City Council Minutes July 26, 2006
Office of the Council Clerk Wednesday, July 26, 2006
placeCityCity of Gardiner, StateMaine Special Session 7:00 pm
1. CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Rines called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM.
2. ROLL CALL
PersonNameJean Dellert, District 3 Philip Hart, District 4
PersonNameDennis Doiron, At-Large Richard Rambo, District 2
Lewis Benner, At-large Richard Nickless, District 1 Mayor PersonNameBrian Rines
Jeffrey Kobrock, City Manager
PersonNameMolly Gallant, Council Clerk
Councilor Colwell absent.
3. PETITIONS, COMMUNICATIONS, RESOLUTIONS, & PUBLIC HEARINGS
3.1 Public Hearing for Liquor License Renewal for Janelle’s Family Restaurant.
Public Hearing opened at 7:12 pm, and closed with no public comment.
3.2 Public Hearing for Liquor License Renewal for Side Pocket Billiards, LLC.
Public Hearing opened at 7:13 pm, and closed with no public comment.
3.3 Public Hearing for Voting District Consolidation
David Locke a South Gardiner resident voiced concerns with the closing of the PlaceNameSouth PlaceNameGardiner PlaceTypeSchool as a voting place, stating the placePlaceNamePray PlaceNameStreet PlaceTypeSchool is not a central location for all Gardiner residents.
3.4 Consideration of Comments from the Public on Issues that
Do Not Appear Elsewhere on the Agenda (Please limit comments
to five minutes.)
No public comment.
4. CONSENT AGENDA
4.1 Consideration of Accepting June/July 2006 Warrants
#49 |
06/08/06 |
01133-01212 |
$ 181697.51 |
#50 |
06/15/06 |
01213-01289 |
$ 184009.40 |
#51 |
06/22/06 |
01290-01377 |
$ 428249.32 |
#52 |
06/29/06 |
01378-01445 |
$ 114713.24 |
#52A |
06/30/06 |
1146 |
$ 1328.63 |
1 |
07/06/06 |
01449-01493 |
$ 167854.59 |
2 |
07/13/06 |
01494-01588 |
$ 162989.41 |
4.2 Consideration of Appointing Councilor Benner to sign July 2006 Warrants.
4.3 Consideration of Accepting Council Minutes-5/31.
4.4 Consideration of Liquor License Renewal for Janelle’s Family Restaurant.
4.5 Consideration of Liquor License Renewal for Side Pocket Billiards, LLC.
4.6 Consideration of Appointments to Boards and Commissions.
Mayor Rines appointed Ian Burns to the Planning Board.
Motion by Councilor Nickless and seconded by Councilor Rambo to Accept Consent Agenda Items 4.1-4.6.
Vote: 7 in favor 0 – opposed Motion: passes.
5. NEW BUSINESS
5.1 Consideration of Proposal to PlaceNameplacePurchase PlaceTypeCity Property.
Tom Moody came to the Council interested in purchasing City owned lots 39-1 & 39-3. The City originally purchased the lots to protect the gravel pit resource. After Council discussion, the City Manager was advised to discuss possible land swaps with Mr. Moody and come back to the Council at a later date.
5.2 Consideration of Resolution 06-21, Voting Consolidation.
At the April 12, 2006 Council meeting, Council voted to consolidate the voting places for the June 13, 2006 Primary election, all voting was held at placePlaceNamePray PlaceNameStreet PlaceTypeSchool. This site was chosen as a result of the 2004 accessibility survey conducted by the Secretary of State’s office. Out of our four voting places, placePlaceNamePray PlaceNameStreet PlaceTypeSchool had the fewest voter accessibility issues. Our voter turnout was 15% which was comparable to the State-wide turnout.
As far as future elections are concerned, Deirdre Berglund, City Clerk does not feel there would be any major problems. For larger elections—such as, Presidential, the major political parties send out mailings to make the Absentee Voting process extremely easy. Currently the polls are open from 8– 8 p.m. The polls could be opened earlier for voters on their way to work.
The City will not be able to use our current voting equipment in June 2007. The City has budgeted $26,000 to purchase new ones for four districts. If we were to consolidate we could save $13,000 by purchasing only two machines for one voting place.
