Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-BPW-1993-04-143611) BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS PROCEEDINGS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK Regular Meeting 4:00 p.m. April 14, 1993 PRESENT: Mayor Nichols Commissioners (6) - Reeves, Brandford, Smith, Tripp, Rusoff, Gerard OTHERS PRESENT; Superintendent of Public korks - Gray Deputy City Controller - Thayer Assistant Superintendent of Streets and Facilities - Ferrel Senior Stenographer - Holcomb Assistant Superintendent of Water and Sewer - Shimer Common Council Liaison - Berg PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Mayor Nichols led all present in the Pledge of Allegiance to the U) American flag. co MINUTES: J Approval of Minutes of the March 10 1993 Board of Public Works m Meeting By Commissioner Rusoff: Seconded by Commissioner Tripp 'Q RESOLVED, That the Minutes of the March 10, 1993 Board of Public Works meeting be approved as published. Carried Unanimously Approval of Minutes of the March 24 1993 Board of Public Works Meeting By Commissioner Rusoff: Seconded by Commissioner Reeves RESOLVED, That the Minutes of the March 24, 1993 Board of Public Works meeting be approved as published. Carried Unanimously ADDITIONS OR DELETIONS TO AGENDA: Buildings Properties and Transit Items Commissioner Rusoff requested the addition of Item 12E - Municipal Pool Construction - Extension of Architect's Contract. No Board member objected. COMMUNICATIONS FROM MAYOR: Retirement of Fire Chief Mayor Nichols announced that he has received a letter from Fire Chief Edward Olmstead stating his intention to retire from the City of Ithaca Fire Department at the end of June after 26 years of service. At the request of the Mayor, Item 12C- Authorization and Agreement for Ithaca Festival was moved ahead to this point in the meeting. BUILDINGS. PROPERTIES AND TRANSIT ITEMS• C. Authorization and Agreement for Ithaca Festival By Commissioner Rusoff: Seconded by Commissioner Tripp WHEREAS, the City of Ithaca and the Ithaca Festival are desirous of entering into an agreement to cover the Festival events June 3 through June 6, 1993, and WHEREAS, the Festival directors have met with City staff including the Police Department, Fire Department and Department of Public Works to review the details of the event, and WHEREAS, the directors of the Ithaca Festival have met with the Board of Public Works to request the use of specific areas and services for the Ithaca Festival; now, therefore, be it 1 R70 April 14, 1993 RESOLVED, That the Board of Public Works approves the agreement with the Ithaca Festival for the following: 1. The closing of the 100 blocks of South Cayuga Street, North Cayuga Street, and West State Street all day Friday, June 4, and Saturday June 5. 2. The use of DeWitt Park on Saturday, June 5 for an art exhibit and a small stage for quiet family entertainment. 3. Supplemental volunteer labor to be provided by the Ithaca Festival for trash collection during all phases of the Festival. 4. Additional items covered by the Agreement between the City of Ithaca and the Ithaca Festival for 1993, said Agreement outlines the details and expectations of both parties including finances, and be it further RESOLVED, That the Mayor be authorized to sign the Agreement on behalf of the City of Ithaca. Mr. Craig Eagleson from Ithaca Festival, Inc., handed out copies of a revised agreement with minor changes that has been approved by Asst. City Attorney Kennedy. Discussion followed regarding trash pick -up from the Festival. A revised final agreement has been attached to the Minutes for the Board members. A vote on the resolution resulted as follows: Carried Unanimously REPORT OF COUNCIL LIAISON• Strand Theater Alderperson Berg reported that Council is negotiating with a developer out of Syracuse for purchase of the Strand Theater. Transit Budget Alderperson Berg reported that he has spoken with the Controller's Office to inquire about the implications to the public works budget, specifically the transit budget of the agreement between the City and the County for payment of services in lieu of equitable payment for shared sales tax revenues. He stated that he was told by the Deputy Controller that the potential relief to the transit budget is in the area of $400,000. He thinks that at some point the Board will want to discuss. how that is going to be affecting our budget. REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT: Superintendent Gray reported to the Board on the following items: water levels - Supt. Gray reported that he has spoken with the Canal Division, which is now a part of the Thruway Authority, and they told him that the discharge from the °lake has been increased by a factor of 4 but Seneca Lake and Cayuga Lake both discharge -to the Seneca River and both lakes are very high and the Seneca River is high and they are trying to do- a.balancing act between who gets damaged. The Canal Division is Koping that they will be able to drop the lake one and one -half inches a day, provided that we do not get a lot more rain. Supt. Gray stated that he believes the water levels are the highest they have been since 1972. April 14, 1993 The City sewers are currently flowing at about 3 times their average daily rate. Normally the average is 7 million gallons a day at the Treatment Plant. At this time the average is 20 million gallons a