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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPublic Works Committee Minutes 10.09.2001 MINUTES PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE OCTOBER 9, 2001 5:00 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman Gay Easton Bill Staudinger Lorraine Craig $ohn Oakes Mark Mace Marvin Car~er OTHERS PRESENT: Larry McCann Steve Klotz Jeanette Koch Vince Ricci Motion by Bill Staudinger to approve the Public Works Committee minutes of September 10, 2001, seconded by Marvin Carter. Marvin Carter mentioned that the September 10t~ minutes stated that Ricci's sewer bill situation was resolved before the meeting, but Vince Ricci was present at this meeting for this issue. A vote was taken on the motion to approve the September 10, 2001 minutes. Motion carried. Water bill - 517 Idaho Jeanette distributed information regarding th/s account. The owner, Joe Hensley, is objecting to the outstanding water, sewer and garbage bill at this property. Mr. Hensley's renter vacated the house in $une and left an outstanding bill of $259.21, and he does not think he should be responsible for the bill. The home remained vacant until September 21~t when a new customer, a prospective buyer, requested services. The customer was informed that the owner had to pay the outstanding bill before services could be turned on. The new customer recently brought in a $217.00 check from Mr. Hensley, and the remaining $42.21 balance will be collected at closing. Pavement Management Program Steve Klotz distributed copies of the "Pavement Management Presentation - Public Works Department" section of the October 2nd council minutes for the committee's review. Alter Steve explained the program, the committee discussed the need for this program and the software to schedule preventive maintenance, rehabilitation, and reconstruction of streets in Laurel. Pro'ect Im act Stud Two proposals were received from the request for proposals for the Project Impact Study to study the Yellowstone River and the existing intake. Proposals were received from HKM and Terracom. Larry has scheduled meetings with the two bidders on Monday, October 15th, at 2:00 and 3:00 p.m. Steve Klotz, Duke Nieskens, Gay Easton, Marvin Carter, Larry McCann, and Jim Kraft are reviewing the proposais and will attend the meetings on the 15~. Jim Kraft is reviewing the proposals, as the study will be tied to the FEMA Project Impact Grant. Larry plans to make a recommendation to the council at the October 16t~ meeting. The study should determine whether the best recommendation to the intake problem would be a second intake or bend way weirs. Colorado Avenue sewer proiect A four-inch service line located in the city's fight-of-way on Colorado Avenue has caused problems and must be replaced. Three bids were received, and AME submitted the low bid of $22,270. The contract v~th AME was approved at the October 2 council meeting A pre-constrnctmn meeting with AME is scheduled for October 154, and work will begin on the 16th or 174. Unscheduled matters Ricci's sewer bill A problem with the compressors in the store during July resulted in a very high water ($760.70) and sewer ($1,665.89) bill. Vince Ricci did not dispute the water charges, but he asked for consideration for the sewer charges. Jeanette explained that the sewer charges for a business are based on the metered water consumption for the month. The committee had a lengthy discussion regarding the situation. Motion by Marvin Carter to recommend a credit of $1,400 on the Ricci's sewer bill, seconded by Bill Staudinger. After further discussion by the committee, Vince stated that $1,000 would be an acceptable amount for the sewer charges. Motion by Lorraine Craig to amend the motion to recommend a charge of $1,000 for the Ricci's sewer bill, seconded by Marvin Carter. Motion carried, with John Oakes voting nay. lohn Oakes stated that the committee needed to have a business attitude when dealing with the taxpayers' money. A vote was taken on the amended motion to charge Ricci's $1,000 for the sewer bill. Motion carried, with John Oakes voting nay. Jeanette asked for clarification of the motion. Ricci's will pay $1,000 of the sewer charges and the remaining $665.89 will be waived. November meeting date Since November 12th is a holiday, the Public Works Committee will meet on Tuesday, November 134, at 5:00 p.m. The meeting was adjourned at 5:53 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Cindy Alle~ Council Secretary CITY HALL 115 W. 1ST ST. PUB WORKS: 628-4796 WATER OFC: 628-7431 URT: 628-1964 AX: 628-2241 City of Laurel P.O. Box 10 wpNP Laurel, Montana 59044 10-4-01 WATER SEWER GARBAGE DEPARTMENT PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Mr. Joe Hensley will be attending the Oct. 9th meeting as the owner of 517 Idaho Av. He is objecting to being responsible for the outstanding water, sewer and garbage bill at his property. Michael Bray was renting 517 Idaho from Joe Hensley. We shut Mr. Bray off in June for a delinquent bill. When we shut the property off, we realized he had vacated without notice and left a bill of $259.21. The utility office called Mr. Hensely and informed him of the outstanding bill on his property. He said he hadn't used the services and was not responsible for the bill. The home remained vacant until 9-21-01 when a new customer (a relative of Hensley's) came in to request services there. We informed the new customer that the owner had to pay the outstanding bill before we could turn the services on. City policy in the past has been if there is an outstanding bill on a property and the property is vacant, the owner