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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL STUDY - 2009-03-30 CITY OF LIVONIA— CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OF STUDY MEETING HELD MARCH 30, 2009 Meeting was called to order at 8:05 p.m. Present: Terry Godfroid-Marecki, John Pastor, Joe Laura, Brian Meakin, Tom Robinson, James McCann, and Laura Toy. Absent: None. Elected and appointed officials present: Mayor Jack Kirksey; Sherron Schultz, City Assessor; Michael Slater, Director of Finance; Karen Kapchonick, Parks & Recreation Superintendent; Kevin Roney, Assistant City Engineer; Jim Zoumbaris, City Engineer (Operations); Todd Zilincik, City Engineer; Kevin Maillard, Director of Public Works; Mark Taormina, City Planner; and Maureen Cosgrove, Assistant City Clerk. AUDIENCE COMMUNICATION: Joan Gebhardt, Wayne County Commissioner representing District 12, 35248 Leon, Livonia, MI, was present and stated that March is Women's History Month, and she honored the Livonia Senior Center Administrative Assistant, Gay Ware, along with the other Livonia Commissioner, Laura Cox. A few weeks ago, Laura Cox and the Transparency Taskforce of Wayne County hosted a public hearing in the City Hall Auditorium, and Joan Gebhardt mentioned her website has a similar "Transparency" tab, which can be accessed on Wayne County.com. Joan is on the Public Safety Committee of the County, and they just passed a resolution regarding the resurfacing of Inkster Road just north of Joy Road and Joy Road just west of Inkster. This should occur starting around April 15tH John Grzebik, 11301 Hubbell, invited everyone to "Youth Making a Difference" on April 77 2009 at 6:30 p.m. at Franklin High School which is on Joy Road. They have about 3,000 students participating this year, and Mayor Kirksey will be speaking and possibly the Mayor of Westland as well. He requested everyone to become involved in senior all-night parties. He thanked Cardwell Florist/Laura Toy as a donor to the All-Night Party Committee at Franklin. NEW BUSINESS: 1. REQUEST FROM THE MICHIGAN LIQUOR CONTROL COMMISSION FOR LOCAL LEGISLATIVE APPROVAL IN REGARD TO A REQUEST FROM MAX & ERMA'S RESTAURANTS, INC. (A DELAWARE CORPORATION), TO TRANSFER ALL STOCK IN 2008 CLASS C LICENSED BUSINESS FROM PUBLIC CORPORATION TO NEW STOCKHOLDER, G&R ACQUISITION, INC. (THRU MERGER): Division of Police, re: for the business located at 37714 W. Six Mile Road in Laurel Park Plaza, Livonia, MI 48152. Attorney Patrick Howe, 2855 Coolidge, Troy, MI 48084, was present on behalf of Max & Erma's. He stated that this is a pretty straight-forward corporate stock change. Max & Erma's Restaurants, Inc. will remain as the licensee. 2 Last July, Gary Reinert purchased all the shares of this formerly public corporation and is now the sole shareholder of G&R Acquisition which is the sole shareholder of Max & Erma's. There are no changes in the operation. The headquarters remain in Columbus. This is just a stock transfer approval required by the liquor code. McCann offered the approving resolution on the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 2. REQUEST FROM THE MICHIGAN LIQUOR CONTROL COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE THEIR REQUEST FROM MEZZA MEDITERRANEAN GRILL OF LIVONIA, LLC TO TRANSFER OWNERSHIP OF 2008 CLASS C LICENSED BUSINESS LOCATED IN ESCROW AT 30282 PLYMOUTH, LIVONIA, MI 48150 FROM BOGARTS BILLARDS & CAFE, INC.; AND REQUEST FOR A NEW OFFICIAL PERMIT (FOOD): Division of Police, re: for the business located in escrow at 37367 Six Mile, Livonia, MI 48152. Attorney Anthony Zezbick and Kelly Denha were present to request transfer of the Class C liquor license from Bogart's Billiards & Cafe to the Mezza Mediterranean Grill of Livonia, LLC. They have been through the City process, the police investigation which has been referred to Council, and they have been approved at the State level. They were present to seek approval for the Consent Agenda on April 8t". To their knowledge, there are no issues that have been raised by any of the departments or investigations. Meakin stated that Mr. Denha has been a license holder in Livonia for fifteen (15) years and is an outstanding community activist. They do a great job over at the Wine Palace. They are now venturing into the restaurant business. Kelly Denha stated that he pushed for the Livonia location. There is one probably going into Rochester, another one in Novi, and the original one in West Bloomfield. His brother and his other partners like the Livonia location and the type of food. Beer, wine and liquor is important to the restaurant and will help the restaurant bring in more people. This is a former LaShish, but is a completely different ownership. They are at Six Mile and Newburgh in the Busch's shopping center next to the Rite Aid drugstore. They will have a grand opening when the liquor license is in place. They are open for business now and are doing well, but will do much better after the grand opening and approval of the liquor license. Meakin offered the approving resolution on the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 3. REAPPOINTMENT OF MAUREEN SIMARI TO THE LOCAL OFFICERS COMPENSATION COMMISSION: Office of the Mayor, re: for a seven-year term, which will expire on April 2, 2016. 3 Mayor Jack Kirksey stated that Maureen Simari was present to accept approval of the nomination to continue on the Local Officers Compensation Commission. This is the commission that meets every other year and makes recommendations on what elected officials' salary compensation should be. They spend long hours researching and comparing the City against similar communities and bring a great deal of dedication to that task. The Mayor originally appointed Maureen to that post. Maureen plans to graduate from Wayne State University in a few months with a Master of Library Information Science. She was also a ParaPro with the Livonia schools. Maureen Simari, 15532 Penn Drive, stated that this would be the second appointment. It is a wonderful position and a great opportunity to network with other members of the community. Laura offered the approving resolution on the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 4. REQUEST TO REVOKE REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY COMPONENT OF TAX ABATEMENT CERTIFICATE 2003-396 