day. Supt. Gray stated that he believes there will be a lot of additional damage to the Flood C6ntrol Channel because that ground will have been saturated. The banks have been sloughing into the Flood Control Channel for the last 20 years and this latest water problem will compound than. There will be a tremendous clean up expense in Stewart Park once the lake recedes. All of the debris from all of the creeks have washed into the lake and it all ends up at the park. City Hall Duct Cleaning - This work is scheduled for the end of April. LO Tower Road - Nancy Oltz has been put on notice that Tower Road on the Cornell Campus will be closed for approximately two years because of work being done on the ILR School. She is in the M process of working with Cornell to re -route bus routes3and work up D new schedules. .Q Commons Work - Should start back up approximately May 5, 1993. Most of the work left to do is brick repair. Municipal Pool - The contractor is back on site. MHA and Sciencenter - A lot of time and effort has been spent down in that area and both projects are proceeding. Kline Road Sewer Project - Bids were received today for the Kline Road Sewer Project. The bids ranged from $125,000 to $230,000. Commissioner Reeves asked for a status report on a list of items and Superintendent Gray responded as- follows: Light on Hillview and Aurora - City Electrician Crandall is working with the State on this matter. Supt. Gray has a meeting with the DoT later in the month to review the location and to receive any recommendations about how its final configuration will add up. It is the City's intention to get the light installed and operating as a fixed signal and then to modify that based on the DoT's recommendations. Crossing at South Aurora and State Street - Nothing has been done yet regarding the striping at the crossing at South Aurora and State Street. Planning Consolidation - There have been' discussions with the Planning Department but Supt. Gray stated he has not submitted the work program that is needed to review the site plans. Traffic Engineer Position - The position has been reviewed and turned down once by the Vacancy Review Committee. The Mayor has indicated that he would like it to proceed. Supt. Gray stated he has a modified Traffic Engineer's job description in draft form on his desk for review. Commons Electrical Work - City Electrician Crandall has ordered the equipment needed for this work. It is intended that this work will be completed in time for the Ithaca Festival. 3 12 371 372 April 14, 1993 REPORT OF ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT OF STREETS AND FACILITIES: Assistant Superintend following items: n et Ferrel reported to the Board on the Flood Areas - The Golf Course and some of the fields at Cass Park are flooded. The buses are not running into the TOPS Parking Lot because of the depth of the water there. The biggest concern at this time is on Giles Street. There is an 80 - 90 foot section of bank that is eroding away very quickly. He stated that they have closed the road and it probably will remain closed for 4 - 6 weeks for repairs. Street Cleaning - The highway crews have started the street cleaning work for the season. Arbor Day Celebration - The celebration will be in Thompson Park this year on April 301th. It will be the kick -off of the Bare Root Planting Project for this Spring. Stewart Park Handicapped Accessibility - The project has started at the Park. Crews are currently working on curb cuts and accessibility to the drinking fountains. "Carry In -Carry Out" Policy - Signs are being made for the "Carry In -Carry Out" Policy at Stewart Park. They should be in place in early May. There will be public notification of the policy. Cass Park Rink - Asst. Supt. Ferrel reported that he has received a letter from the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, who administers the grant for the repairs of the rink at Cass Park. They are stating that there is zero money available in 1993. Asst. Supt. Ferrel stated that he would like to fund repairs to the rink for this year through a Capital Project. Community Clean Up Program - On Saturday, April 24th, we will have two separate community programs going on in the City. The Collegetown Neighborhood Clean Up Program will start at 10 a.m. They will bag trash and recyclables, there will be crews to pick those up at 1:00 P.M. There will also be a group of approximately 50 -75 college student volunteers, that call themselves "The Green Core ", that will be working to clean up the parks, the beach at Stewart Park and the cemetery. Their efforts will be coordinated by John Friedeborn, the City Forester. On Sunday, April 25th, the Conservation Advisory Council has also volunteered ro do beach clean up at Stewart Park. REPORT OF ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT OF WATER AND SEWER: Assistant Superintendent Shimer reported to the Board on the following items: Sewer Flows - The sewer flows through the weekend were in the area of 20 million gallons a day. The facility has had to be staffed twenty -four a days due to the high flows coming in. Sanitary Sewer - Universitv and Stewart Avenues - Negotiations are continuing with the contractor to try to. get the sanitary sewer installed between University and Stewart Avenue. Water Line on Route 13 - The contractor for the Town of Ithaca is mobilized and is going to begin installing the water line on Route 13 that will tie the City in with' the Town of Ithaca. East Avenue/West Avenue Flow Testing - Flow testing is being done on East Avenue /West Avenue on the campus for a possible water service exchange with Cornell University. 