Committee Minutes

Grand Forks City Council Service/Safety Standby Committee
Tuesday, April 26, 2011 - 5:30 p.m.____________________

The Service/Safety Standby Committee met on Tuesday, April 26, 2011 at 5:30 p.m. in the council chambers in City Hall with Council Member Bjerke presiding. Present at roll call were Bjerke, Grandstrand, Gershman (ex-officio).

Others present included: Al Grasser, Todd Feland, Dean Rau, Chief Packett, Chief O’Neill, Don Shields, Todd Hanson, Chief O’Neill, Emily Fossen.

Bjerke stated that he had item for the agenda at the next committee meeting:
1) Consideration of some issues at Big D’s, and would like report from the police department, the city attorney and notification of owner/manager of Big D’s as have noise issues that need to be addressed.

Grandstrand stated he had 3 issues to be placed on the next committee agenda:
1) Petition against racial injustice in the community, and wants to know what happened there, woman was assaulted and that she didn’t get any justice. Gershman stated that he could address that, that they (individuals) had a meeting last week with Chief Packett, Rick Duquette, Pete Haga and himself about this issue, and in that meeting discussed a lot of various issues about this situation and its multi-level. There was some frustration and they told us they were going to have a march from City Hall to the County Court House and we encouraged them to go ahead and do that, which they did; and subsequent to that he offered to get hold of Altru to have a meeting with them; and have two phone calls back to the individual but has not heard from him yet but they are on top of this and that there are always many sides to a story but thinks they were quite sensitive to the issue, and that they felt very good about the meeting and that they purposely had the meeting in the Mayor’s Office so they knew that we were taking this very seriously. That we are on top of it and are waiting to hear from them and think that will go to great lengths to help resolve this; that they did address it immediately and set up meeting very quickly, within 24 hours. Grandstrand asked how can they know this has been resolved. Gershman stated that will probably have to come from individuals to say that things have been resolved; that they had a meeting the next day of the Immigrant Initiative Committee and two African members of the committee stated that they were not in favor of the march so have the African community that some felt the march was justified, and some not. Grandstrand stated he wasn’t asking about the march, but the badgering. Gershman stated he was telling him what he knew and would talk to him about this because there are some legal issues that he didn’t wish to talk about publicly.

2) Matter of Rollin’ on the River Marathon and have submission from Melanie Parvey.
3) That before the meeting is ended to pull up Fargo’s long term planning and on-line town hall – that it is an interesting process and should look at using some of that .

1. Consideration of bids for Project No. 6633, Dist. No. 649, University Avenue Reconstruction.___________________________________________________
Dean Rau, asst. city engineer, reported that bids had been received on Monday, April 14, for
reconstruction of University Avenue, part of the road is asphalt and are proposing to put in concrete with curb and gutter; low bid was from H & S Construction in the amount of $216,616.50. Bid was somewhat over the engineer’s estimate but that the bid was appropriate and that the contractor is qualified to do the work, and are recommending award of the bid to H & S Construction. Motion by Grandstrand and Bjerke to approve and refer to city council. Motion carried.

2. Consideration of bids for construction of Project No. 6647, 2011 Watermain Replacement.
Rau reported that bid was received on April 18, came in higher than anticipated and after
consulting with the water department and contractor, will do change order to reduce the scope of work and will take out approx.. 3 blocks of the watermain replacement which is not in dire need of replacement and will do that work on next year’s project, and the total change order will be slightly under the $400,000 that is budgeted for watermain replacement. They are recommending award of the contract to Sellin Brothers, Inc. in the amount of $498,183.00 and will then bring change order to reduce the amount to be within the budget. Motion by Grandstrand and Bjerke to approve and refer to city council. Motion carried.

