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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBPW-12-02-91BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS AND SAFETY MEETING MINUTES DECEMBER 2, 1991 ONE CIVIC SQUARE/COUNCIL CHAMBERS 5:15 P.M. The meeting of the Carmel Board of Public Works and Safety was called to order by Mayor Dorothy J. Hancock. Members David Taylor and Billy Walker were in attendance. City Attorney, Steve Andrews and Deputy Clerk-Treasurers, Jan Hope and Janet Rogers were also in attendance. Mayor Hancock requested that the MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 18, 1991: title of resolution 11-18-91-1 on page one be added to the minutes for future clarification. Hancock asked City Attorney, Steve Andrews if he had further corrections to make to the rules and regulations for sworn police personnel, as indicated in the minutes on page five. Andrews stated he did not believe there were any further corrections necessary. Hancock asked that the minutes reflect that all necessary corrections were made to the approved regulations for police sworn personnel. Hancock made a motion to approve the minutes as corrected. The motion was seconded by Board member, Billy Walker. All members voted aye except Board member, David Taylor who abstained from voting because he was not present at the November 18th meeting. Motion carried. Hancock made a motion to add the agreement between Hamilton County and Carmel to share costs of 96th Street. The motion was seconded by Walker. All members voted aye. Motion carried. Walker made a motion to approve the claims dated 11/21/91, CLAIMS: pages 1-13, in the amount of $322,951.88. The motion was seconded by member Taylor. All members voted aye. Motion carried. Walker moved to approve the claims dated 11/26/91, page 1, in the amount of $4.10. The motion was seconded by Taylor. All members voted aye. Motion carried. Walker moved to approve the claims dated 11/27/91, page 1-2, in the amount of $313,486.70. The motion was seconded by Taylor. All members voted aye. Motion carried. QUOTES; UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANK REMOVAL - UTILITIES: 1 Andrews asked that the deputy clerk-treasurer confirm, for the record, that all bids were received in a timely fashion. The deputy clerk-treasurer so confirmed. Andrews read the quotes as follows: Central Environmental Contractors, $7,975.00 Capital Environmental & Engineering, Inc. $11,374.00 Kennedy Equipment Co., Inc. $6,870.00 Hoosier Equipment Service, Inc. $6,885.00 Ontario Environmental, Inc. $8,924.50 Atec Environmental Construction $15,000.00 Andrews recommended the Board take the quotes under advisement and allow Utilities manager, Jim Dougherty to report back at the next meeting of the Board. Hancock stated that there is no money available in the 1991 budget to fund this project. Hancock stated the Council has not made an additional appropriation because it was not possible to make one before the end of the year. Hancock made a motion that the recommendation be brought back to the Board of Works meeting in January with the new administration. The motion was seconded by Taylor. All members voted aye. Motion carried. Hancock stated the contract is for storm CONTRACT FOR ENGINEERING: drainage on the north side of 126th Street. Hancock stated that money was available, and the project needed to be done prior to the end of the year. City engineer, Tom Welch stated this was a drainage problem along 126th and Lexington. Welch stated the ground was very level and although the street department spent several weeks working through the area, the problem was still not solved. Welch stated a set of plans was needed to change the pipe. Hancock asked if the money was available in the Street Department budget. Welch stated it was in the budget. Hancock made a motion to approve the agreement with Weihe Engineering to work on a design for the correction of the drainage problem on the north side of 126th Street east of Rangeline Road. The motion was seconded by Taylor. All members voted aye. Motion carried. Taylor made a motion to authorize the mayor to sign the contract with Weihe Engineering on behalf of the City of Carmel. The motion was seconded by Walker. All members voted aye. Motion carried. Chief Allen, Carmel Police Department, stated EXTENDED SICK DAYS: Kim Pratt was originally scheduled to work until November 21, 1991. Allen stated her baby came four days early and Pratt underwent an emergency C-section at that time. Allen stated that the timing of Pratt's vacation, holidays and sick days came out four days short. Allen asked the Board to approve Assistant Chief Honaker's request 2 four additional sick days to finish out the balance of 1991. Taylor asked how long Officer Pratt had been on the force. Allen stated she was a dispatcher for approximately five years before she became a police officer. Allen stated Pratt has been with the City for approximately seven years. Hancock asked the City Attorney what kind of precedent would be set by that action. Andrews stated he did not believe it was a problem. Andrews stated he believed the City had done this once before. Walker asked Andrews how this would affect maternity leave in other instances. Andrews stated the situation would be different because there had been no request for this type of extension in other instances. Walker asked Allen if Pratt was borrowing from future sick days. Allen stated that this was a request for four additional days to be added to Pratt's original allotment under the rules and regulations. Taylor asked if the sick day bank for employees could be used. Allen stated it was for catastrophic