Title
Architectural and Engineering Services for GRU's Technology Center (NB)
The City Commission authorize the Interim General Manager to negotiate and execute a contract for architectural and engineering services for the Utilities Technology Center project.
Explanation
The GRU Administration building was completed in 1991, and since that time the utility has taken advantage of the modular design characteristics to reconfigure many times to meet changing space needs. We have also moved many employees to Springhills, scheduled some employees to work four days per week when we can do so and still meet customer needs, and allowed some employees to telework when their jobs permit. Nonetheless, the building began to seriously exceed capacity in 2003, at which time the utility leased 4000 square feet in the GTECH building because the City was actively seeking tenants. When the utility goes live with the new billing system in January, 2007, several conference rooms in the Administration building will have to be closed for months in order to house necessary support staff. There is absolutely no remaining space in the Administration Building to accommodate the projected staff growth in the coming year for new Demand Side Management programs.
The hub for all of the Utility's business (billing, purchasing, accounting, inventory, e-mail, GIS, budgeting, etc.) computer and phone systems currently occupies a footprint of 1250 square feet on the ground floor in the Administration Building. We follow strict back-up protocols and have some limited redundancy at System Control, but a serious failure at the Administration Bldg could interrupt normal business operations for up to 30 days. Initially the computer center was a much smaller operation and has grown beyond that which anyone predicted at the time. It has serious limitations, some of which are solvable and some of which are not. It will cost more than $150,000 to address the identified and solvable problem...
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