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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-27-2012 Board of Public Works Meeting AgendaBOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS OFFICIAL NOTICE OF REGULAR MEETING A meeting of the Board of Public Works will be held on Monday, February 27, 2012, at 4:45 p.m. in Common Council Chambers – Third Floor, City Hall, 108 East Green Street, Ithaca, New York. Agenda 1. Additions or Deletions to Agenda (Items 1-5: 15 min.) 2. Mayor’s Communications 3. Communications and Hearings from Persons Before the Board 4. Response to the Public 5. Reports Parks Commission Report Special Committees of the Board Council Liaison Board Liaisons Superintendent and Staff Other Department Heads 6. Approval of Minutes 6.1 February 6, 2012, Meeting Minutes 7. Administration and Communications 7.1 Stewart Avenue Reconstruction Project Presentation 8. VOTING ITEMS 8.1 Buildings, Properties, Refuse and Transit A. Appeal of License Fee for “The Hot Truck” – Possible Resolution B. Appeal of License Fee for “Louie’s Lunch” Truck – Possible Resolution 8.2 Highways, Streets and Sidewalks A. Appeal of Sidewalk Assessment for 104 Worth Street – Resolution 8.3 Parking and Traffic 8.4 Creeks, Bridges and Parks A. Award of Bid for the Lease of 25 Gold Carts and 1 Utility Cart – Resolution 8.5 Water and Sewer 9. DISCUSSION ITEMS 9.1 Appeal of Sidewalk Assessment for 402 South Plain Street 9.2 Request for New Sidewalk in the 700 Block of Hancock Street 9.3 Board Liaison Assignment 9.4 Cornell’s Notice of Defect 9.5 Treated Wastewater Page 2 10. New Business 11. Adjournment If you have a disability that will require special arrangements to be made in order for you to fully participate in the meeting, please contact the City Clerk at 607-274-6570 at least 48 hours before the meeting. The Board of Public Works meets on the second, third and fourth Wednesdays of the months at 4:45 p.m. All meetings are voting meetings, opening with a public comment period. Meeting agendas are created from prior public input, Department operating, planning issues, and requests made to the Superintendent. The Board reserves the right to limit verbal comments to three minutes and to request written comments on lengthy or complex issues. This information may then be used to create committee agendas, with the speaker or author invited to attend. Notes for BPW Agenda, February 27, 2012 7.1 Stewart Avenue Reconstruction Project Presentation Tom West and the design team from Delta Engineers presented the schematic drawings for the reconstruction of the Stewart Avenue between State Street and University Avenue just prior to the Board's meeting on February 13, 2012. The drawing used for that presentation have now been forwarded electronically to Board members. The design team is interested in getting feedback on the early design as they attempt to balance cost, design, and the historic nature of the brick street. There will be public presentations this spring as we prepare to complete preliminary design and cost estimates in time to submit a capital project proposal for consideration in the 2013 City Budget. One interesting item that will be produced as part of the cost estimates will be a life cycle cost comparison of brick and asphalt paving alternatives. We know the brick paving will be more expensive in the first cost. We would like to know how it compares over a longer period of time. 8.1A Appeal of License Fee for “The Hot Truck” – Possible Resolution 8.1B Appeal of License Fee for “Louie’s Lunch” Truck – Possible Resolution The resolutions were written to capture the prior Board discussion and my understanding of the status of the appeals requesting the fees be eliminated. It does appear that the City's prior program to recover a fee for use of city property was ever applied to the hot trucks, and that the peddler's licenses issued by the police department, which I thought they operated under, were rarely applied to these trucks. The fact that they have not paid fees to use the city's property before is not a sound basis for not applying the fees now. I recommend that the appeal to expunge the fees be denied. *Please refer to the information in the February 13, 2012 agenda for these items. 8.2A Appeal of Sidewalk Assessment for 104 Worth Street – Resolution This appeal of a City bill to repair sidewalks has been extensively discussed. A recap of this has been assembled by staff and will be forwarded when I have it. I have attached a copy of Mr. Roebal's last missive, dated February 10, 2012. While I don't agree with everything he says, it represents his most recent ideas on the topic. The resolution provided is based on my understanding of the discussions to date. Page 3 9.1 Appeal of Sidewalk Assessment for 402 South Plain Street This item is a place holder, until staff has had a chance to talk with the property owner and consider different approaches that were discussed at our meeting of February 13, 2012. I believe a report will be available by the time we meet. *Information for this item can be found in the February 6 & 13, 2012 agendas. 9.2 Request for New Sidewalk in the 700 Block of Hancock Street Staff is making a recommendation for the installation of new (missing) sidewalk on Hancock Street as it approaches Route 13 (Meadow Street). This would just be the beginning of the process. The property owners who would have to pay for and maintain the sidewalk, if the Board directed it to be installed, need to be given a hearing. Tim has described this in his memo to you. 9.3 Board Liaison Assignments The Board has a number of liaison assignments to other boards which are available. Kathy has listed them for your review. It is my impression that we should talk about these. Historically, many of these have remained empty or have not been honored. The Board of Public Works has the busiest schedule of any of the City's boards and the liaison assignments must seem quite a burden. In addition the various commissions wax and wane depending on the current topics and the leadership of their members. The electronic distribution of minutes and the ease of communications these days seem to make the individual direct contacts by liaisons less important. 