October 23, 2002

CALL TO ORDER

The Chairman opened the meeting at 8:00 p.m.

Mr. Bentkover stated that it is difficult to review a number of minutes months after the meeting was held.

APPROVE MINUTES - AUGUST 28, 2002

The following corrections were made to the minutes:

Page 5 - paragraph 2, line three - change his suggestion to "one" suggestion and the "restaurant owner "indicate" that the garage would closed at 9:30 p.m."

** MS. JIMENEZ MOVED THE MINUTES WITH CORRECTIONS.
** MOTION PASSED WITH ONE ABSTENTION (MS. JIMENEZ).

APPROVE MINUTES - SEPTEMBER 3, 2002

The following corrections were made to the minutes:

Page 3, motion, delete "as a constructor" in line three
Add a comma after the one, not a period in Private Work 1,992,317

** THE CHAIRMAN MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES WITH
CORRECTIONS.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

APPROVE MINUTES - OCTOBER 9, 2002

The following correction were made to the minutes:

Ms. Jimenez should be spelled correctly throughout the minutes.

Page 1, paragraph 4, last line should read "prior to payment being due the contractor."
Paragraph 6, 2nd line change month to amount

Page 3, 1st paragraph change "scale to" to read made to the Parking authority
Paragraph 3, add after emphasize "the developer's obligation to note any
construction"; add developer be obligated to bring it to the Parking Authority's attention."
Paragraph 5, line 3 add "have the obligation to" after would
Paragraph 7, line 3, he should read "the developer"

Page 4, paragraph 5, 3rd line they should be followed by (the City/Parking Authority)
Paragraph 6, line 2, LDA should be identified as Land Disposition
Agreement with LDA in parenthesis
Paragraph 8, should read complete would there be a certificate of
occupancy.
Paragraph 9, delete completely
Paragraph 10, add after see the "project turn out just as nicely as the Lock
Building
Page 5, motion should have "and" removed from the 6th sentence.

** THE CHAIRMAN MOVED TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES WITH
CORRECTIONS
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

DISCUSSION - STATUS OF MARITIME GARAGE PROJECT

Mr. Overton gave an update on the Maritime Garage Project using the chart attached to these minutes.

Mr. Mulvehill stated that he would have questions to explain various portions of the report.

Item 1-2 - Mr. Overton stated the contract is still in negotiation between Martime Place LLC, Klewin Building Company, and the City's Corporation Counsel. He stated that he allowed the contractor to go out to bid although the agreement is not signed. The contractor is not obligated to accept any of the information received.

Ms. Jimenez inquired what the new start date would be. She asked whether there will be an impact on the cost to build.

Mr. Overton stated that question could not be answered at this time. Fencing off the site would indicate that construction could begin. Secondly, he stated it is slated to build in winter so no cost increase is expected.

Mr. Overton continued to address items that he wished to expound upon.

Item 3 is to insure the City against any problems with the railroad near this project during construction of the garage.
Item 5 is with the Corporation Counsel. A detailed discussion ensued about the responsibility of the parties involved in the payment process.
Item 6 is still with the State of CT as of last week.
Item7 the plans are 99% complete.
Item 8 DECD has approved bidding the early parts of the project without a design approval. They are going to approve the plans that are global, not detailed.
Item 9 Mr. Overton has prepared the documentation and will bring it to the Authority at the next meeting.
Item 10 has not been obtained as yet.
Item 11 Risk Insurance is purchased by the City.
Item 12 the buoy is still up state in CT and the base is being prepared.
Item 15 there are unsuitable soils that are contaminated. An environmental contractor used by Spinnaker will perform the soil removal.

The Chairman inquired about the budget for Parcel 5. He asked if the soft cost is money that has been spent.

Mr. Overton stated it is in the Redevelopment budget and is being transferred to the Public Works budget and then to the Authority to create an account. Each cost will come through the Authority for approval thereafter.

The Chairman asked if any of the $1,348,700 will be moved to the private sector.

Mr. Overton stated that the agreement defines soft costs and the amounts noted to be allocated where appropriate.

Ms. Jimenez asked Mr. Overton to submit a report as to how the LDA apportions the soft costs. She felt a monthly report would assist the Authority to see how the money is being spent until the Authority has its own budget to review.

Mr. Bentkover asked how the costs affect the bond.

Mr. Miller stated that the finances will be in pieces. He further stated he will know more when the bond meeting takes place in October. All the money is authorized. There is a segment that will be financed with Authority notes, and City notes. The core piece will be issued by a bond backed by the Authority.

DISCUSSION PARKING FACILITY STATUS REPORTS - PARKING AUTHORITY MEMBERS

Mr. Jellerette commented that there has been some improvement at the Webster lot.

Ms. Hebert stated she appreciated the input from the Authority on her report.

Mr. Bentkover stated that the Yankee Doodle garage is being cleaned and the leaks continue when it rains. Ms. Hebert will look into the leaking problem.

Mr. Bentkover stated that the Mechanic Street lot was discussed at an earlier meeting and it has not been revisited. This is called the Wall Street lot for clarification.