ISSUED TO ELRINGKLINGER SEALING SYSTEMS (USA), INC.: Department of Assessment, re: as the new equipment was never installed at 35955 Veronica. Sherron Schultz, City Assessor, stated this company requested and was approved for abatement in 2003, and to the best of their knowledge, the company has not installed any of the equipment. About a month ago, the State Tax Commission called the Treasurer's Office wanting to know why there were no taxes being collected. When the Treasurer explained why, they asked for the City to go through the revocation process so that they can have it off the books. The first step is for Council to adopt a resolution. Sherron spoke with a representative of the company today, and they asked for a copy of the application to be faxed over. The company would like to discuss it further, but they stated they did not think the equipment had been installed. The City sends a personal property statement every year, and it is returned with a zero figure, so it does not appear that the equipment ever was installed. McCann stated that if they do not hear anything further, then he would like it on the Consent Agenda. McCann offered the approving resolution on the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 5. CITY INVESTMENT POLICY: Department of Finance, re: the Annual Report for the fiscal year ending November 30, 2008 on the investment activity of City Funds. (CR 820-98) 4 Michael Slater, Director of Finance, stated that this is an annual report to City Council on the investment activities for Fiscal Year ended November 30, 2008. All of the investments are in compliance with Public Act 20 which is the state statute that governs how they can invest City funds. This excludes any funds invested for the pension fund which is a separate report. For the year ended, the City earned a total amount of interest of $3,680,000.00. The allocation of funds are indicated in the correspondence, the largest being Certificates of Deposits, second largest is U.S. Treasury and Agency Securities, and pooled cash for day- to-day operating. The average interest rate for the year earned was 3.73%, and that exceeded the benchmark which is the six-month Treasury Bill that had a rate of return of 3.69%. Finance's philosophy today has been to invest funds under the policy of being conservative first, and then reflecting liquidity, risk management and return investment in that order. It has served them well. The investments are spread out among different institutions, although there are fewer than previous years. They review them regularly for the strength of the financial institution; and these days, there are institutions that are less financially strong. The list has gotten shorter since November. Right now, with a 90-day CD, we are lucky to get 1%. These are insured for $250,000.00, the same as an individual. In the last several months, there is a new program allowed under Public Act 20, and the City is using that to some extent. This allows money to go through a central depository, so if the City would give them a million dollars, they would divide that into four (4) different banks at $250,000.00 apiece spread nationwide between banks to have more insurance, but you give up a little on the interest rate. They have been using this. The $24,000,000.00 in U.S. Treasury and Agency Securities are insured to the extent that the U.S. Government is solvent. Finance uses a third party rating service to evaluate the strength of a bank, and they assign scores to the financial institutions. Meakin offered the approving resolution to receive and file this item for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: RECEIVE & FILE CONSENT 6. AWARD OF BID: Department of Parks & Recreation, re: for beverage and snack vending service at the Livonia Community Recreation Center. Karen Kapchonick, Parks & Recreation Superintendent, stated they sought written bids for a three-year contract beginning May 1, 2009 through April 30, 2011 for vending service at the Community Recreation Center. After reviewing the six (6) sealed bids and calculating the commissions in what the vendors could provide, it is their recommendation to combine the current beverage contract and the current snack contract into one contract, and that Corporate Dining Concepts located in Rochester Hills, MI be awarded the contract. This contract would represent 41% commission which is an increase of 1% from the current contract. Last year, the contracts were separate, and Coca Cola was the beverage vendor. Having one contract helps with party rentals so they can have more than one kind of beverage, not just Coke. 5 Meakin offered the approving resolution on the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 7. AWARD OF CONTRACT: Department of Parks & Recreation; re: Site Design Services for a new club house at Whispering Willows Golf Course. Karen Kapchonick, Parks & Recreation Superintendent, stated that they had hired the architectural firm, Nudell-Evangelista Architects, and with the assistance and direction of the Engineering Department, they are seeking Council approval to award a contract for Site Design. After carefully evaluating the eighteen (18) bids received, it is their recommendation that Northwest Consultants of Canton, MI be awarded the bid for the amount not to exceed $30,230.00 from funds already budgeted in the Golf Course Capital Projects Fund. City Engineer Todd Zilincik, and Golf Professional Tom Welch are present to answer any questions. The clubhouse is forty (40) years old, and a new one is much needed. There is a big difference between the low bidder and the high bidder probably because of the hard economic times. Godfroid-Marecki offered the approving resolution on the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 8. AWARD OF CONTRACT: Water and Sewer Board, re: for purchase of water from the City of Detroit with a term of 30 years, then renewable for 10 year terms. Kevin Roney, Assistant City Engineer, stated that the City of Livonia purchases water from the Detroit Water & Sewer Department. It is a pretty wide system serving cities as far north as Flint or down to Monroe County. There are eighty five (85) wholesale customers that purchase from the DWSD. The current contract that Livonia has with the DWSD was signed in 1979, and the DWSD and the customer communities