PERMANENT COUNCIL OF THE OEA/Ser.G
ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATESCP/CAAP-2629/02 rev.1
10 September 2002
COMMITTEE ON ADMINISTRATIVEOriginal: Spanish
AND BUDGETARY AFFAIRS
DRAFT RESOLUTION
RENOVATION OF THE SIMON BOLIVAR ROOM AND THE SPACE FORMERLY OCCUPIED BY THE COLUMBUS MEMORIAL LIBRARY STACKS IN THE MAINOAS BUILDING
(Co-sponsored by the delegations of Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, The Bahamas,
Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador,Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,Trinidad and Tobago, the United States, Uruguay and Venezuela)
(Approved by the Committee at its meeting held on August 28, 2002)
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DRAFT RESOLUTION
RENOVATION OF THE SIMON BOLIVAR ROOM AND THE SPACE FORMERLY OCCUPIED BY THE COLUMBUS MEMORIAL LIBRARY STACKS IN THE MAINOAS BUILDING
(Co-sponsored by the delegations of Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, The Bahamas,
Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States, Uruguay and Venezuela)
(Approved by the Committee at its meeting held on August 28, 2002)[1]/
The Permanent Council,
THE PERMANENT COUNCIL,
HAVING SEEN the report of the Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Affairs on building renovations; the architectural renderings for renovation of the SimionSimón Bolívar Room and the space formerly occupied by the Columbus Memorial Library stacks; Architectualthe Report of the Board of External Auditors for the most recent fiscal period on cash and other balances in the Regular Fund; and thethe financial reports of the General Secretariat; on XXXXXXXXXXX
CONSIERING the urgent need to insure adequate and satisfactory meeting space for the Permanent Council, its subsidiary bodies, and representatives;
RECALLING:,
That the General Assembly approved, through resolution AG/RES 1230 (XXIII-O/93), Section III, paragraph 8, “Use of arrears payments for specific non-recurring costs":
… proceeding with remodeling of the MainBuilding …at an estimated cost of US$8.8 million, … such funds to remain available until expended for this purpose;
That the Main Building remodeling plan considered by the General Assembly includes remodeling of the Simón Bolívar Room and the space formerly occupied by the Columbus Memorial Library stacks; and
;
That neither remodeling plan was executed primarily because of increased project costs and insufficient arrears payments to fund the plans;
That through resolution AG/RES. 1381 (XXVI-O/96), Section III, paragraph 7, the General Assembly authorized the General Secretariat to proceed with the renovation ofrenovate the Main Building according to an alternative plan that shouldto be approved by the Permanent Council, using the funds authorized under AG/RES. 1230 (XXIII-O/93); andand with funds authorized for that purpose under resolution AG/RES. 1230
CONSIDERING:
The pressing need to provide a more dignified setting for the Permanent Council, its subsidiary bodies, and other organs of the Organization, with adequate meeting facilities that are in keeping with their requirements and stature; and that the immediate renovation of the Simón Bolívar Room and the space formerly occupied by the Columbus Memorial Library stacks in the Main Building would satisfy that need;
That the budget for renovation of the Simón Bolívar Room and library stacks contained in document CP/doc.3639/02 estimates the cost at US$2.65 million; and that the General Secretariat estimates the cost of renovating the space formerly occupied by the library stacks to provide meeting rooms and a delegates’ lounge facilities and a mediaat US$750,000;
That under Article 71.b of the General Standards to Govern the Operations of the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States the Permanent Council may authorize from the Reserve Subfund of the Regular Fund “special expenditures not provided for in the program budget,” as long as the amount in the Reserve Subfund is at least 10% of the annual quotas approved for the corresponding year;
That Article 71.b further provides that any withdrawals for special expenditures from the Reserve Subfund must be reimbursed to that Fund “by means of equivalent appropriations in the program-budget for the next fiscal period or in such a manner as may be determined by the General Assembly”;
That the amount in the Reserve Subfund substantially exceedamount in the Reserve Subfund substantially exceeds the 10% threshold established in Article 71.b of the General Standards;
That the General Assembly may exempt from the reimbursement requirement funds appropriated from the Reserve Subfund, as it did previously with regard to the funds approved for similar renovations under resolutions AG/RES. 1230 (XXIII-O/93) and AG/RES. 1381 (XXVI-O/96); and
That the General Assembly, in resolution AG/RES. 1848 (XXXII-O/02), instructed the General Secretariat to prepare a proposal for providing more appropriate facilities for conferences and meetings,
That the Permanent Council did not consider an alternative plan because until recently the Regular Fund did not have adequate funds to finance any meaningful renovation of Main Building facilities.
TAKING INTO ACCOUNT reports of the General Secretariat as well as the Report of the Board of External Auditor for the most recent fiscal period regarding cash and other balances in the Regular Fund;
HAVING HEARD the verbal report of the Vice-Chair of the Permanent Council regarding her review of renovation proposals submitted to the General Secretariat by several architectural firms through the same Development Manager coordinating the on-going renovation of the General Secretariat Building, who estimated a Simon Bolivar Room project cost of approximately US$2.65 Million; her on-site evaluation of historic renovation projects in the District of Columbia by these firms; and the General Secretariat's estimate of $750,000 for the renovation of the former library stacks area,
and
HAVING CONSIDERED a report from the Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Matters:
RESOLVES:
1.To
- To instruct the General Secretariat:
- proceed with the renovation ofTo complete the renovation of the Simón Bolívar Room and the space formerly occupied by the Columbus Memorial Library stacks in the Main Building in accordance with the Architectural Renderings no later than 15 months from the date of this resolutionan XXXXXXX., 2002; and
- To submit to the Permanent Council, for review by the Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Affairs, quarterlymonthly progress reports on the renovations and a final report upon their completion.
- To authorize the General Secretariat to obligate from the Reserve Subfund of the Regular Fund up to US$2.65 million for the renovation of the Simón Bolívar Room and up to US$750,000 for the transformation of the space formerly occupied by the Columbus Memorial Library stacks into a delegates’ lounge and a multipurpose room.
- To request the General Assembly to exempt from the Article 71.b reimbursement requirement the funds appropriated under this resolution.
4.To instruct the General Secretariat to submit to the thirty-third regular session of the General Assembly a status report on the renovation process of the Simon Bolivar Room and of the space previously occupied by the Columbus Memorial Library stacks as well as a financial report on the use of these funds, in addition to the normal financial and accounting review of the expenditures done by the Organization’s auditors.
3.To authorize the General Secretariat to directly appoint as Development Manger for the Simon Bolivar Room renovation project, the firm selected through competition as Development Manager for the on-going renovation of the General Secretariat Building on F Street.
4.To instruct the General Secretariat to proceed with the renovation of the former library stacks in the Main Building in order to provide space for a delegates lounge/multi-media room at a cost not to exceed US$750,000 to be financed with arrear payments that are now part of the Regular Fund Reserve.
5.To request the General Assembly, at its thirty-third session, to approve these withdrawals from the Regular Fund reserve as an exception to the reimbursement requirements of Article 67b of the General Standards.
[1].With reservations made by the Delegation of Panama.