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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL STUDY - 2009-09-16 CITY OF LIVONIA— CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OF STUDY MEETING HELD SEPTEMBER 16, 2009 Meeting was called to order at 8:00 p.m. Present: Joe Laura, Brian Meakin, Tom Robinson, James McCann, Terry Godfroid-Marecki, John Pastor and Laura Toy. Absent: None. Elected and appointed officials present: Karen Kapchonick, Superintendent of Parks & Recreation; Todd Zilincik, City Engineer; Don Knapp, City Attorney; Mark Taormina, City Planner; Maureen Cosgrove, Assistant City Clerk. President Toy announced that the Parks and Recreation would like to invite everyone to their open house at the Livonia Recreation Center, on Hubbard and Five Mile, Sunday, September 20, from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Admission is free. Swim or slide down the 250' water slide, climb the 250' rock wall, or test out their fitness equipment. This is a beautiful center. President Toy announced two (2) Public Hearings to be held in the Auditorium of Livonia City Hall, 33000 Civic Center Drive, Livonia, MI, for the following items: Wednesday, October 7, 2009, at 7:00 p.m. Scott A. Bain, CFO, Quality Metalcraft, Inc., requesting approval of an Industrial Facilities Exemption Certificate for the acquisition of robotic assembly and weld equipment to produce complete sub-assemblies and metal stampings at their facility located at 32969 Glendale, Livonia, MI 48150. (Industrial Development Overlay District#109) Wednesday, October 7, 2009, at 7:00 p.m. Laurance R. Kornacki, President, A & R Packing Co., Inc., requesting approval of an Industrial Facilities Exemption Certificate for a building renovation and acquisition of new equipment to process meat products at their new facility located at 34165 Autry Street, Livonia, MI 48150. (Industrial Development Overlay District#111) Council President Toy announced that item #7 re: a request to approve a proposed lease agreement between the City of Livonia and the Livonia Chamber of Commerce is being removed from the agenda by request of the petitioner. President Toy announced there will be an "X" item at the end of tonight's meeting re. an approval to create an area of "Bentley Bricks" near the entrance of the Livonia Recreation Center. James McCann thanked all the Livonia Citizens that voted on September 15th for the Primary Election. He said about 2900 showed up at the polls. He is hoping there will be a little bigger turn out in the November 2009 election. 2 McCann requested a moment of silence for former City Assessor, Ronald Mardarios who passed away on Monday, September 14, 2009. He worked under the McNamara Administration. He was also a Community Activist and volunteer and former Chair of the Hearts of Livonia, which has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for a local charity in St. Mary's Hospital. Visitation will be at Neely-Turowski Funeral Home on Thursday and Friday, September 17 and 18 from 2:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. There will be mass at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 19, 2009 at St. Maurice Catholic Church. Council President Toy requested a moment of silence for Eileen Bibby who passed away. She lived in Rosedale Gardens and was very active in the arts. Council President Toy thanked all the Livonia Citizens who voted on September 15,, 2009. AUDIENCE COMMUNICATION: None. NEW BUSINESS: 1. BLOCK PARTY: Bryan Tabor and Clayton Campbell, re: to be held Saturday, October 31, 2009, from 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. from 11548 Cavell to 11499 Cavell, with no rain date requested. Clayton Campbell, 11499 Cavell, was present to request permission to have a block party. This is his first block party. Meakin offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 2. REQUEST TO WAIVE THE CITY'S NOISE ORDINANCE: Steven and Lynn Favers, re: to allow a live band to perform in connection with an informal celebration scheduled for Saturday, October 3, 2009 from approximately 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at 17356 Stamwich. Steven Favers, 17356 Stamwich, was present to ask that the Noise Ordinance be waived for a live band to perform in connection with two celebrations — his mom's birthday and the MI vs MI State game scheduled for Saturday, October 3, 2009 from approximately 7:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. McCann offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 3. REQUEST FROM THE MICHIGAN LIQUOR CONTROL COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE THE REQUEST FROM LIQUOR VAULT II, INC. TO TRANSFER OWNERSHIP OF A 2008 SDD AND SDM LICENSED BUSINESS WITH 3 SUNDAY SALES PERMIT FROM H & A VENTURES, INC.: Division of Police, re: for the business located at 29241 — 29243 Six Mile, Livonia, MI 48152. Mohammad Kasham, President of Liquor Vault II, Inc., was present to answer any questions. Council President Toy asked Mr. Kasham if he ever