wanted to start working together to develop a new form of contract to be used that would be uniform among all the cities. Over the past ten (10) years, there was a voluntary customer/DWSD partner effort done, and they established committees known as the Technical Advisory Committees (TAC). These committees were very successful in their missions. It started ten (10) years ago on the sewer side. The City of Detroit had a major pollution problem within their borders. It was being caused by flows from both Detroit and the suburbs, and the fix for that was a project in excess of a billion dollars. The real problem was going to be how to allocate the cost between Detroit and the suburbs. The TAC concept was used for that, and after a couple of years of working together with Detroit and the customer communities, the flow split was derived at 83% Detroit, 17% the suburbs. No one sued or challenged it. The TAC meetings that Kevin and Mr. Beckley were going to had about thirty (30) representatives from municipalities and DWSD. There were no more than four (4) or five (5) DWSD people at the meetings. 6 This was a customer driven effort. They got the contract in a good form and addressed the issues and also issues that were not in the existing contract. After these things were hammered out, the eighty five (85) customer communities brought their attorneys, and it was last year that the formal contract was settled on. At this time, there are forty (40) of the wholesale customers that have approved the contract. This went to the Livonia Water & Sewer Board earlier in March, and this is the recommendation of the W&S Board to approve the new form of contract for the City's water purchases for the next thirty (30) years with an extendable ten (10) years beyond, and to authorize the Mayor to sign the contract on behalf of Livonia. Livonia has not looked into its own water system. There have been communities along the Great Lakes that have spent a lot of money to study the feasibility of building their own water treatment plant. So far, nobody has come up with anything that would be cost effective, and staying with the Detroit system is the most cost effective alternative. McCann stated he was talking to a Grosse Pointe Woods Councilman who had looked at this and knew about Grosse Pointe Farms building their own, and it has been very expensive for the community, and there have been a lot of water quality problems. Robinson would like a feasibility study on other viable options on a short term, as a contract for thirty (30) years is a huge commitment for future generations. Roney stated that the current contract expires 2014, but they are trying to get everyone on the same contract so we have time. Roney recommends against any sort of study because if the communities along the water cannot do it cost effectively, there is no way Livonia can do it cost effectively. Robinson suggested Livonia take a closer look at it, understand some of the rate increase options in the future, and he would like to begin the discussion. He understands it would be a monumental task to have an alternative water supply, but the problem is not going away, and it would take a generation to put the infrastructure in place. This would be a good time for a feasibility study. Council President Toy stated that Robinson has some very good points regarding DWSD because it keeps them on their toes as well. Their rate structure goes up with no rationale on the eighty five (85) counties. It is one of the best water systems in regard to the quality of water and for the most part, the delivery of the water except for water main breaks. To build a water system is extremely expensive. There is a whole history on this topic. Going to a committee is not a bad idea, unless someone has the wherewithal and is going to put in a new or different type of system. There has been a lot of lack of communication and a lot of problems with DWSD, but it is a monopoly in this area. Roney stated it would not be problematic to send this to the Committee of the Whole; however, the City would want to deal with it this year because the new contract puts in an incentive for communities to start to try and shift some of their irrigation water from 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. 7 Once there is a signed contract, if you can start to re-educate the public, you can get the peak hour rate down which has a positive impact on rates. Roney stated that if a city like Livonia could shift their water usage to the night hours, it would be one of the factors that would affect the rates. The contract gives that incentive along with the other customers. Douglas Day, 14364 Gary Lane, commented on the water bills. The most annoying part in the summer when his usage is up is the sewer portion of the bill that rises when he is not putting any more water down the sewer than in the winter. There is a huge burden with the sewer portion on the water bill in the summer. He had inquired about having two (2) meters put in, but it was turned down. Some communities do that. An easy solution would be if the City just looked at the average usage of a customer in May or September, and used that as a flat rate for the sewer usage, and let the rest of the water usage in the summer just be for the yard. His water bill exceeds $400.00 easily in the summer. He does not want to cut down on his water usage. Toy recommended he call Council, and when the committee meets, they can let him know and be invited to the meeting. Roney stated that Mr. Day can get an excellent informational packet from DPW that gives the history and background. Laura stated they have paperwork that has all the communities that have separate meters. Roney stated that when the contract is signed, it would become effective upon signing after Council approval. The current contract expires 2014, but this one would take precedence and nullify the current contract. All the municipalities are being asked to sign a thirty-year contract. The other contract that the City signed was for thirty five (35) years. Robinson stated that this becomes more important in looking at this in committee because the Council should understand the benefits and/or the cost differences. It should be understood what the old contract was, which is thirty (30) years old, and what the new contract would be. What