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| Public Works
Committee Actions |
March 2, 2004
ATTENDANCE: Kevin Poruban, Chairman; William Krummel; Douglas Hempstead; Fred Bondi, (8:25pm); Bruce Kimmel; Carvin Hilliard; Jeannette Olmstead-Sawyer
STAFF: Harold Alvord, Director, Public Works; Richard Linnartz, Assistant Director
Chairman Poruban called the meeting to order at 7:40pm.
1. ACCEPT THE MINUTES FROM THE PUBLIC WORKS
COMMITTEE HELD ON TUESDAY February 3, 2004
Mr. Poruban said that the minutes would be tabled until the next Committee meeting for more clarification of the motion made by Mr. Kimmel at the last meeting.
2. Tabled from Public Works Committee held on Tuesday, February 3, 2004, Accept the abandonment of a portion of the right of way of West Cedar Street at Scribner Avenue.
Mr. Linnartz said that there were no appraisals tonight from the various parties involved. He said that the department would take it off the agenda until the appraisals were received.
** MR. HEMPSTEAD MOVED TO TABLE THE ITEM UNTIL THE APPRAISALS ARE RECEIVED BY THE COMMITTEE.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
3. Authorize the Mayor, Alex A. Knopp, to execute an Amendment to the Agreement with Almstead Tree and Shrub Care Company to provide Tree Removal and Trimming Services, for a sum not to exceed $25,000.
Account No. 01 40 29 5298
Mr. Alvord said that the contract in total was $120,000 worth of work to be done. He said that there was only $95,000 in the budget at the moment. He added that was why the request was for $25,000. Mr. Hempstead suggested having backup for the item as needed.
** MR. HILLIARD MOVED TO AUTHORIZE THE MAYOR, ALEX A. KNOPP TO EXECUTE AN AMENDMENT TO THE AGREEMENT WITH ALMSTEAD TREE AND SHRUB CARE COMPANY TO PROVIDE TREE REMOVAL AND TRIMMING SERVICES, FOR A SUM NOT TO EXCEED $25,000. ACCT NO. 01 40 29 5298
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
4. Authorize the Mayor, Alex A. Knopp, to execute an Agreement with City Carting and Recycling, to provide Curbside Recycling Collection Services for a three year term beginning July 1, 2004 for a sum not to exceed $837,600 per year plus a monthly incentive payment of 10% of the base contract amount for zero complaints.
Account No. 01 40 43 5298
Ms. Olmstead Sawyer moved the item.
Mr. Kimmel said that there was a procedural issue to talk about. He said that his mail was picked up before this material was delivered. He said that it was shoved into the door. Mr. Kimmel said that he did not see this until today. Mr. Hilliard said that he had the same problem. Mr. Hempstead asked if the agenda and backup could be emailed to everyone. Mr. Kimmel said that with Outlook it was not easy to open attachments.
Mr. Alvord said that this item was added because the bidding was delayed about 10 days. He said that this would have been included in the original agenda. Mr. Alvord said that this would put them back on track. He said that there were two bidders, which were Waste Management and City Carting. He said that City Carting proposed a 3-year contract with no escalation in price for the 3 years with an option for 3 one-year extensions. Mr. Alvord said that City Carting bid $837,600 and Waste Management was $1,049,000 for the first year, roughly 5% escalation in the second year and 3% in the third year. Mr. Alvord said that the contract was a performance-based contract.
Mr. Kimmel said that he wanted clarification on complaints. Mr. Alvord said that the complaints are made to Lora Honis. He said that she would fax the complaints that come in before 9:00a.m. to City Carting. He said that City Carting would have all day to fix the complaint. Mr. Alvord said that if the complaint comes in after 9:00a.m., then City Carting has 24 hours to fix the complaint.
Mr. Alvord said that the complaints that are rectified are subtracted from the day. He added that the drivers keep a record of orange stickers that are placed for violation, that way the complaints would be taken of the list. Mr. Alvord said the number for the customer service center would be printed on the contractor’s truck for calling in complaints.
Mr. Kimmel said that he believes that a high percentage of Norwalk does not have the up to date regulations for recycling. Mr. Alvord said that the department was giving some thought as to how to advertise this.
Discussion took place on the unit pricing with each company’s bid. Mr. Alvord said that unit pricing was a base for negotiating change. He added that unit pricing was based on experience and population of city and history of chronic complaints. Mr. Alvord said that unit pricing would only be used if there were significant change, additions or deletions, in what the workload was expected to be. Mr. Alvord gave an example of adding a street with a much larger workload adding change to the contract value. Mr. Hempstead asked about BI-weekly collection. Mr. Alvord responded that the department has done research on BI-weekly collection. He said that the people do not want to wait two weeks for recycling pick-up. He added that CRRA would penalize the city for not having enough tonnage for the month.
Mr. Alvord said that there would be a penalty for damage or losing the blue bin caused by City Carting.