is responsible for the bill and has to pay the charges before the service can be restored for someone else. This policy is backed up by our city attorney and our city clerk, as per Montana State Code. If a renter moves out and another moves in at the same time, at that point we have to give the renter moving out time to pay the bill, we can't refuse service to the property at that point. Then if the previous renter does not pay his final bill, the sewer and garbage goes onto the property taxes and the water is generally covered by the deposit. Also, city policy is that if there is an outstanding bill on a property and it is sold, the Title Co. usually does a search on the home and if we have an outstanding utility bill on the property, it is collected by the Title Co. at closing from the seller's funds and sent to the city. The owner is ultimately responsible either to restore service to the property or at closing if he sells. In this case, the new tenants informed the utility office that their closing was in a few days so either way, the money would be collected from Mr. Hensley, the owner. He would have to pay either to restore services or at closing. The new customer broughtin a check from Mr. Hensley for $217.00 and we will collect the remaining $42.21 at closing. The prospective buyers are aware of that. I'm attaching copies of the new rules and regulations which state what our past policy has been. If you have any further questions, please call me at 628-7431 X62. • Thanks for your time, Jeanette City Of Laurel is an EEO Employer Equal Housing Opportunity • 3 INITIATION AND DISCONTINUANCE OF SERVICE 3.1 SERVICE APPLICATIONS REQUIRED A person requesting to establish an account for municipal utility service with the utility shall make written application for such service with the City of Laurel. After approval by the utility, the application to establish an account for utility service shall constitute the agreement between the utility and the customer that the rules and regulations provided herein shall serve as the contract between said parties. Existing customers hereby agree to accept the rules and regulations provided herein as their contract with the utility upon passage of said rules and regulations by the City Council. 3,2 SERVICE APPLICATION PROVISIONS An application to establish an account for municipal utility service shall contain a provision wherein the applicant agrees to pay to the utility all charges for service provided by the utility to the applicant. In addition, it shall contain a provision wherein the applicant agrees to abide by all the City's regulations governing municipal utility service, including the rules and regulations contained herein. 3.3 SERVICE APPLICANTS A person requesting to establish an account for municipal water and/or wastewater service must be the occupant of the property to be served. The service application shall include the name and mailing address of the owner of the property involved. It shall be the responsibility of the property owner to maintain on file with the utility the owner's current mailing, address. The owner of the property shall be held ultimately responsible for payment for utility service regardless of amount used by tenants of rental properties. 3.4 INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED A person requesting to establish an account for municipal utility service shall, upon request by the utility, furnish proper identification, including but not limited to Driver's License Number, or birth date, together with any information necessary to verify identity of applicant and service address, including ownership, tenancy, or relationship of applicant to other present or former customers of the utility at the service address in question. Accounts will be established in the name of the tenant and the owner of the real property. In the event this information, or any other information required to be submitted under these rules and regulations, is not furnished, service to the applicant or service address involved shall be denied or discontinued until such information is provided. In addition, prior to restoring any service, the applicant must first pay to utility any applicable charges for discontinuance and reestablishment of service. 3.5 SERVICE APPLICATION PRE-REQUISITES An application to establish an account for municipal utility service shall be accepted by the utility • only for property that: 3.5.1 Is located within the City limits and the utility's service area; W:\0703\010\Rules and Regsmilities report March 15. 1999 Revised: • 4 TURN ON AND TURN OFF OF SERVICE 41 GENERAL The utility shall not turn the water on at the curb valve to any property until such time as the turn-on account if applicable- T owner and the tenant has established a municipal ? torthe wastewater required under Section 3.1 and, in addition, has p 4.2 utility as OPERATION OF CURB VALVES only authorized representatives of the utility shalmers curb valve unless the customer or an valve. Utility will not turn the water on at a Gusto authorized agent thereof is at the customer's premise at that time to check for open faucets and/or leaking fixtures and plumbing. 4.3 INSPECTION OF METER AND APPURTENANCES REMODELED A water that municipal properly. At the time the water is turned on, a representative ong th ndtto ensureinspec meter in question for evidence of tampering/bypass backflow prevention device and provide All properties shall be required to install ownerapproved 's expense. surge protection devices at the property 4.4 TURN-OFF FOR NONPAYMENT AND/OR NONCOMPLIANCE • recedin anon-working day for The utility normally shall not turn the water off on the day p g non-payment of charges for municipal utility service or for set forth compliance t with these rules and regulations, however, the utility may do so in those cases in Seion 3.8. 