ran a liquor store before. Kasham answered that he ran a liquor store for eighteen years in Ann Arbor. It was a store similar to the one in Livonia. He was there for the day to day operations. He oversaw things and made sure things ran the right way. He wants to make sure his stores are clean and have the right atmosphere. He doesn't want to ruin the image of Livonia. He doesn't want it to be a hang out, and he wants the people to feel safe when they come in at all hours of the day. Laura offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 4. AWARD OF BID: Water and Sewer Board, re: for the Coventry Gardens Subdivision Sanitary Sewer Cleaning, Videotaping and Spot Repairs, with funding to come from the 2005 Water and Sewer Bond Sale proceeds. Todd Zilincik, City Engineer, said this is a result of a letter that was sent to DPW and Engineering in regard to concerns with the age of the subdivision. It was built back in 1925, which makes it 80 plus years old. There are concerns with mature trees and residential leeds. Based on that information, they took a look at the existing As-Built drawings and set up a night meeting with the residents back on June 18th to try to layout a time frame to try and address the concerns. The sewer mains would be the City's responsibility, and if there are any issues with the leeds it may be the resident's responsibility. They received five (5) bids to clean and TV the lines and do spot repairs and/or some replacements if found necessary. Part of the issue is they have to go into people's backyards, and first identify where the easements are. There could be swimming pools, decks or other issues. A lot of caution and care would have to be taken with the residents to upkeep their neighborhood and coordinate with them. The bids were tabulated, and the lowest bidder was based on an evaluation in which cost, experience, and equipment were factors. If approved, this project would start in October, 2009. Zilincik recommends the contract go to Downunder Municipal Services, LLC, 2612 Miller Road, Kalamazoo, MI, in the amount of $587,441.85, and allow potential for alternate bids in the amount of $100,000.00, which way result in some replacements of mains if found in spring of 2010. He said there is an article in the September 2009 Municipal Sewer and Water Magazine stating a city in Corunna, MI, of about one (1) square mile, actually used Downunder, who was the lowest bidder. The article said the resulting digital video they provided was priceless in assessing the system and setting repair standards for the City. 4 Pastor asked if the City could have the low bid incorporate repairs for the resident's at the same unit pricing, so that when the City awards these people the main contract, they aren't going out to the resident's and charging them much more per square foot or lineal foot. This way when the City does evaluate the low bidder, they truly are the lowest bidder. What the contractor normally does is get the cheap price for the City, and while they are in the area, they go knocking on doors to fix their concrete and then charge the resident's much more per square foot. In example if a sewer leed is bad, there is not a cost to hold them to any numbers, and potentially really drive up the cost to the resident. Because, most likely if it's broken, the resident will just have the contractor do the job, because he is already there. Zilincik said that the City did get unit prices for certain situations like a 100 year old tree that would have to be removed. There are unit prices in there; however, we don't want to end up being a broker. Pastor agrees, but said that if the resident has to get extra concrete or sewer extension work done, that they know the base price the City is being charged and what the contractor should be charging them. If the resident can find a better price, then they can get the work done on their own, but at least they have a base price that they know about, as oppose to the guy just showing up and saying we're here and this is what we are charging. Zilincik said they didn't get unit prices, but each case is different. They are hopeful they would honor the unit prices that were provided. Pastor said that these guys should know that they should be giving the same unit price to the resident's if they are being contracted by the City. This should be incorporated down the road. The biggest thing he sees is the sidewalks. When the City is doing the sidewalks, the resident's are getting their driveways poured, not to say that these concrete guys are gouging, but if they are out there, they should be given the same unit price as the City or even better. Zilincik said we do that with the sidewalk program. We allow them to sign a waiver. We send them the information in May. While we are there, it's practical, we solve our problems, but hopefully, if the resident's budget allows, and they can address their situation. Robinson asked about the additional work for $100,000.00. He wanted to know just how much additional