3. Bids for Project No. 6693, District Nos. 100, 101, 102 and 103 – 2011 Mill and Overlay Project.__________________________________________________________________
Rau reported that bids received yesterday and that bids were favorable compared to the engineer’s
estimate, that they have received 1 protest and that the protest period ends on April 28, and at that time will do calculations but doesn’t appear to be enough to protest the project out. Low bid was Opp Construction in the amount of $848,753.50 and would recommend award of the bid. Motion by Grandstrand and Bjerke to approve and refer to city council. Motion carried.

4. Create special assessment district for Project No. 6718, Dist. No. 305, watermain on S. 42nd St. from 17th Ave.S. to 200 ft. south of 18th Ave.S.___________________________________
Rau reported they had received request from the property owner, Black Gold Properties, and they
are looking at putting in development south of 17th Avenue and west of 42nd Street, they will be installing utilities at their own cost and that will cover the 50% share put up by the developer, and the watermain for this project will be 50/50 between the east and the west side, that they have a meeting with the Special Assessment Commission tomorrow to review this project. Recommend approving engineer’s estimate and creating special assessment district and directing engineering department to prepare plans and specs. Motion by Grandstrand and Bjerke to approve and refer to city council. Motion carried.

5. Create special assessment district for Project No. 6719, Dist. No. 473, sanitary sewer on S. 42nd St. from 19th Ave.S. to 18th Ave.S.____________________________________________
Rau reported this is relative to the Black Gold request, that sanitary sewer to be extended to the
north, approx.. 130 ft. and sewer will serve both sides of 42nd once the east side is developed, and are requesting approval of the engineer’s report, assessment district and directing engineering department to prepare plans and specs. and advertise for construction bids. Motion by Grandstrand and Bjerke to approve and refer to city council. Motion carried.

6. Mosquito Control bids (chemicals, equipment, aerial services and vehicles).
Don Shields presented bids for larviciding, adulticides, equipment, aerial spraying and vehicle
bids for 2011; that the equipment that is being replaced was bid on the Public Works contract to get a better bid, and that on some of the bids have asked that they could order from any of 4 vendors that offer the same price on chemicals as sometimes not necessarily available when need them. Motion by Grandstrand and Bjerke to approve and refer to city council. Motion carried.

Gershman stated this is probably one of the best programs we have in the city and thanked them for
mosquito free – this is program that people keep telling us thank you – great program.

7. Public Works Sanitation Division baling and associated equipment replacement Project No. 6716._________________________________________________________________________
Todd Feland, director of public works, reported this bid is to replace the baler at baling facility
and the letter from Burns & McDonnell is recommending that we go with the lowest bid, Sanitation Products, Inc., that they received 3 bids and the one from Sanitation Products is known as Marathon baler, currently have 2 Marathon balers. He stated that the bid also included option that within 365 days of the Notice to Proceed to proceed with a second baler, and would like to come back to committee and council the first part of next year to proceed with purchase of a second baler; they bid the baler and a CPI and tentatively says how much of that percentage was related to inflation, which is 30% of material costs, but do have until next year to do that. He stated another part that needs to be bid is that the delivery time is 20 weeks and asking to go ahead with the bid for the equipment and as proceed with delivery would also have to procure an installer of this equipment. Another positive with the Marathon baler is that it is the one that we currently have and probably less installation issues because it will be de-constructing one and installing another one with some modifications..

The other issue is that funding is based upon where the installation costs comes in, will hold off on
moving ahead with any of the collection trucks at this time and are also bidding landfill closure project on May 10, lot of projects at once, and that towards end of May will see where we sit with the budget and proceed from there. He recommended going with low bid which is the Marathon baler and based upon what happens this year with that machine, may come back next year and execute the option of second baler. He also noted that the baler has a one-year standard warranty and the extended warranty is for $29,635 for one additional year and is contemplating not accepting that option – that in looking at the memo, the largest thing that can go wrong is re. two spare parts - one is main compression ram and the second one is s sheer blade, the main compression ram which is $41,000 and that shouldn’t happen in year two. Gershman suggested to check to see what the warranty would be after 2 years, that one year doesn’t seem like much of an extension , usually an extended warranty is 3 years or more, and might ask if they can raise their options on it. Feland agreed and by Monday would put together some additional information on this and update the staff report. Motion by Grandstrand and Bjerke to approve and refer to city council. Motion carried.