becomes important is to read the contract and the rates. The old contract references Public Act 34 of 1917 on how the rates would be established. He has not seen Public Act 34 of 1917 and would like to be educated before committing the City to another thirty (30) years. It also references Public Act 279 of 1909, and he thinks a few things have changed since then, and he would like to understand how those apply to the new contract. Robinson offered the resolution referring approval of the contract to the Committee of the Whole on the Regular Agenda. Godfroid-Marecki offered the approving resolution on the Regular Agenda. DIRECTION: (1) REFER TO COMMITTEE REGULAR 8 OF THE WHOLE (2) APPROVING 9. AWARD OF BID: Water and Sewer Board, re: for water service parts and fittings for the City's 2009 calendar year requirements. Jim Zoumbaris, City Engineer (Operations), stated that they went out for bids for water service parts for the Water Department. There were four (4) bidders, and they are recommending low bidder, HD Supply Waterworks. HD was the low bidder last year, and all four (4) bidders have supplied parts to Livonia at one time. McCann offered the approving resolution on the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 10. AWARD OF BID: Public Service Division, re: for the Livonia Community Recreation Center HVAC Maintenance Service Contract for a 3 year period. Jim Zoumbaris, City Engineer (Operations), stated that Council previously asked them to go out for bids for certain items. Previously it was a Honeywell contract. Honeywell supplied materials and computer items that have to be maintained. They had four (4) bidders. A local company, Temperature Services, Inc., was the low bid. It took DPW awhile to verify that Temperature Services would be able to do the work because of certain certifications that are required. Also they needed to verify that they could do the work through references. They were checked, and they do appear to be capable of doing the work. It appears that Parks & Recreation will save a lot of money by going with this contractor. Meakin stated that there is a substantial difference between the first and second place bidders. Roney stated that the way the contract is set up, it states that if the low bidder cannot perform the work, then DPW would go to the second low bidder, but they do check out and are currently doing this type of work for two (2) other communities and a couple of fire stations. There is a performance bond. Meakin offered the approving resolution on the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 11. AWARD OF CONTRACT: Public Service Division, re: for the Asphalt Road Program for 2009. Todd Zilincik, City Engineer, stated that as part of the 2009 Asphalt Pavement Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Program, they received bids on March 17, 2009 in which eight (8) bids were received. Three (3) bids were from Livonia companies. 9 Based on what was provided, OHM took the information and tabulated the bids, made the final corrections, and they are recommending Hayball Transport, Inc. They are familiar with their previous work, and they were their contractor for the 2008 Pavement Repair Program for Livonia. They are asking Council to award the contract in the amount of $1,747,792.24 to Hayball Transport located at 12550 Farmington Road, Livonia, MI. In addition, they would like to award the bid based on unit prices and adjusted upon the quantities of work completed. Also, a portion of that money will be taken for reconstruction in the amount of a little over 1.3 million and maintenance of just over $400,000.00. In addition, authorize the City Engineer to approve minor adjustments in the work as required. Mark Loch, Project Manager of Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc., was present to answer any questions. Hayball has done work for the City for a number of years as far as the asphalt paving program goes. They work with the City to do a good job and work through solutions on problems that occur. They did a splendid job last year. Meakin offered the approving resolution on the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 12. REQUEST TO LEASE THREE AND A HALF TO FOUR (3.5 - 4) ACRES OF THE CITY'S GLENDALE PROPERTY: Public Service Division, re: by Environmental Wood Solutions, Inc. to grind specific biomass for disposal and transfer woodchip material to an out-source location for a period of twenty-four (24) months. Jim Zoumbaris, City Engineer (Operations), stated that Environmental Wood Solutions was the second bidder on the property on the north side of Glendale. They expressed interest on another piece of property, but ended up picking this property. They submitted a quote to DPW offering to pay lease on the property for a time period. As part of the submittal, DPW asked for the operations of what they were going to be doing. Originally, they started out as wood chipping, but they have since decided that it would be to their advantage if they would do a wood chipping and compost transfer site. After meeting with others in the DPW Department and discussing what had happened previously on the property with compost, they are not recommending approval of the bid. Since they are offering to rent the property, DPW thought it best to bring it to Council to make a decision since they are offering a monthly rate for a two-year period. The only other issue that has come up is that DPW now has another offer. They are expressing interest on the south side of Glendale also, but they have not come forward with any written proposal other than to meet with DPW to express their interest in this property. Environmental Wood Solutions does have other operations with compost and wood chipping and has state permits for them. DPW's concern is they are not comfortable with the compost portion of this. The current company is Mid Michigan. 