work there is, and would this amount cover what they are anticipating or will they need more. Zilincik said their hope is that they go in and evaluate the system. Eight (8) and ten (10) inch lines seem to be more problematic than the larger lines. Their goal is to TV and clean the lines with ten (10) inch lines. If they find there are problems with that, they will continue forward with the larger sizes - 127 157 18 5 and 20 inch lines. The alternate bid items put in this bid were to try to be inclusive. They didn't want to go in and do Phase 1, which is cleaning and TV only and not have the ability to do repairs on the fly for an emergency repair. In the same respect they wanted to have a contract to do everything all at once. If they find out there are problems, they can be evaluated in the fall and/or winter and the work could be done in the spring. They could replace the segment of sewer main, or pipe burst it, or open cut it - depending on the factors. He doesn't anticipate $800,000.00 being spent. They had to do some assumptions based on the eight (8) and ten (10) inch lines. The goal is to do an assessment this winter, and come up with a game plan to do Phase 2 in 2010. At least they have unit prices, and if necessary, they could go out and get better prices if we felt the amount of quantities is actually lower to refine the cost. Meakin said he was a little concerned. He asked if the funds were coming from the water and sewer millage. Zilincik answered yes, the water and sewer funds from 2005. The TV alone would cost $100,000.00. If necessary, there is $300,000.00 to do the repairs. They have identified 25 locations depending on the type of repair that would be needed. For an investment of $100,000.00 they can at least get a baseline of what the sewer system is as far as the mains. They can replace it at that time, or do a spot repair, and determine if they can just get by for the wintertime and replace it in the spring. Meakin said his concern is that they wouldn't get started with this program until the middle of 2010, and coming up with this major expense they may run out of money for 2011. He wants to know if the funds are going to be there for a major expense at the end of 2010. Zilincik said that there is some contingency available, but as far as the funds, Meakin is correct. They have to look deep into that, because they are also in the process of updating their water and sewer master plan, and that will help dictate how much funding they may need in the future. That will have to be looked at as well with the investment that we find out this fall. Meakin is correct. Meakin asked if this is a top priority for 2010. Zilincik said that yes, this is one of the older subdivisions built back in 1925, so some of this stuff has been put in the ground before then. He thinks that Rosedale Gardens is another location that is an older sub division, the second oldest sub division in the City. Godfroid-Marecki asked if this is the first time the City had to go into Coventry Gardens to do this. Zilincik said that about two (2) years ago the DPW did root foaming, where they went in and tried to clear some of the roots beforehand. This was an effort to try 6 to look at the overall system as a whole and try to ensure that they are doing their part as a City to ensure the mains have been inspected and documented. If there is a problem it could be with the Ieeds and older trees. Some problems may be a sewer issue, and some may be actually the main issue. The City is trying to make sure fewer backups occur, and that they can address these issues and make sure that it goes through the proper channels and can be taken care of that way. They are looking at water and sewer master plans, as far as getting capital improvement projects to go to the next five (5) years, and what they need to do to make sure they have enough money to cover those potential info structure issues that come up. President Toy said that in Coventry there are a lot of trees. The neighbors that abut the creek would probably have a lot more trees. How would they address that? Zilincik said there is technology out there that could adjust the leads. They could directionally drill a new lead parallel to the existing one. A lot of them are 6 inch clay pipes. If a joint is separated roots can intrude in the pipe and block it. When the roots are cut there is potential for the main to back up. It could either be pipe burst or directionally drilled. The City is trying to solve the problems the best they can by working with the residents. There will have to be full cooperation with the residents because there are easements, trees, etc. The City does not want to have to cut down trees unless they absolutely have to. The residents make that kind of decision. President Toy said that she had an issue with her house and they recommended she put something down her drain. Will they come back if the residents do still have a problem? Zilincik said you can actually use a device that actually kills the roots. You pour