The Council had concerns about placePlaceNameSouth PlaceNameGardiner PlaceTypeSchool not be open for voting, but would like to have the school open for absent ballots.
Motion by Councilor Doiron and seconded by Councilor Dellert to Accept Resolution 06-21, Voting Consolidation, contingent upon placePlaceNameSouth PlaceNameGardiner PlaceTypeSchool being available for Absentee Ballot Voting.
Vote: 7 in favor 0 – opposed Motion: passes.
Mayor Rines asked if there were any objections to taking an item out of order, there were no objections.
Councilor Colwell present 8:40 pm.
5.4 Consideration of Libby Hill Engineering Consultant Recommendation.
The City advertised for final design engineering proposals for Libby Hill Business Park Phase II in late April, and received three competitive proposals. The Libby Hill Steering Committee interviewed all three firms and rated proposals based on qualifications, personnel, work plan, compensation and intuition. Much time was spent comparing the proposals, as well as checking into references on the finalist.
Engineering services will include surveying, preliminary and final design, construction administration and inspection as well as project management and other services.
Cost quotes for final design engineering were as follows:
Milone & MacBroom $184,750 (based on 6 month construction period)
CMA Engineers $223,000 (based on 6 month construction period)
Oest Associates $239,325
The Libby Hill Business Park Steering Committee recommends the City Council select Milone & MacBroom as its consultant for final design engineering.
Motion by Councilor Rambo and seconded by Councilor Nickless to Accept Libby Hill Engineering Consultant Recommendation.
Vote: 8 in favor 0- opposed Motion: passes
5.3 Discussion of Staff Reorganization Implementation Plan.
ITEM |
TIMEFRAME |
ACTION |
NOTES |
Library and Information Services Director |
July 27 – Aug 31 |
Offer Redefined Position Negotiate Salary |
Review by Council |
Wastewater/Public Works Director |
July 27 – Aug 31 |
Offer Redefined Position Negotiate Salary |
Review by Council |
Police Chief |
July 27 – Aug 31 |
Offer Redefined Position Negotiate Salary |
Review by Council |
Fire Chief |
July 27 – Aug 31 |
Offer Redefined Position Negotiate Salary |
Review by Council |
Office Manager |
July 27 – Sept 15 |
Post position, conduct hiring process |
Settle Library and IS Director |
Council Review |
Sept 6 |
Review of Negotiations (Executive Session) Advice and Consent of Appointments |
|
NorthWest Quad |
Sept 7 |
Appoint Project Manager, for Oct. 1 elimination of Dir. City Services position |
|
Union Negotiations |
July 27 – Sept 15 |
Define Office Manager as Supervisory Create two additional Utility Clerk positions Create and negotiate Chief Operator position |
Settle Negotiations before any offers are made |
Utility Clerks |
July 27 – Sept 15 |
Post positions, conduct hiring process |
|
Chief Operator |
July 27- Sept 15 |
Post position, conduct hiring process |
Settle WW/PW Director |
Council Review |
Sept 20 |
Implementation Update |
|
Software Conversion |
Sept 21 |
Appoint Project Manager, Start Project |
|
5.5 Consideration of Revaluation Consultant Recommendation.
On March 2, 2006 upon direction of the Council, the Assessors office began crafting a request for proposal for a 2008 property revaluation. The RFP was developed with consideration given to the City of Gardiner’s technical, legal, space, manpower and public relations needs. In particular, the RFP asked respondents to provide the contractor’s solution for converting and utilizing the City’s choice of software platform, to provide off-site data entry and computer facilities, and examination or inspection of all real and personal property accounts. The RFP also recognized the City’s desire of a well developed public relations program to help inform taxpayers of the intent, scope and progress of the revaluation.
The full 25 page RFP was posted to the City website. Letters requesting proposals were mailed to 31 individuals and companies listed by Maine Revenue Services as qualified to perform revaluations in the State of placeStateMaine. The City received bid responses from 2 companies, Vision Appraisal Technologies and Cole-Layer & Trumble. After careful review of the bid proposals for compliance with the RFP, reference checks with several municipalities in New England and a presentation/interview process, the Planning and Development Department is pleased to recommend to the City Council that Vision Appraisal Technologies be awarded the bid for the 2008 City of Gardiner Property Revaluation subject to the bonding, insurance and indemnification clauses outlined in the RFP. The amount of the revaluation
is $259,800.00. The amount of the associated hardware, software and maintenance costs through December 2008 is $22,000.00. Total project cost through December 2008 is $281,800.00.
