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Regular City Council Meeting Monday,August 14,2017 Page 18 was that at the end of the remodel, the customer service area and flow would be greatly improved; and while this looked like a great expansion of space that was needed, questioned if this schematic took customers into consideration as well as staff. Councilmember Laliberte stated that her interest was to make sure the cus- tomer experience balanced with staff s experience. Councilmember McGehee opined that the proposed waiting area was reasonable to her, especially the rows of chairs versus a line-up. However, Councilmember McGehee agreed with her colleagues in questioning why it was so expensive. Ms. Ryan advised that staff had reviewed several other license centers for the idea of grouping chairs in the waiting areas. Ms. Ryan also noted the critical consider- ation for staff with a welcome desk to direct those walking in and also an express tab area to eliminate wait times for those quick transactions. At the request of Councilmember Willmus, Finance Director Miller advised that the city was not under any time crunch with this, with a new lease having been signed in May of 2017, but also noting staff s hope to accomplish the remodel sooner rather than later, ideally before year-end. Councilmember Willmus stated that he would like to consult additional architect teams to see if a variation in some of the designs or other ideas could serve to reduce costs; in essence to put the planning/design out for bid. Specific to the welcome desk, Councilmember Laliberte clarified with Ms. Ryan that the intent was to staff the desk with current staff, with that being done to some extent now with dedicated staff in a make-shift way. Councilmember Laliberte and Ms. Ryan further clarified the Power Point and key information scrolling to assist customers in filling out forms via monitors rather than the number of instructions and directional signage currently taped to the walls, with the intent to make the operation more professional looking. Councilmember Laliberte stated her interest in having some fresh thinking and vi- sion provided by other architectural design firms, and while it may slow down the process, opined that it would also be good to consider that fresh thinking. Councilmember Etten stated that he didn't support that idea, offering his support in trusting staff to provide a schematic that they had reviewed and what would work best for them with day-to-day operations and customer flow. While other examples may be good if they provided cost savings in the flexibility of materials used, Councilmember Etten questioned if a different design would work in reality for staff and customers. Councilmember Etten suggested those cost savings may rather come out in construction bidding and contractor bids.