Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-10-07 CITY OF LIVONIA – CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OF STUDY MEETING HELD OCTOBER 7, 2019 Meeting was called to order at 8:00 p.m. by President Laura Toy. Present: Kathleen McIntyre, Brian Meakin, Jim Jolly, Brandon Kritzman, Cathy White and Laura Toy. Absent: Scott Bahr. Elected and appointed officials present: Mark Taormina, Director of Planning and Economic Development; Todd Zilincik, City Engineer; Paul Bernier, City Attorney; Susan M. Nash, City Clerk; Linda McCann, Director of Community Resources; Curtis Caid, Chief of Police; Ted Davis, Superintendent of Parks and Recreation. AUDIENCE COMMUNICATION: None NEW BUSINESS: 1. REQUEST TO APPROVE THE EXECUTION OF SPECIALIZED SERVICES VEHICLE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE SUBURBAN MOBILITY AUTHORITY FOR REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION (SMART) AND THE CITY OF LIVONIA: Department of Community Resources, re: to accept two (2) 2019 wheelchair lift equipped vehicles which have been provided by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) 5310 Grant through SMART for the Livonia Community Transit Program. Linda McCann, Director of Community Resources, presented this request to Council. She stated she is asking Council to accept the two vehicles from SMART, that they applied in 2015 for an expansion vehicle, and then again in 2017 for a replacement, and both grants just came through now at no cost to the City. Councilmember Meakin offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda, especially in light of the fact there is no cost to the City of Livonia and the City is receiving great value for this program. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 2. REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION TO PURCHASE ONE (1) REPLACEMENT MARKED PATROL VEHICLE UTILIZING STATE OF MICHIGAN AND COUNTIES OF OAKLAND AND MACOMB CONSORTIUM BID PRICING: Division of Police, re: the purchase of a 2019 Chevrolet Tahoe from MMRMA insurance payout and budgeted funds. Curtis Caid, Chief of Police, presented this request to Council. He stated this item before Council is requesting authorization to purchase a replacement vehicle that was involved in a motor vehicle accident and as a result of that crash was 2 determined by their insurance carrier to be a total loss. He stated they are being reimbursed by their insurance carrier in the amount of $16,000.00; the balance of which there are funds available to purchase this replacement vehicle. And with Council’s approval they will purchase the vehicle utilizing the various consortiums, they participate with three bid purchasing consortiums, the State of Michigan, the County of Oakland and County of Macomb and they will be utilizing with Council’s approval the Oakland County bid with Berger Chevrolet in Grand Rapids, and purchase the vehicle in the amount indicated in the letter $36,463.00. Councilmember White offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 3. REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION TO PURCHASE TWO HUNDRED (200) MICROSOFT OFFICE PRO PLUS 2019 LICENSES UTILIZING THE STATE OF MICHIGAN CONTRACT PRICING: Division of Police, re: to replace Microsoft Office 2010 licenses, which are out of warranty, end of life, and no longer supported by Microsoft. Curtis Caid, Chief of Police, presented this request to Council. He stated this item is requesting Council’s authorization and approval to waive the sealed bid process and purchase the Microsoft Office Pro Licenses as indicated in the letter. Initially this was a project that they had identified for their next budget year, 2020, but due to our open positions and available capital, with that they have the funding available to do that this year, thus saving the purchase originally scheduled for next year. Again, this is utilizing a bid process that was awarded through CDWG in Chicago, Illinois, they have been a provider of computers and software for us and the City over the years. Funds are now budgeted in the account to make this purchase in the amount of $78,944.00. Councilmember McIntyre offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 4. REQUEST TO APPROVE PROPOSED RATES FOR THE DOG PARK AT BICENTENNIAL PARK: Department of Parks and Recreation, re: with access tentatively scheduled from November 2019 through January 31, 2021. Ted Davis, Superintendent of Parks and Recreation, presented this request to Council. He stated they are asking for one change to their current dog park user fees. Currently they charge $30 for the first dog, there is no advantage or incentive to people to reuse their fobs and they would like to give them a small financial incentive by only charging $20 for dogs that are renewing and utilizing their existing key fob. 3 Vice President Jolly asked what the dollar savings is for patrons who choose to renew and Davis replied $10 savings. Jolly asked what is the cost to the City for the fobs and Davis replied probably $5.00 to $6.00, depending on the quantities ordered. Jolly then offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. McIntyre asked Davis what experience they’ve had with dogs and their owners at the dog park and Davis replied that it is not the dogs but the owners that they have more problems with. McIntyre then asked Davis what his sense is as far as owners being compliant with picking up after their dogs at the park and Davis replied that most of the people follow the rules, obviously it’s self-policed there, owners are asked to pick up after their own animals. They’re not out there monitoring it. He stated he doesn’t receive many complaints, they do occasionally and they try to deal with those on a case by case basis. But overall when you’re looking at, this year there have been about 550 registered dogs at the park, there are very few issues there. McIntyre stated that Council receives complaints from time to time on dog issues, but she has no recall of receiving any dog park complaints. Councilmember Bahr asked Davis how the 550 number of dog park users compares with what they were anticipating. Davis stated the first year they had just over 800 and obviously they’re not done this year, so he expects to see approximately 100 more registrations, so they’re down a little bit from last year but still higher than what they ever budgeted for. They were thinking in the first couple years they’d see 300 to 400 registrations and they’re well above that. Bahr commented on the sense of community he sees when he is by the dog park, every time he is out there in the evening there’s a lot of people consistently and is a positive asset to the community. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 5. REQUEST TO INCREASE ATHLETIC FEES, ARCHERY PASS FEES AND NEW RENTAL FEES: Department of Parks and Recreation, re: with fee changes effective January 1, 2020. Ted Davis, Superintendent of Parks and Recreation, presented this request to Council. He stated they are asking for a $5.00 across the board fee increases for the T-Ball and Coach Pitch, for open and late registration. They’re also asking for $5.00 Archery Season Pass increases and then a new fee for Tennis Court, Pickleball Court Rental. Previously they have rented tennis courts when asked, but they always charged a field fee and not a dedicated tennis court or pickleball court fee. The last time they’ve asked for fee increases for T-Ball and Coach Pitch as council can see, was eleven years ago and the last time they asked for Archery Season Pass Increases was sixteen years ago. So, it’s been awhile and they’ve tried to be judicious in these, they are small increases that they believe are warranted. 4 Vice President Jolly asked Davis out of curiosity trying to understand, what is the true cost of the T-Ball and Coach Pitch Programs to the City of Livonia. He asks that because he has been knee deep in this for the last three summers and it seems like it kind of runs itself completely without Parks & Rec other than scheduling and providing equipment, there’s not a whole lot of interaction or expectation that Parks & Rec really does a whole lot there, and he would hate for the City to be raising a fee just for the sake of raising a fee; is the program running a negative? Davis replied it’s slightly negative when you factor in, of course, when Vice President Jolly says they don’t really do anything other than take all the registrations, make all the schedules, assign all the fields, market the program. Jolly stated that is in no way a critique of his people but as himself and other parents out there and people that are coaching and stuff like that, there is no interaction on a game to game basis from Parks & Rec, that’s the point he’s trying to get across so don’t try and say I’m being negative about your people because I’m not. I asked if we are running on a negative and Davis said yes, when you factor in field costs, obviously debts plays in with DPW as well, but yes, we are running on a slight negative for the program and if Council were to not approve this, we would still offer the program. It wouldn’t stop us from doing anything, we wouldn’t cut anything, your kids would still have the same purple hats and T-shirts. Jolly said to Davis that he is an excellent steward of our recreation department, that he has done proactive things, he’s added new programs, but it seems when we do raise prices the justification number one is that we haven’t raised them in a while and in this circumstance I would offer an approving but ask that it be put on the Regular, and that I would like to see the numbers to get some kind of indication of where the program is. Davis clarified Jolly’s request by asking if it was just Coach Pitch he was requesting and Jolly replied in the affirmative. Councilmember Meakin asked Davis for justification for the tennis courts, adding a fee to that, and then the pickleball, he knows pickleball is the hot new thing, but how is he planning to implement a fee structure into that. Davis replied that he’s not sure he understands the question posed by Meakin. Davis stated there is a fee structure existing for field rentals and this would be no different than a field rental, they’re permitting out a certain location, a certain court, just as we do a ballfield, whether it’s Bicentennial. Meakin stated he thought he was just doing this on a regular basis for the tennis courts and Davis replied no. Councilmember McIntyre stated the points are well taken, they don’t want to increase fees arbitrarily, just to increase revenue, but she can certainly understand that the costs associated with providing administrative work, taking care of the fields, maintenance, all those things have gone up considerably since the last time we raised rates. And administration, you know, costs money, so she has no objection to asking for the number and to her it seems reasonable and in line with the costs that the City has incurred related to those items that we do provide for the T-Ball and Coach Pitch. 5 Councilmember Bahr stated all the points made have been legitimate but by the same token I would argue residents’ rates through the property taxes have gone up significantly, too, and a lot of these things that we’re talking about are sunk costs for the Parks and Recreation, so he appreciates Vice President Jolly’s request and he would like to put the Archery piece into that as well to better understand the cost structures. He understands it’s only $5.00 but people are paying for these through their tax dollars and if the only reason is we haven’t done it in a long time he would like to see some further justification for it. DIRECTION: APPROVING REGULAR 6. REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATION AND EXPENDITURE: Engineering Division, re: for the Whispering Willows Parking Lot Improvements for the Greenmead Historical Park Lot B Parking Lot Improvements (Contract 19- M) for an additional $100,000.00 and revise contract total to $277,856.00. (CR 202-19) Todd Zilincik, City Engineer, presented this request to Council. He stated as previously approved, Whispering Willows Golf Course Improvements by Nagle Paving, that they wanted to take advantage of their proximity of being onsite and take some of the additional millings from the Golf Course parking lot to go across the street to Greenmead. A couple years ago there were some parking lot improvements in that area at Greenmead and they’re looking to do a little parking area adjacent to that and help out for future events. So they’re looking for approval for an additional $100,000.00 for that project and take advantage of their work being in that area and with both areas being completed by the end of October. Councilmember Meakin stated it makes it