1. Discussion regarding the County of Hidalgo New Courthouse Project

Judge Garcia gave a short review of the history of Hidalgo County. He reminded the public that Hidalgo County was incorporated by the Legislature in 1852. The construction of the first courthouse took time to built in the meantime meetings were being held at a general store in the City of Hidalgo.  The first courthouse was constructed in the early 1860’s and was utilized up until the early 20^th century.  The construction of a better and updated courthouse followed between 1906 and 1908. Most recent, the construction of the current courthouse began in 1954.

Presently the construction of a new courthouse is being discuss and consider, Hidalgo County along with the City of Edinburg are considering all possibilities to properly and adequately fund the construction of a new courthouse.  Both parties have in consideration the safety and security of all constituents. 

2. Presentation by ERO Architects regarding the New County of Hidalgo Courthouse

Eli Ochoa Architect for ERO Architects presented the new updates being considered for the new Hidalgo County Courthouse. The architect commented on the request to increase the number of courtrooms, the new design provides 6 courtrooms per floor instead of 4 as previously presented.
 
Mr. Ochoa presented the blue prints for the 1^st floor of the building. The 1^st floor will house the County Clerk’s Office taking most of the North East side of the building, including a Secure Holding area. The main entrance to the courthouse will face north. There will also be a Jury Selection Assembly Hall that will also function as high visibility courtroom. The back portion of the building will serve for the DA’s Office and the defenders in custody. The portion set for the defenders in custody is all design to judicial and jail standards and is not intended to hold anyone for more than 24 hrs. 
 
The District Clerk’s Office will occupy the second floor along with the Appellate Court, Bar Association and the Law Library. The third floor showcases the courtrooms, establishing 6 courts per floor. The Indigent Defense and Public Defender offices are also set to be on the 3^rd floor. There after every floor will display 6 courtrooms, each of them will have individual circulation to avoid crossing paths with the defenders.
 
Mr. Ochoa spoke about the previous design and although the previous scheme was in line with other similar designs, the architects considered the coldness it conveyed. The design was altered and injected warmness, the architects worked on a newer design that is native to the Valley and emphasized on the culture.
 
They based the new drawing on 12 metaphors. First the Orange Groves, the groves and all the planting is design around City of Edinburg’s downtown. The square sketch proposes the idea of having people walk through downtown and create vibrancy in order to boost Edinburg’s retail. The accessibility to the handicap parking area will be available right off the orchard square. The second metaphor presented was the river, tying the City of Edinburg along with the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley onto the avenida leading to the courthouse.  All of these create a unified urban area. The City of Edinburg’s City Hall serves a third metaphor, showcasing the contrast in materials from brick to metal and glass. The South Texas Museum of History plays part of the 12 metaphors. The architects extracted the more earth colors from the building to have them reflect in the design for the new courthouse.
 
 Another concept taken into consideration by the architects was the water jets or “ojo de agua” these provide a recharge zone and continues to feed the river. The fifth metaphor presented by the architect was the concept of Talavera tile. The tile is to be incorporated not only in the interior of the building but, as well as on the outside of the building. Mesquite wood serves a reflection of the natural color pattern and will also be integrated into the design, along with the “Jacal” as seen on the sally port’s lattice. Additionally a covered pedestrian walkway or “avenida” will be able to provide a walkway straight into the courthouse.  The porch serves as another metaphor into the design creating a cover for the main entrance. The architects created a 25 ft cantilever towards the front of the building, in this way creating a shading area. The final element is the Rio Grande Valley as a Jewel; this will create the building as the center of the city.
 
The entrance will create a one way St. all around the courthouse going counterclockwise. The entrance to the courthouse is to be through the main driveway becoming all utilize as a drop off area. The design proposes having the current north parking lot all the way up to the old Robert Chevrolet building lead the way to the avenida. The main public area will be angled perpendicular to the avenida as people are approaching the building, in a way providing a front and not approaching it from the side. The service entrance will be set in the back and the sally port will serve as a two story parking for judges and others. The defenders in custody are to have their own separate entrance on the south of the sally port. The north 1/3 of the building is set to be all public access area, the center 1/3 and the center core is where all the courtrooms will exist. The back side is where the judicial courtrooms and suites will be set.
 
