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Minutes for the Public Services Committee meeting on September 15, 2004.
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Council Public Service Committee Meeting Minutes
9-15-04
Huntington Building; Haworth Room
4:30 p.m.
Council Members Present: Cecil Providence, Dave Young, Ann Williams, Judy Fur, Tim McCall
Others: Jason Wilkie, Keith Inman, Captain Durham, Linda Womack, Dianne Phelps,
1. Approval of minutes
2. Called to order at 6:35 p.m. by Dave Young
3. Introduction of guests
4. ASU ROTC orienteering course at Craighead Forest Park (Captain Durham)
a. Introduction of Captian Durham by Jason Wilkie
b. Captain Durham explained how they were going to put large orange signs in the park to conduct orienteering for ROTC and other military groups.
c. Option is to put a plastic covering over the signs.
d. Proposal is to let other organizations use it.
e. Jason Wilkie said he didn’t mind the course being there, but his recommendation is to not use these signs. He would prefer something much less intrusive to the aesthetics of the park.
f. Captain Baggett: Not currently doing that kind of training. Not likely they would use it.
g. Committee Voted to table action until the October meeting.
5. NEATA Contract for Allen Park (Linda Womack and Dianne Phelps)
a. In a previous meeting the committee approved a contract that NEATA would provide the staff and fees would be charged.
b. Tim McCall questioned whether charging fees was a good idea. Mr. Wilkie talked with Jim McKinnon after the previous meeting and he said Mr. Wilkie needed to clear it with Susan Clifford.
c. Susan Clifford told Jason Wilkie no. The city couldn’t charge fees.
d. Jason Wilkie reported to Mayor what Susan said.
e. Mayor asked to meet with Susan and Jim. They met on August 26th. Apparently there was some confusion (on my or her part as to what Mr. Wilkie described) and she had done some research. Susan after the meeting said we could charge fees as long as we set aside 1-3 courts for walk-up free use. We need to try to fit the courts to the need/interest that is there. Susan suggested the parks department open three courts (1 battery) to free, walk-up play and assess if fewer courts would accommodate the need. Mr. Wilkie has suggested in the contract that NEATA see how many NEATA members use the courts during the six months vs. non-NEATA members. Mr. Wilkie will report the findings to the state and present the findings to this committee to make a decision.
f. This change is reflected in the contract on page two. On page three is another change that came after renegotiations with the tennis association.
g. The association would like the city to provide one staff member and the association to provide one staff member.
i. Jason Wilkie said it is his understanding that the association is concerned that offering free courts will not cover its cost for two staff members.
ii. Jason’s concerns are that you have a person who could be generating income for a pro. (Which is addressed in the contract). And it creates a human resource problem with who that person is accountable to.
h. Jason said he needed to 1) Adopt the contract. 2) Propose changes and adopt pending the changes.
i. It was recommended by the committee that the Mayor review the contract and negotiate with the Tennis Association.
6. Selection of an Engineer for Joe Mack Campbell Park Baseball
a. Jason Wilkie recommended three firms
i. Fisher and Arnold
ii. ETC Engineering
iii. NRS Consulting
b. Does the committee want to interview?
c. The Committee set its next meeting date for interviews; October 11th, 2004 and instructed Jason Wilkie to contact the firms.
7. Urban Forestry Inventory Interviews
a. Jason Wilkie reported the Tree committee has narrowed the selection from 4 to three.
b. One from Arkansas, One from Texas, One from Oklahoma
c. Prices are comparable, but it is evident this may need to be a two phase project to get all the information we’re after.
d. Council is reviewing the proposals and meeting on the 16th at noon to discuss questions.
e. Set a date to interview firms.
f. The committee recommended having the Jonesboro Urban Forestry Council interview the firms and make a recommendation to the committee at the next meeting.
8. Trails for Life Grant
a. City has been invited to apply for trails for life money.
b. Fairview Park.
c. Seeking permission to apply for money.
d. Committee recommended applying for the Trails for Life Grant.
9. Spray Ground
a. Sprayground was bid three times Bid #1 was Bid #2 Bid #3 $219,00 by CNI.
b. In that bid were some deductive alternatives that brought the total down to $198,900. The deductive alternatives included #1 Concrete #2 Change the exterior wall from concrete block to wood #3 Change roof from metal to fiberglass shingle #4 Cost of technical safety systems.
c. Initially $140,000 was the budgeted amount in the CDBG budget for this project. But after three bids it became clear that the $140,000 was not going to be enough.
d. Jim McKinnon and Jason Wilkie are proposing taking funds from four areas to pay for the project. (See the spread sheet.) Jim has cleared this proposal with the state parks and tourism and the mayor.
e. The City and our Engineer at ETC negotiated with CNI (George Stem) the items on the last page of the contract. “Conditions of Revised bid”. These items were approved by the Engineer at ETC Engineering. In those negotiations the contractor
i. We accepted deductive alternatives 2,3, and 4. Because the State Parks and Tourism rep recommended increasing the size of the park we negotiated some other alternatives (i.e. building, tanks) rather than accept deductive alternative #1. This is to keep the park larger and able to accommodate more youth.
ii. In negotiating with the bidder Phillip said he has no problems with us taking the deductive alternatives and negotiating the price after the deductive alternatives.
f. Phillip did have a concern with the fact that the contract with the state said that the project needed to be completed by December 31st. Jason Wilkie has an e-mail from Susan Clifford stating if the project should extend past December 31st that it should not be a problem.
g. Mr. Wilkie requested approval to accept CNI’s bid and move forward with signing a contract with CNI.
h. The committee voted to accept CNI’s bid with the changes and approve the contract pending the City Attorney’s approval.
10. Stump Grinder
a. Bids came in.
b. Two lowest bids were Carlton #1 and Vermeer #2.
c. Seeking approval to purchase Vermeer #2 low bidder.
d. The Committee voted to accept the #2 bid by Vermeer.
11. Budget
a. Jason Wilkie reviewed his budget items he had submitted to the city.
b. There was some discussion regarding a police officer for the Parks and Recreation Department.
c. Judy Fur recommended a needs assessment before actually approving a police officer
12. Construction Report
a. Jason Wilkie Reviewed the report.
13. Meeting adjourned by Dave Young at 6:00 p.m.