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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPublic Works Committee Minutes 03.12.2001 MINUTES PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE MARCH 12, 2001 5:00 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman Gay Easton Mark Mace Bill Staudinger Marvin Carter Dan Meal's John Oakes OTHERS PRESENT: Larry McCann Paul Thomae Chuck Rodgers Jeanette Koch Matt Erekson Ken Olson (6:13 p.m.) Paul Thomae - unloadine A letter was recently received from Thomae Lumber. Gay reviewed the events regarding this issue. On November 29, 2000, the Public Works Committee voted to recommend rescinding the loading zone at Thomae Lumber. On January 2, 2001, the council held a public hearing on the loading zone. The Public Works Committee discussed the public hearing issues at the January 8th meeting. On Janua,l~ 16th, the council was informed as to the progress but no decisions were made. On January 8 , the following motions were made at the Public Works Committee meeting: Motion by Gary Temple to recommend that the council approve a loading zone for Thomae Lumber on Washington and Wyoming Avenues, requiring the use of cones, barricades or signage to be placed from the alley south to Main Street, and to allow Paul Thomae to cut the curb for an approach and install a gate from Washington to his property and requiring completion of the work by June 1~t, seconded by Bill Staudinger. Motion by Gary_ Temple to amend his motion to require Thomae Lumber to add the City of Laurel as an additional insured on their liability insurance and to require an annual review of the loading zone agreement, seconded by Bill Staudinger. A vote was taken on the amendment to the original motion. Motion carded. This recommendation was made to the council and accepted by the council. There are currently some insurance concerns. Matt Erekson has reviewed the insurance policy and stated that the City of Laurel has been named as an additional insured on the policy. Matt was assured by Thomae's attorney and the insurance agent that the city is automatically covered with their blanket $1 million policy. Matt stated that forklifts are not covered when off the property, although the attorney and agent have assured him that they would be covered. Matt's main concern is to review a specific section of the policy that states that forklifts would be covered once they left the property. Forklifts are exempt from coverage as vehicles. The insurance documents that Matt has reviewed indicate that forklifts are non-covered vehicles and are not covered outside their property lines. Public Works Committee minutes of March 12, 2001 Paul Thomae stated that the forklifts have a slow-moving vehicle license. Gay stated that the ordinance was rescinded with a 30-day effective period, and the council extended that to allow an additional 90 days, which ends June 1~t. The work to cut the curb for an approach and install a gate needs to be complete by that date. Mr. Thomae agreed that it would be done. Matt referred to the Business Auto Coverage Form section of the insurance policy. This section did not include mobile equipment, and forklifts are included in the mobile equipment that is not covered when used on the street. Matt stated that he needed direction to a specific statement in the policy regarding coverage of forklifts when used on the street. Mr. Thomae will have his insurance agent contact Matt. Gay stated that safety and liability are the main concerns in this issue. Gay told Paul Thomae to continue to use signs and cones while unloading and to work with Larry on proper construction of the approach and fence. Paul Thomae and Matt Erekson left the meeting at this time. MDU - meter reading proposal The MDU representative did not attend the meeting. Larry stated that MDU reads meters in several cities primarily in North Dakota. They presently have proposals in Joliet, Bridger and Columbus. MDU is not presently doing automatic reads, but plan to do so in the future. At that time, MDU would like to read water, electric, and gas meters at the same time. Their proposal includes three phases: read only with the city doing the calculations and billings; reading, billing, and mailing with the payments sent to the city; reading, billing, mailing, and payments sent to their office with a check written to the city each month for the total amount. MDU would read each meter on the same day of each month. MDU has installed a high-powered paper handling system that reads the amount of the payment, issues the receipt, opens the envelope, inserts the next bill and seals the next envelope. Larry stated that one-third to one-half of the city's water bills are paid in person in the water office. Jeanette reminded the committee that a substantial amount of money was recently spent on a new utility billing system and cash receipting system. Larry estimated a cost of $1,700 for three employees to spend three days reading all of the meters in the City of Laurel each month. This often requires that other projects be put on hold during those three days. A drive-by automated read system for the City of Laurel would cost approximately $260,000. This system would require one day for one man to read all of the city's meters. Public Works Committee minutes of March 12, 2001 Most cities read water meters every other month or on a quarterly basis. Larry was unsure if Laurel should read on a quarterly basis, but suggested that reading meters every other month would be feasible. This would save the city money every other month. Donna Hirt - YMCA pool management The City of Laurel donates its $3,000 recreation funds to the YMCA for the summer recreation activity program. Donna Hirt will be submitting a proposal for costs for the YMCA to manage the lifeguard program at the pool this summer. Larry told Donna that there could be no