HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-BPW-2008-06-18BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS PROCEEDINGS
CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK
Committee of the Whole Meeting 5:00 p.m. June 18, 2008
PRESENT:
Mayor Peterson
Commissioners (4) –Chapman, Schlather, Tripp, Wykstra
OTHERS PRESENT:
City Attorney – Hoffman
City Controller - Thayer
Superintendent of Public Works - Gray
Assistant Superintendent of Streets and Facilities - Ferrel
Assistant Superintendent of Water and Sewer – Whitney
Common Council Liaison – Coles
Executive Assistant – Myers
EXCUSED:
Commissioner Jenkins
DAC Liaison – Roberts
GIAC Design Contract Award – Power to Act
Deputy Director of the IURA Kittel outlined the RFP process that led to the
recommendation to award the contract to LaBella Associates. She stated that the
amount being awarded for the contract differs from the total project budget because of
contingency funds for unforeseen expenses.
Further discussion followed regarding the amount of funding that should be awarded at
this time.
Supt. Gray stated that the Board should award all project funding unless they want to
have tight fiscal control over the project and are willing to vote on the many change
orders that are often required for projects of this size and nature.
Commissioner Schlather arrived at the meeting at 5:05 pm.
Resolution
By Commissioner Wykstra; Seconded by Commissioner Tripp
WHEREAS, professional services proposals were received on May 16, 2008 for
Architectural/Engineering Services for Reconstruction of the Greater Ithaca Activities
Center (CP # 499), and
WHEREAS, a client committee including City Engineering, Building Department and
GIAC staff, Common Council members, GIAC Board members and Ithaca Urban
Renewal Agency staff has reviewed the seven proposals received and made
recommendations for award, now therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the City of Ithaca Board of Public Works hereby awards the
professional services contracts for Architectural/Engineering Services for
Reconstruction of the Greater Ithaca Activities Center to LaBella Associates, PC of
Rochester, New York, for amounts not to exceed $470,000, and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Mayor be hereby authorized to enter into said contracts under the
usual terms and conditions.
Carried Unanimously
Further discussion followed regarding the seven bids on the project and the variations in
cost and quality. Further discussion followed on the number of local firms that submitted
bids.
June 18, 2008 Board of Public Works Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes Page 2
208 East State Street Trash Appeal – Power to Act
By Commissioner Tripp; Seconded by Commissioner Wykstra
WHEREAS, a trash violation was issued (Invoice 3596) for refuse picked up in front of
208 – 210 East State Street which included materials with that address on it, and
WHEREAS, Moshe Pelli representing the property owners, has protested the bill,
claiming that the addressee, New Age Hemp, no longer does business from that
property, and
WHEREAS, the department properly tagged the uncollected trash giving the property
owners notice that they needed to take the trash back or report it to the county as
illegally dumped, and
WHEREAS, City Code requires the department to assess a special service charge
when an unscheduled pick up is required to remove uncollected material, now therefore
be it
RESOLVED, That the Board of Public Works denies Mr. Pelli’s request to expunge the
bill and directs staff to reissue the bill in the amount of $22.50 for collection.
Commissioner Schlather requested further clarification on where the trash was removed
from in relation to the location of the former New Age Hemp Company’s site.
Supt. Gray stated that the trash from Commons residents is piled in several central
locations to aid in the ease of pick up.
Discussion followed regarding the location of the trash and the fine process.
Commissioner Schlather questioned how the New Age Hemp Company could be fined
for trash located more then a block away from their location and in an area where they
would not normally dispose of their trash.
Supt. Gray apologized to the Board. He stated that he did not carefully read through all
of the documentation and it appeared that this request should have been handled
administratively. He stated that the resolution was incorrect and that he would prefer to
handle this request administratively rather than by resolution of the Board.
The Board agreed that the resolution was incorrect and agreed that it should be
withdrawn.
Cornell Water Bill – Power to Act
By Commissioner Schlather; seconded by Commissioner Tripp
WHEREAS, the Board of Public Works has received requests from large water users to
restructure the City’s approach to issuing water and sewer bills because they found it
difficult to meet the 15 day billing period, and because those large water users claimed
that the 10% penalty was punitive, and
WHEREAS, the Board has reviewed the code with the City Chamberlain and has
started the process to change the billing period and the late payment structure for future
billing, now therefore be it,
RESOLVED, That the Board of Public Works denies Cornell’s request to expunge
penalty charges levied against bills issued prior to those changes taking effect, with the
understanding that the Chamberlains office can review the prior billing and make any
changes it feels are appropriate to reflect the protest or review period only.
Carried Unanimously
Supt. Gray stated that due to Cornell’s large size the payment process can be quite
lengthy and often makes it impossible for these bills to be paid within the 15-day period.
He stated that the Board had approved changes to the city Code to extend the payment
period to avoid this problem in the future, however that change will not take effect until it
is done with the attorney’s review process and approved by Common Council.
June 18, 2008 Board of Public Works Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes Page 3
Discussion followed regarding the timetable for the code to be changed.