10 A while ago, they rented the property to a gentleman to do composting. He went out of business and left DPW with compost, and they had to make arrangements to dispose of it and clean up the area. Environmental Wood Solutions is a well known company, but DPW is not comfortable with the compost portion of this. They had odor problems before all the way over to the DPW building and had complaints. The normal procedure is to give the company notice and then wait a time period. It got to the point where action had to be taken. The area was bigger than this area. This is a relatively small area for composting. Meakin stated that he would rather send this back to DPW, then have a recommendation from DPW to the DPW Director who will refer either an approving or denying resolution. DPW has more expertise. Council has very little knowledge of that area and would have a problem making a decision. Zoumbaris is submitting something so if it is decided to go ahead, something could be put in the contract. Craig Kovarik, Environmental Wood Solutions, 3500 Giddings Road, Orion, MI 48359, stated that he would like to have more discussions with Mr. Zoumbaris. They submitted a proposal. The operation of their business is primarily wood waste recycling. They do a large contractual work with Waste Management and manage two (2) of the sites around the City of Detroit. They have a yard on Eight Mile which they use as a transfer facility. Regarding compost operations, they recently submitted their proposal and came back with one (1) revision, and they came back and increased their price. Mr. Zoumbaris also asked them to give them more clarification as to the process of the operations. Next door to the facility is where Waste Management has the Livonia transfer station. That same operation is what their company wants to do. They understand that a lot of flags go up regarding compost. That is not what they do there. They have two (2) registered compost facilities within the State of Michigan as does Waste Management, and they have their contractors or trucks drop yard waste off there. They then load it, transfer it to their trucks, and haul it away. That is the process that Environmental Wood Solutions wants to engage in. They have contracts with Waste Management, other municipalities and other service providers. They can take this business to their other yards, but they are looking for some place within this proximity. This facility would be very suitable for them. This would be just a transfer station and not a place to keep compost. They have two (2) licensed facilities including a large one up in Orion that they take most of the Oakland County process to, and it eventually ends up in their 300-acre site up in Lapeer. There is a lot of transferring that occurs. They are not looking for this as a compost facility, so much as they are looking for one truck to drop off their contents and process it in their own facilities. It is not intended to be a compost site, and they would need approval for a transfer station just as Waste Management. There would be no storage at the site. They will adhere to the contract. Wood waste can sit without anything offensive, but there are other concerns regarding yard waste. They can address those issues. They have their own fleet of trucks and equipment. 11 Typically, they have contractors bring the material to them, and then they process it and take it away. Wood chips or compost sits for a period, then the trucks pick it up and haul it away. He can work with DPW on the time that material sits. It depends on the volume also. They have scales at their facility to weigh material. A yard of raw compost would typically be about three (3) yards to a ton. If they have an opportunity, they would move some of their operations from the other facilities, so it would be about 500 to 2,000 tons of wood chips a month. For the size of Livonia, typically 16,000 yards would be processed annually. This would probably not occur this year as they have already negotiated with other municipalities. The concerns have been the timeframe and the potential odors that may be created. There is not a market for compost. It is just for disposal. There are now qualified and certified compost facilities that they have to transfer to. The economics for them is give service to Livonia so the municipality would not have to drive the waste up to Orion. Craig Kovarik will work with Jim Zoumbaris before the Regular Meeting on April 8, 2009. Meakin offered to take no further action on the Glendale property for the Regular Agenda. McCann offered the approving resolution on the Regular Agenda. McCann offered a resolution referring to the Infrastructure Committee for their report and recommendation for the Regular Agenda. DIRECTION: (1) NO FURTHER ACTION REGULAR (2) APPROVING (3) REFER TO INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE 13. REQUEST TO APPROVE ENGINEERING CONSULTANT: Engineering Division, re: to perform improvements to reconstruct Westbound Schoolcraft Road (Scone to Bridge over 1-96), 0.30 miles in length, which will receive 80% federal funding and 20% from City funds. Todd Zilincik, City Engineer, stated that cost proposals were received on March 4, 2009 of which they received seven (7) consultants to reconstruct a portion of the service drive on westbound Schoolcraft from Scone to the bridge over 1-96. It is in dire need of repair. As part of this, they needed to take advantage of Federal funds that are available which 80% would be taken care of through the Federal Aid Committee (FAC) and 20% would be done by local funds. They received the bids from the consultants, and Engineering reviewed the proposals of which there were two (2) top consultants that came to light—Spalding DeDecker and OHM. Based on information they requested each firm to verify their scope of the project, the critical item was the super elevation. Originally, the speed limit was raised from 35 mph to 40 mph. This causes a problem with the super elevation which may have to go back further into the intersection at Hix to remove some pavement to address the safety concern. 