AgdaPkt 2014-12-08 Closed and Joint SA

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9.A. - Page 1 REPORT To the Honorable Mayor and City Council From the City Manager December 8, 2014 SUBJECT City of Redwood City and YMCA of Silicon Valley Letter of Intent RECOMMENDATION Approve by motion and authorize the City Manager to execute a Letter of Intent with the YMCA of Silicon Valley regarding proposed construction and operation of a joint use intergenerational health, wellness and recreational facility at Red Morton Park. BACKGROUND The Veterans Memorial Senior Center (VMSC) is a valued community asset which houses dozens of senior clubs; hosts hundreds of free or low-fee programs each year; receives over 100,000 annual visits; and serves as a "second home" for many of our honored senior citizens in Redwood City, including our Veterans. However, the circa 1956 VMSC building is slowly deteriorating; the campus encompasses four separate buildings which segregates program participants and social interaction opportunities; and Herkner Pool is outdated and the facility allows little flexibility due to its design. Staff has done its best to properly maintain these facilities while trying to satisfy current users and attract new constituents. Some challenges include: the number of buildings makes it very costly to maintain; there is no central welcoming center; the program space has excessive wear-and-tear and is too spread out; there is no physical access from the Center to Herkner Pool; the Senior Center Annex electrical capacity is at its limit; and Staff is finding it more difficult to attract younger seniors to the Center. Staff and the Senior Affairs Commission (SAC) spent two years gathering input about the needs for a replacement building. We wanted to hear what was working, what wasn't working, what is needed, and what is wanted from the users themselves. On April 26, 2010, the City Council accepted the "Senior Center Scoping Study" that included the collection of data, the consideration of program requirements, and the scope and magnitude of a new Center. Staff then considered alternative locations for a future Center, conducted a site analysis to determine space requirements on the existing campus, and have held numerous discussions with a potential key partner as we considered long term sustainability. We found that the YMCA of Silicon Valley was also in a similar scoping process as they are looking to expand their operations with a larger facility. Together, we believed that there was an opportunity to explore something greater.