HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Workshop Minutes 07.09.2019MINUTES
CITY OF LAUREL
CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP
TUESDAY,s 1
A Council Workshop was held in the Council Chambers and called to order by Mayor Tom Nelson
at 6:30 p.m. on July 9, 2019.
_x Emelie Eaton _x Heidi Sparks
x Bruce McGee x Richard Herr
_ Scot Stokes x Iry Wilke
x Richard Klose x Bill Mountsier
OTHERS PRESENT:
Kurt Markegard, Public Works Director
Public Input:
There were none.
General Items:
There were none.
Executive Review
1. Ordinance - An Ordinance Amending Title 2, Chapters 2.10.030 And 2.10.040 Of The
Laurel Municipal Code For The Purpose Of Changing The Regular Meeting Day Of The
City Council.
Mayor Nelson stated that historically Council has met on Tuesdays. This ordinance would
move the meetings to Monday and change the weeks the Council meetings are held.
Currently, the Council meeting is held the first and third Tuesdays of the month. The
Workshops are held the second and last Tuesdays of the month. This can lead to three-
week lead time on items getting on Council. The proposed change would place Workshops
on the first and third weeks of the month with the City Council meetings on the second
and fourth weeks.
Recently Council choose to place a Council Member on the Library Board. Library Board
meets on Tuesdays and would conflict with Council. Moving the meeting to Monday
would eliminate this conflict.
It was questioned if it is necessary to change the meeting to Mondays. It was further
questioned if there will be other conflicts such as the Emergency Services Committee and
Public works Committee which both meet on Mondays. It was clarified that those
meetings could meet earlier to be done in time for the Council. It was stated that the
Emergency Services Committee moved their start time to 6:00 P.M. to accommodate those
getting off work, that there could be a potential conflict in moving the start time up. It was
also stated that both the Emergency Services Committee and Public Works Committee
could last more than an hour.
It was questioned what the change would be for the weeks. It was clarified that Council
would move to the second and fourth weeks with Workshops being the first and third
weeks.
Council Member Sparks stated she has a prior commitment on the second Monday of
every month starting in September through May.
Council Member Eaton stated that the Library Board was scheduled to meet this evening.
It was canceled because there would be no quorum.
It was stated if the biggest factor is to minimize lead time on agenda items changing
Council and Workshop weeks makes since but continue meeting on Tuesdays. There are at
least two committees who would need to rearrange their schedules to accommodate this
change. It was further stated that there are quite a few holidays on Mondays. For example,
Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, MLK Day, Presidents Day, [and Memorial
Day]. That is at least five months where the meeting would need to be moved to
accommodate the holiday.
Mayor Nelson stated he would pull this item for further discussion. Council stated they
were not sure what further discussion would accomplish. This Council Member stated he
has written down two valid reasons to move the meetings to Mondays, while at least four
reasons not too. They did not see the validity to move the meetings to Mondays. The
Mayor clarified he did not have an issue with this ordinance being rewritten and discuss
further.
No Council Members voiced concerns over swapping the weeks for Council and
Workshop. Some Council Members stated they had no issues with the meetings being
moved to Mondays.
2. Resolution - Resolution Approving Change Order No. 3 To The Contract For The City Of
Laurel's WWTP Sludge Dewatering Facilities And Authorizing The Mayor To Sign All
Change Order Documents On The City's Behalf.
Kurt Markegard, Public Works Director, and Doug Whitney, KLJ, stated these change
orders are for the digester cleaning at the dewatering facility. These are items that were not
planned on but did expect to run into issues as the condition of the digesters was unknown
at the start of the project. Change Order No. 3 is in regards to digester A. It was emptied
and inspected. The City was not able to pump down as much as anticipated. The
Contractor pumped down the rest of the way. Change Order No. 3 addresses the labor
costs to do this. This change order is for $30,344.76 and an increase of 23 days.
It was questioned if this work had been completed already. It was clarified that the work
had been completed that a work directive was signed in April for this work to be
completed. The portion that was non -disputed was paid previously.