Once more, Mr. Ochoa emphasized on the warmth of the new design as to give it a more human scale and have it be a welcoming facility. He also pointed out that the materials being proposed are as much maintenance free as possible. As part of their cost efficiency plan, they are proposing facing the building north. Doing so, will secure and harvest daylight for the building. Reducing the amount of electricity and  allowing some savings.
 
The jacalito area is being constructed out of anodized aluminum in order to avoid oxidation. Right behind the wall, all the service courts will be placed along with judges and the defendants in custody making it a highly secured area. The current memorial that sits in front of the courthouse is to be relocated and elevated. In keeping with the importance of all monumental facilities such this building, the entire facility is to be elevated almost 4 ft. notwithstanding the elevation also serves as a protection wall to shield the building from any vehicles. Most important the entire facility is design to meet blast protection requirements.
 
To complete the presentation, the architect reviewed the esthetics of the courthouse the designers depicted three different samples of the talavera tile and created one unified pattern. The large canopy design and the earth tone colors are inspired by the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. The avenida path is to include bubbler holes, these are to provide a cooling effect through the walkway. The design provides open space to allow for future opportunities.
Mr. Ochoa reinstated to Judge Garcia that this floor plan is the same as the two other previously presented. He also cleared to the judge that the Indigent Defense Department is to be set on the 3^rd floor, along with the Public Defender Department.  Judge Garcia commented that in taking into consideration future expansion they are being provided with at least one extra courtroom. However, if they were to move the offices of the Public Defender and Indigent Defense these could allow for three more courtrooms. Additionally, the judge discussed the possibility of adding a 7^th floor creating 4 more courtrooms. In regards Mr. Ochoa informed the judge that if a 7^th floor was added the building it could actually generate 6 courtrooms in addition to the 4 other courtrooms for a total of 10 courtrooms.

The additional shell floor would have a cost of $5 million dollars. The six additional courtrooms could function for civil and criminal courtrooms in order to have easy access to the defendents in custody and to the elevators. Judge Garcia questioned if this additional floor would bring the total price to $155 million dollars for the entire project. Mr. Ochoa commented to that currently they have a Construct Cost Limitation of $113 million dollars, if the 7^th floor was to be constructed it would add an additional $5 million to that limitation bringing it up to about $118 million. The difference to get to the $150 million would be the soft costs that are associated with developing the project. If the CCL and the Soft Costs are considered then they no longer would be looking at a max of $150 million but instead a max of $155 million. On that account, judge reiterated the importance of weighing down the cost for that additional 7^th floor.
 
Mr. Ochoa indicated to Commissioner Palacios that not the entire District Attorney’s Department would be placed on the courthouse. The design is putting aside a portion of the building for those attorneys who would be working at the courthouse all day. The Court of Appeals is to be set on the 2^nd floor and it houses the entire program.
 
Mr. Alden Talley informed both parties that as far as soft costs, they have taken into consideration all the fees and permits, including about $3 million for the demolition cost for existing facilities on the side and over $5 million in contingencies for the county. All these become part of the $150 million fund that is currently estimated as far as the overall budget.
 
City of Edinburg Mayor Pro Tem Homer Jasso Jr. questioned the space being constructed for the Criminal Defense Office, questioning if that space could later be used as fully functional courtrooms. In regards Mr. Ochoa mentioned that “fully functional” could take many aspects however, the space could serve as a fully functioning civil court. The reason they would utilized the space for civil court is because it would not provide a way to get to the defenders in custody into the courtrooms without crossing the judicial staff or the general public. Judge Garcia commented that any future courts they could request from the ligature would have to be civil courts.
 All things considered Judge Garcia gave the opportunity to the rest of the members to discuss the potential for a 7^th floor. Commissioner Palacios stated his concerns about the financial aspect of the investment, indicating that it is best to have what is needed and not what they want. Commissioner Palacios and Judge Garcia suggested analyzing the cost for the future investment and what the cost would then be if they decide to wait another 20 or 30 years until it might be needed.
 
