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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-BPW-2005-06-08Approved on September 20, 2006 Board of Public Works Meeting j:\committee files\bpw\2005\06-08-05 bpw cow minutes.doc 11/14/2014 BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS PROCEEDINGS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK Regular Meeting 4:45 p.m. June 8, 2005 PRESENT: Mayor Peterson Commissioners (4) – Chapman, Dotson, Romanoff, Schlather EXCUSED: Commissioner Jenkins Assistant Superintendent of Streets and Facilities – Ferrel OTHERS PRESENT: Superintendent of Public Works – Gray Assistant Superintendent of Water and Sewer – Fabbroni Common Council Liaison – Coles DAC Liaison – Roberts City Planner – Logue Executive Assistant – Grunder PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Mayor Peterson led all present in the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag at 5:00 p.m. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: No minutes to approve. May’s set of minutes was distributed to the Board. Gray suggested a 15-minute gathering on June 22, 2005, to vote on the minutes. ADDITIONS TO OR DELETIONS FROM THE AGENDA: 14B. Traffic Calming – Washington Park. No Board member objected. MAYOR’S COMMUNICATIONS:  Water Plant Forum is currently scheduled for June 9, 2005, at 7:30 p.m. in Common Council Chambers. May need to reschedule forum due to publicity problems.  Public Forum of Pedestrian Advisory Committee regarding their recommendations to the City scheduled for Tuesday, June 21, 2005, at 5:00 p.m. in City Hall. Approved on September 20, 2006 Board of Public Works Meeting j:\committee files\bpw\2005\06-08-05 bpw cow minutes.doc 11/14/2014 2 REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT AND STAFF: Larry Fabbroni, Assistant Superintendent, Water and Sewer:  Water main on First Street is finished.  Crews currently making hookups. Pretty close to being on schedule. No resident complaints  W&S will move down to Elmira Road to finish sewer work near Wendy’s and Arbys.  Once complete, decommissioning of old pump station next to Friendlys can be completed  Scott Gibson is taking care of the Wastewater Treatment Plant, project management, and inspection. Moving along well – approaching a two-thirds completion.  Staff updates at Wastewater Plant – the main assistant is out for extended medical procedures and another is going out for back surgery. Larry’s administrative assistant who works part time is filling in full time for Sally while she takes her first vacation in five years! Rick Ferrel, Assistant Superintendent, Streets and Facilities (Provided by Larry Fabbroni in Rick’s absence):  Crews on Elm Street then onto the 400 block of First Street (between Adams and Hancock).  Finishing work on Court Street.  W&S finished the water main on 400 Block of Court under the NYSEG project.  NYSEG will go to the Markels Flats Building once they’re done with the intersection.  No decision yet on what to do with the building.  NYSEG has additional work to do on Washington Street. S&F may have storm sewer work to do on Washington north of Court. Commissioner Romanoff stated that Guinness Book of Records called up our huge turtle in Cass Park that we are working on. She (the turtle) might end up being the largest turtle ever built in America by both men and by women. Her two handsome eyes are two bowling balls from Ides’ Bowling Alley. Her eyelids will be casted next week. Gray added that there are certainly a number of things going on in Engineering Office. The first sidewalk contract is just about to start. The bulk of that is going to be on Court Street tied up with the NYSEG work, but there is a lot of smaller stuff that needs to be done. The office is hoping to get the second contract out fairly quickly. The Seneca Street Garage project is almost complete. There is a deck coating that was suppose to go in on top of the repairs that were done last year, and that contractor has been moving very slow. That should be in next week. The Cayuga Green Garage has taken some time coordinating some start-up issues and coordination with the management. That has been somewhat related to coordination and start up Approved on September 20, 2006 Board of Public Works Meeting j:\committee files\bpw\2005\06-08-05 bpw cow minutes.doc 11/14/2014 3 related to the Hilton Hotel and the Cornell downtown office startup and a lot of issues that were not resolved in the original contracts that the City signed for that work. That coordination with both Cornell’s staff, the Hilton, and the developer has been very congenial where the documents said one thing, but staff operations seem to dictate another. They’ve been willing to negotiate terms, and their object is to have a system that works well for both parties. The Spencer Road Project is actually a lot of work on South Cayuga Street. That is what we’re doing to finish that up. All the