Mayor and City Council
City Hall Conference Room
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
6:15 P.M.
Present – Mayor Lee N. Fiedler, and Council Members, Edward C. Hedrick, Jr.; Harold L. Hendershot and Terance J. Rephann.
Absent – Councilman Floyd Pete Elliott
Also Present – Jeffrey E. Repp, City
I. Public Meeting Agenda Review – Jeff Repp, City
The meeting agenda was reviewed as follows:
Mr. Repp conveyed that there would be a presentation presented by Chief Hinnant honoring three of the City’s officers for Officer of the Year awards.
Officer of the Year: 2004 Corporal Andrew Linthicum
2005 Patrolman James Burt
2006 Patrolman Christopher Hill
Ordinance:
Ordinance No. 3578 Authorizing the execution of a deed to convey to Sean D’Atri city-owned surplus property located at
Mr. Repp said this would clarify any issues concerning the property owned by Sean D’Atri. It will complete the transfer of three properties, two that are currently adjoining the Crow Bar that the City owns that he uses for parking and the property across the street, which is 5 Putnam.
Ordinance NO. 3579Authorizing the execution of a deed to convey to Gary Duckworth city-owned surplus property located on Waverly Terrace - $3,000.00
Consent Agenda - Discussed as follows:
Order No. 24,532 Authorizing the Mayor and City Clerk to execute a Lease Agreement between the Mayor and City Council and the Corner Grille, LLC for outside café dining on a portion of public right-of-way in front of the business.
Mr. Repp explained that the Mayor and City Council denied this request last year but that this year there is evidence of a substantial amount of food business at this establishment compared to last year, which would warrant a lease for outside dining. The area will be properly roped off.
Order No. 24,533 Accepting the proposal of the State Highway Administration as sole source for the materials testing and inspection for Improvements for Rolling Mill Access Roads, Phases 2 and 3 – Est. $21,340.00
Order No. 24,534 Accepting the proposal of Howell Trucking, Inc., for curbside collection of municipal solid waste at the
Order No. 24,535 Accepting the proposal of Howell Trucking, Inc., for a one-year extension of their present contract for curbside collection of municipal solid waste - $538,261.20 Annually
Order No. 24,536 Accepting the bid of Brabson Salvage for the demolition of properties located at
Order No. 24,537 Accepting the bid of Miller Construction for the demolition of a property located at
Order No. 24,538 Authorizing the Mayor and City Clerk to execute an Easement Relocation Agreement by and between the Mayor and Council and Cornerstone Enterprises, LLC.
Mr. Repp explained that these items involve the relocation of the existing water and sewer lines at
Order No. 24,539 Accepting the bid of MEGCO Inspections, Inc. for the Western Maryland Health System Inspections – Not to exceed $163,200.
Mr. Repp explained that this amount would be over a three year period between now and when the hospital will be completed. Councilman Hendershot asked if MEGCO negotiated this contract or if it was put to bid. Mr. Repp stated that an RFP was developed and sent out to several companies. He advised this is a “not to exceed” number, and would hopefully be substantially less, but the worse case scenario is a maximum cost of $163,200.00.
Order No. 24,540 Granting of a Residential Exemption from Special Taxing District tax for the 2006 tax year for Mr. Francis Rohman,
Order No. 24,541 Accepting the bid of Sutphen Corporation for a new fire engine - $313,654.00. Mayor and City Council authorized the modification for the public improvement bond of 2006.
Fire Chief Herbaugh stated that the price includes some equipment and bids received were from four major apparatus manufacturers. The bid from Sutphen totally meets specifications. Mr. Repp stated bond funds would be used, with the bid being in the ballpark. Councilman Hendershot asked if the City had bought anything from Sutphen before. Chief Herbaugh said that this would be the fifth engine purchased from them and advised delivery of truck would be in about 7 (seven) months.
Order No. 24,542 Authorizing the Mayor to execute documents related to Community Legacy Program Award Agreements for Fiscal Year 2007 for Virginia Avenue Corridor Infrastructure, Blight Removal, and Property Compliance projects - $275,000.00
Order No. 24,543 Accepting the proposal of Barry A. Witt for the Craft House Project at the
Order No. 24,544 Accepting the base bid of IA Construction for the Improvements for Rolling Mill Access Roads Project, City Project No. 10-02-M(1) - $1,950,388.40.
Mr. Repp stated the Engineering Department is awarding the base bid and not including the alternative bid due to funding. John DeVault, Chief Inspector from the Department of Engineering said the funding covers the base bid and explained what it covered. He said due to the price of petroleum going up that asphalt doubled as well as other costs also being affected; stating the main portion of the project will get done. Mayor Fiedler asked when the project would begin. Mr. DeVault stated that as of now they were waiting on concurrence from Maryland State Highway Administration but hoping for the end of May. The Mayor also asked about shutting down the streets during the project and how that would be handled. Mr. DeVault stated they planned on shutting one street down at a time and that residents could park on the street at night but would have to move their vehicles first thing in the morning.
