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City share of project drops New structure calculations remain in flux By TONY BOOM ASHLAND - The city's share of a joint parking structure project with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival may be closer to $425,000 instead of an $845,000 cost that surprised City Council members during March. Recalculation of the city's obligation for construction and equal division of a state grant between OSF and the city lower the figure. The City Council gave direction at Tuesday's meeting to staff on crafting final agreements with OSF and with the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department for a project grant of $600,000 and a loan of $900,000 from the agency. "The grant of $600,000 is the big item," said Mayor Alan DeBoer prior to the meeting. "The loan is pretty easy to figure out." The council agreed last June to a 75-year lease of land on Hargadine Street to OSF for a 145-space parking structure and a 350-seat theater. The site previously provided 84 parking spaces. The city agreed to pay for the intermediate level of parking, as well as strengthening to allow future development above the third level, and to own and operate the structure. OSF said in March the city's share would be $845,000 of the project's cost, then estimated at $2.37 million. Earlier estimates projected a total cost at $1.8 million with the city paying $600,000. Additional strengthening and a need to pay prevailing wage raised costs, according to OSF officials. The latest cost analysis shows a city obligation of $723,800. The city and OSF working with contractor Emerick Construction of Portland arrived at the new figure. "They are still negotiating. The numbers are still work in process," said DeBoer. Proposals for division of the $600,000 grant included either OSF or the city gaining the full amount. OSF prepared the grant application, but it was submitted by the city, as OECDD funds can't go to private organizations. Council members differed on how much the city should retain. Don Laws favored proportionate sharing based on costs to each organization. If the city paid for one third of the project costs, it would receive $200,000 in grant funds. "Let's just get our portion proportionate to what our cost is," said Laws. Mayor DeBoer and Councilman John Morrison advocated a 50-50 split with the city and OSF both getting $300,000. Councilwoman Cate Hartzell said the city should get 75 percent of the grant ($450,000) as it is providing new parking for citizens. Under the council member's grant-sharing ideas, the remaining city obligation might range from $523,000 to $273,000. DeBoer said the city should receive OECDD loan money that carries a five percent interest rate for the rest of the debt. Revenues from the parking structure will pay back the loan. Preliminary estimates show that a $1 parking fee would generate $65,000 a year if the lot was 80 percent full during preferred times and 19 percent occupied at other times. That would be sufficient to pay for debt service, operations and maintenance according to City Administrator Greg Scoles. City officials have a June 1 deadline with OECDD for fund acceptance. Hartzell noted that the city staff had changed the agency's proposed agreement because of concerns about competitive bidding practices for the structure. "They haven't complied with all of the requirements for competitive biding that would have been imposed upon the city," said City Attorney Paul Nolte. Nolte said he showed how OSF had provided competitive bidding in the agreement with OECDD. He said Shakespeare representatives have spoken with the agency about bidding practices. OSF Executive Director Paul Nicholson has told city officials there is not a problem with the competitive bidding requirement. Reach Ashland bureau reporter Tony Boom at 482-4651, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.