Alderperson Coles left the meeting at 5:40 pm.
109 Catherine Street Water Bill – Power to Act
By Commissioner Schlather; Seconded by Commissioner Chapman
WHEREAS, The City has a practice of reading internal water meters from time to time in
order to synchronize them with the remote readers provided on many properties, and
WHEREAS, the property owners are sent a corrected bill when discrepancies are
uncovered showing prior under billing for water delivered to that property, and
WHEREAS, the remote meter readers were installed to relieve property owners of the
duty to provide access to their water meters on a quarterly basis, with the understanding
that access would be required from time to time to verify the accuracy of the numbers
used for billing, and recognizing that there are a variety of reasons why the remote
meter might not accurately reflect the water consumed, and
WHEREAS, the property owner always has access to the internal meter to verify the
accuracy of the bill, now therefore be it,
RESOLVED, That the Board of Public Works denies the request of Chien Cheng for a
reduction in the water and sewer bill greater than the one offered by staff reflecting an
average water and sewer rate during the time between verified bills.
Carried 4-1
Nays: Commissioner Tripp
Commissioner Tripp stated that she could not vote in favor of the resolution because it
puts too much responsibility on homeowners to make sure their meters are in sync and
report problems. She stated that many homeowners might not know that they have to
do this.
Asst. Supt. Water and Sewer Whitney explained the need for adjustment and correlation
of the two metering systems and the process of billing correction.
Discussion followed regarding the amount of responsibility a property owner must take
to insure that their own meters are reading similarly inside and outside of the home and
that they are being billed correctly.
Mayor Peterson stated that if the Board moves to approve this request it will set a
precedent and the city will lose a great deal of money because of faulty meters.
Supt. Gray stated that efforts are made to correlate the interior and exterior meters
annually, however he stated that it would be wise of the City to look into adding a note
to all water and sewer bills encouraging owners to check their own meters for errors.
DPW Budget Adjustment Request – Power to Act
Supt. Gray stated that during the last meeting the Board seemed interested in looking at
the DPW budgets and making recommendations for adjustments to cover the increased
costs from the increases in energy costs. He stated that after conversations with Mayor
Peterson and City Controller Thayer he had decided not to prepare a resolution.
Mayor Peterson and City Controller Thayer addressed the Board. They stated that
every department’s budget is affected by the increases in energy costs and issues like
these are taken care of at the end of the year by taking money from accounts that are in
the black and transfer funds to those that are in the red. They stated that the Board
should not take action to request adjustments to the budget at this time.
Discussion followed regarding the 2008 work program and the current budget status.
The Board agreed that they could not move in support of a resolution without having a
solid understanding of where the budget is currently and projections of what monies will
be needed to insure that the 2008 work program is completed.
June 18, 2008 Board of Public Works Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes Page 4
Commissioner Schlather stated that he still would like to see a resolution brought before
the Board encouraging Common Council to work to insure that the 2008 work program
has adequate funding and can be completed in 2008.
Commissioner Tripp stated that she would like to be able to review the 2009 priorities
and work program prior to it being submitted for the budget review and recommendation
process.
City Controller Thayer stated that even though energy costs have risen much higher
then projected other City accounts, like sales tax, have brought in more then expected.
He stated that he believed that the City was still within the original budget footprint.
Mayor Peterson stated that instead of looking for ways to increase funding due to the
rise in fuel costs she would like to see DPW take efforts to minimize bad practices that
waste fuel.
Asst. Supt. Streets and Facilities stated that any of the projects that are not completed
because the City does not have enough money budgeted for them are liabilities and
may actually cost the City more than if the projects had been funded and completed as
scheduled.
Mayor Peterson stated that she would not vote on any resolution making a
recommendation to Common Council to examine and reallocate funding for the 2008
budget due to the increases in fuel costs because she herself is a Common Council
memebr.
Cornell Community Transportation Investment Initiative Discussion
Traffic Systems Engineer Logue briefly outlined the projects listed in the initiative and
asked if the Board had any further issues for him to take back.
Commissioner Schlather stated that the projects listed by Cornell are great for one
segment of the community but do nothing for a majority of the community. He stated
that he did not want this project list to drive the capital projects undertaking by the City
in the coming years.
Traffic Systems Engineer Logue stated that these projects should not drive the priorities
of the City. This list simply outlines projects that Cornell would be willing to contribute to
the cost of if another party undertakes them. He further stated that he would like to
know which projects the Board is interested in pursuing since the City currently does not
have a 5 year transportation plan.
Discussion followed regarding the projects listed by Cornell and the projects the Board
believes should be high priority in the City.
University Avenue - Negotiation Update
City Attorney Hoffman briefly reported out on the status of the negotiations regarding
University Avenue. The Board agreed that the majority of the next agenda should be set
aside for University Avenue updates and discussion.
ADJOURNMENT
On a motion the meeting adjourned at 7:20 p.m.
_____________________
Jessica Myers Carolyn K. Peterson
Executive Assistant Mayor