| | Published August 17th, 2011
| Tonight: MOFD Board Meets Again To Consider Building Purchase and Orinda City Hall Lease Options
| | By Lucy Amaral | | |
The Moraga Orinda Fire District (MOFD) Board of Directors will meet tonight in the Orinda Community Center's Founders Auditorium to discuss whether to combine administrative offices in a leased space, purchased space or leave the offices split between Orinda and Moraga.
As reported in MOFD's facilities report, Station 41 on Moraga Road is in need of space, gender and seismic upgrades. Station 41 also houses part of MOFD's administrative staff, with the other portion of administrative offices housed in MOFD's station 45 in Orinda. One option offered by the facilities report was to combine administrative offices in an off-site location, then repurpose the existing administrative space in Station 41. MOFD Fire Chief Randy Bradley has been researching options, which include leasing space from the City of Orinda and purchasing an existing building at 1150 Moraga Way.
The Board has been discussing the options for several months, and had previously spoken with representatives of Orinda regarding leasing space but did not come to an agreement.
Bradley presented a purchase offer for the building in Moraga to the Board on July 20, citing his preference to this option because of its central location, adaptability, and improved efficiency. At that time, cost and retrofitting concerns from the Board and from the audience in attendance, combined with a new leasing offer from the City of Orinda, led the Board to request that Bradley return to the bargaining table.
The Orinda City Council met on August 5 to finalize a counter offer for MOFD to lease office space in the city's current Administrative and Finance wing on the upper floor of Orinda's City Hall, which according to the offer would create a "Public Safety Function Floor" and be directly across from the Emergency Operations Center.
In its offer Orinda stated that, for a base rent of $62,000 per year for ten years, MOFD would lease the office space, as well as have access to the Library Auditorium for MOFD Board meetings, be assigned designated parking spaces, and receive shared use of the Sarge Littlehale Community Room. Extra fees, such as utilities, use of the community center, and any CPI increases, were also noted in the offer.
The MOFD Board met in a special meeting on August 9 to discuss the offer. Board President John Wyro said that while the Board took no action during closed session, the agenda for tonight calls for discussion during open session regarding the administrative alternatives, including Orinda's City Hall and the building on Moraga Way. According to tonight's agenda, one possibility is for staff to continue to re-evaluate its options and come back to the board with recommendations at its September 21 Board meeting.
If the Board makes a decision tonight, we'll let you know - check www.lamorindaweekly.com.
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | Advertisement | | |
| | | print story
Before you print this article, please remember that it will remain in our archive for you to visit anytime.
download pdf
(use the pdf document for best printing results!) | | | Comments | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA