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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPublic Utilities Committee Minutes 05.10.1999 MINUTES JOINT PARKS, PUBLIC UTILITIES, STREET AND ALLEY COMMITTEES MAY 10, 1999 7:00 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS PRESENT: Bill Staudinger Larry McCann Gay Easton Jeanette Koch Ken Olson Mark Mace Miles Walton Chuck Rodgers Mud Jacking City Hall. Larry McCann received a bid from Mud Jacking Construction Company in Billings. Using a helical coil, they twist the rod down into the ground at many points around the perimeter of the building. The amount of resistance encountered determines where they stop, and the building is jacked up and stabilized. Mud Jacking Construction bid $34,000 to $37,000 for the project. They will make it as level as possible, but the condition of the building will not allow it to be brought back up to grade. Larry has asked Merle Cherry to give a bid on repairing the building. Merle would contract with Mud Jacking Construction to jack up the slabs. Similar work done by Cherry Construction in several of the buildings around town has been successful. The condition of the building has continued to deteriorate and the engineer from Mud Jacking Construction Company suggested that the problem was caused by moisture. Since the project would take a considerable amount of time to complete, the court offices and the council meetings would need to be moved to another location. The project would only include the building which houses the court offices and the council chambers. Fixing the cracks, painting, carpeting and any other necessary work would be additional costs. Larry mentioned that gutting and remodeling the inside of the building might also be a possibility. As the building moved a considerable amount last year, a decision needs to be made soon regarding the best way to repair it. Solid Waste Rate Study. This year's budget included $7,500.00 for a solid waste rate study and two proposals have been received. Double-Tree bid $3,500 to do a study that would consider the commercial rates, residential rates, operation expenses, and equipment expenses. From this information, they will determine what the rates should be. For $3,500, they would provide a written document, but would not conduct a public hearing or present a report to the council. rv f3 c??- C? Morrison-Maierle, Inc. bid $7,500 to do the rate study. They will look at the same issues, make a presentation to the council and conduct all the public hearings necessary if the rates are raised. Larry will contact Double-Tree to see what their bid would be to include the public hearings and a presentation to the council. Larry will also discuss this with Joe Leckie. Management Audit Proposal for the Public Works Department. Ken Haag Consulting is available to do a Management Audit on the Public Works Department. Mr. Haag will consider such things as organization, personnel management, planning, finance, risk management, communication, records, emergency management, safety, and technical operations. Technical operations include engineering, street maintenance, solid waste, water, wastewater, storm water, parks, maintenance, equipment, building maintenance, and traffic operations. These ideas are included in the American Public Works Association Management Practices. Mr. Haag is proposing to conduct an initial review of the department and give a verbal presentation for $500.00. A written presentation would cost an additional $250.00. Mr. Haag completed a similar study for the City of Columbus, and Larry will get a copy of their study. Larry discussed the need for direction in the selection of a consultant for major projects such as the intake. Ken Haag would be willing to be the consultant at a fee of $70.00 an hour and $31.5 per mile. He has done some similar projects where he basically became the city engineer. If we had hired him as our city engineer on the water plant project, there would have been continuity throughout the project. The committee discussed the need for having continuity and direction from an independent person from the beginning to the end of a large project. Both Gay and Miles expressed their approval of using Mr. Haag for these purposes. Motion by Gay Easton to approve the Management Audit for the Public Works Department for $750.00 and hiring of Mr. Haag for consulting at the intake pier, seconded by Ken Olson. Motion carried. Update of paving project. After JTL completed the paving project, they submitted a bill for an extra $3,000 because of the condition of the ditch where the pipe is located. Larry forwarded the bill to Morrison-Maierle and told them to forward it to Gray Construction with the stipulation that • 2 s the city has no intention of paying the bill. We will take it out of the $11,000 that is being held from Gray Construction. Larry said that it is their problem, not ours. This summer, JTL will be doing the chip sealing on the streets they contracted from the Highway Department, and they told Larry that the city could tie on to that work for chip sealing. Larry will bring it to the committee when JTL submits a bid. The committee discussed the possibility of having JTL or the city crew complete the chip sealing this summer. Larry explained that the crew has a lot of work to do this summer, including flushing the water system. It has been several years since the system has been flushed and the chlorine residuals have all been taken off the main line. Flushing the water system will not be cheap, easy, or quick. In the residential neighborhoods, it will have to be done at night when people are not using the water. Parking requirements. Larry explained that he wants to offer the downtown businesses a one-year moratorium on requiring the installation of drainage if business owners will pave their parking spaces. Video Library currently has the only parking lot with an underground drainage system. Several months ago, the council gave Larry the authority to decide the parking issues, mainly the number of spaces per business. He is now requiring one parking space for every 400 square feet of business space and anticipates that this will work until someone decides to build something such as a theatre in town. Larry's main goal in offering a one-year moratorium of the drainage requirement is to get the business owners to pave their parking lots, which will improve the overall appearance of the City of Laurel. A one-year moratorium will not be offered for any other parking requirements. Larry will need to define specific boundaries for the area involved. Miles said that there has been some confusion regarding parking requirements at the City- County Planning Board meetings as some individuals think there is a moratorium on all parking requirements. Miles stated that the issues should be resolved so the requirements are specific. Larry explained that he has allowed the parking requirements to be one space for every 400 square feet of business space, instead of one space for every 200 square feet. He said that the new Ricci's store would be required to provide 2,500 parking spaces if he went by the original requirement, and that number of parking spaces would be unnecessary. Motion by Miles Walton to recommend that the council approve a one-year moratorium on the drainage requirements for paving of parking lots with the specific downtown area boundaries identified, seconded by Bill Staudinger. Motion carried. 3 Electrical at Thomson Park. Ace Electric's price for installation of permanent electrical wiring at Thomson Park is $3,500, but they have not submitted a bid for temporary electrical work. This issue will have to be discussed at the next meeting on June 7tn Unscheduled items. Some citizens have expressed concern about the 70 M.P.H. speed limit sign that is posted on Yard Office Road. Only a nighttime speed limit was posted on that road previously. Since the 70 M.P.H. speed limit is not safe for that area, the state is going to reconsider it. According to the maps, the north half of the boundaries from Alder Avenue to Locust Avenue are in the city limits and the south half is out of the city limits. This presents a jurisdictional problem with the Police Department. From Locust Avenue down to the end of Alder Ridge Trailer Court, the boundary of the city limits is both north and south of the highway. The boundary needs to be either on the north or the south side, and the Highway Department is going to review it. A traffic study will be done on Airport Road soon. The stop sign at the alley exit from the high school was removed and needs to be replaced. The Thomson Park bathrooms were vandalized last week, and there was also some vandalism done at the batting cage. The meeting was adjourned at 8:03 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Cindy Allen City Council Secretary LJ 4