373 April 14, 1993 County Water Quality Bus Tour - Asst. Supt. Shimer has received a letter from the Tompkins County Planning Department informing him that there will a Water Quality Bus Tour on Saturday, April 17. If anyone is interested in going, he asked that they give him a call. Chemical Spill - Supt. Gray stated that he has spoken with the DEC spill person. They are the ones-handling the contractor and the people working at the watershed and they are comfortable with what they-are doing for the clean up. He said that he has soken with Therm and asked if they; were going to do any kind of p a public release and they indicated that they thought that was a good idea and they would speak with their attorney. As of yesterday they had not come to an agreement with their attorney regarding a public notice. Discussion followed on the floor. BUILDINGS A. Ligh PROETIES AND TRNSIT ITEMS: ting Improvements at Cass Park Skating Rink LO By Commissioner Rusoff: Seconded by Commissioner Tripp (0 WHEREAS, the Board of Public Works has received ayd reviewed a) recommendations from the Energy Commission on improvements for the 7 Cass Park Skating Rink; now, therefore, be it m RESOLVED, That the Board of Public Works approves of the proposed Q improvements to the lighting at the rink (items 1 & 2 in the Energy Commission memo dated April 6, 1993), and be it further RESOLVED, That the Board requests B & A and Common Council authorize the necessary capital project, initially estimated at $30,000 for lighting change over, design and inspection, and be it further RESOLVED, That the Board directs staff to implement these recommendations by June 30, 1993 in order to receive applicable NYSEG rebates. Discussion followed on the floor. A vote on the resolution resulted as follows: Carried Unanimously B. Good Neighbor Day - C011egetown Clean up During the annual Good Neighbor Day in Collegetown which is scheduled for April 24, 1993, participants clean the debris from streets and creeks. The Department of Public Works has assisted the clean up by providing trash pick up in Collegetown on the day of the clean up. The DPW has been requested to assist the participants for this year's event. Resolution By Commissioner Rusoff: Seconded by Commissioner Tripp WHEREAS, the annual Good Neighbor Day in Collegetown has requested assistance with trash pick up from the Department of Public Works; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the Board of Public Works has reviewed this request and approves of the Department's support of the program as in past years, and be it further RESOLVED, That the Board urges the participants to separate recyclables in order to reduce the cost of the trash disposal, and be it further RESOLVED, That similar requests in the future from this group as well as others be considered on a case -by -case basis. Carried Unanimously 374 April 14, 1993 D. Repuest to Increase Court Facility Capital Project In June 1992, a power outage on South Hill combined with the failure of protective electrical equipment resulted in the destruction of the police station HVAC condensing unit. The estimated repairs to the 25 year old unit were $10,000 to $15,000. The designer for the court facility recommended increasing size of the new HVAC condenser for the Court to serve both buildings, get the advantage of higher efficiency units and have new equipment. The estimated cost is $20,000 to $30,000. The change order is being requested now. Resolution By Commissioner Rusoff: Seconded by Commissioner Tripp WHEREAS, the City is in the middle of a capital project for construction of a new city court and renovations to the existing police station, and WHEREAS, the failure of an existing HVAC unit has resulted in an unexpected cost of approximately $30,000. Replacement of the unit would result in reduced maintenance and operations costs of approximately $3,000 per year, and WHEREAS, the project client committee and staff feel that the expense is too large to take out of the contingency fund at this point in the project; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the Board of Public Works recommends that the project authorization for the City Court Facility (CP 242) be increased from $3.1 million to $3.13 million and requests the Budget and Administration Committee and Common Council approve this change. Carried Unanimously E. Municipal Pool Construction - Extension of Architect's Contract By Commissioner Rusoff: Seconded by Commissioner Reeves WHEREAS, the Board is aware of delays to the construction of the Municipal Pool project, and WHEREAS, the Board has reviewed the budget for the Municipal Pool project with staff, and WHEREAS, HOLT Architects had been retained to administer this project during construction through October 1992, . and WHEREAS, it is the Board's intention to make claims upon the contractor for expenses incurred due to delays; now, therefore, be it r RESOLVED, That the Board requests the Budget and Administration Committee approve the extension of HOLT's contract for construction phase services. ' Discussion followed on the floor. Amending Resolution By Commissioner Rusoff: