PUBLIC WORKS & SAFETY COMMITTEE
November 9,
2005
Minutes
The
meeting was called to order at 1:30 p.m.
Safety
Committee members Police Chief Virgil Gustafson and Teresa Pendleton
Owen
Fugleseth
There
were no accidents to report for the month of October.
Andrew
Doroschak, 4490 Eastwood Road, was present to request that the City consider
the installation of three-way stop signs at the intersection of Ridgewood Road
and Eastwood Road, especially now that the City of Minnetonka is considering
resurfacing Eastwood Road next year.
Paul
Skrede stated that he thought the stop signs would be beneficial in slowing
down traffic on Ridgewood Road and asked if there was anyone who could thing of
a reason why this wouldn’t benefit the residents in this area? Dana Young stated that the Committee had
recommended installing three-way stop signs at this intersection at their April
6th meeting but thought that the City Council had decided against
pursuing the recommendation. Paul Skrede
suggested that Mr. Doroschak could bring the matter to the attention of the
City Council at their next meeting under Matters from the Floor.
Paul
Skrede recommended working with the City of Minnetonka on the installation of
three-way stop signs at the intersection of Ridgewood Road and Eastwood Road due
to the significant amount of traffic on Ridgewood Road and the additional
traffic caused by the reconstruction of Co. Rd. 101. Seconded by Teresa Pendleton. Jerry Hudlow voted against the motion. Motion carried 4-1.
Paul
Skrede asked Jerry Hudlow why he voted against the motion. Jerry Hudlow stated that he didn’t think that
people would slow down for the stop sign at this intersection and would simply
drive through the stop sign.
Dana Young stated that the Police Department has received a $2,500 grant from CenterPoint Energy for emergency management and approximately $2,100 remains to be expended from the grant funds. Discussion was held on purchasing rain gear for the public works crew, additional traffic barricades and flashers from the remaining grant funds.
Dana
Young moved to adjourn the Public Safety Committee meeting. Seconded by Jerry Hudlow.
Motion
carried 5-0. The Public Safety Committee
meeting adjourned at 1:55 p.m.
Dana Young asked if Jerry Hudlow had some cost information on purchasing a smaller plow that would enable the Public Works Department to plow the LRT Trail such that there is a more even split between the plowed and unplowed portion of the trail.
Jerry
Hudlow stated that the existing plow that is used on the LRT Trail is 7 1/2
feet in width and has a 6 ˝ foot cut when angled to plow snow. He stated that purchasing a 6-foot plow, when
angled would only reduce the width of the plowed surface by 15”. He stated that a 6-foot plow would cost
$1,269. Dana Young asked if there would
be a benefit in purchasing a blower for the skidsteer rather than a plow. Jerry Hudlow stated that a 5-˝ foot blower
would cost $3,810. Jerry Hudlow added
that the width of the LRT Trail through Deephaven and Greenwood varies from
9-12 feet and purchasing a smaller plow or a new blower would provide less than
a four-foot unplowed strip through portions of the trail. He stated that he didn’t think that the cost of
a smaller plow or a new blower would be a significant improvement.
Paul
Skrede stated that this information should be relayed to those individuals
interested in seeing a more even division between the plowed and unplowed
portions of the LRT Trail. He added that
he would make sure that he would provide this information to the Greenwood City
Council, who had expressed interest in this issue at one of their earlier
meetings.
Dana Young presented cost estimates to repair the sanitary sewer system based on the review of the 2003 & 2005 Televising Reports conducted by Bolton & Menk. The proposed repair work included:
· Clean dirty manholes
· Clean and televising dirty sewer lines
· Raise buried manholes
· Clean and patch pipe
· Clean and reline 8” sewer pipe
The cost estimates to repair the sewer system are as follows:
· 2003 Televising Report (Cottagewood Area) - $39,130
· 2005 Televising Report (Deephaven Park Area) - $37,674
Paul
Skrede asked why one of the proposed work items included “clean and televising
dirty sewer lines” when the City had already televised these lines. Dana Young stated that he had hoped that
Dennis Sauri of Bolton & Menk would be present to answer questions
regarding the project list in more detail and could only assume that the
reference to televising the lines was in error.
Jon
Monson asked why the cost estimates included 30% soft costs? Dana Young stated that he assumed that soft
costs include engineering and contingency costs. He added that these were cost estimates only
and that more exact costs would be obtained when the project would is bid for
construction next year.
Discussion
was held on whether to do the two proposed projects in separate years by
undertaking the improvements listed under the 2003 Televised Report in 2006 and
the improvements listed under the 2005 Televised Report in 2007. Dana Young stated that he felt there would be
a real benefit in completing all the repairs listed in both reports in 2006 in
order to get the repairs completed in a timely manner.
Paul
Skrede recommended bidding for the repairs listed under the 2003 and 2005
Televised Reports in 2006. Seconded by
Jon Monson. Motion carried 4-0.
Dana
Young stated that the City has reviewed several control panels from Quality
Flow and Electric Pump and has received quotes for nine control panels from the
following vendors:
·
Quality Flow Systems - $138,144.47
·
Electric Pump - $127,482.85
·
General Repair Service - $97,431.54
He
stated that interest in General Repair Service was minimal due to the fact that
the Public Works crew was not familiar with General Repair or with any cities
that used their control panels. He added
that both Quality Flow Systems and Electric Pump have offered to finance the
cost of the control panels over a three-year period.
He
stated that the Public Works crew generally favored the control panels offered
by Quality Flow Systems for a couple of reasons. First, the crew was familiar with Quality
Flow’s panels since they had been recently installed in Greenwood. And second, Quality Flow has a maintenance
staff that could repair the control panels once they are installed and Electric
Pump does not.
Dana
Young stated that the Committee has a couple of options to consider. First, the Committee could recommend that the
City purchase three control panels per year from the preferred vendor after
obtaining quotes and then simply pay the going rate for the control
panels. Or second, the Committee could
recommend that the City advertise for bids for the purchase of all nine control
panels at once, which is required by state law once the total price exceeds
$50,000. The City would then pay for the
control panels over a three-year period at an established, and presumably,
lower price.
Jon
Monson recommended that the City advertise for bids for all nine lift station
control panels with the condition that the contractors must provide three-year
financing. Seconded by Paul Skrede. Motion carried 4-0.
Paul
Skrede provided Jon Monson with an update on the lack of progress in receiving
the Storm Water Feasibility Report back from Schoell & Madson. He stated that much of the delay was owing to
Brian Vitek’s interest in having the City purchase topographic information. Jon Monson offered to contact Mark Heard to
check on the price of the City obtaining the topographic survey information
directly from his company.
Motion to adjourn by Paul Skrede, seconded by Dana Young. Motion carried 4-0. The meeting adjourned at 2:52 p.m. The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Public Works & Safety Committee will be held on Wednesday, December 7, 2005.