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September 20, 2000 THE FIRE AT THE MUNICIPAL BUILDING The Most Frequently Asked Questions
1. What was the extent of the damage to the Municipal Building? The fire that erupted on the night of December 10, 1999 and raged through the building into the early morning of the following day began and was most heavily concentrated in the second floor of the central wing that contained the Council Chambers/Court Room and Court offices. That portion of the building and the storage attic above were totally destroyed and substantial questions as to the integrity of the second floor concrete slab remain. The offices on the first floor of the central wing and in the basement below that were totally destroyed by water. In the east wing, the fire meeting room and most of the attic above it together with all of its contents were destroyed along with the new elevator that served the entire building. In the west wing, the offices on the second floor were severely damaged by smoke and water and as were the Police headquarters located beneath them. The state of the art police communications desk, console and radio base stations suffered extensive water damage and were destroyed. All of the mechanical systems in the building including the heating system, the electrical system and telephone system were completely destroyed. Most of the walls on the second floor have been have been determined to be unsuitable for reconstruction and have been temporarily reinforced for safety. The walls surrounding the first floor of the building survived with less damage but the integrity of the concrete slab floors remain in question affecting the useability of portions of these walls. The recently added Imken Wing to the west of the original structure suffered very little damage and, after new connections were made for utilities, it has been reopened for use by the Fire Department.
2. What is the level of insurance coverage and the status of the Borough’s claim? The Borough was fully insured for the replacement cost of the building including upgrades required by building codes enacted since the old building was constructed and other upgrades required by law. The Borough has just reached a settlement with the insurer as to the building portion of its claim in excess of $4,500,000.00. The Borough is also covered for the cost of temporary facilities, relocation costs and the replacement of contents. Thus far, the insurer has advanced $610,000.00 to cover this portion of the claim only but the final costs have not yet been fully determined.
3. Can the old Municipal Building be rebuilt? Any structure can be rebuilt without regard to cost or serviceability. However, the Governing Body is compelled to consider whether such reconstruction would be cost effective and would result in a building that meets the current and future needs. The Borough called upon every available expert to advise in this regard. The insurance company estimated the theoretical cost to rebuild in exactly the pre-fire condition to be $3,526,500.00. However, mere reconstruction is impossible because it does not include the additional costs necessary to bring the new building into compliance with current construction codes. More significantly, such reconstruction contemplates replacing a building which the Governing Body recognized was already woefully inadequate. The Borough’s architects engaged in a thorough, extensive needs analysis and determined that, to adequately meet the current and future needs of the various departments and to comply with all of the current codes, an increase in the area of at least 40% would be minimally required to serve the Borough. This would additionally cost approximately $1,600,000.00 bringing the cost of the new structure to more than $5,100,000.00. These determinations led the Mayor and Council to the inescapable conclusion that the Hamilton Avenue site which the Borough had already outgrown many years ago would be even more inadequate for a new or reconstructed Municipal Building. The suggestion that the Municipal Building be reconstructed as or replaced by a high rise on the Hamilton Avenue site was immediately rejected. The Borough has a long held tradition of standing fast against high rise construction. Furthermore, it is one of the only municipalities that applies its zoning regulations to its own buildings on a theory of fairness to all of its residents and the protection of neighboring properties.
4. What criteria were used in deciding which sites are most favorable? The criteria utilized were the following:
5. Were other locations considered for the Municipal Complex The following sites were initially determined to be viable options for development:
The following sites were considered but found to be less viable based on the criteria listed above:
After all of the potential sites were analyzed, it was determined that relocating the Administration, Police and Municipal Court to another location while rebuilding the Fire House on Hamilton Avenue, possibly using the unscathed portion of the old building was the most cost effective. In addition to the three lots at the corner of the Central Avenue and the Boulevard already owned by the Borough, there are a number of adjacent properties whose owners had already expressed an interest in selling to the Borough. This location would meet every selection criteria. Unlike any of the other sites, this site is located in the Central Business Zone, not the Residential Zone, and consequently neighboring property owners could expect that this site might be so developed in the future.