8. FY2012 Public Transportation Job Access/Reverse Commute and New Freedoms Program Funds Applications Submittal to enhance Fixed Route and Dial-A-Ride/Senior Services and associated Transportation Improvement Plan Amendment.____________________________
Feland reported that since 2007 received Job Access Reverse Commute (JARC) and have used
that money for our western route (Route 12/13) which is a feeder route on the south and to the west of the city; have committee meeting tomorrow re. Transportation Development Plan where they are looking at all the routes and looking at Dial-A-Ride and Senior Rider System at the same time and is asking that they proceed with the JARC funding and ask for that one route on this grant and would pay for half of that route and that later this year will look at a new route system but whatever that new route system, this equivalent route will be able to fund whatever that route comes out at and is asking that we submit this as south and west route that we would ask for continued JARC funding.

The second one is the Federal Transit Administration and NDDOT and requesting that Metropolitan Transportation Systems look at hiring mobility manager that will help run the system. He stated he had handed out some of the routing information - on one side fixed route and can see more heavily used routes and trying to get the routes so that they can function better and serve the people better. On second half of the sheet what the State and Federal govt. concerned about – on fixed route have general public, fixed route and elderly and disabled, and then have paratransit elderly and disabled and would like as part of route study is looking at paratransit senior rider system to be as many paratransit elderly and disabled on fixed routes as possible, and encouraging to go through entire study and try to get them onto main route fixed route system. He stated he is recommending that we go ahead with the New Freedoms grant
that would request that we would be able to hire a contracted grant mobility manager and the grant will pay 80% of the personnel cost; one thing haven’t done very well is that Bergman is doing a lot of the grant management, administration and that he is trying to assist him as much as possible but if something happens to either one of them have a large gap in that process and that this management position can also fill some gaps and some succession time in the organization and help support doing some good things. That is summary of request and that you will hear a lot about public transportation as they go through that development plan.

Grandstrand moved motion – Bjerke stated he wouldn’t second the motion, but go forward to council.

Bjerke stated notes extending Saturday service and if that is something they are working on.
Feland stated that JARC and New Freedoms have paid for that, that previously Saturday service started at 10:00 a.m. and now starts at 8:00 a.m.- Sunday service is part of discussion for future and is something they didn’t proceed with but will be discussed as part of the development plan

There was some discussion relating to the new position, that Bjerke asked if the deleted position was permanent – Feland stated it was and that if the federal money goes away that the mobility manager position would go away. Bjerke stated we are hiring an assistant public transportation superintendent and if that is a fair statement? , that he is concerned., and that if the federal government cuts off money for this, waiting to see what is going to happen because its millions of dollars Feland stated that was correct and that we get over $900,000 on operating side, and also lot of capital money. He stated their record in public works is that they combined a lot of positions, that did have two water and two wastewater superintendents, now have one each , and that in public works they have plenty of operational people but not enough administrative people, that this is an administrative position and is a grant funded position (80%) and is encouraged by the federal government, and would look to see if getting value for that position and if it doesn’t work out would come back to committee.