retaining walls with that intersection got realigned and the road reshaped to tie it in. That work will be done by next week. We have a lot of small projects all over the City – Southside, GIAC, Youth Bureau – a lot of that is going pretty well at this point including 1,000 lb. doors going on the Police Station. The inside doors for the entrance are bullet proof (or resistant). The Meadow Street Project that we built last year has been taking a fair amount of time just trying to get it closed out and to finish all the paperwork. The DOT dictated a number of things that they wanted done because we were working on their property. Just trying to get all the paperwork in the form they are going to find acceptable is taking a lot of time. The Thurston Avenue Bridge Project is going to take up a lot of Bill’s time next week. Hernando Gil will be back from Bogotá and has his next two weeks planned. Hernando has done a phenomenal job coordinating with the DOT and the consultants. We are in a good position on that. If we can get all that coordination with the consultant originally and then with the DOT next week, we’ll be in a position to bid that work out this fall which will get us a major project for the next two years, 2006 and 2007. The South Aurora Street Bridge Project is the next project. Coordinating the design team selection and getting all that work up and running will be our next focus. There are a couple of meetings scheduled relating to that. REPORT OF OTHER DEPARTMENT HEADS Mayor Peterson reported on the Fall Creek Forum held on June 7, 2005. Many City employees and officials were present. Gray, Fabbroni, and Whitney went through a lot of the timeline of the situation. They were able to explain and educate a little bit about the system and that the timing of what we were doing on the City’s end and also heard concerns about communication and concerns about the whole system that was built in 1978. It was explained how it has worked, how it’s supposed to work, and how it’s going to be maintained in the future. The fire chief will offer a follow-up meeting in September on sump pumps usage. He will also talk about the emergency management draft plan. Commissioner Romanoff stated that there were some Fall Creekers that participated in the design and implementation of the 1978 plan. Their participation in helping design it left some feeling that they failed us. People know a whole lot more about what this water really does than they did before. It’s been an education for all of us. The flood committee will continue to meet over the summer and will get in touch with the City occasionally. Approved on September 20, 2006 Board of Public Works Meeting j:\committee files\bpw\2005\06-08-05 bpw cow minutes.doc 11/14/2014 4 Commissioner Chapman had a question on the Green Street parking ramp. When he pulled in this evening, the ticket machine was not working. He asked if the City is on summer rate. Both Mayor Peterson and Supt. Gray said there is no summer rate. Supt.Gray did point out that they are having a lot of trouble with that equipment, and the trouble is coming more and more frequently. There was a subcommittee meeting that included Rick Ferrel, Jim Kelly, and Commissioner Schlather. Discussion included deciding whether the City should go to an automated or quasi- automated system. Rick invited a vendor who is familiar with our operations to make a presentation, but it was cancelled. The purchase of new equipment will start with the garage in Collegetown where the need is the greatest. The committee’s hope is to find a system that allows for expansion to the other facilities throughout the City. They will be interconnectable, will include credit cards, and include 24-hour coverage in automation but will also include the use of existing personnel. Commissioner Dotson added to Commissioner Schalther’s comments that one thing that came up at David Whitmore’s TDM sub-committee meeting recently was the idea of possibly having an option for a bus pass/parking permit card that would do both. She wasn’t clear whether that feeds into the automation discussion. It would be good if that option could be left open. Commissioner Dotson also thanked Supt. Ferrel and crew on behalf of Vicky Kysar and the Ithaca Festival but also for the bike valet parking. Rick’s department helped a lot with that. Things seemed to go great. She voiced a big thank you to the staff. Mayor Peterson stated she has asked the City Clerk to schedule an after-action meeting. There were several meetings with the organizers of the Ithaca Festival before the festival to talk about police, fire, public works, scheduling, parade routes, etc. so there will be an after-action meeting to see how everything went. 14A. Request for Encroachment at 210 West State Street After a brief introduction from Supt. Gray, he stated he is recommending the encroachment of the street at 210 West State Street. Moved by Commissioner