Seconded by Commissioner Reeves RESOLVED, That at the end of the Resolved.Clause another sentence be added to read as follows: "The cost of the extension may not exceed $7,000." + Carried Unanimously Main Motion as Amended A vote on the Main Motion as Amended resulted as follows: Carried Unanimously 0 375 April 14, 1993 By Commissioner Rusoff: Seconded by Commissioner Tripp RESOLVED, That the Board of Public Works grant itself Power to Act at the Committee of the Whole regarding the question of a possible Capital Project for the Cass Park,ICe Rink. Carried Unanimously During recent renovations, the Boxing Ring canvas at GIAC was damaged during asbestos removal in the building, An agreement between the contractor and the city was made which provided additional services from the contractor but not for the repair of the canvas which he disputed damaging. GIAC is interested in replacing the canvas to continue their program but budget restraints do not allow it. Resolution Ln By Commissioner Reeves: Seconded by Commissioner Tripp co WHEREAS, the GIAC Board requests and the Board of Public Works M supports the replacement of the canvas, and s mWHEREAS, neither the DPW nor GIAC budgets allow for the .a replacement; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the Board of Public Works recommends that B 6 A transfer $675.00 from unrestricted contingency to A1626.435 for replacement of the canvas. Carried Unanimously By Commissioner Reeves: Seconded by Commissioner Tripp WHEREAS, the photocopier located on the second floor of City Hall is five years old, is no longer under the manufacturer's warrantee, has a service contract which is about to be renewed for $2,100. per year, and the volume of copies exceeds its reliable capacity, and WHEREAS, the Deputy City Controller is currently collecting information to put out a comprehensive bid for several copiers, covering initial cost, operating expenses, and annual maintenance contracts, and WHEREAS, the Superintendent's Office, the Office of the City Engineer and the Personnel Office have received proposals for the purchase of a new copier; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the Board of Public Works recommends that $7,263.00 be transferred from unrestricted contingency to be divided equally between A1430, A1440 and A1490 under line 225 (other equipment), and be it further RESOLVED, That the proposed purchase will only occur if recommended by the Deputy Controller as part of his comprehensive purchase. Carried Unanimously ay commissioner Reeves: Seconded by Commissioner Tripp WHEREAS, the Board of Public Works recognizes the quality, value and productivity of up -to -date computer software, and WHEREAS, it is the Board's and the department's responsibility to be sure that all software used is authorized; now, therefore, be it 7 371; April 14, 1993 RESOLVED, That the Board of Public Works requests that the Budget S Administration Committee fund $8,300 to purchase properly authorized software as needed by department staff for current operations. Carried Unanimously oy wnunissioner arandrord: Seconded by Commissioner Tripp WHEREAS, Ms. Rose Brown of 711 North Aurora Street has requested her Water and Sewer bill of $894.08 be expunged or modified to reflect a senior discount, and WHEREAS, the repair was made to replace an old water service and was properly billed to the homeowner; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the Board of Public Works denies Ms. Brown's request to expunge or modify the bill. Carried Unanimously REPORT OF SPECIAL COMMITTEES: Audit Report By Commissioner Gerard: Seconded by Commissioner Tripp RESOLVED, That bills listed on the following Abstract be approved for payment: Abstract #7 General Fund ............. ..............................$ 70,953.37 Water and Sewer Fund ..... ..............................$ 26,914.18 Joint Activity Fund ...... ...:..........................$ 18,020.84 CapitalProjects .................... ...................$356,963.78 Solid Waste .............. ..............................$ 14,098.14 .. and be it further RESOLVED, That bills receivable be approved. Carried Unanimously REPORT OF BOARD LIAISONS• Bicycle Advisory Council Commissioner Tripp urged Board members to attend the Bicycle Advisory Council's presentation on Thursday on the new bicycle plan. Mini - Parking Committee CommissionerrTripp reported that the Mini - Parking Committee will be reporting to the Planning and Development Committee next week. Parking Lot Sub - committee Commissioner Rusoff reported that the' Parking Lot Sub - committee toured the parking lots /garages this week. Parks Commission Commissioner Gerard reported that the Parks Commission has expressed interest in looking at the triangle of Titus /South and Fair, possibly for a park. Common Council Commissioner Reeves reported that the Common Council passed a resolution in April regarding an increase in street permit fees. Discussion followed on the floor. 3 April 14, 1993 Ithaca Enercy Commission Commissioner Reeves reported that the Energy Commission met on April 6 and the Commission is working with Deputy Controller Thayer to get the computer data base going in order to track the energy consumption and the bills paid on all City properties. ADJOURNMENT: On a motion the meeting adjourned at 6:00 p.m. q �. Connie J. Holcomb Ben amin Nichols Senior Stenographer Mayor LO CO M D M a 377