Ms. Hebert stated she has met with the Mayor and some short-term implementation has been devised. She said the Mayor is concentrating on the aesthetics at this point.

Mr. Bentkover noted that the Yankee Doodle garage is being used more than was realized.

Mr. Jellerette asked about Ms. Hebert's comments on the SONO lot.

Ms. Hebert stated she had a conversation with the SONO Association. They want to have valet parking in the Webster Street lot at all times. She asked them to do more research and make a presentation to the Authority.

Ms. Jimenez said that the valet parking could create competition and the Authority wants the Railroad garage used as well.

AUTHORIZE THE PARKING AUTHORITY TO CHAGNE THE BOOT/TOW NOTICING POLICY FROM10 OR MORE UNCONTESTED TICKEST TO 5 OR MORE TICKETS

Ms. Hebert reviewed the policy as it currently stands in the City. DPW is proposing to parallel the ticketing with the DMV where there is a hold placed on the registration until the tickets are paid. She stated that it would bring in revenue sooner.

Ms. Jimenez asked if this was doable to change the policy and what would be the gain and additional administrative cost.

Ms. Hebert said that there would be no additional cost, the same notices and same procedure would be followed. The car owner incurs the towing cost when a car is booted.

Mr. Bentkover explained the process clearly showing that there is no out-of-pocket expenditure for the City.

Ms. Jimenez asked what would be the perception of the merchants where the City is trying to build up economic advancement in Norwalk center.

The Chairman expressed that the owner that is booted will have negative input regarding the City and that would not be good.

Mr. Bentkover noted that the person who does this, not paying of fines, is a repeat offender and is abusing the process. The individual totally ignores the notices.

** THE CHAIRMAN MOVED TO AUTHORIZE THE PARKING AUTHORITY
TO CHANGE THE BOOT/TOW NOTICING POLICY FROM 10 OR MORE UNCONTESTED TICKETS TO 5 OR MORE TICKETS.
** MOTION PASSED WITH THREE VOTES IN FAVOR, AND ONE
ABSTENTION (MS. JIMENEZ).

The Chairman made the group aware that there is a gap between the State and the City regarding tickets issued that are not noted when registering an existing car, but appears if you register a new car. He suggested putting the information on the back of the form regarding the hold on a registration.

Ms. Hebert said the CT statute has changed since 1998. Ms. Hebert will look into the process. She will also get the exact wording for the "hold" on the back of the ticket against the registration.

The Chairman further stated that he never received notices in an eight-year period. He only found out when registering a new car with MDV.

The Chairman suggested not acting on suggestion 7 in the proposal to take the judgment to the Norwalk Superior Court.

Ms. Hebert will put the amnesty program discussion on the November agenda.

Ms. Hebert noted that new directional signs have been posted on Bunnell Street for the parking garage. And, "Operated by the Norwalk Parking Authority will be added to the existing signs inside the facilities.

INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES

Parking Facility Maps
Sign Inventory
Status of Current Budget

Mr. Miller commented that he must look at the debt load that will be submitted to him from DPW for the operations of the Authority to create the Authority budget. To that number will be added the benefit costs and other items that are not seen in daily operations.

Mr. Campbell stated he has begun to create numbers for the Authority budget. However, they are only partial and more numbers will be required to flesh out the budget.

Mr. Miller said there are more pieces to the budget that will not be seen with a submission to the Authority by Mr. Campbell.

Ms. Hebert said once she received information from Mr. Miller she can show the Authority preliminary numbers.

Mr. Bentkover stated that the Authority knows what there are in ticket revenue and personnel costs. However, the operation of the garage is an unknown.

Ms. Jimenez asked if the budget might be available by December 18th and a discussion on December 20th.

Mr. Miller stated that when he transmits the budget the 1st of January, he would not have hard numbers for the Authority. He will need Administration input and the cap from the Common Council to know what will drive the budget.

The Chairman stated that the Authority has to rely on the City for all of its budgetary input.

Ms. Jimenez stated that she would not like to see the Authority approving a conceptual budget. Although it is the first year of operations, she did not wish to see the Authority doing so going forward year after year.

Mr. Miller presented a scenario that could happen when he creates the budget. At that time the Authority can then work with him to make adjustments to a budget which may be larger or less than what is required. He commented that what is preliminarily presented will be adjusted before the budget is set permanently.

Ms. Jimenez inquired about the budget year-to-date.

Mr. Miller reviewed the charges and said he would speak with the comptroller to clarify the numbers. He stated that a fair cost allocation must be performed in order to explain the budget to anyone inquiring.

Mr. Miller stated there needs to be some changes to the Authority Ordinance. There are some technical changes being made to align with the bond. The Legal Department is working on the changes.

Newspaper Articles of Interest

There were no articles.

ACTION ON ANY DISCUSSION ITEMS LISTED HEREIN

See motion made earlier in the minutes.

NEXT MEETING

Wednesday, November 20, 2002, 8:00 p.m., Room 101 or Public Works Conference Room.

** THE CHAIRMAN MOVED TO ADJOURN.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The Chairman adjourned the meeting at 10:15 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Alvina L. Richardson Decker
Telesco Secretarial Services

Back to Previous Page	Back to Home Page