City Clerk, please forward to the Commission and Building Official.
Commissioners:
I have the highest respect for the work you do for KCB and fully understand the position you are in with respect to City Hall. But now is the time to provide very strong leadership and build a new City Hall. The timing is not good with respect to building costs and financing, but there will always be challenges.
There is no doubt in my mind that it would be illegal to try to repair the old building. Three building officials, your Attorney and even FEMA are telling you to build new. A unanimous vote plus pushing your commitment and facts through web postings, email blasts and press releases will win the day, stop the finger pointing and partisan bickering.
If you choose to repair, you are at odds with your building official as he cannot legally approve your plans. I am also sure the State will not approve them. You cannot repair the old building for under the 50% threshold and provide the necessary code upgrades, ADA and flood plain requirements. Commissioner Ramsay-Vickrey has spelled out the path you must take. Attached documents are her research.
Very Respectfully, John DeNeale
Date: Saturday, January 6, 2024 2:13 PM
Subject: [External] CITY HALL DESIGN OPTION FROM MY 2019 BRIEF
City clerk, please pass to the commission.
Commissioners;
Attached is my design concept that was shot down by FEMA because they said we had to consider the entire building for any grant money. But now that they are not going to pay, this could work because you redesignate the marble hall and post office section as a "community center." All you would have to do is add bathrooms to marble hall. That way you should be able to build new at a much lower cost and not have to worry about the 50% or critical government facility rules.
From October of 2017 to as recently as January 17, 2024 (by Commissioner Vickery), city officials told residents that the building was condemned although no "substantial damage letter" has ever been presented to the public.
City officials now claim the City Hall Certificate of Occupancy was revoked (it wasn't).
By sharing experiences and dates, Connie Foster's letter details that the Marble Hall and post office were not condemned. Marble Hall was quickly brought up to working condition and remained in service until recently. The post office was still in service until May 27, 2023, when it was arbitrarily moved. The bathrooms and hall and offices were locked away from the public but were used by the city staff. All city meetings and community activities were held in the Marble Hall and the building department remained in that "condemned" building until the commission rented even more trailers in the parking lots.
From jack-hammering part of the floor in City Hall to "prove" it had sunk to refusing to follow the City Engineer's plan to add pinpiles, Kathryn McCullough's letter documented some of the efforts to abandon the perfectly sound building.
On October 12, 2017 Mayor John DeNeale reported to the City Commission that FEMA and the independent engineer didn't find enough damage to warrant demolishing and rebuilding City Hall. Contractor Jeff Rider estimated about $275 per square foot to rebuild. Commissioner Ellis said to move back into City Hall while another building is constructed. Replacing some drywall would be cheap. Despite that, they hired an architect to design a new city hall. [quoted from the commission meeting minutes.]
The August 3, 2018 engineering report commissioned by the NFIP Insurer found:
(A) The building is not unfit for occupancy.
(B) The voids [under the floor slab] can be filled.
(C) The slab problems all predate the disaster.
The City Engineer reported "The overall condition of the structure is in good condition" in a letter dated April 8, 2019.
The Wright National Flood Insurance proof of loss showed $134,201.90 in damages claimed. The actual cash value of the building structure was shown to be $1,917,596.71. FEMA did not provide more funds because the adjuster had determined the damages were no more than that.
Norry Lynch noted that "NFIP and PA undertook several, separate inspections as is routine. The only commonality among the inspections was that each documented only cosmetic damage to the building."
Building Official Ed Borysiewicz stated that "The City Hall Complex was NOT structurally damaged" in an email discussing the history of the building.
It wasn't until July 1, 2022, 4 years 9 months 21 days or 1,755 calendar days after Hurricane Irma "condemned" City Hall, that the city officials actually closed the building. "Condemned" or not, it had been in use all that time.
At the April 20, 2023, commission meeting, Commissioners Harding, Trefrey, and Vickrey decided to "kick the can down the road" again. They would "consider" going out for quotes to repair the existing City Hall but not until June, after they have the bids in hand for the LIVS-designed city hall complex. The timing meant most residents will be away from KCB when the bids are opened by the side of the road.
At the July 20, 2023 commission meeting, Commissioners Harding, Trefrey, and Vickrey continued to ignore their own experts and their constituents. They spoke in lockstep in favor of adopting the bid $8,375,000 H-O-B bid. Commissioners Foster and Raspe voted against the motion.
The newly uncovered FEMA letter that "clearly stated that 'based on FEMA policy and project cost calculations, [the KCB City Hall] project does not meet the 50% rule and does not qualify for replacement'." An engineering group hired by the city commission to buttress the claims they condemned the building admitted it "never inspected the damaged City Hall building or reviewed any other damage data or assessments."
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