Mayor Richard Garcia commented on those courtrooms that would be set aside for the civil courts. He commented that County Courts at Law and District Courts could be serve double function. These don’t need access to the back elevators because they don’t deal with high crime defendants. Mr. Ochoa agreed with the mayor and restated that these won’t have access to the defendants in custody area. The mayor commented that as far as the city side is concern in regards to the esthetics, location, layout and blueprint they are happy and satisfy with it. However, as far as the cost goes the agreement was that the City of Edinburg would contribute a total of $30 million dollars. The amount is to be provided over a period of time and that is the base amount, the decision to add an additional floor and the rest of the $5 million is up to the county and does not affect the city.
 
Judge Garcia invited the City Commissioners to include their input into the discussion. Council member Daniel Torres stated that as long as they’re all in agreement as to what was presented the only other point to be address is the timeline. Council member Richard Molina accentuated on the importance of the timeline for the construction, being that the longer they wait, they run the possibility of higher cost. He also emphasized on the $30 million cap they’re allowed to contribute to the project. Therefore, any additionally construction would be up to the county to finance. The council member placed emphasis on the arena and soccer filed projects that the city is currently working on, in addition to the courthouse.
 
Judge Garcia welcomed their input and their assistance on trying to get the courthouse constructed. He emphasized that the courthouse would benefit the City of Edinburg as well, and all the Hidalgo residents. Mayor Pro Tem expressed his satisfaction with the design and recognized the concerns addressed by Mr. Ochoa.
 
Lastly Mayor Richard Garcia announced that they were ready to sign the Memorandum of Understanding. The rest of the desires to expand or add would be up to the county to finance. On that note, Judge Garcia indicated his desire to wait until they can a full court and decide whether or not to spend the additional $5 million. Commissioner Palacios openly thanked the City of Edinburg for all their contribution. He also acknowledged the impeccable design by ERO and once more appreciated the partnership between the two parties. He also made clear that the real work has just begun and the numbers are still a theory and will not be realized until they go through the process.  
 
Mr. Ochoa explained to the members that they can incorporate a Construction Manager at Risk. The CMAR is able to provide relief in relation to most of the concerns being communicated. Before moving forward he presented on objective timeline to complete the project. The schedule contemplates March 1, 2016 as start date for the design development taking them through six months leading to the start of completing construction documents. Following and starting construction before the end of 2016. All dates are under assumption that all these milestones are accomplished.  Taking in consideration the ideal period of 22 months for the construction period, leading to a final date of October 2018. Mr. Ochoa emphasized that all these date are conditioned on the weather. He gave an example of a current project that has 120 rain days predicted. However, all things considered and if everything falls into place they’re predicting a moving date of October 1, 2018.

Once again Mr. Ochoa spoke about the benefits of the Construction Manager at Risk. The construction manager is selected by the owner of the project. The contractor is to deliver a project within a Guaranteed Maximum Price; the construction manager ensures that all parties stay within the set budget. The process allows the construction manger to work with the design team and have the ability to fair out different ideas to obtain the desire efficiency and cost for the project. This allows for the construction to move much faster, avoiding the cost of construction to go up. Mr. Ochoa pointed out that the cost of construction goes up by about 6.5% per year that the project is not completed. If this is number is applied to the cost of the courthouse they’ll be looking at an increase of $9 million dollars on a yearly bases the construction is delay. Taking in consideration the budget for both parties the architects suggested incorporating the Construction Manager at Risk. Mr. Ochoa commented that this system was successfully used by the City of Edinburg, leading to enough bond savings to construct a new performing art center at the Robert Vela High School. South Texas College is another entity that has included the CMR in their project.
 
Judge Garcia assured that they will consider the Construction Manager at Risk. However as of right now their intention is to hire an attorney that could come and explain all of the different construction methods and then chose the best fit for their project.