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Minutes for the Public Services Committee meeting on May 8, 2006.
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Public Services Committee Minutes
Monday, May 8, 2006
4:30 p.m.
Members present were: Jimmy Ashley, Judy Furr, Tim McCall, Cecil Province and Ann Williams. Councilman Johnson was unable to attend.
MINUTES
Councilman Ashley motioned, seconded by Councilman Province for the approval of the regular meeting on April 10, 2006, as written. All voted aye. Copies were provided to all in attendance.
TRANSIT
Waive competitive bidding and asserting the low bid of Relativity, Inc.: Mr. Joel Gardner explained the buses needed AVL units installed in them. For five buses, the price would be $14, 985, plus tax. It was questioned whether the price Mr. Gardner received was the same price that the Police and Code Enforcement Departments receive AVL units. Mr. Gardner stated he was not sure if it was the same price. It was asked for him to check and make sure. It was also asked for him to add in the ordinance that the price is for five buses. Councilwoman Furr motioned, seconded by Councilman McCall, to accept the ordinance and place it on the agenda for the May 16th Council meeting, pending Mr. Gardner check the price on the AVL’s to make sure it’s what the City has already been quoted. All voted aye.
Appoint new board members to the JETS Community Transportation Advisory Board: Mr. Gardner explained Mr. Rick Baker has left the advisory board. The board recommended appointing Ms. Amy Hutson to replace Mr. Baker. Councilman Ashley motioned, seconded by Councilman Province, to appoint Ms. Hutson to the board and place the resolution on the agenda for the May 16th Council meeting. All voted aye.
Approval of JETS general operating policies: Mr. Gardner explained the operating policies are being proposed by the advisory committee. He added City Attorney Phillip Crego has not approved the policies yet. He also explained the operating policies are different from the substance abuse policy. In addition, they will make a separate funds policy to handle the money from the buses. It was asked for Mr. Gardner to start receiving approval from Mr. Crego and Mayor Formon before presenting items to the committee. It was also asked for Mr. Gardner to start presenting items to the committee, prior to the meeting. It was suggested for Mr. Gardner to send the items the Thursday or Friday before the meeting. Mr. Gardner recommended pulling the operating policies, the operator handbook and the para-transit plan until Mr. Crego has approved them. He further stated he could bring them back at the next meeting since he’s not under any time constraints to get them approved now. It was also recommended for Mr. Gardner to have Ms. Suzanne Hackney look over the policies since she is the head of Human Resources. Discussion was held regarding the age requirements on the bus. It was recommended for Mr. Gardner to seek Mr. Crego’s legal opinion concerning defining the minimum age of bus riders.
Approval of installation of shelters at JETS bus stops: Mr. Gardner explained the locations were a transit shelter will be placed will have a “J” at the end of the numerical part of the address, so it will be obvious the location is a JETS transit shelter. It was questioned why the Bernard and Race Street locations don’t have J’s at the end of them. Mr. Gardner explained those were the first addresses and adding the “J” wasn’t thought of until after they did the Bernard and Race Street addresses. It was recommended for Mr. Gardner to rename the locations to have the J in them, so current and future dispatchers will be able to easily recognize the JETS shelters. Councilman McCall motioned, seconded by Councilwoman Furr, to approve the resolution and place it on the agenda for the Council’s May 16th meeting. All voted aye.
Interdepartmental transfer of funds: Mr. Gardner explained he has two interdepartmental transfers to be done. The first will move money from the maintenance account to the software account and move money from the software account to the supplies account. He explained the maintenance and software accounts were wrongly billed for items, so he wants to do the transfer to put money back in the accounts that were wrongly billed. Discussion was held concerning moving funds from a fixed asset to an operations account. City Clerk Donna Jackson explained it hasn’t been an issue in the past to move money from a fixed asset account to an operating account. It was explained the transfer should’ve been signed by Chairman Williams, not the Chair of the advisory committee. Ms. Jackson added the transfer should be verified by the Finance Department to make sure it won’t hurt anything to transfer funds from a fixed asset account to an operations account. Councilman McCall motioned, seconded by Councilwoman Furr, to approve the transfer contingent on the approval of the Finance Department. All voted aye. The second transfer is from the maintenance account to the communications account to install seven vehicle radios. Councilman Ashley motioned, seconded by Councilman Province, to approve the transfer of funds. All voted aye.
It was questioned what the committee or Council needed to do concerning the situation regarding the buses. It was explained the Public Services committee in September approved the purchase of the buses from Missouri Bus Company, but an ordinance was never passed by the City Council. It was further explained the buses were purchased from another company for a better price, but neither the committee nor the Council ever approved the purchase. Discussion was held concerning the situation and what would need to be done to correct the situation. Mr. Gardner stated he spoke with a federal Transportation Department official and she indicated everything was done correctly. It was also explained the City did take bids for the buses. It was asked for Mr. Gardner to contact Mr. Crego to get his legal opinion on the matter. Councilwoman Furr motioned, seconded by Councilman Ashley, to place a cleanup ordinance on the Council agenda for May 16th to allow for the purchase of the buses pending approval by Mr. Crego. All voted aye.