Schlather; Seconded by Commissioner Romanoff WHEREAS, Mark Goldfarb, owner of 210 West State Street, is requesting an encroachment for his property, now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, that the Board of Public Works hereby grants the encroachment of a porch of between 0.2 and 0.8 feet into the street right-of-way at 210 West State Street, and be it further RESOLVED, That the board authorizes the Mayor to enter into an encroachment agreement with Mr. Goldfarb under the usual terms and conditions, including but not limited to the termination of Approved on September 20, 2006 Board of Public Works Meeting j:\committee files\bpw\2005\06-08-05 bpw cow minutes.doc 11/14/2014 5 the agreement if said property no longer exists or is needed by the city. Unanimously Approved 5-0 Addition of 14B. Traffic Calming – Washington Park Tim Logue, City Transportation Engineer, provided the Board with a new proposed bidding proposal. There are four intersections included in the bid. The way this has been set is the first intersection on this drawing, with Buffalo and Corn, being the base bid and other three are add alternates. The City will have power to award up to our budget to get as much done as possible. The first sheet shows Buffalo and Corn. This is a little bit different because it’s a “T” intersection and has bump outs included in it. The second sheet stands for the other three intersections since they are four-legged and do not have bump outs. All four of these are raised intersections. The goal is to make them a little bit higher than the one on Dey Street in order to get more elevation. They will be very similar to the raised intersection that was built at Dey and Franklin. Two other things Tim noted is (1) we did a back track after our last round of bidding to check in with the neighborhood to make sure everyone was still in favor of the project. We received very positive feedback from the Washington Park Neighborhood Association, BJM site- based council, and GIAC staff and board. The second piece is that we were given more money through the community development grant process. The funding amounts to $75,000 to help fund the first intersection at Corn Street, which is our number one priority. The bids are due Tuesday, June 14, 2006. The plan is to do all four intersections depending on how the bids come back. The goal is to set up the contract so that if the two intersections are awarded on Albany Street, the contractor will only have sixty (60) days to do the work in order to be completed by the time school starts for the year because that’s the bus loading and is the main corridor through that area during the school season. The other two intersections can be awarded in June and give them all of July and August to do the work before school’s back in session in September. Board members asked questions regarding the curb cuts, chokers, and bump outs as well as if money was tight what order would the intersections be done? Logue stated that the focus would be on Buffalo Street primarily and if one needed to be let go, that would be the one at Court and Albany. Traffic Calming – Power to Act Moved by Commissioner Schlather; seconded by Commissioner Chapman The Board resolved to grant Power to Act on Traffic Calming at the June 22, 2005, at 5:00 p.m. Approved on September 20, 2006 Board of Public Works Meeting j:\committee files\bpw\2005\06-08-05 bpw cow minutes.doc 11/14/2014 6 or the next meeting of Board as scheduled or whichever occurs first. Unanimously approved 5-0 PARKING AND TRAFFIC A. West End Parking – RESOLUTION Moved by Commissioner Dotson; Seconded by Commissioner Schlather. WHEREAS, The Board of Public Works has started discussion of parking issues on the West End with representatives of properties, businesses, and proposed businesses, and WHEREAS, Common Council adopted a resolution at its meeting of May 4, 2005, supporting the concept of a City-owned and operated West End parking lot supported by benefited property owners through a tax assessment district charging an assessment “to cover the capital and operating costs incurred by the City in the creation of the parking lot,” and WHEREAS, the Board is interested in supporting the needs of the City’s residents, the West End property owners, and the businesses on the West End, while meeting its obligations to maintain and operate the City’s facilities, now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, that the Board of Public Works request clarification from the Planning, Neighborhoods and Economic Development Committee to insure that the “capital and operating cost” referred to in this resolution includes the initial capital costs and the intermittent capital reinvestment costs, as well as the cost of operating the facility, including a range of expenses from issuing and enforcing permits, to striping parking spaces, plowing snow or fixing potholes, which is frequently referred to as “operations