Gershman stated he thinks this is a good program and would like him to find out a little more where this person could effect change that would save us some money, whether routing, timing or what.. Feland stated part of it is routing, currently in the last 2 weeks implemented this route map system, Dale Bergman has been doing a lot of stuff on the route maps and are finding that it was a good idea that we brought the Dial-A-Ride/Senior Rider System into our own building because we are finding out how the system is working, what demands people have, and finding what’s happening day to day on rides. That we pay on a per ride basis and that this person is going to look in more detail how we are picking up people and that with multiple loading and things that assist with this software system to make it function the way it should; that this has to be more strategic in order for us to sustain paratransit and senior rider system; and what the efficiencies are – and trying to focus on the service level and trying to find ways that we can save and that is in the Dial-A-Ride and Senior Rider area.
Gershman stated we are doing about 360,400 rides a year, and do you have some sense of how many people as some ride several times per week, etc. Feland stated they have an existing rider base for senior riders so could tell you on that and on paratransit how many potential riders that is, that on the fixed route could give you a number when go through this plan and try to detail as part of that transportation development and are going to try to identify as part of that plan where clusters of people are and then be able to give you a number throughout all three services.

Gershman asked what they are proposing for Industrial Park. Feland stated that working with the businesses out there, didn’t have anybody riding the bus out there, there were a lot of things they wanted but when went out there, that it wasn’t the right time or couldn’t get the right energy going with people and is part of this process, have had calls from other companies out there and right now service has left employees but now probably about the same as had back then – gave it a 3-month try and was a waste of time and money. Feland stated the only 30-minute route is Route #3 which starts at the downtown Metro-Transit Center and goes to Altru and back, and all the other routes are half hour routes but have different routes on the other half hour. He stated they are going to look at this on the transportation development plan, that have some routes they would like to change and have routes that are too long and need to be updated - changes may affect some people but need to be able say is good for the system

Gershman stated another question is how are you going to find a specialized person and what is criteria for find this route manager or assistant that will actually study this, thinks it is an important thing to analyze what doing with that money and how find somebody. Feland stated looking at urban and overall planning background skills, GIS, and with the economy there is a lot of people that would be interested in this particular job, would be great opportunity for somebody like that starting out. Gershman stated that hoping that when we see the applications that we do have somebody that really is qualified to do this and not learn on the job. Feland stated he concurs.

Gershman stated one thing he would request to get services to the library, regardless of what happens with the vote on the library; and hopes that could be integrated into the system, and should be front door service. Feland stated they need to work on that concept and get it closer.

Bjerke asked what is the end date. Feland stated this week they are doing coded rider counts and goal is to get it done by end of the year as long as could catch UND students and if wanted to come back for more data, could look at winter again - goal was with the MPO study to get it done by the end of the year, or a final draft.

9. Matter of GO 2030.net – Fargo website.
Grandstrand stated what they are doing is a comprehensive plan and engaging the public with it and that is the important part, a comprehensive plan is useful but engaging the public – that this website is a place where people can go and give their ideas – and have different areas of where you can submit an idea – energy, land use, serve and design, etc. and what is your vision for Fargo’s future. You can engage the public and use public’s interest in an area and think about how that actually works in government and address it and that when people get upset about something that happens, they blame local government for it and that can put their idea on line and that someone will address it and improve the way things work – and that is most important – would do it every year or on-going –but then people have something to look forward to and have a chance to actually be able to write down their idea and be heard and that is important thing – they come up with good ideas and have more involvement, and hope would be open to doing something like this.

Gershman stated he thinks it’s a good idea and would hope that people wouldn’t treat it like a blog, that if anonymous and does give format, and more respect for ideas if someone signs their name to it. Grandstrand stated when signing up, have to put in your name and e-mail address but is the idea that matters, that there are limits to how much you can type. Gershman stated if you make people put their name down less likely to share an idea but his personal opinion is likes to know who he’s talking to but that maybe would stifle conversation on these ideas ; and if get a lot of them, who is responsible for answering – transportation would go to Feland’s office, and engineering go to Grasser – that he does encourage people to call him at home or work or email and if were to go ahead with this and that Grandstand should push this issue a little and then decide who is responsible – worst thing is if put idea out there and nothing happens – but at least someone should get back to them. Grandstrand stated that is reason should only do this once in a while -- consider it pushed.

Motion by Grandstrand and Bjerke to adjourn; motion carried and adjourned at 6:25 p.m.

Alice Fontaine
City Clerk.