This is a much better description of what happened than what the FL-S has put out! I'm not sure the Matt Kelly quote is correct though; $1.59 million is not a large amount - it is an really low amount. If you think about it, the roof and foundation costs pretty much stay the same, remove those from the $30 million cost, and each floor would be 1/3 the cost of what is left over. I would have expected a $6 to $7 million dollar savings (the HVAC, plumbing, electric costs all drop, too, etc).

The reason council is pushing to move forward has nothing to do with the 6 years of discussion, it is all about the fact that a new council will be seated in 2 weeks. . .

And finally, how come no one is raising hell about the design being at 60%? This meeting was supposed to be a 35% meeting. The SOLE purpose of a 35% meeting is to ensure the design meets the requirements / needs of the owner. For the design-build team to say "We'll have several months vacuum during redesign" is almost criminal. The fact that Council rolled over and took it shows how little they understand the process.

The citizens of Fredericksburg are going to be suffering for decades because this council is so weak and unprepared.

"Fredericksburg City Council unanimously decided Tuesday night to move forward with a new three-story 78,000-square-foot courthouse facility in downtown."

Dan - Please note for the record I was not in attendance based on a prior business meeting and would have voted "No" based on the information I received from Matt Kelly who was in attendance.

Fred Howe

Wow.

I'm confused for being so against the courthouse Fred Howe sure picks opportune times to not vote or not speak up. You should have been there. I guess the elections over.

Kenny--I questioned savings and cost figures on the proposals and asked to see the breakdown on how numbers were arrived at. That went nowhere. Asked for operational cost figures--not available yet. Brought up, recent changes in court design at the federal level and incorporating them in this design. Can't be done.

What is most disconcerting is that council had till August 1st to make final decisions regarding the project without impacting the time line. Last night was the first time these options were presented. There was time to review them, have some additional discussion, and at least give city residents an opportunity to chime in as they have to foot the bill. It was later acknowledged that maybe the ARB should have an opportunity to comment; but as the decision has been made this is somewhat disingenuous.

Forgot to mention I did comment on the fact that the plans had gone as far as they had without council review. Based on staff and First Choice comments there was no real purpose to the meeting when it came to courthouse design. As the city construction manager pointed out-The issues identified up should have been brought up at the beginning of the design process. I didn't disagree with that statement.

Unanimously? Are you kidding me?

Folks, I added a 3-D view of the courthouse that will be built downtown, at this scale. I thought it was pretty cool. I missed about 10 seconds of the beginning but you get a good idea of the scale of this structure downtown. I found it very interesting to see. Check out the video attached

Please note the correction of the correct judge in attendance. Judge Willis urged council years ago to build a new courthouse. This is back when I worked at the FLS and they were considering building one where the downtown post office is located---
http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/012009/01142009/438826/index_html?page=2

Arnold, it is important to note that this was a special work session that was not on the city's schedule. In fact, it showed up on the schedule I believe within the last two weeks. I'm not sure why they did this off television in a work session instead of calling a special City Council meeting and recording this meeting on television. The 3D view of the courthouse was interesting, and there are numerous tidbits of detail I did not include in the story, such as the comments from Judge Willis, who said stakeholders, including himself, have been involved in the design process. It still doesn't explain the numerous closed meetings--albeit legal--to discuss the taxpayer funded Arcadis report and not releasing that report until a decision was made. That's when all the talk about lack of transparency started to surface.

Jason, this story explains some of the timeline crunch but they had until Aug. 1 to make the decision and they actually had more time to make the decision than the original comprehensive agreement allowed (14 days) because First Choice finished the 35 percent stage a month ahead of time:

http://fredericksburg.patch.com/articles/fredericksburg-courthouse-project-at-milestone-review-mark

I wasn't expecting any "votes" to be taken last night. Council can't take votes in work sessions. To Dan's point--At my meeting with staff, First Choice, and Mrs. Greenlaw a televised work session was discussed but didn't get much traction. I was expecting, as per the staff memo regarding next steps, to bring this up again. Council's unanimous "vote" made that step pointless. Or any future work sessions for that matter.

I removed the word "vote" and should use the word "decided" duly noted.
Why not a special meeting of City Council downstairs in City Hall on television?

Matt, the question I have for you is just a month ago you, Bea, Brad and Fred seemed to be on board--I asked each of you--to halt this project. The opportunity came to "halt" this project and no one went in that direction. From your perspective, what changed? I hope to speak with Bea, Brad and Fred later.

What should have happened last night was to schedule another work session two weeks out to be held in council chambers and televised. That would give council members an opportunity to secure additional information such as: Documentation on how First Choice arrived at the savings/cost numbers presented and ask follow-up questions. Look at other option from council such as space reconfiguration, fewer courts, etc. Look at the long term-parking issues and impacts on downtown. And look at options for the Renwick Courthouse. I cannot say it would change the decision made but at least there would be a better understanding of the decision by both the council and the public I cannot understand how council could have “voted” without a real understanding on how the options were arrived at and with no input in putting them together.

Thanks Matt for the feedback and comments. For those who want to see a much cleaner version of the 3D courthouse view, check this out: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/22229917/2012%2006%2019%20Fburg%20CH%20Animation.avi

So this goes from a $400/sq ft to a $600/ sq ft building... plus land costs, plus parking, plus additional staffing and maintenance. Fellow citizens, we have been $&$#@&+. And with just one public hearing.

When it comes down to it...the building is just so out of place! Too massive for such a quaint downtown area. The current design belongs in DC or some big city not Fredericksburg. Just doesn't fit. The design may be suitable for the outskirts but not downtown. Parking is going to be a big problem. Bad enough trying to park downtown while courts are in session. People will still probably take up visitor parking in the downtown area and visitor center. It is not "Fredericksburg".

That parking garage has been pledged to fix all the downtown parking problems . The garage is two blocks in the wrong direction for everything. The city needs to get serious about the parking problem. We don't even have a tourist bus parking lot to handle them.

The new courthouse location should have been outside the city center.
The city center should be used for shopping, restaurants, historic buildings and parking.
Too late now to make a change; or is it?