Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutPublic Utilities Committee Minutes 06.07.1999MINUTES JOINT PARKS, PUBLIC UTILITIES, AND STREET AND ALLEY COMMITTEES JUNE 7, 1999 7:00 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS PRESENT: Gay Easton Bill Staudinger Miles Walton Ken Olson Bud Johnson Jeanette Koch Andy Loebe Duke Nieskens Mark Mace Ken Miller (Lions Club) Ernie Freund (Rod and Gun Club) Chairman Gay Easton opened the meeting. Lions Club Project to develop fishe at South Pond. Gay informed Ken Miller that the city received a notice that the Lions Club's insurance liability policy expired on April 15th. The club has discussed obtaining an ongoing liability insurance policy since their work will continue for an undetermined length of time. Ken will check on the status of their insurance. Gay said that liability at the park should be included in the city's blanket insurance policy after the park is annexed into the city. At the first meeting on December 2, 1998, Cal Cumin, several Lions Club members, and the city discussed the set guidelines and the liability involved in the South Pond Project. Cal Cumin explained that three separate projects are being done at South Pond. Because the $114,000 CTEP Project is very rigidly defined, it is separate from everything else and cannot be combined with any other project. This project includes installing irrigation, a beach, fencing, parking areas, and ADA qualified sidewalks. The $12,000 Fish, Wildlife and Parks Grant is for the development of a 4t/z-foot wide base for a trail. The Lions Club has already done some of this work, but the FWP grant is flexible. The match for this grant is the time, labor and expertise provided by Larry McCann and the Lions Club. The projects being done by the Lions Club are separate from both of those grants. Cal's concern is that, if any of the other activities are brought under the CTEP Grant, they will have to conform to the requirements for highway construction. Mayor Rodgers had asked Gay to appoint a steering committee to work with the Lions Club on the project and to report back to the council. Gay appointed Lorraine Craig and Miles Walton to work with him on the steering committee. Gay asked Ken Miller to appoint a committee from the Lions Club to work with the city's steering committee. Ken said that he would work with a committee but would like to have a person to contact regarding questions. He explained that it is difficult to define a specific schedule when volunteers are doing the labor. Gay said that the city's liabilities need to be protected and decisions need to be considered and discussed. There was considerable discussion between Miles, Gay and Ken regarding the development of the need for direction for the work at the pond. Miles wants better communication between the Lions Club and the city, and he would like to have a written schedule of the time frame projected to complete the various projects. 1 w ? c.? Ken explained that the basics have been clearly defined, and the decisions have been made with input from many individuals, not just one person. He wants to have a go-between person to make some judgments, and said that the city engineer makes those kinds of decisions regularly. Ken said that the Lions Club is unified in their goal to complete the South Pond project, but volunteer help cannot necessarily be completed by a certain date. Miles said that the Lions Club needs to understand that the South Pond will have the Lions name on it, but it will be a city park when it is complete. It will be annexed into and governed by the city. The city has to be concerned with liabilities and the progress of the project, and Miles asked for better communication between the club and the city. Ken explained that the Lions Club considers this to be a very important project. He said that the city owns the park, but this is a Lions project. If it does not remain a Lions project, they do not want to continue to put time and energy into it. A Lions project is something that the Lions can be proud of and say that they developed. The Lions Club understands that the City of Laurel owns the park, and they are willing to put the required time and energy into the project. But they want it to be recognized as a Lions project and a Lions park. At the conclusion of the discussion, Ken appointed Roger Perkins, Steven Kops and himself to the Lions Club committee. Gay will set up a date for a meeting of both committees. Annexation of Laurel Lions Family Park. • Joe Leckie is working on the process of annexing South Pond into the City of Laurel. There will be language included to clarify how the park will be handled after annexation. The South Pond annexation will be on the June 15th council agenda. Gay expressed concern over the ADA requirements that would be necessary at the park. Ken Miller said that a curb, railing, cable or rope could be installed to provide safety. Larry is checking on the ADA requirements. Cal explained that the ADA requirement is to provide disadvantaged people with the same opportunities available to those who are not disadvantaged. Cal said that the liability caused by deep water is the same all over the county because there are deep drop-offs at many places in the Yellowstone River. Cal said that the availability of the equal opportunity is more important to the ADA than the liability involved. Update of 4th of Jul participation b Public Works Department. Andy Loebe reported that 30 port-a-pots have been ordered for the 4th of July. Two handicapped accessible port-a-pots will be located on the east side of the high school next to the building. The port-a-pots will be placed along the boulevards but kept out of the park. The 300-gallon garbage cans will be located on East 8th Street, Wyoming Avenue and East 6th Street. There will be some cans north of the swimming pool along the fence, but no cans will be placed on First Avenue. There will be a Car Show in the Ricci's lot, and the city will put garbage cans and port- a-pots around that lot. The cans will be located on the curb, not on the private property. 