efficient to take advantage of the generosity of Nagle Paving and it helps that they’re in the neighborhood and they’re offering their services and this is an added value for Greenmead. He then offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. Eileen McDonald, 36099 Brookfield, came to the podium and stated she has a question in reference to this change in scope and being that this is a $100,000.00 change without bidding, is that something that the City should be doing. She said the original bid was $177,000.00 and now they’re adding on almost a third and shouldn’t that be going out to bid because it’s a change in scope project. Zilincik replied these are prices from the 1980 project and they plugged them into the quantities that were to be utilized for that so there’s no advantage to go out for bids. As you know, they’ve bid out several projects through Nagle this whole year and they seem to be the lowest over the four or five contracts that were bid out, the Hubbard Road Shoulder Improvements, the 1980 project, and recently with the Whispering Willows. So we are using existing contract prices, there’s only seven different line items with specific quantities particular to this project itself. So they 6 are getting the best price they can as they always try to do for Council and for the taxpayers. McDonald then asked what about State purchasing laws, how is that impacted? Zilincik replied that this is actually a Capital Improvement Project so it comes from their specified budgeted funds from 401, which again is a Capital Improvement so we had money set aside for stuff around City Hall and things of that nature. So, again, they tried to take advantage of the best price that we had previously bid and use the existing line items in that contract for the quantities that were specified for this particular project. And then for the half of a million to be touched again to redo it, would cost us more money in the long run. So, again, it’s all about Nagle taking advantage of the work in the area and getting the best bang for our buck for this area. Councilmember McIntyre asked that this item be placed on the Regular Agenda instead of Consent in light of the questions raised by a citizen of Livonia. DIRECTION: APPROVING REGULAR 7. REQUEST TO AMEND SITE PLAN PETITION: Michael A. Cascia, Neumann Smith Architecture, re: Petition 2019-02-08-05 submitted by St. Michael Parish, requesting to amend site plan and conditions previously approved by the City Council on April 22, 2019 (CR 148-19) for the addition and renovation to the church building located on the southwest corner of Hubbard and Plymouth Roads (11441 Hubbard Road), in the Northwest ¼ of Section 34. Mark Taormina, Director of Planning and Economic Development, presented this request to Council. He stated in March of this year that Council approved changes to St. Michael’s Parish. In large, the most significant change and the one that we’re here to discuss this evening in terms of the revision, there was an addition of about 3,000 square feet to the front of the building, which as you can see from this rendering, this is what was approved and the architect’s and the Petitioner are here this evening to discuss certain changes that they would like to make to the design that would necessitate an amendment to the approved site plan. With that, I’ll allow them to present them. Alexis Pocinelli, Neumann Smith Architects, 400 Galleria Officecentre, Suite 555, Southfield, came to the podium. She said due to some financial constraints from the Parish and the estimates that came in from the contractor is significantly over budget, so the Parish asked us to come up with some alternative design options to help bring the project within that proposed budget. She put up an image that shows the changes provided that helped bring the project within scope. President Toy asked her to go over the changes. 7 th Pocinelli stated there was a letter sent to the City Council dated September 27 that lists those changes. The roofline at the stepped portion has been simplified up on the east façade. The stained glass has been removed from the east façade. The canopy has been removed over the east entrance. The tower at the main entrance has been lowered to a height of 25 feet. The plaza to the south of the main entry has been removed. The planters attached to the north and south side of the building will remain as they exist today with just manual repairs and repairs of the silt. And there shall be four light poles along Hubbard in lieu of a mix of pole bollards and other high lighting features. President Toy asked about the color going around the building and Pocinelli replied it is a copper color and provided a sample board and stated the exterior materials will remain as previously presented, so everything should remain the same. Really what’s changed is the height of the tower as simplified with structure and just the removal of the plaza. The Parish hopes to maybe do that in the future but due to the financial constraints they are hoping to proceed with the project as/is and do more work in the future. Vice President Jolly stated in terms of the work or the addition to the church, although it’s esthetically different, the real improvement is the addition of the space. My own parish did something similar to the vestibules that made the parish significantly more comfortable going in and out and to host functions and tables and stuff like that after mass. So I think the most important thing that’s getting done here is still the same and I’m glad to see you’re still doing the project. He then offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. Kritzman stated that ultimately he thinks it’s a beautiful project and as Councilman Jolly indicated the real value in it is the additional space out in front as you enter the building and the support space, it’s the bathrooms in the existing condition are not adequate to service the parishioners properly. Mr. Neville is a parishioner there as well and I’m sure he can attest this will be a great step forward for the parish. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT AUDIENCE COMMUNICATION None. RD For the 1,883 Regular Meeting of October 21, 2019 As there were no further questions or comments President Toy adjourned the Study Session at 8:38 p.m. on Monday, October 7, 2019. DATED: October 14, 2019 SUSAN M. NASH, CITY CLERK