this chemical in there and you come back 13 weeks later. At that time you can actually saw cut the roots out. It should gel at the seam and hopefully prevent this from happening for a long time. If the pipe has been compromised and the joints are separated, or there is a crack in the pipe, they may want to replace that segment. It depends, if there is a shed or deck, we can't access it. There are a lot of variables that they won't really know until they get in and actually wrap their hands around it. This is going to be a very dynamic animal. They need full cooperation with the residents. They aren't out there to move a shed, but they may need access to this manhole that might be buried. There will be a lot of hand holding to make sure that everyone is working together to try and solve the problems so that everyone can have their sewer functional and the mains operational. Then the maintenance can be done as necessary. President Toy said that there are a lot of trees in that sub. She asked if the resident's would be notified. 7 Zilincik said if approved, they are looking at starting the cleaning and TV early October for the entire month. There will be notification letters going out to all the residents in the subdivision. Pastor offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 5. REQUEST TO APPROVE AGREEMENT BETWEEN WAYNE COUNTY AND THE CITY OF LIVONIA FOR THE RESURFACING OF MIDDLEBELT ROAD FROM FIVE MILE ROAD TO SEVEN MILE ROAD: Engineering Division, re: with the City of Livonia participation estimated to be $199,076.00, or 8% of the total project cost. Todd Zilincik, City Engineer, said that they have an intro government agreement from Wayne County to pave Middlebelt Road from Five Mile to Seven Mile Road. They thought it would be done this year, but it's already late September. The estimated cost of this project is $2,512,420.00 of which the County is asking participation from the City of Livonia in the amount of $199,076.00. This will require a 50% down payment upon approval. They are requesting Council to approve the intro government agreement to be executed by the Mayor and Clerk, and make the down payment so the road can be re-constructed which is in desperate need of repair. Pastor wanted to know if they were resurfacing, doing total replacement or a combination of both. Zilincik said that this will include re-surfacing and milling down three and a half (3'/2) inches. There would also be some curb repair and bridge improvements to the creek. It will be a total upgrade and pavement marking signage and some storm adjustments. Pastor offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 6. REQUEST TO APPROVE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (MDOT) AND THE CITY OF LIVONIA FOR BICYCLE PATH IMPROVEMENTS ALONG THE EAST SIDE OF HIGHWAY 1-275/1-96 FROM THE NORTH CITY LIMITS AT EIGHT MILE ROAD TO THE WEST CITY LIMITS NEAR FIVE MILE ROAD: Engineering Division, re. with the City of Livonia participation estimated to be $2,800.00, or 2% of the total project cost. Todd Zilincik, City Engineer, said they have two (2) more of these coming in the future. MDOT is looking at improving the bike path from Five Mile up to Eight Mile Road which involves the crossings at the interchanges and also some 8 improvements to the pathway. The City's commitment is a cost of $2,800.00 and the total project amount is $124,600.00. This will make the bike path safer to cross, and will update some of the problems with the asphalt pavement. Pastor would like to know if they would also be trimming some of the trees. He said he wasn't sure either between Eight Mile and Seven Mile or between Seven Mile and Six Mile (on the west side of 275) the branches and the weeds tend to overgrow the bike path. He wanted to know if they were going to take care of that because he tried to take care of that in Lansing a couple times. Zilincik said that he would have to look into that. Laura wanted to know where the funds were coming from. Zilincik said the funds were from ACT 51 Funds, based on population. Godfroid-Marecki wanted to know what they were going to do with the crossings to make them safer. She said they are very alarming. Zilincik said that he sat in the meeting with MDOT, and they had some bicycle groups there that addressed their concerns with the MDOT design people. Basically trying to come up with a signal and also trying to make it safe when you cross at those locations with some additional crosswalks or pavement markings. They are trying to upgrade the signal timing a little better for bicyclists to cross. Pastor offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT NEW BUSINESS 8. SUBJECT OF GARAGE SALES: Council President Laura M. Toy, re. same. Council President Toy said that one of the City's employees brought this to Council's attention. She felt this had some good points and Council may want to put this to committee. She commands the City employee for doing this and for sending it up to Council. Council needs these ideas from staff, not only