WORK SE
MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
CITY HALL CONFERENCE ROOM
Tuesday, August 9, 2005
6:15 P.M.
Present: Mayor Lee N. Fiedler, Council Members Floyd “Pete” Elliott, Edward C. Hedrick, Jr., Harold L. Hendershot, Jr., and Terance J. Rephann.
Also Present: Jeffrey E. Repp, City Administrator; H. Jack Price, Jr., City Solicitor; Kevin Hagerich, Director of Public Works; Jeffrey Rhodes, Director of Administrative Services, Vickie Swink, Economic Development Coordinator; John Chapman, Maintenance Manager; William Herbaugh, Fire Chief; John Kiefer, President Local 553; and Sharon S. Clark, City Clerk.
I. Public Meeting Agenda Review - Jeffrey E. Repp, City Administrator
Mr. Repp reviewed the public meeting agenda as follows:
Revised agenda:
Removed Presentation by Police Chief
Added Order for inter-department fund transfers for FY 2004
Ordinances and Charter Amendment Resolutions:
1. Ordinance No. 3538 - Regulating Camping in the City of Cumberland
Mr. Repp asked for questions of Council. There were none.
Orders (Consent Agenda) - Twelve (12) orders discussed as follows:
Item No. 1 Granting vacation days to Officer Jeffrey Fairley of the Cumberland Police Department for use prior to July 1, 2006, in recognition of his service in active duty
Item No. 2 Appointments to various Boards and Commissions
Mr. Repp reviewed the appointments being made and asked for questions. There were none.
Item No. 3 Authorizing the Mayor to execute an Encroachment Agreement between the City and Gap Self Storage into the public right-of-way of King Street for the purpose of providing green space
Item No. 4 Accepting the proposal of Carl Belt for milling and paving a section of street at the intersection of Mechanic and Valley Streets - $15,000.00
Mr. Repp explained Carl Belt is required by the State Highway Administration to do a test paving area for their Industrial Boulevard project. They approached the City to use this area for their test with the City only paying for actual materials used at cost and the milling of the area. This area was scheduled to mill and repave using CDBG funds. This will result in an approximate $7,200 savings for the City.
Item No. 5 Authorizing the Mayor and City Administrator to execute an “Operation Agreement” by and between CONXX and AllCoNet2, a Maryland partnership of Allegany County and the City of Cumberland
Mr. Repp explained this agreement shows how revenue will be shared for the first six months (50/50 basis) after which a long-term agreement will be negotiated with CONXX. He advised CONXX has begun marketing.
Mayor Fiedler noted CONXX has purchased a building on Baltimore Street.
Item No. 6 Accepting the quote of Hydro-Dyne Engineering, Inc., for the sole source purchase approval for repair of the Bar Screen at the Wastewater Treatment Plant - $94,000.00
Councilman Hendershot asked for explanation for the sole source purchase. Mr. Repp explained this company is the manufacturer of the equipment.
Item No. 7 Authorizing the Mayor to execute a Funding Approval/Agreement between the City of Cumberland and the U. S. Dept. of Housing & Urban Development for CDBG Program for Fiscal Year 2005-06 - $1,150,279.00
Item No. 8 Accepting the proposal of ARK Systems, Inc. for Voice Over Internet Protocol Telephone Systems, City Project No. 8-05-M - $182,794.00
Mr. Repp explained this purchase is for a new City-wide phone system and explained the system and how it would be used using the AllCoNet II wireless system vs. the present telephone system. His presentation included benefits of the project, project overview, project phases, costs and projected savings.
Upon questions from Mayor Fiedler, Mr. Repp confirmed we would be using fiber net line vs. Verizon, and noted that they lease their lines from Verizon.
Councilman Hendershot asked for confirmation that the City will be doing a lease-purchase of this system over five years. Mr. Repp confirmed.
Councilman Rephann asked what most of the equipment would be and inquired about the possibility of sharing a server with the Board and/or County. Mr. Repp said most of the equipment will be the telephones along with a few servers and that the Board of Education has been converting their system over the last several years and that the County is has begun converting to this system over the last several months. He added that the server could not be shared.
Councilman Hendershot inquired about the 911 System. Mr. Repp advised the Civil Defense will be a separate project the County will be undertaking which will be a few million dollar upgrade. Councilman Hendershot asked if there would be a compatibility issues until the Civil Defense is upgraded to which Mr. Repp responded that the issues have been worked out.
There was some discussion of the change over operations plan. Councilman Rephann asked if this expenditure was budgeted. Mr. Repp said the cost is covered since phone costs were budgeted for the year which will be used for these costs resulting in a net savings.
Item No. 9 Authorizing the City Comptroller to abate Real Estate Taxes for City-owned property on Bishop Walsh Rd./Haystack Mountain – 2004-05 $1,599.10; 2005-06 $1,599.10
Mr. Repp explained this is abatement of the City taxes and Nextel’s lease with the City excludes them from paying taxes.
