PREPARED BY: ANDREA MENDEZ DATE OF MEETING: 08/05/19
SUBJECT:
TITLE
RESOLUTION OF CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN PABLO (1) AUTHORIZING CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE A CONTRACT WITH DEBBIE KOPPMAN NOT TO EXCEED AN AMOUNT OF $40,000 FOR THE INSTALLATION OF AN ART MURAL AT THE NEW CITY HALL SITE LOCATION; AND (2) SELECTING AND APPROVING AN ART MURAL PROPOSAL WHICH WILL BE LOCATED ON THE EXTERIOR WALL OF THE NEW CITY HALL SITE
Label
CITY MANAGER RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Adopt Resolution
Body
Compliance statements
FY2019-21 Council Priority Work Plan Compliance Statement
Continue development of multi-ethnic diversity and awareness in city programs and services, is an adopted priority item under the FY 2019-21 City Council Priority Work plan, effective March 1, 2019.
CEQA Compliance Statement
The art mural project is consistent with the CEQA review undertaken for the new City Hall project; namely, based on the evaluation dated June 7, 2017, the City has determined that: (1) construction of the proposed new City Hall on the Gateway Avenue Property would be consistent with the development assumptions for the Gateway Avenue Property as presented in the City’s current General Plan and the San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan; (2) the project would not result in any new significant impacts or increase the severity of any significant impacts identified in the General Plan EIR, the San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan EIR, and the Mixed Use Center South Mitigated Negative Declaration; (3) the circumstances under which the New City Hall project would be undertaken have not substantially changed such that new or more severe impacts would occur; (4) there have been no changes to impacts or circumstances since the June 7, 2017 evaluation; and (5) therefore, no further environmental analysis for construction of the New City Hall on the Gateway Avenue Property is required by Section 21166 of CEQA and Sections 15162.
BACKGROUND
City staff released a request for proposals from artists to submit potential mosaic murals that would be located on the exterior wall of the building at the new City Hall site. In addition, there would be a second permanent mosaic piece of the City of San Pablo logo that would be located inside the lobby main entrance of the building.
The mosaic mural, which will be located on the exterior wall of the site, would capture the fabric of San Pablo and include the local community as its inspiration.
Three proposals were submitted by Debbie Koppman who has done mosaic artwork located at the San Pablo Community Center, as well as in other cities, including Oakland and San Francisco. No other artists submitted proposals despite outreach to the art community.
Ms. Koppman’s three mural proposals incorporate the word “welcome” in the principal languages spoken in San Pablo, which include English, Spanish, Chinese, Lao, and Tagalog. Also included in the proposed mural are visual patterns that are found in the cloth and architecture of the multiple cultures connected with these languages which include African, Mexican, Chinese, Laotian, and Filipino patterns.
COMMUNITY SERVICES STANDING COMMITTEE
This item was reviewed by the Community Services Standing Committee (Xavier/Cruz) on June 19, 2019 where a consensus on one proposal could not be reached by the Standing Committee members, with the recommendation to move this item forward showing that Councilmember Xavier selected Proposal #1, “The Fabric of San Pablo” and Vice Mayor Cruz selected Proposal #3, “Welcome to San Pablo.”
CITY COUNCIL UPDATE
On July 15, 2019, the agreement and murals proposals were brought forward and presented to City Council. City Council members had some additional inquires about the meaning of specific details in some of the mural proposals and neither the contractual agreement nor a proposal was approved. City Council requested that the item be brought to the next City Council, along with the artist, to have further dialogue.
As mentioned in the initial staff report from July 15, 2019, there is a timing consideration for this agenda item. The goal is to have the artwork completed before the opening of the new City Hall. Any further delays to approve the contract and/or the selection of a mural design could potentially delay the completion of the new City Hall. The proposed agreement with Ms. Koppman and the mural proposals are both attached as exhibits.
FISCAL IMPACT
The selected proposal and contract would be paid from the existing FY 2019/20 CIP budget for the City Hall construction project (320-3200-43600-CIH-CON) in the amount of $40,000.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment A: AGR City Hall Mural Agreement
Attachment B: Art Mural Proposals