illness. Andrews stated he believed since Pratt's life and her infant's life were in jeopardy, this would probably be considered catastrophic. Hancock stated she realized this was an emergency, but other emergencies exist, for example, if someone had a heart attack they obviously did not plan, but did not have sick time remaining. Hancock stated she would not be comfortable approving the request and suggested that the four days be requested from the sick bank which was the purpose of the sick bank. Allen stated he recalled a Records Department employee who had used all of her sick time and then had emergency gallbladder surgery and for whom the Board of Works approved additional sick leave time. Allen stated he believed that was the precedent to which this situation applied. Andrews stated that was approved prior to the establishment of the sick leave bank. Andrews stated this situation would be appropriate to draw from the catastrophic sick leave bank. Allen stated he was unsure if Pratt was a member of the sick leave bank. Andrews stated if she was not a member, then she could not apply. Walker made a motion that if Officer Kim Pratt was not a member of the sick leave bank, the request of additional four days leave was denied. The motion was seconded by Taylor. All members voted aye. Motion carried. BOND RELEASE/WOODGATE, SECTION 6 - WATER LINES, STORM SEWERS: Walker asked Tom Welch, City Engineer, if he had any problems with the request. Welch stated he did not. Walker made a motion to approve bond release for Woodgate Section 6 water lines totaling $11,100.00 and storm sewers totaling $8,963.00. The motion was seconded by Hancock. All members voted aye. Motion carried. 3 Walker asked Welch BOND RELEASE/EDEN VILLAGE - INTERIOR SIDEWALKS: if he had any problems with the request. Welch stated he did not. Welch recommended the Board waiver the three year maintenance bond because the walks had been covered for over eight years and they were just now requesting the release after some recent maintenance. Hancock stated the bond release did not state how long the maintenance bond normally extends. Welch stated the new release he intended to submit would spell out the terms. Walker made a motion to approve bond release for Eden Village for onsite sidewalks totaling $17,500.00. The motion was seconded by Taylor. All members voted aye. Motion carried. REQUEST FOR EMPLOYMENT OF REPLACEMENT PROBATIONARY FIREFIGHTERS: Chief Couts, Carmel Fire Department, requested permission to employ the following candidates as replacement probationary firefighters for the Carmel Fire Department. Hamilton County resident, Carl D. Drake, a certified emergency medical technician also holding a second class firefighter certification; St. Petersburg, Florida resident, James D. Toney, currently employed by the St. Petersburg Fire Department holding various E.M.S. and firefighter certifications; and Mustang, Oklahoma resident, Richard A. Decrastos, currently employed by the Mercy Emergency Medical Services in Yukon, Oklahoma and serving as a volunteer firefighter with the Mustang Fire Department. Couts stated the Carmel Fire Department Pension Board approved the request that day. Couts asked that if the Board approved the recommendation that all three men start their employment as probationary 3rd class firefighters at a bi-weekly salary of $921.62 effective at the beginning pay period of December 21, 1991. Couts stated these are replacement positions for people who have retired or left the department. Couts stated salary funds for the positions were in the 1991 budget. Hancock made a motion to grant approval of the hiring of Carl D. Drake, James D. Toney, and Richard A. Decrastos as replacement probationary firefighters effective December 21, 1991. The motion was seconded by Taylor. All members voted aye. Motion carried. Hancock stated that REQUEST FOR STREET LIGHTS ON 136TH STREET: back-up from PSI concerning the 136th Street lights was available along with a memo from mayor-elect Ted Johnson asking that the approval be held over until next year. Hancock stated she did not have a problem with Johnson's request, but did feel the darkness along with the median build-up made the situation very dangerous. Hancock stated if the Board chose to hold over the request for lights until 1992, she wished the record to reflect that she felt there was a problem with the safety of the situation. Taylor asked 4 if the clerk-treasurer's office had a copy of the memo from Mr. Johnson. The deputy clerk-treasurer stated the office did have a copy of the memo. Taylor stated he had several questions for Mr. Johnson concerning his memo. Taylor asked who the `we' referred to in his memo. Johnson stated he always used `we' in his memos. Taylor stated he didn't know if that meant he was referring to the other Board of Works that is going to be appointed. Taylor asked Johnson to elaborate on his plan to reduce cost on leasing street lights as he indicated in his memo. Johnson stated he couldn't elaborate too much because he hadn't held the conversations yet. Johnson stated over the years he had been disturbed over the growing cost of leasing street lights from Public Service Indiana and Indianapolis Power and Light. Johnson stated he was reluctant to talk about the plan until he could determine how receptive those companies would be to the plan. Johnson stated the plan would eventually lead to the City of Carmel maintaining and operating its' own street lighting system including the lights currently owned by the utilities. Hancock stated this idea was one that Mr. Johnson talked about while he was on the Council. Johnson agreed and added he had felt for many