Letter:
1. From the Cumberland Planning Commission recommending a zoning district reclassification for the area known as Klots Mill from I-G (Industrial-General) to R-U (Urban-Residential).
Mr. Repp stated that the next step would be to advertise for a public hearing based on the recommendation of the Commission after which the zoning change could be adopted.
II. Best Value Contracting Presentation:
Mr. Jack Wilson, Business Manager of the Local Union on
Mayor Fiedler asked how the City ordinance addresses this. City
Upon question from Mayor Fiedler, Mr. Repp responded that the City could adopt a Resolution that would specify the things they want to incorporate. Mr. Repp said he would work with Engineering and return to Council within the next 60-90 days with a draft Resolution for presentation to the Mayor and City Council similar to the Board of Education’s, but pertinent to the operation of the City.
III. Three-Year Pavement Management Plan:
City
Councilman Rephann asked what was budgeted for street improvements in the past. Mr. Repp responded that the power point presented those numbers. He also stated that Stantec figures showed that the City needed to budget at least three (3) million dollars per year for the next 10 years to maintain the current level of quality. Councilman Rephann asked if bonds would be used. Mr. Repp stated that without question bonds would be required, as there was no way enough revenue could be raised internally to pay for the improvements of the streets.
Councilman Ed Hedrick inquired about the use of CDBG funds. Mr. Repp replied that CDBG funds would be used for those who were eligible, and that with a special assessment those funds could be used to pay the assessment for those who qualify.
Councilman Hendershot asked for clarification if the three (3) million dollars was to maintain the streets at their current status, how there could be improvement. Mr. DeVault stated that for three (3) million dollars the streets could be maintained and begin to improvement. He stated that if the City could not commit those funds the whole level of the street network would continue to decline and corrode. He further stated that if that if the three (3) million could be budgeted along with additional funding, the streets would actually show improvements. Stantec advised that keeping the pavement condition information current was a critical issue and that every three (3) years they should come in and update the information. They essentially would do a refresher of the data they had collected and then recalculate the information found. They would then issue a new report of their findings. Mr. Repp said that it would basically give the City a benchmark to see where the streets are rated on the scale of 0-10 and if progress was seen and/or where streets had either maintained or deteriorated. A hand out was provided containing a listing of all streets that were recommended for repairs over the next year from the lowest PQI to the highest. Another hand out was provided showing the break down of a three year recommended program by the PQI and streets. Mr. DeVault explained that this handout was compiled from a ten (10) year report from a list of streets broken down section by section. It was found that costs would be higher in repairing small sections; therefore, an analysis was done combining sections including water and sewer rehabilitation to make more effective.
Mr. Repp stated the problem he identified with the three (3) year program was that $1.4 million of the almost $9 million dollars projected was to redo the Mechanic and Centre Streets in the first three years of the program. He asked if the City want to spend that much money on them, even though they are heavily used, when they were repaired less than 20 years ago. Another handout was provided which Mr. Repp explained excluded Centre and Mechanic Streets focusing more on the local streets, maximizing the use of in-house paving and the number of people served. This would help the locals for the first three (3) years and would put Mechanic and Centre Streets at years four (4), five (5) and six (6).
Mr. Repp explained that there was great flexibility in the program and that the Mayor and City Council would have to establish guidelines and recommendations. Councilman Rephann asked what the equivalent tax increase would be. Mr. Repp responded that there would be a bond issue, probably in the range of fifteen (15) to eighteen (18) million dollars for a five (5) to six (6) year program. The City would essentially pay for everything and when completed notices would be sent out to the property owners for special assessments. These assessments could be paid in full or financed over a five year period. He also noted that CDBG funds would pay the assessment for those who qualified. The City would then put that money in a street improvement fund, which would be available for the public and media to have access to the records showing the special revenue coming in as well as anything that the City would have to allocate, and would fund the debt load. Mr. Repp also stated that he did not want to speculate on a tax increase figure at this time.
Mayor Fiedler asked Mr. Repp to start looking at a program to present to the Council providing a number of funding scenarios considering a possible tax increase between two (2) to five (5) cents along with the bond and CDBG funding. He asked him to also bring the non-taxable properties into the equation.
Councilman Hendershot asked if they would wait to start while deciding funding or begin with funds from other sources. Mr. Repp said monies were set aside for this program and if they want to start this summer they could use it as seed money. Mayor Fiedler stated that the government, both state and federal, should help with funding.
IV. Administrative Session -
Mr. Repp suggested, with time restrictions, they not have this session. It was agreed.
Mr. Repp requested a Special Session be conduced on Friday, April 20, 2007 at 9:00 a.m. for consideration of adoption of the Resolution for the refunding bonds. It was agreed.
V. Adjournment -
With no further business, the Work Session adjourned at 7:23 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Sharon S. Clark
City Clerk