2 Andy distributed a map and explained which locations have been sold to profit and non-profit M organizations. The firemen will be using the shelter this year. Electricity will be available in some locations. The Chamber of Commerce parade is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. on the 4th. Ken Olson mentioned that the Ministerial Association would be sponsoring a rock band from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Barry Linn will be providing a local talent show from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. The Fire Department's program will begin at 6:00 p.m. East Sixth from First Avenue to Pennsylvania Avenue will be blocked off, and a tentative agreement has been reached with the Boy Scouts to man the barricades. Eighth Street will be blocked off from First Avenue to Wyoming Avenue. There will be less vehicular traffic inside Thomson Park this year and the emergency services will be parking along the streets, rather than in the park. A key that would open the elementary school, the high school and possibly the middle school will be available at the command post in case of an emergency that would require getting people under cover. An area on the school property will be fenced off to provide a reserved handicapped area. The applications for the non-profit and profit organizations stipulate that vendors will be able to go into the park until 10:00 a.m. They will not be allowed to set up vending units after 10:00 a.m. or to tear down their units before 7:00 p.m. Vendors would be allowed to tear down their units between 7:00 and 9:00 p.m. If they are not out by 9:00 p.m., they will be required to remain in the park until the program is finished. Clean up is scheduled for Monday, July 5th. Sweeping District contract with the state - fee and area increase. The state currently pays the City of Laurel about $2,000 per year to sweep South First Avenue and parts of East and West Main Street. Larry wants to increase the sweeping to three times per year and the fee to $5,000 per year to extend the sweeping area on South First Avenue down to the south side of the bridge by Riverside Park and back up South First Avenue. The state would continue to sweep up the sand on the road once a year. Larry will contact the state about this. Compost project status. Duke Nieskens reported that the sampling of the sludge has been completed. The results have been faxed to the engineer who is representing Fox Lumber. Report on 12-month acceptance inspection of water storage tank coatin . The inspection of the coating on the water storage tank is finished and has been accepted. Duke showed the committee a portion of the video that was made during the inspection, and he also distributed copies of the written reports. There was an average of 1/8" of sediment, consisting mainly of silt, on the bottom of the tank. There was some sand and small debris around the inlet. The interior plumbing looked to be in good condition. The inlet, outlet, and overflow all had some corrosion, but the amount was minimal. The interior coating was in good condition. Minor rust nodules and uniform corrosion were evident, but these areas were in no more than .01% of the reservoir. Overall, the condition of the reservoir was in good condition. 3 0 Violation letter at the Wastewater Treatment Plant. Duke distributed copies of the violation letter that was received on May 14`h and the letter he sent to the DEQ on May 14th. The letter explained that "the reason for exceedence regarding removal for BOD 5-Day and TSS is either ground water or storm water infiltration into the City sanitary sewer system or a combination of both. Since my arrival as Utilities Plant Superintendent, September 14, 1998, I have been collecting data and graphing it out for presentation to the City Council for budgeting on I & I study to be performed by an approved engineering firm so we have a definite direction towards solving this problem either by plant expansion or collection system corrections." The letter also explained the steps that were taken to correct the other violations addressed in the letter. The chlorination system is old and is manually operated, which makes it difficult to keep the correct levels. Duke is currently doing cost comparisons for retrofitting system or replacement with an alternative disinfection system. Ground water problems at Water Treatment Plant. Duke explained that the excessive ground water at the Water Treatment Plant is creating problems with new parts of the plant. The problem increased after the new transmission lines were installed across the ditch. Duke and Larry are considering different options to fix the problem, including lining the ditch with bentonite or installing pumps. Complaint from Mr. Bob Robinson on Thomae Lumber using Washington Street as an unloading area. The company has ruined the section of Washington Avenue that is by their business location. The City Council had previously passed an ordinance allowing unloading of freight at this location. With the present ordinance, it appears that the city will have to bear the cost of the repairs, but we will ask Thomae to pay the difference. If the road is repaired as normal, it would still not support a forklift and the repair would have to be done every few years. It might be necessary to dig out that section of the street, rebuild the base and put hot mix asphalt at six inches thick. The ordinance should be changed or rescinded. If this is allowed, then the business receiving the privilege should be required to construct the area to support the equipment used. Gay said that the highways have a weight limit and suggested that we should do the same on the city streets. Gay suggested that a committee should consider the present ordinance to see if it should be rewritten so that the problem can be resolved. The committee will consist of Bill Staudinger, Mark Mace and Bud Johnson as Chairman. Miles suggested that the committee should talk with Mr. Thomae about the problem. The committee will discuss the problem again at the next meeting. Log Cabin update. The work at the Log Cabin is in progress. Some of the windows were rotted out and needed to be replaced. This cost was not in the original estimate. The power drop connection to the building for part of Firemen's Park is direct from the pole without meter or breakers. This cost 4 C was not in the original estimate either. To clean up the appearance, the lawn sprinkler control box will be moved to the rear of the building. Andy recently observed that the sewer hookup needed to be replaced. The estimated cost for these extras is $5,500.00. Cal indicated that the money could come out of the latest CTEP funds. Sign at Riverside Park. Ernie Freund, Laurel Rod and Gun Club, asked about the sign at Riverside Park. Ernie said that their lease does not require the club to care for the sign. Andy explained that Carl is concerned because the boards on the sign are rotten and the steelwork is rusted. When Jim Flisrand worked for the city, he told Andy that the state would install a new sign after completion of the bridge project. No sign has been installed yet. Larry, Carl and Andy decided that the clubs had built and erected the sign because it lists all of their names. The present sign is going to be torn down. Carl will explain this to the clubs and ask them if they want to participate in installing a new sign. At a previous Park Committee, there was discussion about installing a directory sign that would explain the location of each club. The sign would be placed just before the fork in the road inside the park. The meeting was adjourned at 8:42 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Cindy Allen Council Secretary 5