and maintenance” or “O&M” costs, and be it further RESOLVED, that the Board requests an update from the staff members working to implement Council’s vision regarding this so that it may participate in the development of parking facilities, and operating concepts to serve the West End while meeting its obligations under the charter to plan, operate, and maintain these facilities. Unanimously Approved 5-0 Comments regarding the above resolution: Commissioner Schlather stated that the costs involved in the increase in parking need to be understood. His hope is that Council will consider this. Coles will communicate this Board’s sentiments to Common Council. Mayor Peterson would like to have Planning involved. Gray will ask JoAnn Cornish to come back to bring the Board up to speed. How did we get to Approved on September 20, 2006 Board of Public Works Meeting j:\committee files\bpw\2005\06-08-05 bpw cow minutes.doc 11/14/2014 7 where we are? CREEKS, BRIDGES, AND PARKS A. Dog Walkers at Treman Marina – RESOLUTION By Commissioner Romanoff, seconded by Commissioner Dotson. WHEREAS, The Board of Public Works has been approached over the years by various individuals or groups of dog owners to consider their need for space to walk and play with their pets, and WHEREAS, the representatives of the Tompkins County Dog Owners Group have recently approached the Board in order to propose some temporary fencing not to exceed 3 feet in height and using turn buckles to insure stability and signage as part of their efforts to improve the operation of and reduce conflicts associated with the popular dog walking area in Treman Marine Park, covering both City-owned and State Parks-owned land adjacent to the Hangar Theatre and Treman Marina, and WHEREAS, following the Board’s request for the group to coordinate their proposals with Finger Lakes State Parks, the representatives of Tompkins County Dog Owner’s Group returned to the Board without State Parks agreement for some the temporary items which the Board is interested in trying to help reduce conflicts between various users, especially in the area where the dog owners are concentrated adjacent to a park picnic area as they leave and return to parking areas, now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, that the Board of Public Works grants permission to John Bernstein as the representative of T.C. Dog Owners Group to install and maintain (including grass cutting as necessary) a temporary plastic green construction fence on City property (commonly referred to as the “festival lands”) along the east property line to help separate the dog owners from the marina picnic area along the marina’s western edge, as well as a sign in the parking lot transition area in question, and be it further RESOLVED, that the fencing is authorized on a one-time basis and be removed on or before October 31st by the T.C. Dog Owners Group, and be it further RESOLVED, that the Board directs the Superintendent to contact the Regional Director of the Finger Lakes State Parks to address this installation as well as questions concerning parks maintenance issues, and other coordination issues that may arise. Carried Unanimously 5-0 REPORT OF SPECIAL COMMITTEES Larry Roberts, DAC Liaison, informed the Board that the ice/snow removal meeting was well received. A resolution will be written up and looked at by DAC. A lot of questions were raised about the perception of whose responsibility it is to keep curb cuts clear when a snowplow puts the snow back. Whose responsibility is it to clear the snow? In both instances, the responsibility falls on the homeowner. Approved on September 20, 2006 Board of Public Works Meeting j:\committee files\bpw\2005\06-08-05 bpw cow minutes.doc 11/14/2014 8 Roberts stated the DAC doesn’t believe that things such as curb cuts have been handled well. He questions whether it’s a priority – it needs to become more of a priority. Gray spoke on behalf of Rick Ferrel stating staffing has decreased over the years. Ten years ago, the S&F consisted of 149 permanent paid staff; today there is between 99 and 104. He further stated that there is a plan of attack Ferrel follows. In a blizzard, main ways are cleared first then the secondary roads. Snow routes are plowed. NEIGHBORHOOD TROUBLESHOOTING Mayor Peterson and Leslie Chatterton decided to include capital projects in the next neighborhood association meeting. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 1. Collegetown Business 2. Crosswalk Improvements NEW BUSINESS Special meeting is scheduled June 22, 2005, to vote on Traffic Calming Resolution. Commissioner Dotson brought up that the new Widget Factory received site-plan review without needing a sidewalk. ADJOURNMENT Motioned by Commissioner Dotson; Seconded by Commissioner Schlather. Meeting was adjourned at 6:45 p.m. _______________________ __________________________ Deborah A. Grunder Carolyn K. Peterson Executive Assistant Mayor