It was also questioned whether Mr. Gardner would be placing temporary fencing around the parking lot for the buses. Mr. Gardner stated he would not be installing fencing because it was not financially feasible. He added the buses would be parked in the fenced in lot for the Sanitation Department.
It was then questioned what the status was of relocating the Transit Department to a more permanent location. Mr. Tony Thomas explained they are looking into several options, including the military center on Caraway that will be vacated. Mr. Gardner expressed concern about going to the firehouse on Caraway because the building does not meet the 2004 earthquake preparedness standards. He added the City will be developing a proposal regarding how to use the property. It was recommended the plan proposal needed to be reviewed by the City Council before presenting it to anyone else.
Mr. Gardner informed the committee the JETS buses had 93 riders as of Friday night. He added final schedules are in the works. He also stated he has been thinking about adding more buses to help shorten the time it takes to run each route. It was questioned if he would be extending one of the routes to go all the way down Patrick Street to Magnolia. Mr. Gardner stated he would look into adding that to the route. Discussion was also held regarding adding express lanes for busy streets like Caraway.
Councilman McCall expressed his gratitude to the City Council for making the transit system possible and for being so involved in doing what was right for the City.
PARKS
Acceptance of bids to construct ATV parking area: Mr. Jason Wilkie explained a 2003 ATV grant would pay for the construction of the ATV area. He added boulders would be used to keep other vehicles out of the area. Councilman McCall motioned, seconded by Councilwoman Furr, to accept the bid and recommend it to the City Council. All voted aye. Mr. Wilkie added they decided not to pave the ATV area because it posed some safety hazards to the riders when the pavement is wet.
Jerry Bookout Memorial Playground: Mr. Wilkie explained because the late Senator Jerry Bookout appropriated the funds for the playground at Access 3 in Craighead Forest, he would like to name the playground after the late Senator Bookout. Councilman McCall motioned, seconded by Councilman Ashley, to name the playground the Jerry Bookout Memorial Playground and recommend it to the City Council. All voted aye. It was also suggested Mr. Wilkie should place a plaque with an etching near the playground memorializing the late Senator Bookout. Ms. Jackson also recommended Mr. Wilkie amend the resolution to take out the “for perpetuity.”
Skateboard ordinance: Mr. Wilkie stated the ordinance has been approved by the skateboarders and the skateboard task committee. He added he would like any suggestions from the committee as to changes to the ordinance. It was recommended the county should also be encouraged to pass a skateboard ordinance to prohibit skateboarding on the county courthouse property. It was added the Quorum Court has indicated they would be interested in passing a skateboarding ordinance. Ms. Jackson recommended placing the ordinance in Jonesboro’s Code of Ordinances. She added Mr. Crego could help Mr. Wilkie with the process. Mr. Wilkie added he is going to contact Police Chief Michael Yates concerning how the City would go about enforcing the ordinance. It was suggested for Mr. Wilkie to define the term “adult” as being someone less than 18 years of age. Mr. Wilkie stated he will bring the ordinance back to the next meeting.
Contract with NRS Engineering for Turtle Creek Greenway: Mr. Wilkie stated Mayor Formon and Mr. Crego have both approved the contract. He added Mr. Crego asked for the section relating to limitation of liability to be removed from the contract. Councilman McCall motioned, seconded by Councilman Ashley, to approve the contract and recommend it to the City Council. All voted aye.
Bike paths on Craighead Forest Park Loop Road: Mr. Wilkie explained Mayor Formon has asked him to review the proposals for bike paths again. They are leaning towards either re-striping the lanes and adding a bike path, or making the road one way around the park. Mr. Wilkie added Mr. Teddy Hooton will be assisting him to put some figures together.
Discussion was held regarding the MPO and making a bike path going to Craighead Forest. Councilman McCall motioned, seconded by Councilman Province, for a resolution to be made reaffirming the Public Services Committee’s desire that the MPO help construct a bike and walkway path down Culberhouse to Craighead Forest Park. All voted aye. It was asked for the resolution to be brought back to the committee.
Negotiated fees with Camp Ready, Set, Go and Early Risers: Mr. Wilkie stated that he would like to reduce the fees for the two camps, but needed committee approval to do so. He recommended a flat $1,000 fee for both camps to use the City facilities. Councilman McCall motioned, seconded by Councilman Province, to accept the recommendation of the Parks Department to charge a $1,000 flat fee for the camps. All voted aye.
Construction report: Mr. Wilkie stated he spoke with Mr. Bernie Auld concerning the Turtle Creek Greenway. Mr. Auld indicated the city would need to hire an engineer to finish the project or construct the greenway in-house. At Mayor Formon’s request, Mr. Wilkie is putting together figures for the project to present to the committee at the next meeting. But, he noted that with the Street Department’s schedule, it could be years before they could get to the project.
Councilman McCall questioned what the status was for the purchase of the security equipment for Allen Park. Mr. Wilkie stated they have not moved forward yet, but they do have the bids ready. It was asked for the security equipment be a higher priority item.
ADJOURNMENT
With no further business, Councilman Ashley moved, seconded by Councilman McCall, to adjourn. All voted aye.