12 After evaluation, they went back to both firms to make sure they both understood the scope of services as far as the time sensitive nature of when it is due to MDOT. In addition, OHM had a meeting, and each one had to confirm through MDOT that there would be a full set of plans due to the super elevation issue. Upon clarification, both resubmitted their cost proposals to Engineering, and based on the information and cost, they decided to recommend Spalding DeDecker in the amount of $30,600.00. They are asking Council to give the contract to Spalding DeDecker, in addition, execute the contract and have the Mayor and Clerk execute the agreement and take it from the appropriate funds. Usually they take the low bidder, but in this proposal, there was a ranking form which was based on 100 points. Based on these points, Engineering rates the top three (3) consultants. Two (2) consultants knew exactly the LAP program and could meet the deadline which is critical to not losing the funding of over a half a million dollars. Engineering thought it was imperative that the two (2) firms resubmit their cost proposals to make sure they both have a full understanding of the project, that it was time sensitive, and they needed to submit plans by April 24t". Construction will not occur until next year, but Engineering had to meet the deadline by September. Based on the overall ranking, there were firms that did not have the criteria that they were looking for in the LAP program and meeting the MDOT guidelines that were set forth in the RFP. Meakin reiterated that in professional services, it is not necessarily the low bid. It is not a commodity where you are just purchasing something at a specific price. There are other things involved rather than being the lowest bidder out there. Todd Zilincik agreed. They want the lowest qualified bidder, especially with this as they do not want to lose the funding that is set aside for the City. This is critical. Mr. Maillard was able to get Construction Engineering, Inc. as part of this project which saved the City approximately $75,000.00. The other firms were rated lower, and their criteria showed they were more of a developing type of firm or were not roads related. There were six (6) items that had specific points to them, and based on those points, they were overall ranked, and the top three (3) were chosen based on the requirements of the RFP. Laura asked Zilincik to forward him the point system criteria. Zilincik stated that they needed to put the criteria in for the firm to do the job correctly otherwise they would lose money on the project. The firms needed to have the criteria that they were approved by MDOT to do road construction and pavement lane markings. Just because they submit an RFP does not mean they met the requirements. Three (3) met the criteria of the RFP. He can go over the evaluation form that was in the RFP and go over the proposals at a set aside time. Kevin Maillard, Director of Public Works, stated that the problem they had with quite a few of the bidders is that they do not understand the MDOT award process. One of the consultants said that they reviewed the bids and would make a recommendation to the City, but the City is not bidding the project, MDOT is bidding the project. There was a problem with their qualifications. There were engineers that never worked on an MDOT project. 13 There is $289,000.00 of the funding which has to be obligated this year out of the $500,000.00. The timeframe in order to get the plans to MDOT is April 24, 2009 and must be obligated by July or the City will lose the funding. They looked at the firms that had a track history of being able to expedite plans in four (4) weeks, they know the MDOT process, and they would be a turnkey consultant. The price that the City got is a terrific price. They have $500,000.00 plus about $560,000.00 allocated to it. The price amounts to about 6% for a full set of plans. There are only two (2) firms that highlighted all the design criteria. They did not want to submit plans to MDOT and have the plans rejected and lose close to $300,000.00. That was the biggest concern. 6% on a design contract is a very good price. Joe Laura will call and discuss this by phone tomorrow with Kevin Maillard. John Pastor would like to see the ranking criteria also to see why the two (2) bidders were chosen. Robinson stated that in the past, they said they would award the bid to the lowest bidder if they meet the specifications of the RFP. Todd Zilincik stated that the City's portion would be 20% of $500,000.00 which is $100,000.00 on the construction part of it and the cost of the engineering, so they would be looking at about $130,000.00 plus what is saved on the construction engineering portion which is now approved as part of the overall project. This would be about $60,000.00 for a half million dollar project if this is done in a timely manner. The cost of the engineering is not reimbursed and has to be paid out of pocket in order for the City to take advantage of the funding. An addendum to the RFP was sent out a week later to bidders referencing the time sensitive nature of the work, and that they had to meet a certain schedule. Kevin Maillard was a lot more familiar with the LAP process than Todd was and wanted to reiterate that the schedule was the most critical item for this RFP. It was critical that the City get somebody that has done numerous projects for the local agency program and is comfortable in meeting that deadline. It looked like the other bidders would not be able to meet the deadline or had the experience that was needed. There is a rating on the form for a number of points for experience. Todd is willing to sit down with Joe Laura, Tom Robinson, John Pastor, and Kevin Maillard to better explain the individual RFP's. McCann stated that there have been times when they have gone outside the low bidder. When they started talking about the heating and cooling system for City Hall, there were so many varied items that were not at all about the lowest cost structure. They finally determined that they needed more information and paid two (2) of the firms to come back with better proposals. Just because someone has the lowest bid does not mean that is the best firm to do the job especially when a project is over a half a million dollars. If the job is not done properly, it is a much greater risk to the City's residents than the $4,000.00 difference in prices quoted. Expertise is what matters most to get it done right the first time, and from what he has heard from Mr. Zilincik, he feels it appropriate to go forward. 