years that the City should own its' own street lighting as the utilities prices continue to increase. Taylor stated he appreciated Johnson's concerns and was all for saving money, but he had a number of people comment about how dark it is on 136th Street. Taylor stated his concern for the safety of the students walking back and forth. Johnson stated he was not questioning the Board's concern for student safety, but he was questioning why that area was dark. Johnson asked if the area's darkness was the City's fault or the School's fault, because the City did not yet actually own the street. Johnson stated he had questions as to why the lights were not planned into the project. Johnson stated the lights Public Service of Indiana intended to put up were strictly attachment lights to wooden poles in the area. Johnson stated the attachment lights cost about $10 per month and over a period of time the City pays a great deal more for the lights with power consumption and lamping. Johnson stated he spoke to the City Engineer that morning and, in his opinion, a lot of yellow paint on the islands would help as much as street lighting. Johnson stated it was more difficult to negotiate over a brand new plant such as the proposed lights for the area, then it would be for plants that had been in place for fifteen or twenty years. Johnson stated that was the reason he wrote the memo, but if the Board felt safety was the big question, he would try to negotiate it at the same time. Walker stated since Johnson was going to be negotiating for other areas in the City, he felt it would be to the City's advantage to approve the lighting for 136th Street for safety reasons. Walker stated he was reluctant to drag his feet for six weeks and then 5 have someone hurt. Johnson stated he did not question anyone's concern for safety, but he did question why the lights and concern for safety were not a part of the package to begin with and asked why the problem been turned over to the City. Johnson stated the negotiations of depreciated plants could be at a much lower rate and cost than brand new plants. Johnson stated over one thousand street lights were over 15 years old. Walker stated he shared Johnson's concern about why the lights were not put in and asked if lights attached to existing wood poles would be compatible with the rest of the facility. Johnson stated he was fairly sure they would not be compatible. Walker agreed and stated he also did not know how the plan could go from four to two lanes two-hundred feet beyond the stadium. Johnson stated he did not even know why the poles were there. Johnson stated he respected the Board's concern for safety. Walker made a motion that if there cannot be temporary lighting until the new administration takes over, then approval is granted for light installation on 136th Street for safety reasons. Hancock asked for clarification from Walker on his motion. Walker stated a call should be made the next day to Public Service of Indiana to determine if temporary lighting could be obtained. Walker stated if temporary lighting could not be obtained, then approval of street lighting was approved. The motion was seconded by Hancock. All members voted aye. Motion carried. AGREEMENT BETWEEN HAMILTON COUNTY, INDIANA AND CARMEL, INDIANA, TO Hancock stated the County, Fishers, SHARE COSTS OF 96TH STREET: Indianapolis, and the City of Carmel have continued to work on the 96th Street expansion across the river. Hancock stated that some time ago, the County sent the City an agreement she believed was not in the City's best interest to bring to the Board, because the City would be caused to acquire the right-of-way. Hancock stated the City would like to have it at no cost, but if it was at cost, the City would carry the weight. Hancock stated the contract stated the City would pay its' share of $1,014,000.00. Hancock stated she had problems with those sections of the contract. Hancock stated outstanding engineering fees needed to be paid by the City, which the City agreed to pay to the County totaling $123,744.50. Hancock stated the Council had appropriated the money and the request has been through the additional appropriation process, but the agreement must be approved in order for a check to be paid to the County. Hancock stated all questionable text had been stricken from the 6 contract and made a motion for the Board to approve paragraphs renumbered 1, 2, and 3 in the contract with all other portions stricken. The motion was seconded by Taylor. All members voted aye. Motion carried. Hancock requested that the deputy clerk-treasurer send copies of the contract to the Board of Commissioners of Hamilton County and her office. OTHER BUSINESS: Walker requested information regarding a special SPECIAL MEETING: meeting. Hancock stated a special meeting will be held on December 23, 1991 at 11:00 A.M. for approval of final claims for 1991. Walker stated he would like to express his WALKER'S COMMENTS: appreciation for the opportunity to serve on the Board for the past ten and one-half years. Walker stated he appreciated the opportunity to work with the City of Carmel and that he wished the incoming group all the success in the world. Walker expressed his sincere appreciation to Mayor Hancock and Mayor Reiman for giving him the opportunity to serve. Walker stated he hoped in all regards that he had been fair and above board in everything he had done. Walker made a motion to adjourn the meeting. There being no further business before the Board the meeting was duly adjourned. Respectfully submitted, ________________ ____________ Approved: _____________________________ ATTEST: _______________________________ 7