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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPublic Works Committee Minutes 01.10.2000 MINUTES PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE JANUARY 10, 2000 7:00 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS MEMBERS PRESENT; Chairman Gay Easton Gary Temple Mark Mace Lorraine Craig Bud Johnson Ed Steffans OTHERS PRESENT: Larry McCann Jeanette Koch Chuck Rodgers Clint Reynolds Travis Elliott - 20 5th Avenue. Travis Elliott did not attend the meeting. Jeanette Koch explained that Travis Elliott purchased 20 5t~ Avenue. This residence had been turned off.for delinquency and the total bill is $410.55. He purchased the property in November 1999 but did not sign up for services until January 5, 2000. Title companies often call for information on outstanding bills regarding proper~y that is being sold. However, we did not receive a call on this property and were not given the opportunity to report the outstanding bill. When Travis signed up for services, Jeanette called Security Title, but they said that it was too late to do anything about the delinquent bill. Travis was informed of the delinquent $269.85 sewer and garbage amount, and that the amount would be charged to his property taxes if we are unable to collect it from the seller. The state gives us the right to charge unpaid sewer and garbage charges to the property owner's taxes, but the city charges off.the unpaid water amounts as our loss. Travis objected to having those charges put on his taxes. Jeanette stated that she would provide Mr. Elliott with copies of the ordinances that allow the city to charge the unpaid charges to the property owner's taxes. Sunhaven Trailer Park update. Clint Reynolds, the owner of the Sunhaven Trailer Park, attended the meeting. Bud Johnson and Ed Steff.ans were on the committee to review this situation. Bud explained that Mr. Reynolds had previously inquired about the possibility of providing his own garbage collection service in the trailer park. Clint had indicated that no large item pickup service was provided for the trailer park residents, but the city does provide this service twice a year. The large containers that are presently in the trailer park need some maintenance. Larry McCann stated that the smaller containers are available and would allow once-a-week pickup service. Sunhaven Lane and Pine Lane are private streets. The necessary information about these streets was not available for this meeting. Public Works Committee minutes of January 10, 2000 Originally, k was estimated that only seven canisters were available in the park, but that estimate has been changed to fourteen units, bringing the number of available containers to a similar amount found throughout the cky. The questions being considered are whether or not the city is willing to change the ordinance to allow this area to provide its own garbage pickup, the private street situation, and the maintenance of the larger canisters or consideration regarding changing to the smaller canisters. Mr. Reynolds stated that his lighter garbage truck would cause less wear and tear on the streets. Clint will be out of town for a length of time, but he would like to be involved in this process. Gary Temple stated that the primary question is whether or not the City of Laurel wants to be in the garbage business. Bud stated that addressing this issue would definitely be an uphill process. Leases - Riverside Park. There was no discussion on the leases at Riverside Park. Water and sewer rate adiustments. Duke Nieskens has been working on the water and sewer rates. Midwest Technical Assistance. Midwest Technical Assistance will be here next week to provide assistance in setting the water and sewer rates. Garbage rate - Double Tree. Double Tree will be here on Wednesday, January 12m, and they plan to make a presentation to the City Council at the next meeting. Closure of 8th Street, 1st Avenue to the alley, for basketball games. Larry has authorized the closing of 8th Street from 1st Avenue to the alley behind Pennsylvania Avenue for the basketball tournament scheduled at the high school on January 17th - 19m. The Police Department and the Police Reserves will be manning the barricades. Grant reiection - EPA. The $300,000 grant application that Beartooth RC&D assisted the city with has been denied. RFP for engineering services. The $17,500 grant fi.om DNRC for infiltration studies on the sewer system usually requires a request for proposals for engineering services for the grant. Larry convinced them that we 2 Public Works Committee minutes of January 10, 2000 needed to combine the engineering services on the street work and the infiltration study in the request for proposals. Larry wants Ken Haag, the retired Public Works Director for the City of Billings, to be involved in the process of selecting an engineer and contract. Larry emphasized that the contract should be in favor of the City of Laurel, not the particular engineer. In order to avoid the problems that were encountered at the Water Treatment Plant, Larry wants to make sure that the contract requires the original contractor to finish the project. New iet rod truck. Training has begun on the new jet rod track and will continue for the next three days. Pickups. The Fire Inspector is presently driving the new pickup. Larry will present a proposal to the Budget/Finance Committee regarding pickup type vehicles. He wants the downtown employees to use the new trucks for several years before they go to the shop. Issues regarding the Enterprise and General Funds will be addressed. R. H. Grover. R. H. Grover, the contractor for the Water Treatment Plant Project, has filed for mediation over the lawn seeding and the chemical suits and his disagreement regarding the amount of materials he had to move. These were old change orders that he had accepted, but now he says that he was not treated fairly. Morrison-Maierle recommended that we deny Grover's request, and Grover threatened with mediation. Bureau of Mines. The Bureau of Mines is scheduled to pump the test wells at the park at 8th and Elm for two days. Larry requested that the exhaust from the generator used would point away from the houses in that area. Proiect Impact Grant. Project Impact will be the topic of the next Joint City/County meeting scheduled for Wednesday, th February 16 , at 5:30 p.m. at the Locomotive Restaurant. Larry explained that this grant money is designated for projects that are tied to disaster. Larry gave examples of cities that have used similar grant money for disaster related projects. The agenda for the Joint City/County meeting will include the Project Impact Grant, the City of Laurel's water intake, flooding in the Yellowstone Valley east of Laurel, and the selection of a steering committee for the grant writer. The county has compiled a job description for the position, including the requirement of being a grant writer. The coordinator would be paid out of the grant money and would work for Yellowstone County during the two-year temporary position. 3 Public Works Committee minutes of January 10, 2000 Larry stated that Project Impact involves a tremendous amount of work. Cities that did not hire someone for the position have not accomplished much, but those that did hire someone are making great progress. This grant money can be used as a match for other grants. Larry recently stopped the sandbagging process that was being done for community service. Larry showed the committee a video regarding the Project Impact Grant. Casa Linda Circle curb and ~utter issue. Mark Mace will schedule a meeting with the committee (Mark Mace, Gary Temple, Marvin Carter, Lorraine Craig, Dave Yeager and Dave Fisher) to discuss possibilities regarding the curb and gutter issue at Casa Linda Circle. Mark explained a modification of a retrofit driveway that allows a contractor to tear out the curb and one foot of sidewalk behind the curb and then build a ramp in that section, thereby moving the ramp out of the flow line. Mark explained that developers used the California curb because it allowed the property to be marketable to more people because the style of house and location of the garage was not affected by the curb. The cost of the curb was not necessarily the issue when this type of curb was installed. Rules and ReRulations. The utility billing issues in the rules and regulations are still being addressed. The meeting adjourned at 7:53 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Council Secretary 4