Motion by Councilor Rambo and seconded by Councilor Dellert to Accept
Revaluation Consultant Recommendation.
Vote: 8 in favor 0 – opposed Motion: passes
5.6 Consideration of Waterfront Project Inspection Services.
The City’s contract with Kleinschmidt Engineering included some allowance for construction monitoring (a total of 60 hours), but it is not enough to carry through the entire project and falls short of what is necessary to ensure the project is getting built within the specifications of the contract. In addition, the City increased the scope of the construction project when it amended its contract with Reed & Reed to build over 500’ of boardwalk (was initially just shoreline stabilization).
To handle the demands for inspection, the City asked Kleinschmidt to propose a budget for services. They proposed an inspection budget of $25,300 for the stabilization portion of the project and $18,900 for the fender piling and walkway construction piece, next Jan through March, for a total of $44,200.
Since Kleinschmidt is not proposing full on-site engineering, City staff will provide daily (and as-needed) visits to monitor progress on-site, as time allows.
The total waterfront budget includes approximately $90,000 for contingency and no funding had been set aside for additional inspection services.
The committee would like the City to enter an agreement with Kleinschmidt for inspection services to get through the 2006 portion of the project, for $25,300. Once other construction costs are known, and if contingency funds remain, allow the City to enter into an inspection services agreement for the remaining work in 2007 for an amount not to exceed $18,900.
Motion by Councilor Dellert and seconded by Councilor Colwell to
Accept Waterfront Project Inspection Services.
Vote: 8 in favor 0 – opposed Motion: passes.
5.7 Consideration of Order 06-20, Carryover Funds.
Manager Kobrock stated that the carryover funds were EA Robinson related, a walking brochure and rack.
176-205 $1400.00
176-395 $3150.00
Motion by Councilor Rambo and seconded by Councilor Dellert to
Accept Order 06-20, Carryover Funds.
Vote: 8 in favor 0 – opposed Motion: passes
7. COUNCIL DISCUSSION
Councilor Dellert remarked that she has had Gardiner residents asking if there could be bags for removal of dog waste for owners walking their dogs in the park.
Councilor Benner asked if there would be anyone for underwater inspection from
Kleinschmidt, if not, he knows of someone who could do it.
Councilor Nickless stated that the blasting with the Northwest Quadrant had a little setback with the rain, but is back on schedule. Councilor Nickless also stated that last weeks Council Work Session was very helpful and hopes that there will be another one in the future. Mayor Rines stated that there will be a review of the session on September 7th, and there will be another meeting at the end of November or beginning of December with the new Council.
Library Director Anne Davis remarked to the Council members to notice the garden in the back of the library, it is beautiful right now.
Motion by Councilor Nickless and seconded by Councilor Dellert to go into Executive Session at 10:15 pm.
Vote: 8 in favor 0 – opposed Motion: passes
Out of Executive Session at 10:47 pm.
8. EXECUTIVE SESSION per MRSA, Title 1, Chapter 13, Section 405 (6) (A)
Personnel
Motion by Councilor Colwell and seconded by Councilor Rambo to Accept Order 06-22 amended as discussed. The Council directs the City Manager to appropriate amounts as discussed and to have the Council receive a copy.
Vote: 7 in favor 1 opposed (Nickless) Motion: passes
6. CITY MANAGER REPORT
Manager Kobrock stated that he will be on vacation until August 21st, a schedule of coverage by the management team will be in this week’s memo.
The tax commitment will be on August 9th, with the tax bills going on August 15th or 16th, with a due date of September 15th.
There are continuing talks with the Maine Turnpike Authority concerning the placePlaceNameService PlaceTypePlaza, there will technical talks in August, and they will return for talks in September.
9. EXECUTIVE SESSION per MRSA, Title 1, Chapter 13, Section 405 (6) (A)
Personnel
Postponed
10. ADJOURNMENT
Mayor Rines adjourned the meeting at 10:55 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Molly Gallant
Council Clerk
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