for garage sales, but for other things. She thought this was a very good idea. McCann said that since this is to change the Ordinance, he would like to refer this to the Legislative Committee. Pastor said that this is a great idea. He said the Ordinance states you are only allowed to have two (2) garage sales one (1) every six (6) months. In Michigan there isn't good weather six (6) months apart, especially if they are only allowed two (2) signs - one on the resident's property and another sign some place else. 9 He thinks this is very important and this will help the people out that are doing garage sales. He agrees with Council McCann. Toy said that this helps the recycling and re-using efforts in our City. She mentioned the old saying "One man's trash is another man's treasure". She said it helps others out. DIRECTION: REFER TO LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE CONSENT X1. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL TO CREATE AN AREA OF "BENTLEY BRICKS" NEAR THE ENTRANCE TO THE LIVONIA RECREATION CENTER: Council President Laura M. Toy and Council Vice President Terry A. Godfroid-Marecki, re: to represent the alumni of Bentley School. Council Vice President Godfroid-Marecki said this is a request for an approval to create an area of "Bentley Bricks" near the entrance to the Livonia Recreation Center. She and President Toy both attended Bentley High and talked about doing this years ago. They thought it would be a great idea since the recreation is tied into Bentley High. Right now there is a room with graduate pictures and different paraphernalia. They thought about setting up a self funded project, that the City would not have any kind of payment into this. Alumni, or families of alumni, could buy a brick. They thought it would be a remembrance of Bentley. Karen Kapchonick is present to talk about this. Council President Toy said that she and Karen were talking about getting this on the agenda before the Concert Choir's All School Reunion in honor of Jerry Smith, former Choir Director and the classes of 1967, 68, 69 and 70 — a combined reunion. She wants to get a jump start since this is a self funded program. She would like to make sure they have fliers. Karen Kapchonick, Superintendent, Parks and Recreation, said that one of the thoughts they had was something located close to the entrance of the Community Center - right in the area of the flower bed right now, which is just to the left of the entrance. This could be fixed up with the brick pavers and some additional landscaping. This would be in a well lit area, and a lot of individuals would see it, verses having it somewhere else on the grounds. This would be a constant reminder, and would blend in with the senior lounge where we have the composites, history of Bentley, and old pictures of Bentley as well. Prior to the demolition, they were able to cut out the center court that had the "B", and a couple of individuals fixed that up and it now hangs in our main gym in Court number one (1). Toy said they are trying to find the bull dog, she thinks Godfroid-Marecki is holding on to it. Godfroid-Marecki said that they have been advised by the Law Department that if they are to alter any of the land, it needs approval. They will come back to 10 Council and the public with the whole program, including how much the bricks cost. Again, this would be self funded. No monies from the City would be used to maintain this. Laura thinks this is an excellent idea. He offers the approving resolution. He said that they talked about the Recreation Center, when they were going out for the millage and trying to construct it. The original thought process was to always have part of Bentley saved. Newman and Associates came up with an interesting idea to do an all new building, even though it wasn't a direction by Council, but it made a whole lot of sense to do it. He thinks a remembrance of Bentley is very good. He goes back to the days when he remembers it was closed by the school board back in 1985. There was a lot of consternation for years, and years, and years. It's so nice and wonderful to see that Recreation Center there, because he feels it's a fitting tribute to the whole site. He is glad that they had the cooperation of the school district to allow us to obtain the land, and the cooperation of the citizens to go out for the millage. He thought they had tried to do something like this before. He feels it would be great and that they would get a lot of participation from Bentley grads and non Bentley grads. It's a great remembrance. Godfroid-Marecki said that they would come back to Council with all the details. She has a feeling that a lot of people will be interested in this. She thanked Karen for all her help. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT AUDIENCE COMMUNICATION: None. As there were no further questions or comments, Council President Toy adjourned the Study Session at 8:43 p.m. on Monday, August 31, 2009. DATED: September 22, 2009 LINDA GRIMSBY, CITY CLERK