** MS. OLMSTEAD SAWYER MOVED TO AUTHORIZE THE MAYOR, ALEX A. KNOPP TO EXECUTE AN AGREEMENT WITH CITY CARTING AND RECYCLING TO PROVIDE CURBSIDE RECYCLING COLLECTION SERVICES FOR A THREE YEAR TERM BEGINNING JULY 2, 2004 FOR A SUM TO EXCEED $837,600 PER YEAR PLUS A MONTHLY INCENTIVE PAYMENT OF 10% OF THE BASE CONTRACT AMOUNT FOR ZERO COMPLAINTS.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
5. Discussion – Retirement of Donald Scott, Superintendent of Highways.
Mr. Alvord said that a letter was in the agenda packet for the Committee’s information. He said that Mr. Scott’s last day of employment would be March 12, 2004. Mr. Hempstead asked if there would be a ceremony function given on his behalf. Mr. Alvord said that he would meet with Mr. Scott to ask if a recognition ceremony could be held. Mr. Alvord said that the department wanted to be sensitive to Mr. Scott’s wishes at this time.
6. Discussion – Railroad quiet zones.
Mr. Kimmel said that the trains by Route 7 in Norwalk are very loud and have been that way for a couple of years. He said that there was no schedule for these kinds of trains.
Mr. Linnartz said that the quiet zone rule by DOT would go into effect December 2004. He added that quiet zones could be created if all public crossings are equipped with flashing lights and gates. Mr. Linnartz said that the City of Norwalk was the public authority responsible for safety maintenance that crosses the railroad track and was eligible to apply for quiet zone status. Mr. Linnartz said that all the grade crossings of the Danbury line are gated after Science Road. He said that Science does not have the equipment up as of yet. Mr. Linnartz said that he would look into the information and who to apply to for the quiet zone status.
Mr. Kimmel said that Wilton should be included in this because of Kent Road being so close to Norwalk. Mr. Hempstead asked if the city was liable for any accidents in the quiet zone. Mr. Linnartz said that the railroad has to ultimately agree that the safety measures are in place and are adequate.
7. Discussion – Closure of Olmstead Place issue.
Mr. Alvord said that this was the issue of Ms. Ceci’s flooding of September of 2002. He said that the law department said there was no negligence on the part of the city. Mr. Alvord said that she was searching for records of calls made by her and the neighbors to show negligence by the city. He said that even if she demonstrated that kind of a record, the municipal law recognizes that cities are on a restricted budget and cannot react and immediately respond to calls of that nature. He said that the law department has issued its opinion that the city is not negligant and recommends to the Common Council that the city does not pay. He said that Ms. Ceci’s hope was that this Committee would forward this to the Common Council again in order to tell the law department that their decision was incorrect. Mr. Alvord said that Ms. Ceci has the right to obtain legal council and take this to court. He added that it was time to make clear to Ms. Ceci that her efforts were exhausted.
Mr. Kimmel asked about the traffic issue at Olmstead Place. Mr. Linnartz said that when the city has the funding for curb and sidewalk would be installed and the throat would be narrowed and the stop-bar would have better recognition that there is an intersection there.
Mr. Kimmel said that concerning the customer service he read in the paper of the presentation before the BET that there would be a Manager. He said that the Mayor made a statement that there would not be a Manager. Mr. Kimmel said he would like clarification of that statement. Mr. Alvord said that the Mayor’s comment was that the customer service center would be staffed from within the city at no additional cost. He said that positions would be transferred from elsewhere.
Mr. Kimmel said that it would be wise to avoid someone answering the phone for $61,000 and another one for $56,000. Mr. Alvord said that was not what the Mayor was looking for. Mr. Hempstead asked if this would conflict with the Union 2405? Mr. Alvord said that the Amendment to the 2405 as a result of the privatization of parking guarantees employment of Connie Blair within the city.
He said that the quarantee was in the administrative area. He added that he thought she was more than capable of doing the job. Mr. Hempstead asked if the position would be a manager. Mr. Kimmel said it was a qualitative change if the city was not hiring more people. Mr. Hempstead said that he would not hire someone for $62,000 for that position. Mr. Poruban said that it was not a new hire. Mr. Hempstead asked how the city held on to two positions with the new parking agreement. He asked where the employees found work within the city.
He asked where the savings were because the city held onto the supervisory position of those people that Ms. Blair used to supervise. He added that there were no savings actually.
Mr. Hempstead said that usually when going to privatization everyone goes. Mr. Linnartz said that the enforcement people were not in the budget for last year. Mr. Kimmel said that this was out of our budgets and it was LAZ’s responsibility to generate the funds to pay their employees. He said that the city only has control over the budget. Mr. Kimmel said that the revenue was generated by users of the garage not necessarily people from Norwalk.
8. Action on any item discussed herein.
There was no action under this item.
Mr. Poruban asked for a motion to adjourn.
** MR. HILLIARD MOVED TO ADJOURN.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:25pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Jean Lane for
Telesco Secretarial Services
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