7. What is the estimated cost of proposed construction of a Municipal Complex and Library/Senior Citizen Center on the Boulevard and rebuilding the Fire House on Hamilton Avenue? (Plan A) The estimated construction cost with site work, demolition, professional fees and acquisition of land is estimated to be $9,700,000.00 The net cost to the taxpayers is reduced by $277,382.00 in Community Development Block Grant Funds, by an estimated $500,000.00 in State Library Grant Funds and $4,500,000.00 in insurance proceeds for the construction portion of the claim. The net result is an estimated amount to be bonded of approximately $4,425,000.00. Of that, the Borough had already committed to $1,907,000.00 for the Library/Senior Citizen Center. Thus, the incremental cost of $2,518,000.00 is the cost of rebuilding the Administration, Police and Municipal Court at another location while rebuilding the Fire House on Hamilton Avenue. We estimate that the initial tax impact on the average house assessed at $195,000 would approximate 4.5 points per year or about $87.75 per year. This annual cost would decrease over the life of the bond issue and would be blended with existing debt in an effort to maintain a level budget requirement for payment of debt thereby minimizing, and possibly reducing, the impact on taxes of this issue. This estimate was calculated by very conservatively assuming constant total assessed valuations, a bonding rate of 5.5%, a total sum to be bonded safely estimated at $4,425,000.00, and a bond issue of 30 years (all of which being least favorable conditions.)
8. What impact will the acquisition of properties have on the tax rate? The estimated loss in rateables at the Boulevard location due to acquisitions will be more than totally offset by added assessments which are already in the process of being added to the tax roles.
9. What were the objections of the residents in the area of the proposed site raised at the first meeting held on August 8, 2000? The main concerns were:
10. After receiving these objections, what modifications in response thereto are being considered by the Mayor and Council? The Mayor and Council began with an intensive reexamination of the proposed plan in an effort to address the concerns brought to their attention. They amended the plan as follows:
11. Could any of the other potential sites which were considered to be less viable meet the current and future needs of the Borough? (Plan B)
Further examination of all of the sites considered led to the conclusion that the only other site that had the potential to meet the needs of the Borough and the criteria established was the Hamilton Avenue site. Although not adequate for the entire facility, it could accommodate some additional uses. At the direction of the Mayor and Council, the architect examined expanding the use of the Hamilton Avenue site. It was determined that the Hamilton Avenue site could at least minimally accommodate both the Police Department and Municipal Court as well as the Fire Department but not without demolishing the relatively new and still useable wing that had been hoped could be saved. Parking would be only barely adequate for average use but better than before the fire. Hence, the benefits of plan "B" are that the proposed project on the Boulevard could be reduced in scope and size. The Administrative offices could be constructed on the Boulevard along with the Library/Senior Citizen Center and the reduced size, as compared to plan "A", would require fewer land acquisitions. The Borough would still acquire the properties along the Boulevard and the first house on Madison Avenue as well as 210 and 214 Central Avenue, the owners of all of which have expressed interest in selling. The Borough would not presently need those homes whose owners are unwilling to sell. This proposal would still provide 65 parking spaces and include all of the same modifications made to the original plan such as the cul-de-sac, setbacks and buffer zones.
12. What is the estimated cost of a proposed construction of a reduced facility on the Boulevard and rebuilding the Fire House along with the Police Department and Municipal Court on Hamilton Avenue? The construction cost with site work, demolition, professional fees and acquisition of land is estimated to be $10,225,000.00 When reduced by the Community Development Block Grant Funds, the State Library Grant Funds and the insurance proceeds for the construction portion of the claim, the amount to be bonded would be approximately $4,945,000.00 (of which we had already committed $1,907,000.00 in bonding for the Library/Senior Citizen Center leaving an incremental cost of $3,038,000.00.) We estimate that the tax impact on the average house would approximately 5.1 points per year or about $99.50 per year. This annual cost would decrease over the life of the bond issue and would be blended with existing debt in an effort to maintain a level budget requirement for payment of debt thereby minimizing, and possibly reducing, the impact on taxes of this issue. This estimate was calculated using the same very conservative assumptions to calculate the impact on the taxpayers as was used for the original proposal.
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