Council Communication

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Council Communication"

Sheryl Jones
5 years ago
Views:

1 Council Communication Study Session: Lithia Fountain Status Update Meeting Date: November 5, 2007 Primary Staff Contact: Paula Brown Department: Public Works Eng / Water brownp@ashland.or.us Secondary Dept.: Historic Commission Secondary Contact: Maria Harris Approval: Martha Bennett Estimated Time: 15 minutes Question: Does the City Council have any questions about on the progress on the replacement of the Lithia Fountain at the Plaza? Staff Recommendation: This is a status update only and no recommendations are being presented. Council is requested to provide clarification and any comments with regard to the direction staff and team are pursuing. Thanks to the coordination efforts of George Kramer, Kramer & Company, the City is making great progress on the Lithia Fountain replacement. Staff and Mr. Kramer will be available to answer Council s questions or elaborate on the progress at the study session. Background: In June 2006, the City contracted with John Galbraith, Galbraith and Associates, and George Kramer, Kramer & Company, to assist in evaluating options to replace the Lithia Fountain on the Plaza. The team evaluated the existing condition of the Lithia Fountains and made recommendations to clean and replace sections of the granite, researched and found an original style basin, recommended replacement castings and materials for new fountain basins and bubbler systems, and recommended a better maintenance process which will include daily potable water rinses to ease with cleaning and general upkeep of the fountains. The overall goal was to replace the basins with an interest in historic accuracy, reduce the likelihood of vandalism and to make them easier to maintain without significant use of chemicals or acids that have been used in the past. The final recommendation was to make a bronze casting of the basin, powder coat them white to keep the historic feel, add chrome plated bubblers that will allow the fountains to run hours a day to reduce the gas build up and pressure in the handle valves that existed previously, and to add potable water so that each basin could be rinsed daily to avoid the mineral build up in the drains which added to the deterioration of the basins and handles. The team made presentations to the Historic and Arts Commissions and gained their support for the final recommendations. Staff presented the plan to Council during the budget process and included a $35,000 line item in the adopted budget as part of the Capital Improvements Plan. As progress continues, staff is confident that the budget is sufficient to complete the project. Page 1 of 6

2 George Kramer has been contracted to be the City s agent for researching and obtaining each of the component parts. Currently there are about eight distinct steps to making the complete transition: 1. City crews have cleaned the base and plinths and will complete final polishing on site. 2. Ten basins are being fabricated and cast in bronze by Quality Brass and Aluminum in Portland. 3. The basins will then be shipped to Cincinnati for porcelain powder-coating by one of the only firms that have had experience with mineral water fountains (Murdock Fountain) and knows the operation and maintenance issues with the high mineralization content of Lithia water. 4. The bubblers are also being made by Murdock Fountain who will then build all of the basins, complete with bubbler and all of the associated plumbing (two source water pipes and one drain line for each of the eight fountains). Murdock will ship the basins back to Ashland. 5. The granite donut section will be replaced as the existing section had several cracks and is very fragile. Even with providing pinning and stabilization to the existing donut structure, the likelihood of damage during the drilling for new fountains was too high. The granite section comes from the Cold Springs Granite Company in Georgia and is nearly an exact match (see photo). The long lead item is the granite which may not arrive in the Rogue Valley until mid January and once here, it will be another 4 weeks to make the section and have it drilled for the fountain plumbing. The new donut section will be made by Oregon Granite in Medford. 6. So that the basins do not rest on the granite itself, a steel armature will be designed inside the granite structure so that the basins will actually be held in place by this structure and could tolerate a 400 pound load and help resist vandalism. The structure will be fabricated on site once the granite section is complete. 7. Some of the plumbing work in the vault next to the fountains can be started, but not finished until the structure is in place. Each of the fountains will have individual controls so that one fountain can be turned off or taken out of service leaving the other seven fully functional. This is a change from past practice, and should help reduce vandalism as well. 8. The final addition will be the return of the historic sign denoting the origin of Lithia water. All said and done, the fountains should be complete and working by the end of February We tried to get this ready for a December completion, but with all the different pieces and locations for manufacturing, it was not possible. This is the most complicated ten square feet I have ever worked with in my life added George Kramer as he described the progress on the replacement parts. Page 2 of 6

3 Staff is very grateful for the interest and dedication by George Kramer in getting this project going, and looks forward to a final drinkable product. Related City Policies: Budget and CIP Council Options: The Council has a variety of options, three of which are presented here for discussion: 1. Continue with the current plan to refurbish Lithia Fountain. 2. Recommend changes to the current plan. 3. Request that staff stop progress on the fountain. Potential Motions: None as this is a study session. Attachments: Pictures Reference: Refurbishment of the Lithia Fountain Project 05-31; November 2006, Galbraith and Kramer Page 3 of 6

4 Description of the fountain sections Existing condition prior to fountain removal Page 4 of 6

5 1930s era Historic photos Lithia Fountains on the Plaza; Ashland Page 5 of 6

6 New basin and bubbler Page 6 of 6

CITY OF NAPA PARKS AND RECREATION SERVICES DEPARTMENT AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT

CITY OF NAPA PARKS AND RECREATION SERVICES DEPARTMENT AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT AGENDA ITEM 6A Page 1 of 3 DATE: March 8, 2017 TO: FROM: SUBJECT: Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission John Coates, Parks