change in the costs. This would free up the Public Works Department's responsibilities in this area. The YMCA is proposing longer hours, more activities, and family hours at the pool. Pool recommendation The estimated cost to replace the pool floor with a cement floor would be $44,591. Another option would be to install a bladder in the pool at a cost of $43,697. Sand would be put in the bottom of the pool and the bladder would be sprayed in. Since the gutter in the pool is hooked directly to the sewer system, it would be filled in at a cost of $4,786. Mr. Gillespie, the contractor at the pool, is not certified to spray the bladder. Larry insisted that a certified person spray the bladder to ensure a warranty on it after installation. The bladder is made of a PVC material that is not sensitive to the sun and would have a 20-year warranty. The pool is scheduled to open on June 15th. Motion by Marvin Carter to approve the bladder for the swimming pool if it is feasible, seconded by Mark Mace. Motion carried. Rules and Regulations The committee had opportunity to review one section of the Rules and Regulations after it was distributed at the last committee meeting. Dan Mears pointed out three areas that needed further review: angle parking, septic tanks, and lift stations. The next fifteen chapters of the Rules and Regulation will address the technical areas. Larry will mail copies to the committee members for their review. Big Sky State Games Big Sky State Games requested use of Riverside Park on Saturday, July 21~t, from 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon for the 10K and ½ Marathon runs. The runs would start on Thiel Road and proceed to Duck Creek Road. Big Sky State Games would provide their own insurance. Awards would be distributed after completion of the runs. Motion by Bill Staudinger to allow Big Sky State Games to use Riverside Park on Saturday, July 21~t, from 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, seconded by Marvin Carter. Motion carded. Public Works Committee minutes of March 12, 2001 Main Street Urban Highway Program The city applied for the Urban Highway Program funds for improvements on Main Street over a year ago. The $214,000 funds include $186,000 of federal funds, $25,000 of state funds, and $3,019 of local funds. This project is for replacement of curb, gutter, and sidewalk on the north side of Main Street from 1~t Avenue to Ninth Avenue. Motion by Bill Staudinger to accept the proposal, seconded by Marvin Carter. Motion carried. Newsletter- outside information The Drug and Alcohol Task Force has asked to include some information in the next city newsletter. The concerns were whether other organizations would also want to be included, how much information to include, and the costs involved. The committee agreed to allow the information to be included within a restricted amount of space. Motion by Bill Staudinger to allow the Drug and Alcohol Task Force to include information in the city newsletter, not to exceed one-half page, seconded by Marvin Carter. Motion carried. Automatic withdrawal Jeanette explained information received regarding automatic withdrawal. An additional $750 module would need to be purchased from Black Mountain Software for this purpose. Yellowstone Bank would charge a monthly $15.00 fee plus 5¢ per customer for this service. The city would create a file of participating customers and e-mail it to the bank. The bank would collect the appropriate funds from other banks and deposit the funds in the city's account. Jeanette would need to do an additional procedure to post the payments to the appropriate customer's account. Yellowstone Bank's process for a customer to sign up for this service requires a form that includes detailed bank information, a deposit ticket and a voided check. Jeanette has received very few inquiries regarding this service, but she agreed to keep track of any future inquiries. Jeanette stated that this service would require more of her time and it would cost the city for the software plus the monthly fees. This would not benefit the City of Laurel, but would provide a service to some customers. Some committee members suggested explaining this in the newsletter to determine if there is adequate interest. Unscheduled matters Draft Agreement with School District for soccer field Ken Olson presented a draft of the agreement with the school district and the City of Laurel for the soccer field. This would be the first phase of the project and would include the soccer field and the restroom facility and concession stand. Thirty-three requests for grants have been submitted. Phase II would include negotiations for continuation and development of the park. 4 Public Works Committee minutes of March 12, 2001 Motion by Bill Staudinger to accept Phase I of the draf~ agreement with the school district and the City of Laurel for the soccer field, seconded by Mark Mace. The committee discussed that the water would be the responsibility of the city. A vote was taken on the motion and it carded. Fence posts at the high school Bill Staudinger mentioned that the fence posts around the shed by the high school need to be hauled off. He stated that posts needed to be installed in order to keep vehicles out of this area. Parking lot at Riverside Park The Rod and Gun Club requested putting in an additional parking lot in Riverside Park. The committee discussed the issue. The general consensus was that the park should be a people park and not a car park. Motion by Marvin Carter not to allow an additional parking lot in Riverside Park, seconded by Mark Mace. Motion carried, with Bill Staudinger voting nay. The committee discussed the responsibility of the various clubs to maintain the buildings and the grounds in the park. The meeting adjourned at 6:35 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Cindy Allen Council Secretary 5