14 Laura stated that it is Council's right to question when they do not understand something about an item, and get involved in order to understand these things. An RFP should be written in a certain way to get the results that are required. McCann offered the approving resolution on the Regular Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING REGULAR 14. REQUEST TO APPROVE ENGINEERING CONSULTANT: Engineering Division, re: for the Lyndon Avenue Reconstruction Project from Henry Ruff Road to Middlebelt Road, which will be 100% federally-funded and require no local share funding. Todd Zilincik, City Engineer, stated that this is stimulus money for selection of a consultant to reconstruct Lyndon Avenue from Henry Ruff to Middlebelt. As part of the Federal Aid Committee (FAC), the City is fortunate enough to obtain $675,000.00 to reconstruct a portion of Lyndon Avenue. Fourteen (14) cities were selected and Livonia was one of those. The road serves Roosevelt Elementary School. The FAC approved the funding on February 20, 2009. Engineering thought it was important that the two (2) firms that are currently doing the road repair program which is AEW and OHM. They asked them to expedite the process to give them a cost proposal to submit to obtain plans. This was not time sensitive except to capture the money by March of 2010. Therefore, they requested them to submit a proposal by Friday, March 13, 2009 by 3:30 p.m. and received two (2) quotes — one from OHM for $26,250.00 and one from AEW in the amount of $41,000.00. They are requesting Council to consider awarding the contract to OHM, authorize the Mayor and Clerk to execute the contract, expend the appropriate fund of $26,250.00 from the Michigan Transportation Fund account, and waive the competitive bid process in accordance with Section 3.04.140D2 of the Livonia Code of Ordinances. The only stimulus money the City received is for this project. There is some additional funding, but he believes it is for Wayne County roads. The reason they picked the two (2) consultants is that since they were currently working on the road program, they would try to give them a fair shake. Conception Engineering is also a part of this program, so 15% of $675,000.00 is part of that money. The City does not have to pay any out-of-pocket expense there also, and it's a savings. Kevin Roney stated that if the City gets the project out within 120 days, they will be in line for additional funding. Newburgh Road is the road that they are pushing right now with the FAC from Six to Seven Mile and will take about 1.3 million dollars. The City will be on the next wave of funding if there is funding. Engineering will have to expedite the contracts extremely fast to take advantage of the 100% funding. The only roads that are eligible are federally eligible roads. 15 This section of Lyndon is classified as an "urban collector' and is a local road and not eligible for stimulus funding. They will rate all the roads and see where each road falls in. Meakin offered the approving resolution for OHM as low bidder for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 15. ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSE TO COUNCIL RESOLUTION 58-09- Engineering Division, re: for a revised proposed assessment roll for street light installation at Churchill Manor Site Condominiums omitting one light from the original street light location plan. Todd Zilincik, City Engineer, stated that they had a request on Lot #17 in which three (3) lights was proposed around the lot. There are a total of eight (8) lights on the segment. They were able to eliminate one (1) light. There were concerns from the condo association that they wanted reduced lights to begin with. This recommendation to eliminate the light not only reduces the light on Lot#17 to two (2), but also reduces the cost from $85.90 to $71.35. They got the revised estimate from DTE. They are requesting that Council confirm the special assessment roll that is provided and that this will not exceed $11,201.00 from the cash payment posted by the developer to provide payment for putting in the lights, and authorizing the Clerk to execute the Municipal Street Lighting Agreement provided by DTE. The lights should go in sometime in the summer at the earliest or late in the fall depending on the schedule of DTE. Pat Reed, 37506 Eagle Drive, Lot #17, asked what light they were referring to. Todd Zilincik said it is the middle one. There would be one (1) light between Lot #18 and #17 and one (1) light at the end of Richfield. Joe Laura stated that they are still investigating the LED street lights, but apparently they are more expensive. Godfroid-Marecki offered the approving resolution on the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 16. REQUEST TO AMEND COUNCIL RESOLUTION 15-09: Engineering Division, re: to revise the Special Assessment Roll approved on January 14, 2009 to include one pilot LED street light and six high pressure sodium lights on colonial top posts in Kenwood Meadows Subdivision and Kenwood Meadows Subdivision #2. Todd Zilincik, City Engineer, stated that this is the item in which a homeowner had requested an LED light. 16 Working with Councilman Laura and the homeowner, they tried to come up with a compromise that would be applicable to all parties. There is a proposed set of lights, and they tried to put one (1) LED light as a pilot program at the end of the street where the homeowner resides. They also sent out a survey to the residents in the subdivision seeing that there would be no problem with one (1) LED light looking different than the other ones. 50% of the people did not have an issue with the installation of the LED light. Therefore, they proceeded to get a proposal from DTE to include one (1) LED light and six (6) mercury vapor lights. A portion would be paid by DTE, and the remaining portion would be paid by the developer. They are asking Council to amend Council Resolution 15-09 to change the number of lights to be six (6) 100 watt high pressure sodium lights on fourteen (14) foot high colonial tops and one (1) LED light on the fourteen (14) foot high colonial top post at the end of the street, revise the assessment roll which reduce the cost from $74.22 per resident to $73.75, and authorize a sum not to exceed $9,433.00 to make payment for the developer for the street lighting installation. Working with DTE, they will continually evaluate the LED light for one (1) to two (2) years as it is a pilot program. It will help out in future assessments for the City lights. Also, they hope to get feedback from the residents. Originally, the residents wanted all LED lights, but it was too expensive. Meakin stated that maybe they can look at newer condo