4.5 TURN-ON AND TURN-OFF LIABILITY DISCLAIMER ersons or property that may result from the The utility shall not be liable for any damage top provided for in these rules and turning on or turning eftwate ebeing left on when the premise may be unoccupied. regulations or from th 4.6 LANDLORD RESPONSIBILITY al owner of a rental property shall be primarily responsible for the payment in full The re property ertso billed for said water use. Failure of the real of all utility bills generated by the real property ubject the property to termination of property owner to pay the bill as and when rendered will s service, C W:\0703\010\Rules and Regs\utilities report March 115, 1999 Revised: Excerpt of October 2, 2001 Laurel City Council Minutes 0 c. Pavement Management Presentation - Public Works Department. Steve Klotz presented information regarding Pavement and Road Surface Management Concepts. The "pay me now or pay me later" statement applies to road maintenance. Over the long term, good roads cost less than bad roads, if any reasonable level of service is provided and the pavement will respond to preventive maintenance. Steve stressed that pavement must be designed. Because many of our existing local pavements are not designed, Laurel will have a large backlog of pavement work to be done. Our program must retain good roads while repairing poor roads. Pavement management must be based on finding a cost-effective treatment at a given time to give the desired level of service. Pavement management is a decision-making process that includes analysis, research, planning, design and construction. Pavement management software is available as a support tool to help make cost-effective decisions. Pavement management systems primarily address preventive maintenance, rehabilitation, and reconstruction of existing pavement systems. The two levels of pavement management are the network level and the project level, which addresses a specific section of pavement. The network level analysis determines maintenance and rehabilitation needs, funding needs, a prioritized listing of candidate projects, and the impact of the funding options related to the budget process. The purpose of the project level is to develop a cost-effective strategy for original design, maintenance, rehabilitation, and reconstruction for a section of pavement within the imposed constraints. The project level results include determining the cause of the deterioration, identification of feasible strategies, and the selection of the most cost-effective • strategy. Engineers and public works personnel are mainly involved in the project level activities. The elements of the network level include an inventory, condition assessment, determination of fund needs, identification of candidate projects for the funding, determination of the impact of funding decisions on the future condition and fund needs, and the feedback process. Steve stated that pavement management is not a computer program, but it is a method of making decisions. It is important that proper decisions be made regarding maintenance of the 52 miles of streets within the City of Laurel. Montana Public Works recommends using MicroPaver software on a laptop computer for this purpose. The software can be purchased for about $800. Steve emphasized the benefits of pavement management. It is the most efficient use of available resources that provides a method to calculate street infrastructure value to meet government accounting requirements. It provides more accurate and accessible information on the street infrastructure by providing a quantified condition of the network. It allows for tracking performance of treatments and provides supportable needs analysis for funding and the ability to show the impact of funding decisions. Pavement management allows qualification for state and federal street reconstruction grants. It also provides the ability to answer questions from the community, ends the inefficiency of crisis management, gives improved credibility for the city, and provides a sense of satisfaction by knowing that the best possible job is being done with the available resources. Mayor Rodgers thanked Steve for his efforts, and stated that he respected the insight given to the council and fully supported the program. Mayor Rodgers stated that Public Works should purchase the proper software and a laptop computer that is more than adequate for this program. • BID OPENING FOR REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR A STUDY OF THE YELLOWSTONE RIVER AT LAUREL, MONTANA EXISTING INTAKE The bid opening for the Request for Proposals to Study the Yellowstone River and the existing intake at Laurel, Montana was held on Tuesday, October 9, 2001 at 3:3C p.m. in the city clerk's office. Present were Director of Public Works Larry McCann and Clerk/Treasurer Mary Embleton. Two proposals were received: one from HKM, P.O. Box 31318, Billings, MT 59017; and one from Terracom, 2110 Overland, suite 124, Billings, MT 59012. The proposals were taken under advisement. Larry will forward these proposals to the Public Works Committee tonight to ask for a committee to review them. He will also send a copy of each proposal to Jim Kraft, Yellowstone County Disaster and Emergency Services Coordinator as this study will by tied to the FEMA Project Impact grant. It is tentatively scheduled to bring a recommendation to the October 16th council meeting. Respectfully submitted, Mary K. mbleton Clerk/Treasurer r 1 LJ