Item No. 10 Authorizing the City Comptroller to abate Real Estate Taxes for City-owned property located at 1 Navy Way – 2005-06 $7,004.98
Item No. 11 Authorizing the City Comptroller to abate Real Estate Taxes for property known as the Baltimore Street Apartments in accordance with an agreement for payment in lieu of taxes – 2005-06 $34,068.47
Item No. 12 Approving appropriation transfers for Fiscal Year 2003-04
Mr. Repp explained the purpose of this order and reviewed the transfer amounts and provided explanation.
Letters:
Mr. Repp reviewed the following letters to be presented:
1. Allegany County Dept. of Community Services – Advising the City of Program Open Space grants for FY 2005 and advising of the application process for projects. City projects - $93,602.80
Councilman Hendershot asked if these funds were for specific projects, to which Mr. Rhodes responded that they are for a range of projects. Councilman Rephann asked if there was a question as to whether or not the funds will be received. Mr. Repp responded that the City had received a letter officially awarding the funds and that the County had to submit to the State how the money would be spent so he didn’t feel they could arbitrarily take the funds back. In answer to a question from Councilman Hendershot, Mr. Rhodes said the City’s request for funding was approximately $350,000; however, it was not anticipated to receive the full amount.
1. Willie Booker, III, Engineer – Structural Design, CSX Transportation – advising of plans for repairs of the Fayette Street Bridge
Kevin Hagerich, Public Works Director, reviewed information related to him a meeting he had with CSX as to how the repairs will be handled.
2. Mr. David Kauffman – Letter of Resignation from the Downtown Development Commission
3. City Clerk – Advising the time has passed for a petition of referendum for the CAR repealing and reenacting, with amendments, sections of the Charter regarding the closing of public right-of-ways – CAR effective August 2, 2005
4. Jim Ortiz – Inviting the Mayor and Council to participate at the Grant Stand for the 56th Halloween Parade and to thank them for the funding contribution
In addition to these letters, Mr. Repp advised he had received a letter from the State approving the extended audit completion date to August 15th. He added the audit will be finalized tomorrow and submitted on time.
Councilman Hedrick inquired about repairs to the George Street Garage. Mr. Repp advised that the Engineering Department is working on RFP’s which will be sent out to engineering firms. He added that the intention is to do an infrastructure bond participating in the CHCD infrastructure loan pool this fall.
II. Cumberland Fire Department Centennial Request: (Chief William Herbaugh)
Chief William Herbaugh gave a presentation regarding the 100 Year Celebration of the Cumberland Fire Department in March of 2006. He presented committee ideas and events for the celebration as well as needed funding and projected sources of revenues.
He asked if there were any legal or other problems with soliciting funds, sponsors, or 50/50 raffles to which Mr. Price advised he did not see any legal issues.
Mayor Fiedler expressed that the Council would support this in any way they could. Mr. Repp said he would come up with a recommendation.
III. Department of Public Works Overview : (Kevin Hagerich, Director of Public Works)
Mr. Kevin Hagerich, Public Works Director, gave a presentation stating the mission of the Public Works Department is to Support the City with Operational Services, manage resources, and to provide the most efficient services to the citizens of the City.
He reviewed goals for FY 2006, the structure of the department and divisions of the department, and 2006 milestones. He then reviewed short and long term plans in the department as well as the challenges of transitioning.
Mr. Hagerich discussed the benefits of GIS in public works, after which Mr. Repp elaborated on the benefits of GIS mapping for many other departments in relationship to their work. Mr. Hagerich made the comparison that GIS is like 911 to non-emergencies services. There was discussion of how the information will be recorded and kept current. Mr. Repp added that the biggest effort is data collection, which has been on-going for several years. He said hypothetically this will be done within the next three to five years depending on funding availability and information. Mr. Repp elaborated on this effort.
There was discussion of the reorganization to include an Assistant Director of Maintenance. Mr. Repp said a request would be submitted with documentation of the need for the change for organizational changes at the next meeting. He added this would not be an addition to the department, but would be an internal shift. Councilman Hendershot asked if this was part of the EMA work. Mr. Repp responded that EMA did not get into organizational charts, but rather their efforts were on optimization of personnel.
IV. Economic Development Strategic Plan: (Questions/Answers)
This Plan had previously been presented and discussed, and there were no additional questions. Mr. Repp advised the intention is to have this on the agenda for adoption at the next meeting. Mayor Fiedler commented that he felt this was a good project.
V. Executive Session:
Mr. Repp requested an Executive Session to discuss real estate matters and requested Mr. Rhodes and Ms. Swink participation in the session. Councilman Hendershot made a motion to go into executive session, seconded by Councilman Elliott, and unanimously agreed.
VI. Adjournment:
With no further discussion, the meeting adjourned at 7:13 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Sharon S. Clark
City Clerk