3. Resolution - Resolution Approving Change Order No. 4 To The Contract For The City Of
Laurel's WWTP Sludge Dewatering Facilities And Authorizing The Mayor To Sign
Doug Whitney, KLJ, stated this change order has three parts.
Part one was an increase of $1,200 and zero days for a pump pressure sensor.
Part two is the time it to repair the steel in digester A. It took an additional 34 man-hours
to repair the steel in digester A. This is a cost increase of $2,050.36 and one additional
day.
Part three is for the disputed compensation for extra pumping efforts. The negotiated
agreement is $42,803.44 and an increase of nine days.
There was discussion regarding the other bid on this contract. Even with the change
orders, this project still carne in under the bid of the other contractor. The total change
order total for the project is $11 Ok.
The sludge was more compact than expected. Prior to bringing in additional pumping
equipment, crews were adding water and hauling out by the bucket load.
Both digesters had differences. The last time they were brought down for maintenance was
in the early 2000s. With the upgrades to the water treatment plan, more filament is ending
up in the drying basins where before it was sent into the river. The new screwpress will
allow for the digesters to be brought down for regular maintenance. There is a truck that is
parked under the shoot from the screwpress. When it is full, it goes to the landfill. The
City is hauling less water to the landfill, with the rate increase at the landfill this process
should help reduce the cost.
It was questioned if the City needs the drying beds. It was clarified; when it is too cold to
use the screwpress, they will use the drying beds. The water remaining in the sludge will
cause it to stick to the truck. There is a shelter above where the truck is parked. This is to
assure that rain does not rehydrate the sludge.
It was questioned how many loads are taken to the dump each day. It was clarified that it
is a 20 -yard container. When it is full, it is taken to the dump. Each drying bed holds
approximately 10 loads. The old process required a lot of manpower. It required the
turning of the sludge to attempt to get equal drying rates. It also required the sludge to be
moved from the drying bed to the truck to be hauled to the landfill. This process should
reduce the manpower needed to complete this process.
Council Issues
4. Website Update
The Mayor asked for clarification on what the Council would like an update on.
Council clarified they would like to have a status update on this project. There had been
discussions of the website going live in March/April timeframe with the final update of
July 1 St.
The Mayor stated the website was being held up by the bill pay option. It was decided to
move forward and add that functionality when it is ready to go live. Former CAO Jensen
was in charge of the website at the time. The website designer was Drew Schug. The new
web designer needs access to the URL to go -live. The Mayor was able to get ahold of
Drew for the information to access the URL. In the future, there will be two or three
contacts from the City. The Mayor stated he anticipated the go -live to occur within the
next 30 days and that he will update Council further when an update is available.
Other Items:
There were none.
Review of Draft Council Agendas:
5. Review Draft Council Agenda, July 16, 2019.
Mayor Nelson stated that the Ordinance changing meeting weeks without changing the
days would be on the agenda.
Attendance at Upcoming Council Meeting:
Announcements:
6. Recognition of Employees
Mayor Nelson recognized the employees and volunteers for their years of service. He also
stated after the first of the year, the recognition of employees will become correspondence.
Council stated the fireworks show was awesome. They thanked the Fire Department for
their hard work. Council also stated that would all the guests that came to town for the
fourth, peace and order was kept. It was another successful 4th of July.
There will be unaccompanied ceremony for two internments at the National Cemetery at
noon on July 10, 2019. On July 17, 2019, at noon, there will be a ceremony for the
dedication of the Pearl Harbor Veterans Memorial Highway.
The next Public Works Committee will be July 15, 2019, at 6:00 p.m. in the Council
Conference Room.
It was stated that a schedule of the upcoming meetings used to be located at the bottom of
the agenda. It was clarified that there is a hyperlink at the bottom of each agenda that links
to the schedule.
The council workshop adjourned at 7:27 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Brittney Moorma
Administrative Assistant
NOTE: This meeting is open to the public. This meeting is for information and discussion of the Council for the listed workshop
agenda items.