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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-BPW-1989-01-04BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE Meeting of January 4, 1989 NOTES Present: Commissioners Cannon, Daley, Reeves, Sprague, Stone; Council Liaison Nichols, Supt. Dougherty, Asst. Supt. Fabbroni, City Engr. Gray. The following were additions to the Agenda: 7. Request from RSVP for free parking in Woolworth's parking lot. 8. Election of Vice - Chairman for 1989. 9. Request for Expungement of Water /Sewer late penalty. Commissioner Reeves chaired the meeting. 1. ELECTION OF VICE CHAIRMAN FOR 1989 Commissioner Daley proposed Commissioner Reeves to serve as Vice - Chairman for 1989, Commissioner Sprague seconded, and the BPW decided to prepare a resolution for the next voting meeting. 2. COLLEGETOWN CLEAN -UP Alderperson Sean Killeen was present for discussion on the draft letter to the merchants in Collegetown suggesting their input with dealing with the trash and overall messy condition of this area. Sean tried to make the letter appeal to the merchants' civic pride and the idea of saving money. Commissioner Reeves asked about the paragraph mentioning "trash collection pattern ". Asst. Supt. Fabbroni noted that trash in Collegetown is picked up twice a week since it is a commercial area. Alderperson Killeen noted that many people in this area are renters and feel it is the owner's responsibility. Commissioner Reeves relayed to Alderperson Killeen how the BPW felt about trash under the benches - the City should remove the benches. Commissioner Reeves also noted that the BPW suggested including the City rules and regulations concerning trash with this letter. Alderperson Killeen noted that this letter and suggested meeting was to gather people together to find out what they wanted and try to make them assume some responsibility for this problem. Commissioner Daley noted that the lack of momentum from the BPW is due to the discouraging results they have received from the merchants so far. Commissioner Stone thought this situation could be compared with downtown; regulations were set for the Commons and merchants follow them, why can't rules be enforced in Collegetown? Council Liaison Nichols noted that Collegetown is a mess, and that the City does most of the cleaning on the Commons. Asst. Supt. Fabbroni noted that most of the apartment dwellers in Collegetown use private collection for trash pick -up due to the large volume of trash they have. Asst. Fabbroni also noted that the total clean -up would be difficult due to the recent design and improvements of College Avenue, which also has all -night parking which Downtown doesn't have. Commissioner Sprague suggested regular fines for ones in Collegetown who don't clean -up. Commissioner Reeves referred the BPW back to the letter, and asked if the mayor had seen it, which he hasn't. Discussion followed concerning a new meeting date - January 23rd. Commissioner Reeves asked again about including the City rules with this letter and a schedule on collection days. The BPW felt this was a good idea. Discussion followed about this being a Special Assessment District. The BPW felt the draft letter was okay, and should include the City's rules and regulations and schedule for trash collection, and made a note of the next meeting date with the merchants. 3. DPW STUDY City Engineer Gray noted that the DPW will be getting a new administrator soon, and felt the study would be difficult to do at this time. Commissioner Daley felt that the BPW should take advantage of the experience and knowledge from the people currently in the department and have the study done now. Council Liaison Nichols felt that the two major steps were deciding if the responsibilities of the Superintendent needed revising and if they do not, the new superintendent should do the overall study. Supt. Dougherty told the BPW that the Department of Public Works is pretty much defined. The job description for Superintendent has changed very little - except in his case the licensing requirement was taken out, but Supt. Dougherty noted it could be put back in. Commissioner Reeves wondered if it was really necessary to spend $10,000 to do a formal study. Commissioner Daley felt that this study would be good noting that the sidewalk program is still very unclear. Commissioner Sprague felt that a study would be worthwhile. Commissioner Stone recommended input from Gerry Schickel. Discussion followed about whether $10,000 is enough to do this study, and everyone agreed a consultant would need to be hired. Council Liaison Nichols agreed to do a draft request for proposal to be discussed at the next COW meeting. 4. MEMO FROM ALDERPERSON BOOTH CONCERNING ROUTE 96 DEIS A memo was received from Alderperson Booth asking the City departments to provide comments concerning the Route 96 DEIS. It was noted that the deadline for comments is January 15th. Commissioner Daley felt that enough people have worked on and fine tuned this project, therefore the BPW's comments weren't necessary. Commissioner Reeves agreed, and felt the DEIS was very sufficient. It was decided to leave this project and comments to the people involved. 5. COMMITTEE AND LIAISON ASSIGNMENTS FOR 1989 COW Assignments: Buildings & Properties; Tranist Creeks & Bridges; Parks Highways Parking & Traffic Solid Waste Water & Sewer AUDITS: January- February March -April May -June July- August September - October November- December LIAISON Assignments: Capital Projects Commons Advisory Board Conservation Advisory Council Hydropower Commissioner Planning Board Special Joint Sewer Committee Youth Bureau Six Mile Creek Committee Commissioner Cannon - Commissioner Sprague - Commissioner Daley - Commissioner Reeves - Commissioner Reeves - Commissioner Daley - Commissioner Cannon - Commissioner Sprague - Commissioners Daley & Reeves - Commissioner Cannon ( ? ?) Commisisoner Sprague Commissioner Sprague Commissioner Cannon 6. EXPUNGEMENT OF LATE PENALTY FEE ON WATER /SEWER BILL Commissioner Reeves relayed the complaint she had just received this afternoon from Mary Markovitch of 125 East Falls Street. Ms. Markovitch said that she had left the bill in the night deposit box at City Hall on December 15th (the date due) but found her check sent back to her on December 19th for being late. After checking with the Chamberlain's office, it was determined that the personnel check the night deposit box daily and it was highly unlikely that the payment was there on the 15th. The BPW decided to deny this request for expungement of the late fee of $3.42 from Ms. Markovitch's water /sewer bill. 7. RSVP REQUEST FOR PARKING SPACES IN WOOLWORTH LOT Supt. Dougherty received a request from RSVP asking for 10 to 15 free parking spaces in the Woolworth lot from January 17th tc Possibly the 25th for their tax counselors who will hold workshops in City Hall. Since this would be free parking onl not guarenteeing a space, the BPW agreed to this. y - the BPW is 1989 Committee of the Whole ASSIGNMENTS Buildings & Properties; Transit - Creeks & Bridges; Parks _ Highways Parking & Traffic _ Solid Waste Water & Sewer AUDITS January- February _ March -April _ May -June July- August September - October November- December 7 A 1989 Committee of the Whole LIAISON ASSIGNMENTS Capital Projects _ Commons Advisory Board _ Conservation Advisory Council - Hydropower Commission _ Planning Board _ Special Joint Sewer Committee Youth Bureau Six Mile Creek Committee _ 8. DRYDEN ROAD PARKING GARAGE The BPW reviewed the permit sales at the garage for the past six months. Discussion followed about eliminating the first hour free. Commissioner Reeves wants to leave the first hour free. Commissioner Stone noted that mall parking areas are free. Commissioner Daley felt this would be a good way to generate revenue. It was noted that a downtown parking study will be done. Discussion followed. Commissioner Cannon suggested waiting until the parking study was done and then review this garage again. The BPW agreed, deciding to prepare a resolution to continue with the current parking rates and to restudy the Dryden Road Parking Garage when the parking study is done. 9. PARKING ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM This will be discussed when Mike Malison is present to give his input. Meeting adjourned at 5:50 p.m. Notes by Lisa Cornell Administrative Secretary