developments where there are only a few houses where they could put two (2) or three (3) LED lights to give a true evaluation of how it works on a street. Robinson stated that he has concerns of just one (1) LED light. He would be supportive of running a test or demonstration in a complete set of lights. Todd Zilincik stated that they tried to do "due diligence" by sending out thirty two (32) questionnaires, had sixteen (16) responses, and fifteen (15) were positive. The LED light is at the end of the street, so they tried to come up with a compromise that was ethical for all parties. They are just trying a new technology so eventually they would like to go with LED lights on an industrial street. Godfroid-Marecki offered the approving resolution on the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 17. WAIVER PETITION: Planning Commission, re: Petition 2008-12-02-31 submitted by 19055 Farmington Road L.L.C. requesting approval to operate a full-service restaurant with drive-up window facilities on property located on the west side of Farmington Road, between Clarita Avenue and Seven Mile Road (19055 Farmington Road), in the Northeast '/4 of Section 9. Per the request of the petitioner, this item is being removed from the agenda and postponed until the Monday, April 20, 2009 Study Meeting. 17 18. SITE PLAN PETITION: Planning Commission, re: Petition 2009-02-08-03 submitted by Vision Quest Consulting in connection with a proposal to construct an addition to the office building (Coburn-Kleinfeldt Eye Clinic) on property located on the north side of Six Mile Road, between Farmington Road and Laurel Drive (33400 Six Mile Road), in the Southeast '/4 of Section 9. Mark Taormina, City Planner, stated that this is the Coburn-Kleinfeldt Eye Clinic located near the northwest corner of Farmington Road and Six Mile Road. This is an L-shaped property which is about 1.78 acres in size and has equal amount of frontage on Six Mile Road on the south side of the property and 175 feet on Farmington Road. This was a former Manufacturers Bank that went dark for a number of years. In 2003, the building was renovated and re-opened as an eye clinic. It is a triangular shaped building that is situated in the northwest portion of the site. The building is about 8,600 square feet in area. There are two (2) parking areas. One is located on the east side of the building, and the other one is on the south side of the building. They are inter-connected by driveways. The proposal is to add about 4,500 square feet to the northwest corner of the building. This would bring the overall size to about 13,200 square feet. A floor plan was submitted with the application that shows the addition that would include two (2) operating rooms, related equipment rooms, five (5) exam rooms, storage space, a procedure laser room, and offices, mechanical, and janitorial areas. The south elevation shows a new entry vestibule and canopy drop-off area that would be built. This canopy extends about sixty five (65) feet from the existing building. There would be a drive aisle that would be used as a patient drop-off and pickup area. This would remove three (3) parking spaces needed to create this feature on the building. Regarding the parking, it is a breakdown between the amount of general office as well as medical office. They would be required to have a total of seventy eight (78) parking spaces. They are showing eighty (80) parking spaces on the site for a surplus of two (2). The Planning Commission approved plan included eight (8) parking spaces along the east side of the building. Because there is not a high demand for parking on this site, they are asking the petitioner to land bank these eight (8) parking spaces. They are shown on the plan as new parking spots. The land banking modification is included in the Planning Commission approving resolution. At the closest point, the building would be about twenty (20) feet from the west property line and thirty two (32) feet from the north property line of the residential district. Zoning Ordinance requires a minimum setback of fifteen (15) feet, so the building setbacks are sufficient. There is a masonry screen wall that exists along the west side of the property as well as on the north side. A resident who attended the Planning Commission meeting indicated that there were areas in the wall that need to be repaired and that is also included in the Planning Commission approving resolution. 18 The original plan also showed the proposed driveway be located immediately adjacent to the wall, but because there is a row of healthy arborvitaes that exist in that area to help screen the residential from the office property, they are asking that the driveway be moved back to the original curb line in order to protect the trees. It has been done and is reflected on the current plan. They will be adding trees in the northwest corner and is provided in the plans. The Planning Commission has made a number of changes to the plan, all of which has been incorporated. In the original plan, they had the driveway on Six Mile Road closed off and the one on the west side widened. There are some complications with the storm water in doing that, so the petitioner is asking that he go back to the original plan which maintains the driveways in their current configuration. This is not something that the Planning Commission had required, but was offered by the petitioner when they looked at various ways to add parking on the site. They will be using the same materials that are on the existing building. This is brick and cultured stone as well as composite metal panels. On the backside, E.I.F.S. can be used. The dumpster enclosure is about six (6) feet tall. The door will be locked when not in use. This site is a very well maintained and manicured site. There is no trash visible, and the container does not extend above the wall. Brandon Kaufman, Vision Quest Consulting, 4657 Wendrick Drive, West Bloomfield, MI, developer for the doctors, was present and stated that this facility will have just ophthalmologists. Meakin offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT AUDIENCE COMMUNICATION: None. As there were no further questions or comments, Council President Toy adjourned the Study Session at 10:26 p.m. on Monday, March 30, 2009. DATED: April 8, 2009 LINDA GRIMSBY, CITY CLERK