for the Public Works Facility and to reject all of the City Hall Proposals.

The three architectural firms to be interviewed for the Public Works Facility include DJ Medin, I&S, and Leo Daily. Stahl Construction, hired on August 26th, will assist in the selection.

Stahl will also have input in regard to the selection of an architectural firm for City Hall, since interested firms are being given more time to respond to a re-sending of RFP's. Mr. Uram hopes to schedule Council interviews of architects on September 23rd, probably at a workshop in front of the regularly scheduled council meeting that evening.

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Back on August 12th, Mr. Uram had said that on the City Hall project, they had initially talked about the potential of leasing a building. "There was an architect who provided leasing plans for that," he said. "The council may be comfortable engaging the services of David Linnear, who provided the most recent drawings of the library on the ground level floor with City Hall offices and council chambers on the second floor."

David Linnear did not respond to the city's Request for Proposals, however, because he has 14 other projects on the proposal.

Mr. Uram said that the new Victoria City Hall could be built either on the lakeside property along Stieger Lake Lane, currently owned by Hartman Communities, or on the city-owned parcel next to the Post Office. Only rough floor plans have been done, not extensive design.

He said he had met with a group called I&S out of Mankato. "They have done several Public Works facilities, primarily in rural areas, outstate of the metro area. I'll ask them for a proposal. Maybe this firm could provide the best service for us."

"I had focused on metro architects," he said. "This firm out of Mankato certainly has experience with the steel frame, precast, or a combination."

Said Councilmember Tom Strigel, "According to their website, I&S does have a wide range of capabilities."

"And a proven track record," said Mayor Tom O'Connor.

The motion on August 12th was to send RFP's for architectural services to Linnear, I&S, and three others. As reported above, three replied and will be interviewed for architectural work on the Public Works facility, perhaps on September 23rd.

Mr. Uram also hopes to conduct interviews for architectural services on City Hall by September 23rd.

TRYING TO NAIL DOWN CLOSING DATES

AND OTHER ISSUES FOR P.W. & CITY HALL BUILDINGS

It was back on July 22nd that Council approved a land swap for the city-owned lot next to the Post Office, plus the adjacent Johnson lot that the city is hoping to close on soon, in exchange for the lakeside property owned by Hartman Communities. That lakeside property could become home to the new Victoria City Hall, possibly also a library and even a bandshell in the future.

Said City Manager Don Uram on August 12th, "The lakeside property is ready for development. The possibility exists that we could actually start on the building/construction phase of City Hall before we start building the Public Works building."

The City of Victoria hopes to close the deal on the lakeside property by late fall. "We are working on specifics of the deal which I expect to present to Council at the September 23rd meeting," said Mr. Uram.

It was also back on July 22nd that Council approved a 30-day extension of the purchase agreement (to August 27th) on the Bavaria Road/Hartman Tree property for the Public Works facility. Mr. Uram anticipates a closing date of September 3rd on the tree farm property.

At the August 26th meeting, Council approved the conditional use permit and minor subdivision request by the City of Victoria for construction of a Public Works facility on the tree property. A ten-acre parcel was lopped off the 37-acre tree farm site for the Victoria Public Works facility.

As Holly Kreft, Community Development Director, stated, "A Public Works building is a conditional use in an agricultural zone. It was a lot split of 10 acres. Road access needs to be approved by Carver County. Tree farm remains to the south, with the Arboretum to the north and the east. The Planning Commission recommended approval 3-1."

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