9.4 Cornell’s Notice of Defect Cornell, who has been suffering from a number of slope failures in recent years around the two gorges on campus, has done a comprehensive review of problem areas for campus planning purposes. In the process, they found one that they were kind enough to pass on to the City, by way of an official notice of defect. This appears to be a serious defect and may result in restricting or closing Forest Home Drive until repairs can be undertaken. There is an interesting history to this portion of Forest Home Drive that could well come up again if the street is closed and substantial funds are requested by the DPW to undertake the repairs. The last time the Department of Public Works requested funds to repair Forest Home Drive, the City almost abandoned the street. 9.5 Treated Wastewater The attached article about wastewater is provided for your information. This has been discussed in the water industry for well over thirty years, but has finally made it into the New York Times. Water is very valuable, especially in areas that don't have much. Locally (regionally) the closest we have come to the reuse of cleaned wastewater is for uses such as watering golf courses. The BPW has discussed such a use on the City's course because several million gallons of cleaned waste water flow underneath the golf course every day. I thought you might find this issue interesting to watch over the next decade. William J. Gray, P.E. Superintendent of Public Works February 22, 2012 Page 4 Page 5 8.1A Appeal of License Fee for “The Hot Truck” – Possible Resolution WHEREAS, the City of Ithaca has issued a bill in the Spring of 2011 for The Hot Truck, which occupies space on a city street at the east curb line in the 600 block of Stewart Avenue for the purpose of mobile vending of food, in a manner which is consistent with the provisions of Chapter 170 "Use of Real City Property" of the City's municipal code, and WHEREAS, the owner of The Hot Truck Inc. has appealed the bill to the Board of Public Works on the basis that The Hot Truck was grandfathered at that location, and that he had paid a substantial fee for goodwill (money above the cash value of the truck and its inventory) under the belief that it represented his right to conduct business at that location, and WHEREAS, the City has applied the provisions of Chapter 170 uniformly and has no reason to believe that an exemption exists or could have been issued for The Hot Truck on Stewart Avenue, now therefore be it RESOLVED, That the Board of Public Works hereby denies the appeal of the 2011 permit fee for the use of space along Stewart Avenue, and directs that the fee be collected before April 1, 2012, or with the fee for street use in 2012, whichever comes first. 8.1B Appeal of License Fee for “Louie’s Lunch” Truck – Possible Resolution WHEREAS, the owner of Louie's Lunch has appealed the 2011 fee for use of curb space along the north curb of the 500 block of Thurston Avenue, adjacent to the intersection with Wait Avenue, without an explanation or reason for the appeal, and WHEREAS, the City has applied the provisions of Chapter 170 "Use of Real City Property" of the City municipal code uniformly and has no reason to believe that an exemption exists or could have been issued for Louie's Lunch on Thurston Avenue, now therefore be it RESOLVED, That the Board of Public Works hereby denies the appeal of the 2011 permit fee for the use of space along Thurston Avenue, and directs that the fee be collected before April 1, 2012, or with the fee for street use in 2012, whichever comes first. Page 6 8.2A Appeal of Sidewalk Assessment for 104 Worth Street – Resolution WHEREAS, Bruce Roebal, owner of 104 Worth St, received a 2010 sidewalk assessment for sidewalk work completed adjacent to his property, and WHEREAS, Bruce Roebal received sidewalk defect notices in 2007, 2009 and obtained a street permit in 2009 to perform the work and completed some, but not all of the work on the notices, and WHEREAS, Bruce Roebal contested the bill for work done in 2010 to complete the repairs, now therefore be it RESOLVED, That the Board recognizes that City forces finished the sidewalk replacement work in accordance with City specifications, and be it further RESOLVED, That each protest reason was considered as shown in the Sidewalk Assessment Protest Summary for this address, and the Board hereby denies the request to waive the sidewalk assessment for 104 Worth Street. Page 7 9.3 Board Liaison Assignments Current Board of Public Works liaison assignments to boards and committees are as follows: Govind Acharya – Planning & Development Board Claudia Jenkins – Conservation Advisory Council List of Boards and Committees requiring a BPW Liaison that currently does not have one assigned: Board/Committee Meeting Date/Time Meeting Location Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Council Called As Needed TBD Commons Advisory Board 1st Friday @ 8:30 a.m. Council Chambers, City Hall Disability Advisory Council 1st Wednesday @ 12:15 p.m. Council Chambers, City Hall Natural Areas Commission 2nd Monday @ 5:30 p.m. 2nd Floor Conf. Rm., City Hall Parks Commission 2nd Tuesday @ 12:00 p.m. Cornell Cooperative Ext., 615 Willow Ave. Public Arts Commission 4th Tuesday @ 5:00 p.m. Community Arts Partnership, Center Ithaca Youth Bureau Advisory Board 2nd Tuesday @ 6:00 p.m. Ithaca Youth Bureau